bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Who Would Control Capital?
Authors: Morrison James Ashley
Published: January 2022

This chapter explores the question of who would control capital. Where was the UK's working class in all of this? Where was the new, and rising, Labour Party? Where were the old, but increasingly powerful, labor unions? With an eye to these consequences, social scientists might explain the Conservatives' reluctance to implement the Cunliffe Committee recommendations from a materialist standpoint. Perhaps the Conservatives and Liberals in government abandoned their principles and forsook their interests out of an ambition to gain the favor of working people. If it were so, it was mercurial. After all, the same man who authored these capital controls as a junior minister — Stanley Baldwin — did later remove them as prime minister. Moreover, such an explanation assumes that the working class deprecated the gold standard in 1920. But all of the available evidence shows precisely the opposite.
The German Army on the Western Front
Authors: Hunzeker Michael A.
Published: January 2022

This chapter highlights the German Army's experience on the Western Front. It shows that the German Army learned more effectively as it shifted toward moderately decentralized command practices, developed coherent and independent assessment mechanisms, and exerted centralized control over training. The Germans were the first to reach this ideal setup and were also the first to adopt (most of) the elements of a superior combined-arms doctrine. The chapter also illustrates the way organizational structure influences learning. It argues that the German Army was structured to learn. Its often-cited command practices were part of the story, but its assessment mechanisms and highly centralized training systems were also important. The chapter reveals that the German Army was not more creative or original than its competitors. It was, however, better at turning good concepts into practical doctrine. Ultimately, the chapter examines the importance of tactical performance in the military effectiveness equation, and how the German Army learned faster than its adversaries.
The Red Directors of Torgsin
Authors: Osokina Elena
Published: January 2022

This chapter evaluates Torgsin's chairmen, who served as political commissars at the hard-currency trade front. All the heads of Torgsin were professional revolutionaries and communists with no or little education, economic knowledge, or experience in commerce. They were of Jewish descent, but they were brought to Soviet trade by revolution rather than by any pre-revolutionary experience in commerce, where Jews had traditionally occupied a prominent position. The biographies of Torgsin's chairmen help one understand that Torgsin was a party and state mission. The standing of the person whom the politburo appointed to lead Torgsin served as a measure of its importance and the expectations of the country's leadership. The chapter then presents a biography of Torgsin's first chairman, Moisei Izrailevich Shkliar.
Prices
Authors: Osokina Elena
Published: January 2022

This chapter highlights the prices in Torgsin. The government created Torgsin not to save the starving but to aid industrialization. Prices had to provide an accumulation of savings for industrial development. To maximize profits, the government exploited the mass famine by requiring a significant increase in Torgsin's sale prices. This way, both the consumer's hungry demand and the government's dictates directed the pricing policy. The price changes in Torgsin went through several phases. The beginning period of 1931–1932 was marked by relative freedom. Formally, Torgsin had to present its price lists to Narkomvneshtorg for approval, but this order was not observed. The creation of two additional bureaucratic offices, the Price Bureau and the Price Council, made price regulation less prone to adjustment. However, decisions on Torgsin's prices still remained within Narkomvneshtorg's jurisdiction with Torgsin's active involvement.
Soviet Brothels
Authors: Osokina Elena
Published: January 2022

This chapter discusses the brothels in Torgsin. The foreign exchange earnings of the seaport torgsins were not great, but the ship chandlers' operations, perhaps, more than any other Torgsin activities, reveal the essence of this enterprise — a rejection of ideological principles for the sake of profits in hard cash. The opening of the seaport torgsins became part of a nationwide centralization of hard-currency operations to provide for industrial development. According to its authorities, Torgsin represented the world's first attempt at “a centralized supply of foreign ships.” Documents, however, show that Torgsin's seaport service largely followed in the footsteps of prerevolutionary practices. A significant number of Torgsin ship chandlers used to work in the private seaport trade under the tsar. They brought with them to Torgsin the “evils of capitalism” — bribes, social segregation, alcoholism, and prostitution. There were plenty of Soviet characteristics in Torgsin's seaport service as well: mismanagement, poor-quality products, and omnipresence of the political police. The political police pursued goals other than personal interests in preserving the torgsin dens: the prostitutes and speculators collected information about foreigners.
Torgsin and the Political Police
Authors: Osokina Elena
Published: January 2022

This chapter reviews the relationship between Torgsin and the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU), the political police. At first, the OGPU considered Torgsin to be harmful and argued against opening it to Soviet customers. After the politburo made a positive decision on the matter, however, the OGPU had to obey. Its representatives were on the governmental commission that, at the end of 1931, defined the regions and methods of Torgsin's activities. The local OGPU offices provided information to Torgsin's emissaries about the “gold potential” of the region and the expediency of opening a hard-currency store there. Torgsin used the OGPU for many other purposes — to put pressure on negligent suppliers, to transport secret correspondence and valuables, to purge its apparatus of “socially alien elements,” and to fight embezzlement and other economic crimes, to name a few. Alongside this cooperation, there was a rivalry between Torgsin and the OGPU caused by the fact that both relied on the same source — people's valuable savings — to fulfill hard-currency and gold quotas prescribed by the state.
The Seller Is Always Right
Authors: Osokina Elena
Published: January 2022

This chapter examines Torgsin's employees. The quality of staff was Torgsin's big problem. The government had to choose between political loyalty and professional qualifications. These two somehow did not go together: as a rule, a faithful party member had neither education nor experience in commerce, while an educated professional usually belonged to the “former exploiters” of tsarist Russia. Torgsin's leaders found a compromise solution to the dilemma. The administrative apparatus consisted of party members with some elementary education who served as political commissars in Soviet trade. Representing a minority of Torgsin's staff, they held power. Specialists, sales clerks, and cashiers, as a rule, had education and experience but were not party members. All the Torgsin chairmen were professional revolutionaries with considerable party experience.
Twilight
Authors: Osokina Elena
Published: January 2022

This chapter evaluates the closure of Torgsin. According to Torgsin's five-year plan, it had to work at least until 1938. But the end came earlier; the government began to reduce Torgsin's network shortly after the famine. In 1934 and 1935, the process was in full swing. Initially, however, there was no plan for a complete elimination. Torgsin was to continue trading for foreign-currency cash and money transfers from abroad. In other words, the government intended to preserve some legal hard-currency market, although Torgsin had to reorient entirely to the external sources of foreign exchange. This plan failed. After Torgsin's liquidation, all monetary operations within the USSR, including services to foreigners, were to be conducted exclusively in regular rubles. With Torgsin's elimination, the country left behind a short period in which the currency policy had been loosened and returned to a rigid state hard-currency monopoly.
Sideshow
Authors: Fujii Lee Ann
Published: January 2022

This chapter extends the analysis by looking at extralethal displays that occurred in Bosnia and Rwanda. In Bosnia, the chapter examines the violence that occurred in the Omarska prison camp, arguably the most notorious of all the Bosnian Serb-run camps during the war. It looks at various forms of extralethal acts, from the mundane (forcing prisoners to sing Serb nationalist songs) to the more spectacular (the torture of a group of former friends). In Rwanda, the chapter investigates the extralethal violence committed by a regional official and ardent supporter of the genocide, a man called Joseph. Joseph actively participated in the genocide, but also engaged in violent displays of his own.
Nizwa’s Lasting Legacy of Slavery
Authors: Sachedina Amal
Published: January 2022

This chapter begins by describing the specific nature of slavery in Nizwa and the social relationships it generated through the idea of clientage even after manumission. It then looks at the social and political dimensions of being descended from slaves or being from the khādim (servant) class in the era of modern state building and homogenous citizenship. The nahda led to the abolishment of slavery as part of the operation toward creating a united citizenry. However, many Nizwanis (and others) construe state management of tribal hierarchies and kinship ties to be in direct contradiction to the state's discourse of a common history and culture. Moreover, the importance of genealogy is officially sanctioned by a recalibrated sharīʿa, now relegated to the domain of family or personal status law, through the principle of kafāʾa, or equivalence in marriage. This paradox has produced widely acknowledged tribal discrimination in the workplace and in marriage. It has also resulted in fiery debates about the relationship between the Islamic discursive tradition, differential status accorded by tribal genealogies, and intermarriage in ways deeply informed by the lived realities of nationhood, including liberal notions of equality, human rights, and capitalist modernity.
Introduction
Authors: Pempel T. J.
Published: January 2022

This introductory chapter discusses shared regional transformation in the Asia-Pacific in the post-Second World War era. It also considers one of the most puzzling geographic anomalies in contemporary political economy. The chapter takes a look at the relationship among politics, economics, and policy in East Asia and at how diverse interactions of national political economies link to the fluctuating dynamics across the Asia-Pacific as a whole. It then advances six conclusions, of which it briefly enumerates before presenting an analytic framework that examines distinct configurations among state institutions: socioeconomics and external forces on the one hand and economic trajectories on the other. The chapter also discusses the term “regime” as the conceptual umbrella to capture the specific configurations of political, socioeconomic, and external forces that have prevailed across ten East Asian countries for sustained and instructive periods during the postwar era.
Developmental Regimes
Authors: Pempel T. J.
Published: January 2022

This chapter argues that certain economic achievements arose in tandem with a specific type of regime in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, and a particular economic paradigm. The three national experiences, though not identical, were sufficiently analogous in a number of fundamentals that they can be treated as a group. They provide empirical manifestations of “developmental regimes.” All three had strong and cohesive state institutions; each had concentrated and dominant progrowth socioeconomic coalitions; all received extensive security and economic support from the United States and enjoyed the benefits of global financial and trade institutions. Each regime bonded around the so-called “protection pacts.” Driven by a shared sense of existential threat, foreign and domestic elites joined together to advance an economic policy paradigm that the chapter considers “embedded mercantilism.” Core components included industrial policy, undervalued currencies, export expansion, and rapid industrialization, all advancing behind institutional bulwarks against the perceived threats.
“Hyenas in Bonnets”
Authors: Lucey Colleen
Published: January 2022

This chapter contends that the figure of the procuress and madam garnered universal hatred not only among writers but also doctors, sociologists, and abolitionists, who drew upon anti-Semitic rhetoric and fears of “white slavery” to galvanize the public against the go-between and her profession. She was imagined to be a woman more dangerous than the demimondaine, a force harder to contain than the brothel worker, and a villain fiercer than the gold-digging coquette. Indeed, the antagonism toward madams and procuresses was far stronger than that toward other women who defied traditional norms of motherhood. As the chapter demonstrates, at the heart of condemnations of Russia's “hyenas in bonnets” was a deep distrust of women entrepreneurs who acquired social and financial capital. The procuress became a repository for male frustration at women who managed, despite their reproductive irrelevance, to gain a cultural relevancy in their roles as go-betweens.
Conclusion
Authors: Lucey Colleen
Published: January 2022

This concluding chapter considers attitudes toward sex work in modern-day Russia. While sex workers and their allies in today's Russia have argued for the legalization of the venal economy on various judicial grounds, politicians remain deeply wedded to the belief that prostitution is a social vice and should be policed as such. Informing these retrograde discussions of sexual labor is a firm belief, made recalcitrant in the post-Soviet era, that prostitution represented the nation's social and political decline. The reconstitution of erotic life in contemporary Russia mirrors imperial era panics about social degeneracy that connected prostitution with infection and disease. Yet the topic of prostitution likewise offered Russia's cultural elite a means to discuss women's sexual and economic emancipation. Whether romanticized or demonized, commercial sex appeared as a contested means for women's emancipation, as these women found commodification a means not only for survival but for social and economic advancement.
One Man’s Freedom Fighter?
Authors: Thomas Ward
Published: January 2022

This chapter delves into the growth in transnational terrorist organizations and the global debate over terrorism against which it unfolded. It examines how contestation of the definition of “terrorism” became a critical part of the political landscape associated with the problem, and shaped norms regarding what constituted permissible conduct by inferior forces in asymmetrical conflicts. The chapter then jumps to review the literature on terrorism. While this work is richly detailed and informative, scholars have struggled to generate causal explanations for terrorism, which occurs across a vast range of conditions. The chapter discusses the use of the term “terrorism” before it became the subject of contestation in the early 1970s. It outlines the logical nexus between the two closely related tracks, which is rooted in guerrilla warfare's implications for the treatment of civilian populations. The chapter also recounts the second track of contestation, which built upon the normative assumptions inherent in the push to legitimize guerrilla warfare to reconfigure the international discourse relating to “terrorism” itself. The chapter assesses how the impasse on the conceptions of terrorism shaped the trajectory of international terrorism in recent decades.
Introduction
Authors: Stewart Andrew J.
Published: January 2022

This introductory chapter provides an overview of how the twin problems of data breaches and computer hacking are compounded by a modern-day field of information security that has become trapped in a cycle of addressing the symptoms of security problems rather than attempting to fix the underlying causes. This is not only because there is a constant torrent of new technologies and new security vulnerabilities to keep up with but also because of a human bias toward the New. This “epistemic closure” within the field of information security — a term used to describe the situation in which a group retreats from reality into a make-believe world — has caused the past to be forsaken for the present. These three profound failures — data breaches, the use of computer hacking by nation-states, and epistemic closure — are visible stigmata that mark the field of information security. It is only by confronting causes, not symptoms, that the three stigmata can be addressed, and this requires an understanding of how they came to exist.
Evading the KGB to Make Contacts
Authors: Doder Dusko , Branson Louise
Published: January 2022

This chapter evaluates the challenge and danger of making contact with foreign correspondents. One day, Henry Kamm of the New York Times and the author met with the former World War II troop commander Piotr Grigorenko. Despite the pressure and the certainty of surveillance, Grigorenko wanted to talk. Dissent for him, as for others, was directly linked to the suppression of the liberal Czech regime. The Soviet intervention had been followed by massive repression within the Soviet Union. As the two journalists left Grigorenko's apartment, several plainclothes KGB men pushed them roughly aside. Within minutes, they were manhandling Grigorenko past the two, his head pushed down so that he could make no contact. The episode underscored an uncomfortable truth: every time dissidents reached out to foreign journalists, they risked everything, and foreign journalists, by contrast, risked almost nothing. Soviet authorities knew that if they revoked an American journalist's visa, the US would almost certainly retaliate with the expulsion of a Soviet journalist. Besides dissidents, another group that provided unauthorized access into the Soviet was Soviet Jews.
Love Changes Everything
Authors: Doder Dusko , Branson Louise
Published: January 2022

This chapter details how the author met and fell in love with journalist Louise Branson. Branson loved journalism and talking about the Soviet Union. She talked about the Soviet Union with a fascination for how Russians coped with the absurdities of their daily lives. Just as the author was retreating from his career in the Soviet Union, Branson was enthusiastically beginning hers. In January of 1985, they were both assigned, along with most other US Moscow correspondents, to cover the meeting between Secretary of State George Shultz and Andrei Gromyko, the Soviet foreign minister, in Geneva. The chapter then looks at how Mikhail Gorbachev became elected as the new general secretary of the Communist Party. With the younger, healthy Gorbachev in the Kremlin, and with Celestine Bohlen as an additional Washington Post correspondent, the author no longer felt constantly watchful, manacled to the office, fearful of missing some development.
Casey’s Revenge
Authors: Doder Dusko , Branson Louise
Published: January 2022

This chapter describes how the author's first story on the intelligence beat not only put him in the middle of a vicious turf war between the two most powerful figures in the Reagan administration for control over US foreign policy, but it unleashed the intelligence community's retribution on him for reporting that embarrassed them. Secretary of State George Shultz, believing the United States should deal with the new Soviet leader, was pushing for a summit meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev. CIA director William Casey, who had managed Reagan's reelection campaign and who, like Reagan, was deeply anti-Communist, was doing all he could to derail any meeting. In early August of 1986, just as Shultz was about to announce that a Reagan–Gorbachev summit would be held in Reykjavik on October 11–12, a Russian diplomat was arrested in a sting operation in New York. The Russians immediately retaliated with a sting of their own and arrested the U.S. News & World Report Moscow correspondent Nick Daniloff on espionage charges.
Seeking a New Life in China
Authors: Doder Dusko , Branson Louise
Published: January 2022

This chapter details how, though the author loved the Washington Post and could not imagine quitting, his lack of enthusiasm for covering intelligence, the FBI investigation, and the Post's reaction had exhausted him and left him dispirited. Thus, he took a job offer from U.S. News & World Report, when it decided to reopen its Beijing bureau. Though the author had long disliked the group journalism of newsmagazines, this was not his first thought. He immediately saw it as a possible way to be with Louise Branson in China much sooner. The chapter then looks at how the author witnessed the start of the events leading up to the Tiananmen Square uprising and massacre. It all started on April 15, 1989, when the Chinese Politburo member Hu Yaobang died at age seventy-three. With his death, Hu became a symbol of a yearning for Gorbachev-style reforms in China.
“What Wireless Is Yet to Be”
Authors: Lewis Tom
Published: January 2022

This chapter opens with the discussion of Ray Stannard Baker's The Boy's Book of Inventions: Stories of the Wonders of Modern Science and Russell Doubleday's Stories of Inventors: The Adventures of Inventors and Engineers, True Incidents and Personal Experiences. Drawing upon Otto Lilienthal's study of birds, the pioneer of flight made substantial advances in the design of gliders, including the use of arched rather than flat surfaces on his wings. The chapter then shifts to focus on Edwin Howard Armstrong's early life and the life on Warburton Avenue. Armstrong passed his childhood and youth in the calm and comfort that middle-class families were able to maintain during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The chapter then recounts Armstrong's relationship with Charles Underhill, a wireless enthusiast and inventor. It also introduces a faculty member who influenced Armstrong most profoundly in his investigations of wireless — Michael Pupin. The chapter highlights Armstrong's inquiries about the potential of regeneration and his discovery of its application to the amplification abilities of the vacuum tube.
Sarnoff and Marconi: Inventing a Legend
Authors: Lewis Tom
Published: January 2022

This chapter recounts the plight of the Jews in Minsk — detailing the shtetl of Uzlian. It argues that they had been confined to small shtetls, villages of at most a few hundred inhabitants since the reign of Catherine the Great. The chapter then chronicles David Sarnoff's early life while living with his uncle. It tracks his rough passage to America and how he became the ultimate hot and cold warrior, designing the communications operations for D-Day. The chapter also reveals an essential truth of Sarnoff's indomitable will to survive in the New World. His character and his discipline augured well for his success. The chapter then looks at Sarnoff's purchase of newsstand in Hell's Kitchen, and follows his second stroke of good luck: getting work at American Marconi. In addition to his enterprise, quick intelligence, skills, and contacts with Marconi, Sarnoff had demonstrated a flair for garnering at least some public recognition for his role in reporting the Titanic. The chapter discusses a powerful new regeneration receiver created by Michael Pupin's protégé and assistant, Edwin Howard Armstrong. It then reviews the encounter between Armstrong and Sarnoff.
“Until I’m Dead or Broke”
Authors: Lewis Tom
Published: January 2022

This chapter assesses the gradual fade out of AM as listeners prefer the finer quality of sound and static-free reception that FM offered. It looks at how commercial broadcasters use the Federal Communications Commission, the power of advertising, and the new power of television to hinder the postwar development of FM. Certainly, no communications executive worked more assiduously than David Sarnoff to cultivate a cordial spirit of cooperation between RCA and members of the commission. Looking to the end of the war and the new era of communications that would come with peace, the chapter then recounts the hearings in the fall of 1944 about frequency allocations in the radio spectrum. It discusses the changes in the allocation of the spectrum and changes in the power of FM stations. The chapter delves into the changes in band frequency allocation, the adoption of the single market plan, and the duplication of AM programs. It then reviews how this dulled the threat of FM to the network broadcast industry and denied Howard Armstrong the chance to collect great sums on his invention.
Fast, low-memory detection and localization of large, polymorphic inversions from SNPs
Authors: Nowling Ronald J. , Fallas-Moya Fabian , Sadovnik Amir , Emrich Scott , Aleck Matthew , Leskiewicz Daniel , Peters John G.
Published: January 2022

Background

Large (>1 Mb), polymorphic inversions have substantial impacts on population structure and maintenance of genotypes. These large inversions can be detected from single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data using unsupervised learning techniques like PCA. Construction and analysis of a feature matrix from millions of SNPs requires large amount of memory and limits the sizes of data sets that can be analyzed.

Methods

We propose using feature hashing construct a feature matrix from a VCF file of SNPs for reducing memory usage. The matrix is constructed in a streaming fashion such that the entire VCF file is never loaded into memory at one time.

Results

When evaluated on Anopheles mosquito and Drosophila fly data sets, our approach reduced memory usage by 97% with minimal reductions in accuracy for inversion detection and localization tasks.

Conclusion

With these changes, inversions in larger data sets can be analyzed easily and efficiently on common laptop and desktop computers. Our method is publicly available through our open-source inversion analysis software, Asaph.
Doxycycline Postexposure Prophylaxis and Sexually Transmitted Infection Trends
Authors: Sankaran Madeline , Glidden David V. , Kohn Robert P. , Nguyen Trang Q. , Bacon Oliver , Buchbinder Susan P. , Gandhi Monica , Havlir Diane V. , Liebi Courtney , Luetkemeyer Anne F. , Nguyen Janet Q. , Roman Jorge , Scott Hyman , Torres Thiago S. , Cohen Stephanie E.
Published: January 2025

Importance

Increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have been associated with rises in serious morbidity. While doxycycline postexposure prophylaxis (doxyPEP), a strategy in which individuals take doxycycline, 200 mg, after condomless sex to prevent bacterial STIs, has been shown to be efficacious in randomized clinical trials, doxyPEP’s potential effect on population-level STI incidence is unknown.

Objective

To assess the association of citywide doxyPEP guideline release with reported chlamydia, gonorrhea, and early syphilis cases in men who have sex with men (MSM) and in transgender women in San Francisco, California.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This population-level interrupted time series analysis of reported San Francisco STI cases measured monthly cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and early syphilis prior to (July 2021-October 2022) and after (November 2022-November 2023) release of citywide doxyPEP guidelines in October 2022. All reported chlamydia, gonorrhea, and early syphilis cases among MSM and transgender women in San Francisco during the period of analysis were included. Data were analyzed November 2023 to July 2024.

Exposure

Release of doxyPEP citywide guidelines.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome was the percentage change between projected and observed chlamydia, gonorrhea, and early syphilis cases in the 13-month postexposure period.

Results

Citywide, there were 6694 cases of chlamydia, 9603 cases of gonorrhea, and 2121 cases of early syphilis among MSM and transgender women during the analytic period. STI cases among MSM and transgender women decreased significantly compared with model projections for chlamydia (−6.58% per month; 95% CI, −7.99% to −5.16%) and early syphilis (−2.68% per month; 95% CI, −3.75% to −1.60%) after doxyPEP implementation. By the end of the 13-month postperiod in November 2023, chlamydia and early syphilis cases decreased −49.64% (95% CI, −59.05% to −38.06%) and −51.39% (95% CI, −58.21% to −43.46%), respectively, compared with projected cases. There was a significant increase in monthly gonorrhea cases compared with projections (1.77% per month; 95% CI, 0.87% to 2.67%).

Conclusions and Relevance

This study suggests that San Francisco’s doxyPEP guideline release was associated with decreases in reported cases of chlamydia and early syphilis, but not gonorrhea, among MSM and transgender women in San Francisco. Further analyses are needed to assess whether declines are sustained and monitor for adverse consequences, including antimicrobial resistance. Supporting doxyPEP implementation for MSM and transgender women at risk for STIs could have a significant impact on the nationwide STI epidemic.
The [2Fe‐2S] cluster of mitochondrial outer membrane protein mitoNEET has an O2‐regulated nitric oxide access tunnel
Authors: Hoang Thao Nghi , Wu‐Lu Meritxell , Collauto Alberto , Hagedoorn Peter‐Leon , Alexandru Madalina , Henschel Maike , Kordasti Shahram , Mroginski Maria Andrea , Roessler Maxie M. , Ebrahimi Kourosh H.
Published: January 2025

The mitochondrial outer membrane iron–sulphur ([Fe‐S]) protein mitoNEET has been extensively studied as a target of the anti‐inflammatory and type‐2 diabetes drug pioglitazone and as a protein affecting mitochondrial respiratory rate. Despite these extensive past studies, its molecular function has yet to be discovered. Here, we applied an interdisciplinary approach and discovered an explicit nitric oxide (NO) access site to the mitoNEET [2Fe‐2S] cluster. We found that O2 and pioglitazone block NO access to the cluster, suggesting a molecular function for the mitoNEET [2Fe‐2S] cluster in mitochondrial signal transduction. Our discovery hints at a new pathway via which mitochondria can sense hypoxia through O2 protection of the mitoNEET [2Fe‐2S] cluster, a new paradigm in understanding the importance of [Fe‐S] clusters for gasotransmitter signal transduction in eukaryotes.
Enhancing Lithium‐Mediated Nitrogen Reduction with Porous Polymer Fibers Featuring Lithium‐Ion Affinity
Authors: Shin Dongwoo , Choi Ahee , Han Dong‐Yeob , Bak Gwangsu , Yoo Suhwan , Jeon Yeongbae , Park Soojin , Hwang Yun Jeong
Published: January 2025

The interaction between the electrolyte and working electrode surface affects the cascade of reactions involving Li deposition, N2, and proton carriers and consequently the NH3 production from Li‐mediated nitrogen reduction reaction (Li‐NRR). Efficient Li‐NRR at low Li concentrations is particularly challenging because of low current density and uneven Li metal and lithium nitride plating. Here, the enhanced electrochemical production of NH3 for a low Li concentration of 0.5 m are demonstrated by employing 3D porous polymer fibers featuring Li+‐affinity on Cu electrodes. Raman and IR spectroscopic analyses exhibit that the polymeric fibers composed of carboxyl and hydroxyl groups can form Li‐binding complexes and decrease interactions with solvents and anions in the electrolyte. The electrochemical analyses support that this polymeric porous structure serves to retain Li+ near the electrode, expanding the active surface area and increasing current density. The Li‐affinitive polymer fibers are effective even at a low Li salt concentration of 0.5 m to improve NH3 yield and Faradaic efficiency. This study underscores the importance of porous morphology, Li affinity, and its analytical methods in understanding Li‐NRR.
Octopus‐Inpired Multicamouflage Smart Fabric by Dynamic‐Bond‐Based Hydrochromic Artificial Muscle
Authors: Leng Xueqi , Liu Lisha , Liu Shiyong , Li Yuanyuan , Xiao Yicheng , Bao Lili , Zhu Meifang , zhou Qiang , Zhu Tianyu , Xue Lihao , Liu Zunfeng , Zhou Xiang
Published: January 2025

In nature, many animals protect themselves through deformation, discoloration, and infrared concealment to achieve multiple forms of camouflage. Camouflage fabrics designed for deserts and rainforests have vastly different requirements for color, breathability, and infrared emission. However, the development of corresponding smart fabrics remains a significant challenge. In this work, a novel dynamic‐bond‐controlled hygro‐responsive hydrochromic wool fiber artificial muscle, inspired by the octopuses, has been developed, which used to construct a smart multi‐camouflage fabric that integrates deformation, allochromasia, and infrared concealment. The obtained fabric exhibits a green color in humid environments (rainforests), with large pores for perspiration. In a dry environment (deserts), the fabric contracts and changes to akhaki color, while the reduction in pore size enhances infrared shielding. As the relative humidity increases from 20% to 100%, the average pore size of multi‐camouflage smart fabric decreases by ∼84%, minimizing the radiative temperature difference between 36 °C target. This results in a temperature reduction of 5.2 °C for the target. The hydrochromic artificial muscle is also employed to develop smart fabrics that mimic octopus‐like behaviors. With its biocompatible, biodegradable, high thermal insulation, and comfortable wearability, the dynamic‐bond‐based multifunctional muscle fabric opens up additional possibilities for smart textiles, information technology, and artificial intelligence.
Multiple Schottky Contacts Motivated via Defects to Tune the Response Ability of Electromagnetic Waves
Authors: Chen Yikun , Wang Xinqiang , Cui Wen‐Gang , Gao Yong , Pan Hongge , Wang Yan , Che Renchao
Published: January 2025

Metal‐organic framework (MOF) derivatives employed as novel microwave‐absorbing materials (MAMs) have garnered significant attention due to their diverse in situ or ex situ coordinated components and the flexibility in nano‐microstructure fabrication. A well‐designed heterointerface can provide an optimal balance between impedance and high‐loss capability. However, precisely tuning semiconductor‐metal‐carbon heterostructures remains a huge challenge. Herein, a multi‐component NiS/Co3S4/NiCo@CNTs/NC nanohybrid with hollow structure is elaborately fabricated using a convenient solvothermal method followed by high‐temperature pyrolysis, forming a unique heterostructure with multiple Schottky contacts. This nanohybrid demonstrates a remarkable reflection loss value of −75.9 dB at thickness of 2.6 mm. The transcendent microwave absorption (MA) capacity is primarily attributed to the intense polarization relaxation process and superb impedance‐matching properties of the semiconductor/metal/carbon hybrid structure with Schottky barriers. In addition, the built‐in electric field established at the Schottky heterointerfaces increases the electron transport capabilities. Notably, the controllable introduction of numerous defects into the carbon layer intensifies the interfacial polarization effect at the Schottky heterointerfaces of the nanohybrid. This study offers innovative insights into the mechanisms of polarization loss and the development of high‐performance MAMs.
Structure Engineering by Picosecond Laser Lithography Boosts Highly Reversible Zn Anode
Authors: Zhan Shengkang , Liu Zixuan , Ning Fanghua , Liu Xiaoyu , Dai Ye , Lu Shigang , Xia Yongyao , Yi Jin
Published: January 2025

The practical application of aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) is impeded by the instability of the Zn anode|electrolyte interface, including dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and corrosion. Herein, the periodical micro‐nano structure is constructed on the surface of Zn anode through picosecond laser lithography (PLL) technology. This micro‐nano surface structure is conductive to obtain hydrophobicity for diminishing direct contact between the electrolyte and Zn anode, enhancing the corrosion resistance of the Zn anode. Simultaneously, the low surface energy and reconstructed electric field are achieved through laser‐induced texture microstructure, leading to the oriented Zn2+ deposition along the (002) plane. As a result, the lower electrochemical polarization and long cycling stability of 1400 h for Zn||Zn symmetric cell is achieved at 4 mA cm−2 and 2 mAh cm−2. The average coulombic efficiency (CE) of the Zn||Cu cell is enhanced to 99.83% at 2 mA cm−2, while the Zn||MnO2 cell delivers a capacity retention of 68.7% after 600 cycles at 1 A g−1. Consequently, the advantages of micro‐nano structure can highlight the importance of surface structure design for the development of stable Zn anode.
Active Electron Cooling of Graphene
Authors: Paolucci Federico , Bianco Federica , Giazotto Francesco , Roddaro Stefano
Published: January 2025

In the emergent field of quantum technology, the ability to manage heat at the nanoscale and in cryogenic conditions is crucial for enhancing device performance in terms of noise, coherence, and sensitivity. Here, active cooling and refrigeration of the electron gas in graphene are demonstrated, by taking advantage of nanoscale superconducting tunnel contacts able to pump or extract heat directly from the electrons in the device. These structures achieved a top cooling of electrons in graphene of ∼15.5 mK at a bath temperature of ∼448 mK, demonstrating the viability of the proposed device architecture. These experimental findings are backed by a detailed thermal model that accurately replicated the observed behavior. Alternative cooling schemes and perspectives are discussed in light of the reported results. Finally, graphene electron cooling could find application in superconducting hybrid quantum technologies, such as radiation detectors, logic gates and qubits.
Tandem Active Sites in Cu/Mo‐WO3 Electrocatalysts for Efficient Electrocatalytic Nitrate Reduction to Ammonia
Authors: Dai Ying , Li Shuangjun , Li Xue , Liu Kaihong , Guo Yanna , Li Hexing , Jiang Bo
Published: January 2025

Electrocatalytic NO3− reduction to NH3 is a promising technique for both ammonia synthesis and nitrate wastewater treatment. However, this conversion involves tandem processes of H2O dissociation and NO3− hydrogenation, leading to inferior NH3 Faraday efficiency (FE) and yield rate. Herein, a tandem catalyst by anchoring atomically dispersed Cu species on Mo‐doped WO3 (Cu5/Mo0.6‐WO3) for the NO3RR is constructed, which achieves a superior FENH3 of 98.6% and a yield rate of 26.25 mg h−1 mgcat−1 at −0.7 V (vs RHE) in alkaline media, greatly exceeding the performance of Mo0.6‐WO3 and Cu5/WO3 counterparts. Systematic electrochemical measurement results reveal that the promoted activation of NO3− on Cu sites, accompanying accelerated water dissociation producing active hydrogens on Mo sites, are responsible for this superior performance. In situ infrared spectroscopy and theoretical calculation further demonstrate that atomically dispersed Cu sites accelerate the conversion of NO3− to NO2−, and the Mo dopant activates adjacent Cu sites, resulting in the decreased energy barrier of *NO2 to *NO and the stepwise hydrogenation processes, making the synthesis of NH3 thermodynamically favorable. This work demonstrates the critical role of tandem active sites at atomic level in enhancing the electrocatalytic NO3− reduction to NH3, paving a feasible avenue for developing high‐performance electrocatalysts.
Impact of Electrolyte Decomposition on Copper Corrosion in Li6PS5Cl‐Based All‐Solid‐State Batteries
Authors: Kwon Ohmin , Kang Juhui , Kim Suhyeon , Yoon Taeho
Published: January 2025

All‐solid‐state batteries (ASSBs) with sulfide‐based electrolytes, such as argyrodite (Li₆PS₅Cl, LPSCl), offer significant advantages regarding safety and energy density. However, conventional Cu current collectors with LPSCl suffer from corrosion, necessitating a deeper understanding of appropriate mechanisms and strategies to address them. This study investigates the impact of electrolyte decomposition on Cu degradation in sulfide‐based ASSBs. Accelerated experiments reveal that LPSCl decomposition forms an ineffective passive layer on Cu, resulting in significant corrosion above 2 V during delithiation. In addition, the corrosion potential implies that sulfide and chlorine species are involved in the corrosion reaction. Comparative analyses with Ni current collectors, which are known for their resistance to the corrosive species, demonstrate superior stability to Cu. Corrosion‐prevention strategies are proposed based on the elucidated mechanisms, with the Pilling–Bedworth ratio explaining why certain metal sulfide layers formed during electrolyte decomposition may fail to effectively prevent corrosion. These insights support the development of targeted protective strategies and alternative current collector materials to enhance the durability and performance of sulfide‐based ASSBs.
Oxygen Edge‐Sharing Strategy in P2‐Type Na0.67MnO2 Cathodes: Synergistic Enhancement of Intercalation Kinetics and Air Stability
Authors: Liu Yuanming , Wang Shiyu , Fu Weijie , Yao Shuyun , Ji Yingjie , Li Jingxian , Shi Lanlan , Wang Xiaojun , Zhang Feike , Yang Jinghua , Liu Ruilong , Xie Jiangzhou , Yang Zhiyu , Yan Yi‐Ming
Published: January 2025

Mn‐based layered oxides have garnered significant attention as cathode materials for energy storage due to their environmental benignity and high theoretical specific capacity. However, practical applications remain constrained by sluggish Na+ intercalation kinetics and poor structural stability. In this study, it is engineered that the Mn‐O‐B unit through an oxygen edge‐sharing strategy to modulate Mn─O covalency in P2‐type Na0.67MnO2, thereby achieving high specific capacity and structural stability. Both experimental results and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that increased TM‐O covalency facilitates Na+ diffusion in P2‐type Na0.67MnO2 while simultaneously enhancing air stability. The as‐prepared P2‐type Na0.67MnB0.05O2 exhibits a specific capacitance of 452 F g−1 at 1 A g−1, maintaining 96.75% capacity retention after 8800 cycles. This work elucidates the critical role of oxygen edge‐sharing in optimizing interactions between transition metal and oxygen atoms, establishing a relationship between Mn─O structure and functional properties. These findings advance the development of high‐performance energy storage technologies.
Unique H2O Vortex in One New MOF Material Strengthening C3H6 Adsorption and Unprecedented Purification from C2H4/C3H8/C3H6 Mixtures
Authors: Zhang Lin , Gao Rui‐Cheng , Liu Xin , Zhang Bin , Hou Lei , Wang Yao‐Yu
Published: January 2025

The gradual separation of the naphtha steam cracking product (propane/propylene/ethylene, C3H8/C3H6/C2H4) to obtain highly pure C3H6 is of great significance as it provides an alternative process for this important industrial feedstock. However, developing adsorbents to meet the efficient separation and purification application remains challenging. A water coordination‐decorated metal–organic framework (MOF, Cd‐dtzip‐H2O) material is reported. Interestingly, water molecules cooperate with the framework to build a water vortex and significantly affect the preferential adsorption for C3H6. At 298 K and 100 kPa, the loading of C3H6 in the material is 112.0 cm3 g−1, equivalent to 1.7 and 2.0 times of C3H8 and C2H4, respectively. Experimental breakthroughs show that the material efficiently separates C3H6/C3H8 and C3H6/C2H4 under different pressures. Meanwhile, it also unprecedentedly achieves the one‐step separation of C2H4/C3H8/C3H6 mixtures yielding high‐purity C3H6 (99.9%) and C2H4 (99.95%) products with the productivities of 38.2 and 12.7 L kg−1, respectively.
Plasmonic Nanodiamond – Microneedle Bioinspired System for Ultrarapid Sampling and Quantum Sensing of Melanoma‐Related MiRNA
Authors: Wu Min , Liu Lei , Xing Youqiang , Wu Ze , Huang Peng , Li Bingjue
Published: January 2025

MicroRNA (miRNA) in interstitial fluid (ISF) is a promising biomarker for early disease diagnosis, but its quantification is challenging due to low sampling efficiency and weak signals. Here, inspired by the osmotic pressure‐driven feeding mechanism of sea anemones, a novel is designed that plasmonic nanodiamonds – microneedles (PND‐MNs) bioinspired system for ultrarapid sampling and quantum sensing of melanoma‐related miRNA. Specifically, high‐osmotic hydrogel microneedles, prepared by immersing in LiCl solution, exhibit a substantial swelling ratio for rapid ISF enrichment, extracting 0.92 ± 0.14 mg within 5 min. Concurrently, by coating fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) with hollow composite metal Au‐Ag NPs, precise modulation of the fluorescence intensity of nitrogen vacancy color centers (NV‐center) in FNDs has been achieved. This innovative quantum sensing technology significantly enhances the fluorescence signal in the PND‐MNs bioinspired system, amplifying it by a factor of 16, reducing the detection limit of miRNA to an unprecedented 0.68 fm (to the knowledge, no method based on fluorescent microneedles for detecting biomarkers has surpassed this level). Furthermore, the PND‐MNs bioinspired system, employing backpropagation neural network (BPNN), achieves high accuracy in recognizing miRNA concentrations (R2 = 0.9986). By combining rapid sampling, signal enhancement, and machine learning, it holds promise for detecting ISF biomarkers, offering significant clinical applications.
Enhancement of Osseointegration via Endogenous Electric Field by Regulating the Charge Microenvironments around Implants
Authors: Xu Fangfang , Zhao Guangbin , Gong Yuxin , Liang Xiang , Yu Ming , Cui Hao , Xie Linyang , Zhu Nan , Zhu Xuan , Shao Xiaoxi , Qi Kun , Lu Bingheng , Tu Junbo , Na Sijia
Published: January 2025

The regulation of the charged microenvironment around implants is an effective way to promote osseointegration. Although homeostasis of the charged microenvironment plays an integral role in tissues, current research is externally invasive and unsuitable for clinical applications. In this study, functional materials with different surface potential differences are prepared by changing the spatial layout of Ta and Ag on the surface of a Ti‐6Al‐4V alloy (TC4). This naturally formed an endogenous electric field (EEF) with a negatively charged cell membrane after in vivo implantation and promoted osseointegration at the interface between the bone and implant through the upregulation of Ca2+ concentration and activation of subsequent pathways. Interestingly, the promotion of stem cell differentiation, regulation of the direction of immune cell polarization, and antibacterial efficacy are determined by the free charge contained in the implant, rather than by the magnitude of the surface potential difference. This functional implant represents a unique strategy for regulating the charged microenvironment around the implant and enhancing osseointegration, thereby providing ideas and technical approaches for the clinical development of novel implant materials.