Research on the energy saving behaviors of university students based on TPB in a hot summer-cold winter area in China.

Energy saving in higher education institutions holds significant importance in the establishment of environmentally friendly and low-carbon societies, with the energy-saving behaviors of university students playing a pivotal role in the development of sustainable campuses. However, there is a clear need for customized strategies to encourage energy-saving habits among university students in areas of China with extreme weather conditions, such as hot summers and cold winters. This study offers a thorough examination of the literature regarding energy-saving behaviors among college students and presents a new theoretical framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A survey questionnaire is conducted at universities in regions with hot summers and cold winters across China, with the goal of identifying the main factors that influence students' intentions and actions regarding campus energy conservation. From July to August 2022, we collected 512 survey responses from different university campuses in China's hot summer-cold winter weather zone. The survey asked about subjective norms, understanding of energy conservation, and the importance of saving energy. Utilizing the Structural Equation Model (SEM), we examined how influencing factors are associated with energy conservation behaviors. Our findings indicate that (1) both the significance of energy conservation and subjective norms significantly drive energy-saving actions; (2) distinct factors impact different forms of energy-saving practices; and (3) the inclination to save energy partially mediates the relationship between comfort choices and the significance of energy conservation. This study presents a validated behavioral model tailored for regions experiencing hot summers and cold winters, offering valuable insights for college administrators in managing energy usage while also serving as a theoretical reference for establishing environmentally sustainable campuses.

Anti-photoaging activity of triterpenoids isolated from Centella asiatica.

Centella asiatica (L.) Urban is a medical plant rich in triterpenoids, frequently used in Asia to treat skin conditions such as acne. To search for anti-photoaging agents, 16 known triterpenoids and five undescribed triterpenoids, including three ursane, one oleanane and one nor-ursane were isolated from the whole herb of C. asiatica. The structures and relative stereochemistry of these compounds were elucidated by detailed NMR spectra and HRESIMS. Compounds 1 and 2 were isomers of ursane-type and oleane-type triterpenes with rare aldehyde groups on C-23. Compound 4 was a unique example of a nor-ursane type triterpenoid. The Ultraviolet B (UVB) induced HaCaT cell damage model was used to measure the in vitro anti-photoaging activity of all 21 compounds. Twenty compounds significantly increased HaCaT viability and inhibited lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release after UVB exposure. These findings highlight the protective effects of C. asiatica-derived triterpenoids against UVB damage and indicate their potential as natural agents that can protect the skin against photoaging.

Screening of Optimal Konjac Glucomannan-Protein Composite Gel Formulations to Mimic the Texture and Appearance of Tripe.

This study aimed to develop a product that closely replicates the texture and appearance of tripe. The effect of three different proteins (soy protein isolate (SPI), pea protein isolate (PPI), and whey protein isolate (WPI)) at different protein levels and processing conditions (heating (90 °C, 1 h) followed by cooling (4 °C, 12 h) and heating (90 °C, 1h) followed by freezing (-18 °C, 12 h)) of konjac glucomannan (KGM) was analyzed. The optimal formulations for simulating tripe were screened by examining their similarity to real tripe in terms of texture, color, and sensory experience. The screened formulations were also subjected to a preliminary mechanistic investigation. The results show that all three proteins improved the gel's textural properties to varying degrees. At the same concentration, the hardness and chewiness of the KGM/WPI composite gel were significantly higher than those of the other two KGM/protein composite gels, among which the composite gel obtained by adding 8% WPI and 5% KGM heating-frozen (FWK4) had the greatest hardness and chewiness of 4338.07 g and 2313.76, respectively, and the springiness differences in all of the composite gels were small. In addition, the addition of protein increased the whiteness of the hybrid gels, with WPI having the most significant effect on the whiteness of the composite gels (whiteness increased from 30.25 to 62.80 as the concentration of WPI increased from 0 to 10%). Freezing increased composite gel hardness and chewiness, but reduced gel springiness and whiteness. Cluster analysis showed that the composite gel obtained by heating-cooling 8% WPI and 5% KGM (WK4) was very similar to the real tripe in terms of chewiness and whiteness, and WK4 had the highest sensory scores for color, tissue morphology, tactile sensation, taste, and odor. The acceptability score in terms of tissue morphology reached 4.3. Meanwhile, the characterization results of WK4 indicate the presence of large junction areas in the gel network. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, X-ray diffraction, and intermolecular force contributions indicated that the incorporation of WPI promoted integral interactions, and that hydrophobic interactions and disulfide bonding played a key role in the WK4 composite gel system. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) also showed that the combination of WPI and konjac glucan resulted in a more compact gel structure. This study is informative for the development of the field of bionic tripe processing.

Integration of diagnostic ions, molecular network and chemometrics to illustrate the chemical mechanism of Radix Astragali processed with honey.

Radix Astragali (RA) is one of the most frequently used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in China, and honey-processed RA (HRA) is its common processing product. Thus far, their comprehensive chemical differences are not well understood. In this work, an integrated approach using Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS) combined with diagnostic ions, molecular network (MN) and chemometrics was established to profile their chemical characterizations and illustrate the chemical mechanism of RA processed with honey. A total of 226 compounds were tentatively identified including 50 flavonoid glycosides, 26 flavonoid aglycone, 56 saponins, 30 organic acids, 18 amino acids, 3 coumarins and 43 other compounds, of which 33 compounds were characterized according to MN. Their chemical differences were further investigated by integrating of multivariate statistical analysis, student's t-test analysis, linear regression analysis and MN. Consequently, multivariate statistical analysis showed that the raw and processed RA were different form each other. Besides, 33 different compounds were found to be significantly altered by student's t-test analysis. Apart from this, linear regression analysis indicated 42 and 120 compounds underwent the significant varieties. The potential chemical reactions induced by honey-processing, such as possible hydrolysis reactions and isomerization reactions, were speculated based on these variations coupled the areas changes of the nodes in MN. This study provided an efficient strategy to illustrate the chemical mechanism of TCM processing.

Simple Solvent Treatment Enabled Improved PEDOT:PSS Performance toward Highly Efficient Binary Organic Solar Cells.

PEDOT: PSS is the most popular hole-transporting material (HTM) for conventional structural organic solar cell (OSC) devices, whose performance is of great importance for realizing high power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, its performance in OSC devices has been continuously challenged by various replacing materials and different doping strategies, for better conductivity, work function, and surface property. Here, we report a simple dopant-free method to tune the phase separation of the PEDOT:PSS layer, which results in better charge transport and extraction in devices. Specifically, high PCEs for binary polymer-small-molecule (>18%) and polymer-polymer (>17%) systems are simultaneously achieved. This work engineeringly provides encouraging improvement for OSC device performance with easy modification and scientifically offers insights into tuning the property of the PEDOT:PSS layer.

Multicomponent Solar Cells with High Fill Factors and Efficiencies Based on Non-Fullerene Acceptor Isomers.

Multicomponent organic solar cells (OSCs), such as the ternary and quaternary OSCs, not only inherit the simplicity of binary OSCs but further promote light harvesting and power conversion efficiency (PCE). Here, we propose a new type of multicomponent solar cells with non-fullerene acceptor isomers. Specifically, we fabricate OSCs with the polymer donor J71 and a mixture of isomers, ITCF, as the acceptors. In comparison, the ternary OSC devices with J71 and two structurally similar (not isomeric) NFAs (IT-DM and IT-4F) are made as control. The morphology experiments reveal that the isomers-containing blend film demonstrates increased crystallinity, more ideal domain size, and a more favorable packing orientation compared with the IT-DM/IT-4F ternary blend. The favorable orientation is correlated with the balanced charge transport, increased exciton dissociation and decreased bimolecular recombination in the ITCF-isomer-based blend film, which contributes to the high fill factor (FF), and thus the high PCE. Additionally, to evaluate the generality of this method, we examine other acceptor isomers including IT-M, IXIC-2Cl and SY1, which show same trend as the ITCF isomers. These results demonstrate that using isomeric blends as the acceptor can be a promising approach to promote the performance of multicomponent non-fullerene OSCs.