bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Nanocarbon‐Based Electrocatalysts for Rechargeable Aqueous Li/Zn‐Air Batteries
Authors: Wang Ronghua , Chen Zhen , Hu Ning , Xu Chaohe , Shen Zexiang , Liu Jilei 
Published: March 2018

AbstractRechargeable aqueous Li/Zn‐air batteries have become the most attractive energy storage devices because of their extremely high theoretical energy density, which enables electric vehicles to drive long range. However, current achievements still suffer from poor cycle life, low practical energy density, low round‐trip efficiency, and high manufacturing costs. One of the key challenges is the sluggish kinetics of oxygen electrochemistry during discharge and charge cycles. Thus, significant breakthroughs in design and synthesis of efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen redox reaction are highly demanded. Nanocarbons, especially heteroatoms doped nanocarbons, are potential oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts due to the reasonable balance between catalytic activity, durability, and cost. Importantly, by introduction of transition metal nanoparticles, spinel oxides, layered‐double hydroxides, perovskite oxides, and other metal oxides, the constructed nanocarbon‐based materials could deliver promising bifunctional ORR and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic properties, which could be employed as air‐cathode materials to improve energy storage performances, even to get commercialized. Here, an overview of the recent progress of nanocarbon‐based electrocatalysts as air‐cathode materials for rechargeable aqueous Li/Zn‐air batteries is provided, aiming to highlight the benefits and issues of nanocarbon‐based electrocatalysts as well as to outline the most promising results and applications so far.
Ordered Mesoporous Titania/Carbon Hybrid Monoliths for Lithium‐ion Battery Anodes with High Areal and Volumetric Capacity
Authors: Dörr Tobias S. , Fleischmann Simon , Zeiger Marco , Grobelsek Ingrid , de Oliveira Peter W. , Presser Volker 
Published: March 2018

AbstractFree‐standing, binder‐free, and conductive additive‐free mesoporous titanium dioxide/carbon hybrid electrodes were prepared from co‐assembly of a poly(isoprene)‐block‐poly(styrene)‐block‐poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer and a titanium alkoxide. By tailoring an optimized morphology, we prepared macroscopic mechanically stable 300 μm thick monoliths that were directly employed as lithium‐ion battery electrodes. High areal mass loading of up to 26.4 mg cm−2 and a high bulk density of 0.88 g cm−3 were obtained. This resulted in a highly increased volumetric capacity of 155 mAh cm−3, compared to cast thin film electrodes. Further, the areal capacity of 4.5 mAh cm−2 represented a 9‐fold increase compared to conventionally cast electrodes. These attractive performance metrics are related to the superior electrolyte transport and shortened diffusion lengths provided by the interconnected mesoporous nature of the monolith material, assuring superior rate handling, even at high cycling rates.
Effectiveness of various isometric exercises at improving bone strength in cortical regions prone to distal tibial stress fractures
Authors: Florio C.S. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractA computational model was used to compare the local bone strengthening effectiveness of various isometric exercises that may reduce the likelihood of distal tibial stress fractures. The developed model predicts local endosteal and periosteal cortical accretion and resorption based on relative local and global measures of the tibial stress state and its surface variation. Using a multisegment 3‐dimensional leg model, tibia shape adaptations due to 33 combinations of hip, knee, and ankle joint angles and the direction of a single or sequential series of generated isometric resultant forces were predicted. The maximum stress at a common fracture‐prone region in each optimized geometry was compared under likely stress fracture‐inducing midstance jogging conditions. No direct correlations were found between stress reductions over an initially uniform circular hollow cylindrical geometry under these critical design conditions and the exercise‐based sets of active muscles, joint angles, or individual muscle force and local stress magnitudes. Additionally, typically favorable increases in cross‐sectional geometric measures did not guarantee stress decreases at these locations. Instead, tibial stress distributions under the exercise conditions best predicted strengthening ability. Exercises producing larger anterior distal stresses created optimized tibia shapes that better resisted the high midstance jogging bending stresses. Bent leg configurations generating anteriorly directed or inferiorly directed resultant forces created favorable adaptations. None of the studied loads produced by a straight leg was significantly advantageous. These predictions and the insight gained can provide preliminary guidance in the screening and development of targeted bone strengthening techniques for those susceptible to distal tibial stress fractures.
Mechanochemical Reinforcement of Graphene Sheets into Alkyd Resin Matrix for the Development of Electrically Conductive Paints
Authors: Krishnamoorthy Karthikeyan , Pazhamalai Mr. Parthiban , Lim Jong Hwan , Choi Kyung Hyun , Kim Sang‐Jae 
Published: March 2018

AbstractIn this work, we are reporting the preparation of graphene‐based conductive paints using mechanochemically prepared graphene nanosheets as a conductive pigment and alkyd resin as the binder with non‐toxic additives. The surface morphology and intermolecular interactions between the graphene pigments and alkyd resin in the prepared graphene nanopaint are studied using field emission scanning electron microscope, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopic analysis, respectively. The formation of percolation pathways owing to the interconnected graphene sheets in the paint matrix resulted in an excellent conductive behavior of the as‐prepared graphene paint, thus ensuring its applications in conductive paint technology. Furthermore, Raman mapping analysis (including intensity maps and peak position maps) was used to understand the spatial distribution of graphene sheets in the alkyd resin matrix of the paint.
Generation and characterization of a mouse line carrying Reck‐CreERT2 knock‐in allele
Authors: Matsuzaki Tomoko , Wang Huan , Imamura Yukio , Kondo Shunya , Ogawa Shuichiro , Noda Makoto 
Published: March 2018

AbstractReck encodes a membrane‐anchored glycoprotein implicated in the regulation of extracellular metalloproteinases, Notch‐signaling, and Wnt7‐signaling and shown to play critical roles in embryogenesis and tumor suppression. Precise mechanisms of its actions in vivo, however, remain largely unknown. By homologous recombination, we generated a new Reck allele, ReckCreERT2 (MGI symbol: Reck<tm3.1(cre/ERT2)Noda>). This allele is defective in terms of Reck function but expected to induce loxP‐mediated recombination in the cells committed to express Reck. Similarity in the expression patterns of the ReckCreERT2 transgene and the endogenous Reck gene was confirmed in five tissues. In the adult hippocampus, induction of Reck expression after transient cerebral ischemia could be demonstrated using this allele. These results indicate the utility of this Cre‐driver allele in further studies.
Advanced Oxidation Process using DC Corona Discharge over Water
Authors: MIICHI TOMOAKI , KANZAWA RYUYA 
Published: March 2018

SUMMARYThe characteristics of acetic acid decomposition were investigated by a negative dc corona discharge over water. The corona discharge is 4 mm away from the water surface. Hence, this method does not directly treat water using discharge plasma. During corona processing, oxygen or ozone was supplied to the reactor. The concentration of gaseous ozone over water in the reactor was measured by infrared spectroscopy. The optimal discharge treatment conditions were investigated by varying the gas flow rate. It was found that the decomposition rate of acetic acid increased when the gas flow rate was high at the same gaseous ozone concentration. Furthermore, as the gas flow rate increased, the concentration of the water vapor measured by infrared spectroscopy decreased. Our results indicate that the concentration of water vapor and ozone are important for water treatment using a dc corona discharge.
Modelling the effect of hydropeaking‐induced stranding mortality on Atlantic salmon population abundance
Authors: Hedger Richard D. , Sauterleute Julian , Sundt‐Hansen Line E. , Forseth Torbjørn , Ugedal Ola , Diserud Ola H. , Bakken Tor H. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractStudies of hydropeaking‐induced stranding mortality on fish populations have been confined to analysis of empirical data and/or short‐term hydraulic‐habitat modelling of individual events and are thus limited as to how they may be used to infer long‐term effects in fish populations. In this study, the effects of stranding mortality on an Atlantic salmon population were simulated using an individual‐based Atlantic salmon population model with the objective of determining the sensitivity of population dynamics to stranding. It was found that density‐dependent mortality (an alternative source of mortality in juvenile Atlantic salmon) partially compensated for stranding mortality, acting as a negative feedback mechanism that dampened change in population abundance. Stranding caused a perturbation in population dynamics, and effects of individual stranding events persisted in time across the life stages of the population. Effects on population abundance depended on the time of year when stranding was applied, both because of intra‐annual changes in stranding mortality probability and because of intra‐annual changes in the ability of density‐dependent mortality to compensate for stranding mortality. We concluded that empirical measurements of stranding mortality have limited potential for inference of overall effects on the population, and a more dynamic modelling approach, incorporating system feedback, allows for a better modelling of the impact of stranding. Sensitivity analysis showed that population abundance was highly sensitive to density‐dependent mortality, and we suggest that this area should be prioritized for further research when investigating the effects of hydropeaking on rivers.
History, hydrology and hydraulics: Rethinking the ecological management of large rivers
Authors: Mallen‐Cooper Martin , Zampatti Brenton P. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractClimatic extremes capture imaginations and provide a fundamental premise for biologists—that ecosystems are adapted to natural variability. Hence, understanding past extremes provides a template for contemporary ecological models and management. Nevertheless, myths can develop around historical climatic events, distorting perceptions of the past. The mythology of the Murray River in Australia is that over 100 years ago, it naturally “dried to a series of pools” in drought; therefore, the biota are flexible and adapted to hydrological variability and lentic habitats.Analysis of historical and modelled hydrology and hydrodynamics, however, demonstrates that: (a) cease‐to‐flow events were not natural and were instead caused by multiple small‐scale irrigation diversions; and (b) the Murray River had widespread perennial lotic habitats. Within a generation, the spatial, temporal, and causal context was lost and with it, the links between preregulation hydrology and hydraulics, and river ecology.From an intermittently lentic system, we propose an alternative model which integrates ecohydrology and ecohydraulics. Specifically, the model incorporates: (a) persistence of lotic in‐channel and lentic off‐channel refugia, even in droughts; and (b) a reliable spring flow pulse that increases hydrodynamic complexity, promotes longitudinal integrity of lotic conditions and replenishes low‐lying wetlands. The model helps explain the decline of lotic biota, suggesting that hydraulic change has had a greater impact on aquatic biodiversity than changes in hydrology.Being mindful of historical conditions and considering spatio‐temporal ecohydraulics provides new opportunities for the rehabilitation of highly modified rivers and may assist the strategic development of large rivers, including for hydropower.
Dew formation characteristics at annual and daily scale in xerophyte shrub plantations at Southeast margin of Tengger desert, Northern China
Authors: Yan‐Xia Pan , Xin‐Ping Wang , Ya‐Feng Zhang , Rui Hu 
Published: March 2018

AbstractBeing a potential water source in arid and semiarid regions, it is important to quantify the amount of dew. The objective of this study was to determine the annual formation characteristics of dew and the influence of vegetation reconstruction on dew formation in a revegetated desert area. Effects of condensing surface types associated with different plant microhabitats were investigated. We found soil dew mainly depended on air water vapour near soil surface, and primarily formed at 0–3 cm soil layer. Dew formed on 128 days during a 1‐year experiment period could be divided into 2 different periods; the monthly dew yield and the number of dew formation days were highest from May to October, and the cumulative dew yield of July and August accounted for nearly 50% of the annual dew yield. Biological soil crusts facilitated dew formation, with annual dew accumulation of 15.3, 11.9, and 9.6 mm on moss crust, mixed crust, and dune sand, respectively. A longer daily dew production period was found on moss crusts than mixed crusts and dune sand. Plant microhabitats also influenced dew formation characteristics, less dew condense under plant canopies than on dune sand, but the daily dew production period was longer under plant canopies. The findings from this study will provide important and fundamental information to support accurate assessment of the relative importance of dew and rainfall in research on the hydrological cycle of this region, which will be a significant foundation for vegetation protection and ecological restoration in drought environments.
Seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile as a marine biomarker: a metabolomic and toxicological analysis
Authors: Toniolo Chiara , Di Sotto Antonella , Di Giacomo Silvia , Ventura Daniele , Casoli Edoardo , Belluscio Andrea , Nicoletti Marcello , Ardizzone Giandomenico 
Published: March 2018

AbstractA human‐made environmental disaster due to the shipwrecked of Costa Concordia cruise vessel on the Tuscan Island of Giglio (Italy) coast and the possible pollutants release has been feared, so requiring the activation of removal operations and the monitoring of the marine environment. In the present study, the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile was used as a bioindicator for the impact of the Costa Concordia accident on the marine and coastal habitat. Different P. oceanica samples were collected in the shipwrecked site under different light conditions. Using high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography, metabolic analysis of the samples was carried out in order to highlight possible changes in the secondary metabolism due to the permanent shading and the presence of pollutant traces. Moreover, sample mutagenicity, as a consequence of the possible absorption of environmental toxicants leaked by the wreck, was assessed by the Ames test. The results highlighted the permanence of the Concordia‐induced alteration in the plant secondary metabolites. However, absorption of chemical pollutants and carcinogens was not reported; this point was confirmed by the lack of mutagenic effects found for the samples tested. Our results clearly evidence that the environmental impact of Costa Concordia wreck and removal operations on P. oceanica was mainly due to the lack of light in the marine habitat. Present methodological approach, which combines metabolomic and genetic ecotoxicological analysis, could represent a suitable strategy to evaluate the impact of human disasters on the ecosystem and to monitor the environmental changes.
Wood production and biodiversity conservation are rival forestry objectives in Europe's Baltic Sea Region
Authors: Angelstam Per , Naumov Vladimir , Elbakidze Marine , Manton Michael , Priednieks Janis , Rendenieks Zigmars 
Published: March 2018

AbstractThe policy term green infrastructure highlights the need to maintain functional ecosystems as a foundation for sustainable societies. Because forests are the main natural ecosystems in Europe, it is crucial to understand the extent to which forest landscape management delivers functional green infrastructures. We used the steep west–east gradient in forest landscape history, land ownership, and political culture within northern Europe's Baltic Sea Region to assess regional profiles of benefits delivered by forest landscapes. The aim was to support policy‐makers and planners with evidence‐based knowledge about the current conditions for effective wood production and biodiversity conservation. We developed and modeled four regional‐level indicators for sustained yield wood production and four for biodiversity conservation using public spatial data. The western case study regions in Sweden and Latvia had high forest management intensity with balanced forest losses and gains which was spatially correlated, thus indicating an even stand age class distribution at the local scale and therefore long‐term sustained yields. In contrast, the eastern case study regions in Belarus and Russia showed spatial segregation of areas with forest losses and gains. Regarding biodiversity conservation indicators, the west–east gradient was reversed. In the Russian, Belarusian, and Latvian case study regions, tree species composition was more natural than in Sweden, and the size of contiguous areas without forest loss was larger. In all four case study regions, 54–85% of the total land base consisted of forest cover, which is above critical fragmentation thresholds for forest landscape fragmentation. The results show that green infrastructures for wood production and biodiversity conservation are inversely related among the four case study regions, and thus rival. While restoration for biodiversity conservation is needed in the west, intensified use of wood and biomass is possible in the east. However, a cautious approach should be applied because intensification of wood production threatens biodiversity. We discuss the barriers and bridges for spatial planning in countries with different types of land ownership and political cultures and stress the need for a landscape approach based on evidence‐based collaborative learning processes that include both different academic disciplines and stakeholders that represent different sectors and levels of governance.
Sea scallops exhibit strong local spatiotemporal structure associated with seabed stability and high flows
Authors: Harris Bradley P. , Adams Charles F. , Stokesbury Kevin D. E. 
Published: March 2018

AbstractSea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) live along the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf and are aggregated over a broad range of spatial scales (m2–105 km2). However, little is known about the spatial distribution of local scallop neighborhoods, the scale at which spawning, intra‐specific competition, and predator–prey interactions occur. We surveyed 30,995 km2 of Georges Bank and the Great South Channel annually from 2003 to 2010 counting the number of scallops in 54,016 locally replicated 3.24‐m2 quadrats with underwater video. There were about 4 billion scallops occupying 11,200 km2 of the study area in concentrations from 1 to 41 scallops per scallop. Scallop spatial distribution switched from dispersed to aggregated at a concentration of 3–4 scallops in every year. High concentrations (>3) occurred in 11% but were only persistent in 4% (449 km2) of scallop habitat. There were 13 persistent high‐concentration aggregations (7–217 km2), and all but two occurred on gravel‐dominated sediments left by prehistoric glacial retreat. Model‐derived benthic boundary shear stresses in the persistent aggregations averaged two times higher than in scallop habitat, but the seabed was about two times more stable because it had significantly less sand and more granule–pebble and cobble sediment. The area occupied by scallops each year varied little (9%) despite a 49% increase in total scallop abundance between 2005 and 2007, suggesting Georges Bank scallops have a proportional density population structure. Most scallops occurred alone or at low concentrations (≤2) where fertilization success is probably poor. The persistent high‐concentration aggregations we identified may be critical for successful reproduction and sustainable harvest. Observing organisms at scales corresponding to their individual interactions reveals important processes shaping their landscape‐scale spatiotemporal distributions. These processes are obscured by the methods typically employed to estimate abundances of commercial fishery species. The spatiotemporal structure of sea scallop distribution has important implications for the design of abundance surveys and the assumptions underlying stock assessment methods. These should be investigated. Finally, this work suggests that natural disturbance (sediment stability) may play a substantial role in shaping spatiotemporal distributions and dynamics of benthic marine populations.
Strategies of amino acid supply in mesozooplankton during cyanobacteria blooms: a stable nitrogen isotope approach
Authors: Eglite Elvita , Wodarg Dirk , Dutz Jörg , Wasmund Norbert , Nausch Günther , Liskow Iris , Schulz‐Bull Detlef , Loick‐Wilde Natalie 
Published: March 2018

AbstractKnowledge of how zooplankton can utilize cyanobacteria to sustain their nitrogen (N) demand for essential compounds like amino acids (AAs) is a key to predicting responses of higher trophic levels in terms of production and food web structure to future enhanced water column stratification. We explored the natural abundances of bulk N and AA‐specific nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) in particulate organic matter and mesozooplankton size‐fraction samples from three vertically separated water bodies in the central Baltic Sea during two summertime cyanobacteria blooms. The combination of plankton community and isotope data together with environmental variables helped to identify a mechanism of diazotrophic AA supply (synthesized during N2 fixation) for mesozooplankton, that largely depended on the sea surface temperature which regulated the access to the diazotrophic N‐based food web in the surface water (SW). We found that in the warmer summer, thermophilic cladocerans (e.g., Bosmina spp.) benefited most from diazotrophic AAs in the SW (19.8°C), while only in the colder summer, temperate copepods (e.g., Temora longicornis) ascended from the subjacent winter water into the SW (16.2°C) and incorporated diazotrophic AAs. Trophic position estimates based on the phenylalanine and glutamic acid δ15N signatures revealed that the diazotrophic AA supply into mesozooplankton was mainly indirect via feeding on mixo‐ and heterotrophic diets. Significantly enriched δ15N signatures in phenylalanine in the deep mesozooplankton (mainly copepods of Pseudo‐ and Paracalanus spp.) from the bottom water (BW) that was a region of the suboxic zone point to a reliance on a local food web. Mesozooplankton in the BW was feeding on diets of heterotrophic origin and probably profited from the heterotrophic re‐synthesis of AAs originating from sinking organic matter, as well as from the indirect incorporation of de novo synthesized AAs that most likely originated from chemoautotrophic bacteria or archaea communities in the suboxic zone. Our findings suggest that indirect feeding on diazotrophs and chemoautotrophs will be principal ways of amino acid supply for zooplankton in future enhanced stratified aquatic systems. Only a relatively small increase in temperature may restrict temperate key species from diazotrophic N‐based food webs in the mixed layer.