Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metal–Air Batteries: Will They Be the Future Electrochemical Energy Storage Device of Choice?

Metal–air batteries have a theoretical energy density that is much higher than that of lithium-ion batteries and are frequently advocated as a solution toward next-generation electrochemical energy storage for applications including electric vehicles or grid energy storage. However, they have not fulfilled their full potential because of challenges associated with the metal anode, air cathode, and electrolyte. These challenges will have to be properly resolved before metal–air batteries can become a practical reality and be deployed on a large scale. Here we survey the current status and latest advances in metal–air battery research for both aqueous (e.g., Zn–air) and nonaqueous (e.g., Li–air) systems. An overview of the general technical issues confronting their development is presented, and our perspective on possible solutions is offered.
Ground Penetrating Radar as a Quantitative Tool with Applications in Soil Hydrology

This work concentrates on the investigation of ground penetrating radar (GPR) with respect to applications in soil hydrology. The motivation is to expand the boundaries of processability and evaluability of GPR measurements. Therefore, a detailed review of the fundamentals for electromagnetic wave propagation is given. First, theoretical and experimental descriptions of the dielectric material models are introduced. This is followed by an overview of different modeling approaches in electrodynamics which differ in their physical complexity. The ray approach, a plane wave description and a Green’s function approach are presented, where the last simulates a vertical dipole in a horizontally layered medium. With the help of these modeling approaches, some specific electromagnetic wave phenomena are studied. For instance the reflection and the refraction at continuously varying dielectric properties are analyzed, which can stem for example from the water distribution in soils. Furthermore, the ground wave is studied regarding its evanescent wave behavior. This can be observed, when the wave couples into the air. As an outcome of the theoretical considerations, two novel measurement techniques and their evaluation approaches are presented. One technique is the lift measurement, which enables the detection of evanescent waves. The other technique is the multi-channel method, which allows a simultaneous access to reflector depth and average water content up to several hundred meters.
Introducing Mudbox

One of the first books on Autodesk's new Mudbox 3D modeling and sculpting tool! Autodesk's Mudbox was used to create photorealistic creatures for The Dark Knight, The Mist, and others films. Now you can join the crowd interested in learning this exciting new digital modeling and sculpting tool with this complete guide. Get up to speed on all of Mudboxs features and functions, learn how sculpt and paint, and master the art of using effective workflows to make it all go easier. Introduces Autodesk's Mudbox, an exciting 3D modeling and sculpting tool that enables you to create photorealistic creatures for film or games; it is interoperable with Autodesk's 3ds Max and Maya products Explains what digital sculpting isand what it isntand how to fit it into the pipeline when creating assets for film, television, games, and advertising Shows you how sculpt and paint a model in Mudbox; breaks down the complexities and gets you started right away with interesting projects Helps you set up workflows to cut the time you spend on the technology, freeing you to focus on the creative aspects Includes case studies and examples from industry leaders as well as a DVD with movies, sample project files, MELscripts, and more Develop skills as a digital content creator or visual effects or CG artist with a good understanding of Mudbox and this valuable guide.
Investigating the Perovskite Ag1-3xLaxNbO3 as a High-Rate Negative Electrode for Li-Ion Batteries

Graphical Abstract The broader development of the electric car for tomorrow’s mobility requires the emergence of new fast-charging negative electrode materials to replace graphite in Li-ion batteries. In this area, the design of new compounds using innovative approaches could be the key to discovering new negative electrode materials that allow for faster charging and discharging processes. Here, we present a partially substituted AgNbO3 perovskite material by introducing lanthanum in the A-site. By creating two vacancies for every lanthanum introduced in the structure, the resulting general formula becomes Ag1-3xLax□2xNbO3 (with x ≤ 0.20 and where □ is a A-site vacancy), allowing the insertion of lithium ions. The highly substituted Ag0.40La0.20□0.40NbO3 oxide shows a specific capacity of 40 mAh.g−1 at a low sweep rate (0.1 mV s−1). Interestingly, Ag0.70La0.10□0.20NbO3 retains 64% of its capacity at a very high sweep rate (50 mV s−1) and about 95% after 800 cycles. Ex situ 7Li MAS NMR experiments confirmed the insertion of lithium ions in these materials. A kinetic analysis of Ag1-3xLax□2xNbO3 underlines the ability to store charge without solid-state ion-diffusion limitations. Furthermore, in situ XRD indicates no structural modification of the compound when accommodating lithium ions, which can be considered as zero-strain material. This finding explains the interesting capacity retention observed after 800 cycles. This paper thus demonstrates an alternative approach to traditional insertion materials and identifies a different way to explore not-so common electrode materials for fast energy storage application.
Chiral Water-Soluble Molecular Capsules With Amphiphilic Interiors

We present the synthesis of new chiral water-soluble dimeric capsules by the multicomponent Mannich reaction between charged amino acids (glutamic acid or arginine), resorcinarene, and formaldehyde and by subsequent self-assembly. The zwitterionic character of the backbones enables electrostatic interactions between arms and induces self-assembly of dimeric capsules, namely, (L-ArgR)2 and (L-GluR)2, in water with a wide range of pH, as demonstrated by NMR, diffusion coefficient measurement, and circular dichroism. The assembly/disassembly processes are fast on the NMR timescale. This mode of dimerization leaves side chains available for additional interactions and creates chiral cavities of mixed hydrophobic/hydrophilic character. According to this characteristic, capsules do not bind fully nonpolar or fully polar guests but effectively encapsulate a variety of chiral molecules with mixed polar/apolar characters (aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes, epoxides, alcohols, carboxylic acids, amines, and amino acids) with moderate strength. We also demonstrate the formation of heterocapsules (GluR) (ArgR) (homo- and heterochiral) that utilize additional interactions between charged acidic and basic side chains and have better encapsulation properties than those of the homodimers.
Perspectives on the Structure and Function of the Avian Respiratory System: Functional Efficiency Built on Structural Complexity

Among the air-breathing vertebrates, regarding respiratory efficiency, the avian respiratory system rests at the evolutionary zenith. Structurally, it is separated into a lung that serves as a gas exchanger and air sacs that mechanically ventilate the lung continuously and unidirectionally in a caudocranial direction. Largely avascular, the air sacs are delicate, transparent, compliant and capacious air-filled spaces that are not meaningfully involved in gas exchange. The avian lungs are deeply and firmly attached to the vertebrae and the ribs on the dorsolateral aspects, rendering them practically rigid and inflexible. The attachment of the lung to the body wall allowed extreme subdivision of the exchange tissue into minuscule and stable terminal respiratory units, the air capillaries. The process generated a large respiratory surface area in small lungs with low volume density of gas exchange tissue. For the respiratory structures, invariably, thin blood-gas barrier, large respiratory surface area and large pulmonary capillary blood volume are the foremost adaptive structural features that confer large total pulmonary morphometric diffusing capacities of O2. At parabronchial level, the construction and the arrangement of the airway- and the vascular components of the avian lung determine the delivery, the presentation and the exposure of inspired air to capillary blood across the blood-gas barrier. In the avian lung, crosscurrent-, countercurrent- and multicapillary serial arterialization systems that stem from the organization of the structural parts of the lung promote gas exchange. The exceptional respiratory efficiency of the avian respiratory system stems from synergy of morphological properties and physiological processes, means by which O2 uptake is optimized and high metabolic states and capacities supported. Given that among the extant animal taxa insects, birds and bats (which accomplished volancy chronologically in that order) possess structurally much different respiratory systems, the avian respiratory system was by no means a prerequisite for evolution of powered flight but was but one of the adaptive solutions to realization of an exceptionally efficient mode of locomotion.
Estimation and Influencing Factor Analysis of Carbon Emissions From the Entire Production Cycle for Household consumption: Evidence From the Urban Communities in Beijing, China

Household carbon emissions (HCEs) in urban communities are significant sources of China’s total carbon emissions and contribute to global warming and climate change dramatically. This study aims to estimate the HCEs and investigate their influential factors based on a total of 185 household survey data collected from three typical types of urban communities in Beijing: traditional communities, unit communities, and commercial housing communities with the application of the consumer lifestyle approach analysis and econometrics model. The results show that unit communities contribute to the highest direct carbon emissions and the commercial housing communities produce the most indirect carbon emissions, with the traditional communities emitting the lowest carbon emissions both directly and indirectly. The highest direct carbon emissions of households are found in unit communities at 723.79 kgCO2 per month, followed by commercial communities at 580.01 kgCO2, and finally the traditional communities with 526.44 kgCO2 direct carbon emissions monthly. And the highest monthly indirect carbon emissions of households are found in commercial communities at 707.70 kgCO2, followed by unit communities at 669.38 kgCO2, and finally with 554.85 kgCO2 indirect carbon emissions monthly in traditional communities. It concludes that the community type affects HCE characteristics and their driving factors significantly. Household income, household population, and the ownership of cars increase HCE in more than one type of community. Scientific research work-related population, community environment satisfaction, housing area have positive effects, while community convenience has negative impacts on HCEs in one certain type of community. Policy implications tailored to general and specific community types are proposed as the guidance of carbon reduction and community transformation finally. This study contributes to the understanding of the impact of community attributes on HCEs and proposes some methods for microregional carbon emission reduction and the ecological transformation of urban communities.
LAG3-PD-1 Combo Overcome the Disadvantage of Drug Resistance

Although PD-1 blockade therapy has been promising in cancer treatment, only 4% (pancreatic cancer) to 70% (melanoma) of patients have a positive response to this blockade therapy, which is one of its important disadvantages. Therefore, it is important to seek out new targets for cancer immunotherapy to improve the overall response rate in patients. Lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG-3), an immune checkpoint receptor, is mainly expressed in activated immune cells. LAG-3 maintains the body’s immune homeostasis under physiological conditions while mediating tumour immune escape. Several preclinical and clinical examinations have shown that LAG-3 blockade effectively alleviates the patient’s tolerance to PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors. Moreover, the combination of LAG-3 and PD-1 blockade has good clinical efficacy in cancers. Hence, synchronous LAG-3 and PD-1 inhibition may be a potential new strategy for tumour immunotherapy.
Self-Oscillating Wireless Power Transfer Systems

Conventional wireless power transfer systems consist of a microwave power generator and transmitter located at one place and a microwave power receiver located at a distance. Here we show that wireless power transfer can be realized as a single distributed microwave generator with an over-the-air feedback, so that the microwave power is generated directly at the place where the energy needs to be delivered. We demonstrate that the use of this paradigm increases efficiency and dramatically reduces sensitivity to misalignments, variations in load and power, and possible presence of obstacles between the source and receiver.
The Influence of Growth Mindset on the Mental Health and Life Events of College Students

Growth mindset refers to our core belief that our talents can be developed through practice, which may influence our thoughts and behaviors. Growth mindset has been studied in a variety of fields, including education, sports, and management. However, few studies have explored whether differences in individuals’ growth mindsets influence college students’ self-reported mental health. Using the Growth Mindset Scale, Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist, and SCL-90 Scale, data was collected from 2,505 freshmen in a University in China. Findings revealed that the students within the growth mindset group scored significantly lower on “mental health issues” and “stress due to life events” than the students in the fixed mindset group. Our findings suggest that individuals with a growth mindset are less prone to mental health problems than individuals with a fixed mindset.
Pan-Immune-Inflammation Value: A New Prognostic Index in Operative Breast Cancer

Background To build a predictive scoring model based on simple immune and inflammatory parameters to predict postoperative survival in patients with breast cancer. Methods We used a brand-new immuno-inflammatory index—pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV)—to retrospectively evaluate the relationship between PIV and overall survival (OS), and based on the results of Cox regression analysis, we established a simple scoring prediction model based on several independent prognostic parameters. The predictive accuracy of the model was evaluated and independently validated. Results A total of 1,312 patients were included for analysis. PIV was calculated as follows: neutrophil count (109/L) × platelet count (109/L) × monocyte count (109/L)/lymphocyte count (109/L). According to the best cutoff value of PIV, we divided the patients into two different subgroups, high PIV (PIV > 310.2) and low PIV (PIV ≤ 310.2), associated with significantly different survival outcomes (3-year OS, 80.26% vs. 86.29%, respectively; 5-year OS, 62.5% vs. 71.55%, respectively). Six independent prognostic factors were identified and used to build the scoring system, which performed well with a concordance index (C-index) of 0.759 (95% CI: 0.715–0.802); the calibration plot showed good calibration. Conclusions We have established and verified a simple scoring system for predicting prognosis, which can predict the survival of patients with operable breast cancer. This system can help clinicians implement targeted and individualized treatment strategies.
Episodic Memory and Executive Function Are Differentially Affected by Retests but Similarly Affected by Age in a Longitudinal Study of Normally-Aging Older Adults

Episodic memory and executive function are two cognitive domains that have been studied extensively in older adults and have been shown to decline in normally-aging older individuals. However, one of the problems with characterizing cognitive changes in longitudinal studies has been separating effects attributable to normal aging from effects created by repeated testing or practice. In the present study, 166 people aged 65 and older were enrolled over several years and tested at least 3 times at variable intervals (M = 3.2 yrs). The cognitive measures were composite scores. Each composite was made up of five neuropsychological tests, previously identified through factor analysis. For one pair of composite scores, variance attributable to age was removed from each subtest through regression analyses before z-scores were computed, creating two age-corrected composites. A second pair of composites were not age-corrected. Using linear mixed-effects models, we first explored retest effects for each cognitive domain, independent of age, using the age-corrected composites. We then modeled aging effects using the age-uncorrected composites after subtracting out retest effects. Results indicated significant retest effects for memory but not for executive function, such that memory performance improved across the three testing sessions. When these practice effects were removed from the age-uncorrected data, effects of aging were evident for both executive and memory function with significant declines over time. We also explored several individual difference variables including sex, IQ, and age at the initial testing session and across time. Although sex and IQ affected performance on both cognitive factors at the initial test, neither was related to practice effects, although young-older adults tended to benefit from practice to a greater extent than old-older adults. In addition, people with higher IQs showed slower age-related declines in memory, but no advantages in executive function. These findings suggest that (a) aging affects both memory and executive function similarly, (b) higher IQ, possibly reflecting cognitive reserve, may slow age-related declines in memory, and (c) practice through repeated testing enhances performance in memory particularly in younger-older adults, and may therefore mask aging effects if not taken into account.
CAMK1D Inhibits Glioma Through the PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein ID (CAMK1D) is widely expressed in many tissues and involved in tumor cell growth. However, its role in gliomas has not yet been elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the roles of CAMK1D in the proliferation, migration, and invasion of glioma. Through online datasets, Western blot, and immunohistochemical analysis, glioma tissue has significantly lower CAMK1D expression levels than normal brain (NB) tissues, and CAMK1D expression was positively correlated with the WHO classification. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis shows that CAMK1D can be used as a potential prognostic indicator to predict the overall survival of glioma patients. In addition, colony formation assay, cell counting Kit-8, and xenograft experiment identified that knockdown of CAMK1D promotes the proliferation of glioma cells. Transwell and wound healing assays identified that knockdown of CAMK1D promoted the invasion and migration of glioma cells. In the above experiments, the results of overexpression of CAMK1D were all contrary to those of knockdown. In terms of mechanism, this study found that CAMK1D regulates the function of glioma cells by the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. In conclusion, these findings suggest that CAMK1D serves as a prognostic predictor and a new target for developing therapeutics to treat glioma.
Human–Machine Telecollaboration Accelerates the Safe Deployment of Large-Scale Autonomous Robots During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Robots are increasingly used in today’s society (Torresen, 2018; Scassellati and Vázquez, 2020). Although the “end goal” is to achieve full autonomy, currently the smartness and abilities of robots are still limited. Thus, some form of human supervision and guidance is still required to ensure robust deployment of robots in society, especially in complex and emergency situations (Nunes et al., 2018; Li et al., 2019). However, when supervising robots, human performance and ability could be affected by their varying physical and psychological states, as well as other irrelevant activities. Thus, involving people in the operation of robots introduces some uncertainties and safety issues. Currently, the supervision of robots has become even more challenging, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Feizi et al., 2021). This is because, apart from maintaining the operator’s performance, avoiding close contact between the operator and others in the working place, to keep them away from potential onsite hazards, imposes new challenges. In this context, teleoperation, which keeps humans in the control loop but at a distance, provides a solution. However, this method has limitations. Under teleoperation, continuous human supervision and control are required, resulting in a higher workload. As operators observe the environment through monitors, their fields of view are limited. They can hardly feel the motion, forces, and vibrations that the robots receive on the remote side, which further restricts their situational awareness during supervision and affects the safe deployment of robots. To overcome the above limitations and further advance safe robot operation, we propose a human–machine telecollaboration paradigm that features bidirectional performance augmentation with hybrid intelligence. In contrast to the existing teleoperation architecture, where a robot only receives and executes human commands in a single direction, the telecollaboration, as shown in Figure 1, fuses and leverages the hybrid intelligence from both human and robot sides, and keeps human operators away from onsite hazards, thereby improving the overall safety, efficiency, and robustness of the human-robot system, enabling the robust deployment of large-scale autonomous robots in society. This technology has been successfully implemented in over 200 Alibaba’s autonomous delivery robots. They are now serving more than 160 communities across 52 cities in China during the COVID-19 pandemic (Alibaba Group’s). With remote help from human operators, one robot can deliver up to 300 packages with more than 40 million obstacle detections and over 5,000 interactions per day. Recently, the fleet of delivery robots reached its milestone of one million parcel deliveries. The key features of the telecollaboration framework are as follows. Edited by: Yanan Li, University of Sussex, United Kingdom