Unlocking the potential of photobiomodulation therapy for brain neurovascular coupling: The biological effects and medical applications.

Photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy stands as an innovative neurostimulation modality that has demonstrated both efficacy and safety in improving brain function. This therapy exerts multifaceted influences on neurons, blood vessels, and their intricate interplay known as neurovascular coupling (NVC). Growing evidence indicates that NVC may present a promising target for PBM intervention.

Bismuth-Decorated Honeycomb-like Carbon Nanofibers: An Active Electrocatalyst for the Construction of a Sensitive Nitrite Sensor.

The existence of carcinogenic nitrites in food and the natural environment has attracted much attention. Therefore, it is still urgent and necessary to develop nitrite sensors with higher sensitivity and selectivity and expand their applications in daily life to protect human health and environmental safety. Herein, one-dimensional honeycomb-like carbon nanofibers (HCNFs) were synthesized with electrospun technology, and their specific structure enabled controlled growth and highly dispersed bismuth nanoparticles (Bi NPs) on their surface, which endowed the obtained Bi/HCNFs with excellent electrocatalytic activity towards nitrite oxidation.

Gradient H-Bonding Supports Highly Adaptable and Rapidly Self-Healing Composite Binders with High Ionic Conductivity for Silicon Anodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries.

An ideal binder for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) should effectively inhibit volume effects, exhibit specific functional properties (e.g., self-repair capabilities and high ionic conductivity), and require low-cost, environmentally friendly mass production processes.

The nonlinear effect of land freight structure on carbon emission intensity: new evidence from road and rail freight in China.

The extensive literature has debated the varying effects of factors on carbon dioxide (CO) emissions. However, it has paid little attention to land freight structure (FS), including road and rail freight share, which may have different effects on CO emissions. Based on the data from 6 eastern provinces in China during 2005-2019, the panel threshold model is used to explore the dynamic influence mechanism of road and rail freight share on transport carbon emission intensity (CE), respectively.

Biobased mussel-inspired underwater superoleophobic chitosan derived complex hydrogel coated cotton fabric for oil/water separation.

Superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic materials exhibit excellent oil/water separation performance but are usually fabricated from nonrenewable and nondegradable feedstocks and thus would cause secondary pollution after use. Herein, we report a fully biobased and mussel-inspired underwater superoleophobic hydrogel coated cotton fabric (CF) prepared by surface coating and subsequent oxidation polymerization of chitosan & dopamine mixtures. The obtained chitosan & polydopamine hydrogel coated CF (CS&PDA/CF) showed superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity, due to the formed rough surface structure with hydrophilic complex hydrogel.

In situ self-assembly of three-dimensional porous graphene film on zinc fiber for solid-phase microextraction of polychlorinated biphenyls.

Three-dimensional porous graphene film (3DPGF) was fabricated on Zn fiber for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) through in-situ self-assembly strategy at room temperature. Fast electron transfer due to ionization of zinc induces reduction of graphene oxide and thus leads to the layer-by-layer interfacial deposition of graphene sheets, forming three-dimensional porous network morphology. The 3D interpenetrating porous structure could provide more available adsorption site for the target molecules and also enhance mass transfer efficiency in the extraction process.

A Field Study on Safety Performance of Apron Controllers at a Large-Scale Airport Based on Digital Tower.

The innovative concept of digital tower provides a new solution for reducing the construction and operation costs of airports with adverse natural environments, poor intervisibility conditions, or sparse traffic. However, it leads to changes in the situational awareness of air traffic controllers and to challenges in safety performance. To research the safety performance of apron controllers at a large-scale airport applying a digital tower, a field study was conducted at Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, China.

Nonlinear state estimation by Extended Parallelotope Set-Membership Filter.

In this paper, we propose a state estimation method called the Extended Parallelotope Set-Membership Filter that provides a higher estimation accuracy than existing methods for discrete-time nonlinear systems. The Extended Parallelotope Set-Membership Filter is motivated by the fact that the iteration operations in existing methods generate much redundancy, and will deteriorate the accuracy of the state estimation. To account for this issue, an innovative parallelotope envelope method is proposed for the purpose of reducing the redundancy arising from the process of the noise envelope.

A Field Study of Work Type Influence on Air Traffic Controllers' Fatigue Based on Data-Driven PERCLOS Detection.

The fatigue of air traffic controllers (ATCOs) on duty seriously threatens air traffic safety and needs to be managed. ATCOs perform several different types of work, with each type of work having different characteristics. Nonetheless, the influence of work type on an ATCO's fatigue has yet to be demonstrated.

Mobile Robot Path Planning Based on Time Taboo Ant Colony Optimization in Dynamic Environment.

This article aims to improve the problem of slow convergence speed, poor global search ability, and unknown time-varying dynamic obstacles in the path planning of ant colony optimization in dynamic environment. An improved ant colony optimization algorithm using time taboo strategy is proposed, namely, time taboo ant colony optimization (TTACO), which uses adaptive initial pheromone distribution, rollback strategy, and pheromone preferential limited update to improve the algorithm's convergence speed and global search ability. For the poor global search ability of the algorithm and the unknown time-varying problem of dynamic obstacles in a dynamic environment, a time taboo strategy is first proposed, based on which a three-step arbitration method is put forward to improve its weakness in global search.

Organic carbon dot coating for superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surfaces.

A novel fluorine-free and silicon-free superhydrophobic aluminum alloy (treated-Al) is fabricated by chemical etching using hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide and modified with an organic carbon dot (OCD) coating. The water contact angle (CA) of the treated-Al surface increases with the OCD concentration. When etched aluminum (etched-Al) is modified with 0.

A method identifying key optimisation points for aircraft seat comfort.

Seating is the overriding factor influencing aircraft cabin comfort. To efficiently enhance seat comfort, this paper proposes a method to identify key optimisation points for seat comfort. Seat discomfort indicators are recognised based on a comparison of perceived performance with expectation.

Diblock, Triblock and Cyclic Amphiphilic Copolymers with CO Switchability: Effects of Topology.

The combination of topology and CO switchability could provide new options for amphiphilic copolymers. Cyclic molecules supply novel topologies, and CO switching provides stimulus responsiveness. Cyclic poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) and their corresponding block copolymers were prepared from poly(ethylene oxide) and 2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate via atom transfer radical polymerization and Keck allylation with a Hoveyda-Grubbs catalyst.

Synergistic Effect of Ultrasound and Polyethylene Glycol on the Mechanism of the Controlled Drug Release from Polylactide Matrices.

In this paper, the synergistic effect of ultrasound and polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the controlled release of a water soluble drug from polylactide (PLA) matrices was studied. When ultrasound was used following the hot melt extrusion (HME) of the PLA/model drug release system, the release of the model drug (Methylene Blue (MB)) from the PLA when immersed in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) was affected by the variation of the parameters of ultrasound. It was found that no more than 2% PLA dissolved during the in-vitro release study, and the release of the MB from the PLA was diffusion controlled and fit well with the Higuchi diffusion model.

Cryogenic viscoelastic surfactant fluids: Fabrication and application in a subzero environment.

Hypothesis: Current viscoelastic surfactant (VES) aqueous solutions quickly freeze and thus, lose their viscoelasticity and flowability at subzero temperatures, limiting their practical use in cold environments. Therefore, it is highly desirable to develop cryo-VES fluids with freezing point far below 0 °C. Since addition of alcohol antifreeze greatly reduces the freezing point of water, cryo-VES fluids might be generated in the presence of alcohols.

Construction of a luminescent sensor based on a lanthanide complex for the highly efficient detection of methyl parathion.

A highly sensitive and selective luminescent sensor for the detection of methyl parathion (MP) pesticide was described in this study. The target molecule HL was synthesized by modifying the structure of 4-hydroxybenzlidene imidazolinone (HBI) with nitrogen-containing heterocyclic 1,10-phenanthroline. In the presence of Eu, a HL-Eu complex was formed which could emit strong red fluorescence due to the removal of coordinated water molecules and an intramolecular energy transfer from HL to Eu.

Molecular dynamics simulation of the viscoelasticity of polymer nanocomposites under oscillatory shear: effect of interfacial chemical coupling.

In this work by adopting coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation, we focus our attention on investigating the effect of the chemical coupling between polymer and nanoparticles (NPs) on the viscoelastic properties of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs). Firstly we examine the effect of the interfacial chemical coupling on the non-linear behavior, such as the change of the storage moduli, the loss moduli and the loss factor as a function of the strain amplitude. Besides the reinforcing effect contributed by the interfacial chemical interaction, a much smaller loss factor is also observed attributed to less molecular friction and dissipation.

Application of LC-MS-Based Global Metabolomic Profiling Methods to Human Mental Fatigue.

Mental fatigue is characterized by a reduced capacity for work and a loss of capacity to respond to stimulation and is usually accompanied by a feeling of tiredness and drowsiness. Mental fatigue at work is a serious problem and can raise safety concerns especially in the transportation system. It is believed that mental fatigue is a direct or contributing cause of road and air related accidents and incidents.