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Scalable Industrial Production of Bio-Based Lignin-Activated Room Temperature Phosphorescent Fibers
Get PDFRoom temperature phosphorescence (RTP) fibers derived from natural sources exhibit great potential, but their large-scale preparation remains challenging. This work overcomes this major bottleneck by demonstrating the first successful large-scale manufacturing of bio-based, room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) fibers. By integrating lignin, an abundant biopolymer, directly into a commercial viscose fiber production line, we have developed a cost-effective process to produce high-performance phosphorescent viscose (PV) fibers at an industrial scale. The process employed key industrial parameters, including a coagulation bath temperature of 49°C, and a lignin incorporation rate of 1% (w/w) relative to cellulose, with continuous filament collection. These monolithic fibers exhibit a robust and long-lived green afterglow (lifetime of 217.5 ms) and exceptional mechanical strength (629.2 MPa), properties imparted by the unique Cellulose II matrix formed during the industrial co-regeneration process. Moreover, the wavelength of PV-fiber is tunable, ranging from 500 to 520 nm, by changing the excitation wavelength and using an energy transfer strategy. To prove their immediate viability, the PV-fibers are seamlessly processed into yarns and textiles using standard machinery, creating advanced multi-level anti-counterfeiting embroidery and luminescent surgical sutures. This breakthrough provides a direct and tangible pathway from renewable biomass to the mass production of advanced luminescent fabrics, paving the way for their integration into consumer and biomedical products.</p
An assessment of proposals for reforming the European Union’s Tobacco Tax Directive
Get PDF• Leaked proposals to revise the EU's Tobacco Tax Directive (TTD) are addressing weaknesses of the current system.• If adopted, the revised TTD would newly cover Heated Tobacco Products (HTP), E-Cigarettes and nicotine pouches, and increase the current minimum tax rates. This would increase prices tobacco products in all but six EU member states with the highest current tax rates. Unfortunately, the price impact will be relatively small. • Some straightforward improvements to the leaked TTD are possible and, if adopted, they would enhance the public health benefits of revising the European Union common legislation for tobacco taxation
Environmental Catalysis for NO<sub>x</sub> Reduction by Manipulating the Dynamic Coordination Environment of Active Sites
Get PDFNowadays, it is challenging to achieve SO2-tolerant environmental catalysis for NOx reduction because of the thermodynamically favorable transformation of reactive sites to inactive sulfate species in the presence of SO2. Herein, we achieve enhanced low-temperature SO2-tolerant NOx reduction by manipulating the dynamic coordination environment of active sites. Engineered by coordination chemistry, SiO2-CeO2 composite oxides with a short-range ordered Ce-O-Si structure were elaborately constructed on a TiO2 support. A dynamic coordination environment of active sites is demonstrated from a Ce-O-Si local structure to a low-coordinated Ce-SO42- species in the presence of SO2. The low-coordinated Ce-SO42- species as new active sites maintain a high NO removal efficiency by preserving the good adsorption and activation capacity of NO and NH3 reactants. This work proposes a new notion to improve the SO2 resistance of catalysts by regulating the coordination environment of sulfated active sites, which is of significance for SO2-tolerant environmental catalysis in practical applications.</p
Unravelling the role of -OCH<sub>3</sub> positional isomerism and dihedral angle in Ni(ii)-dppe dithiolates for enhanced heterogeneous electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER)
Get PDFThree new positional isomeric 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) appended nickel(ii) dithiolates, namely, [Ni(dppe)2-cyano-2-(o-methoxyphenyl)ethene-1,1-dithiolate] (Ni-L1), [Ni(dppe)2-cyano-2-(m-methoxyphenyl)ethene-1,1-dithiolate] (Ni-L2) and [Ni(dppe)2-cyano-2-(p-methoxyphenyl)ethene-1,1-dithiolate] (Ni-L3), were synthesized and characterized using spectroscopic and single crystal X-ray analyses. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies suggested that in all the three complexes, the immediate geometry around the nickel(ii) was distorted square planar, which was defined by two sulfur and two phosphorus centres of dithiolate and dppe ligands, respectively, in a bidentate chelating manner. The supramolecular architectures of these complexes were sustained by intermolecular π⋯π, C-H⋯π, N⋯H, O⋯H and S⋯H interactions, and the nature of these interactions was studied with the aid of Hirshfeld surface analysis. The positional isomeric methoxy group engendered trimeric and dimeric motifs for Ni-L1 and Ni-L2, respectively, while it led to the chain formation in Ni-L3, thereby highlighting the influence of the position of the methoxy group on supramolecular frameworks. The heterogeneous electrocatalytic properties of these complexes in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) were studied using modified glassy carbon electrodes. Results indicated that the Ni-L3 is a superior electrocatalyst for the OER amongst all three complexes, which exhibited an onset potential of 1.56 V and a TOF of 0.05 s−1. Thus, this study unveiled the influence of factors such as the position of the isomeric -OMe group, thedihedral angle between the NiS2C2 and -(C6H4-OMe) planes and natural charges on nickel center on the electrocatalytic properties of these complexes towards OER.</p
Removing the Rose-tinted glasses: The effects of antidepressant drug withdrawal on mood and neurocognitive function
No full textInternational Student Inclusion in Higher Education through the Lens of Systems Thinking
No full textThe Boundaries of Modern Slavery:the Role of Exemplars in New Category Formation
Get PDFModern slavery is one of the most prominent grand challenges facing organizations today. Yet, its precise meaning, and the scope of people and practices it subsumes, remain hotly contested. The recent formation of a legal category of “modern slavery” represents a critical point in establishing clear meanings and boundaries. While existing research on categories has shed light on how such new category meanings and boundaries may be shaped, we lack insight on how this happens in the absence of category prototypes that demarcate the meaning and membership of categories. We turn to category exemplars as an important but, as yet, poorly understood tool influencing category formation and subsequent membership. We conduct a systematic analysis of discourse surrounding the formation of the new category of modern slavery to identify three distinct forms of exemplars (typifying, familiarizing, and scoping), and develop a model that links actors’ use of these exemplars to specific boundary effects across four phases of category formation. We also reveal the conditions under which different exemplars were successful in influencing the final category. We thereby contribute to the literature an exemplar-based theorization of new category formation that explains how categories associated with grand challenges like modern slavery are formed
The Boundaries of Modern Slavery:the Role of Exemplars in New Category Formation
Get PDFModern slavery is one of the most prominent grand challenges facing organizations today. Yet, its precise meaning, and the scope of people and practices it subsumes, remain hotly contested. The recent formation of a legal category of “modern slavery” represents a critical point in establishing clear meanings and boundaries. While existing research on categories has shed light on how such new category meanings and boundaries may be shaped, we lack insight on how this happens in the absence of category prototypes that demarcate the meaning and membership of categories. We turn to category exemplars as an important but, as yet, poorly understood tool influencing category formation and subsequent membership. We conduct a systematic analysis of discourse surrounding the formation of the new category of modern slavery to identify three distinct forms of exemplars (typifying, familiarizing, and scoping), and develop a model that links actors’ use of these exemplars to specific boundary effects across four phases of category formation. We also reveal the conditions under which different exemplars were successful in influencing the final category. We thereby contribute to the literature an exemplar-based theorization of new category formation that explains how categories associated with grand challenges like modern slavery are formed
An adaptive solid-state synapse with bi-directional relaxation for multimodal recognition and spatiotemporal learning
Get PDFThe brain's unique processing power, such as perception, understanding, and interaction with the multimodal world, is achieved through diverse synaptic functionalities, which include varied temporal responses and adaptation. Although specific functions in brain-like computing have been successfully realized, emulating multimodal recognition and spatio-temporal learning remain significant challenges due to the difficulties in achieving multimodal signal processing and adaptive long-term plasticity in a single electronic synapse. Here, a purely electrically-modulated ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) memristive synapse which realizes multimodal recognition and spatio-temporal pattern identification, through the integration of oxygen vacancies migration and ferroelectric polarization switching mechanisms, providing bi-directional relaxation and adaptive long-term plasticity simultaneously in the isolated device. The bi-directional relaxation enables multimodal recognition in the purely electrically-modulated FTJ device by encoding distinct sensory signals with different electrical polarities. The multimodal perception task is implemented with a multimodal computing system combining visual and speech pattern recognition. Moreover, the adaptive long-term plasticity allows spatio-temporal pattern recognition, which is demonstrated by identifying object orientation and direction of motion with a neural network incorporating the arrayed synapses. This work provides a feasible approach for designing bio-realistic electronic synapses and achieving highly intelligent neuromorphic computing.</p
Mastering the Art of Crisis Through Mythopoeic Relation to Legacy
Get PDFThe current study explores the challenge of a legacy-bearing organization faced with existential crises wherein its need to maintain historically accreted values comes into conflict with its more basic need for continued survival. Our historiographical analysis of three crises from the history of legendary photo agency Magnum Photos indicates that to address this challenge, an organization may engage in continuous mythmaking based organizational legacy, which we refer to as mythopoeic relation to legacy. Mythopoeic relation to legacy emerges from members’ beliefs in (a) importance of the organization’s legacy, (b) the organization’s unique capabilities to further this legacy, and (c) the organization’s “miraculous” persistence despite adversities. During crises that challenge one of its high-priority values, mythopoeic relation to legacy triggers the switch from the ethic of conviction for this value to the ethic of responsibility for the whole system, enabling the organization to weave the episode of value violation seamlessly into the fabric of its myth, thus ensuring the continuity of organizational legacy. We refer to this positive loop, whereby crisis triggers mythopoeic relation to legacy, which in its turn helps overcome the crisis, as mastering the art of crisis. Our findings contribute to research on values and rhetorical history
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