Showing papers by "Edith Cowan University published in 2021"

COVID-19: potential effects on Chinese citizens’ lifestyle and travel

Abstract: The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is projected to have adverse consequences on the global tourism and hospitality industry. This paper aims to examine how the outbreak may alter Chinese tourists’ lifestyle choices, travel behaviour and tourism preferences in the short and long term.,This paper is based on the synthesis of news broadcasted by several media outlets to be supported by an overview of the related literature on tourism marketing, tourism management and tourist behaviour. The authors’ experiences investigating trends in tourism and hospitality at the local and international level have also contributed to the study.,This paper predicts that COVID-19 will likely affect Chinese travellers’ consumption patterns, such as the growing popularity of free and independent travel, luxury trips and health and wellness tourism. New forms of tourism including slow tourism and smart tourism may also drive future tourism activities. Such changes are likely to force businesses to reconsider their service designs and distribution channels.,While Chinese and other potential visitors rethink how they travel, professionals, too, should reflect upon how to bring positive or negative changes to the tourism industry following this pandemic. Subsequent research should also consider how to mitigate the effects of similar public health crises in the future.,Recommendations for industry practitioners and policymakers focus on tailoring travel arrangements to tourists’ backgrounds. The suggestions may help to alleviate outbreak-related stress, offer travellers newly enriching experiences and partially mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry. These recommendations can also apply more broadly to global tourist markets.,The COVID-19 outbreak has already brought significant impacts to nearly every society and industry. Tourism scholars and practitioners should carefully consider this tragedy and how it may inform industry and social practices. This and other public health crises represent sterling opportunities to view the industry holistically in terms of its effects on the environment, climate and travellers themselves.,This paper presumably represents a frontier study, critically examining the possible impacts of COVID-19 on Chinese travellers’ consumption patterns and how the tourism and hospitality industry may respond to such changes in the future.,预计2019年新型冠状病毒（COVID-19）爆发将对全球旅游和酒店业产生不利影响。本文预测, COVID-19可能会影响中国旅客的消费方式, 例如自由行, 豪华旅行以及健康与养生旅游的普及。包括慢速旅游和智能旅游在内的新型旅游形式也可能推动未来的旅游活动。这种变化可能促使企业重新考虑其服务设计和分销渠道。针对行业从业者和政策制定者的建议着重于根据游客的背景和需求量身定制旅行安排。我们的建议可能有助于减轻与疫情暴发导致的压力, 为旅行者提供全新的丰富体验, 并从一定程度减轻COVID-19对旅游业和酒店业的影响。这些建议还可以更广泛地应用于全球旅游市场。,COVID-19, 生活方式 旅游行为 灾后 集体主义倾向 中国,El impacto del COVID-19 se preve importante en la actividad turistica global y en la industria de la hosteleria. Este articulo predice que el COVID-19 afectara con probabilidad alta los patrones de consumo de los viajeros chinos, incluyendo los cada vez mas populares viajes comprados directamente por los consumidores chinos, en el segmento del lujo, y el turismo de salud y belleza. Nuevas formas de turismo, incluyendo el slow tourism, y el turismo responsable pueden convertirse en importantes tendencias de futuro igualmente. Dichos cambios llevaran con cierta seguridad a la industria a reconsiderar y adaptar su oferta de servicios en este sector, en particular su diseno y los canales de distribucion utilizados. Las recomendaciones para la industria y los responsables de la politica turistica se alinean con una mayor proximidad de la oferta a los gustos cambiantes del consumidor. Dichas acciones ayudaran a reducir fricciones y fallos en la definicion del negocio turistico, ofreciendo a los viajeros nuevas y enriquecedoras experiencias, asi como podran mitigar en parte los efectos adversos estimados del COVID-19, los cuales son relevantes a dia de hoy. Asi mismo, dichas recomendaciones son aplicables de una manera mas global a la industria del turismo y la hospitalidad en el mercado mundial.,COVID-19, Estilo de vida, Conducta del viajero, Post-desastre, Orientacion collectivista, China

Classification of Skin Disease Using Deep Learning Neural Networks with MobileNet V2 and LSTM

Abstract: Deep learning models are efficient in learning the features that assist in understanding complex patterns precisely. This study proposed a computerized process of classifying skin disease through deep learning based MobileNet V2 and Long Short Term Memory (LSTM). The MobileNet V2 model proved to be efficient with a better accuracy that can work on lightweight computational devices. The proposed model is efficient in maintaining stateful information for precise predictions. A grey-level co-occurrence matrix is used for assessing the progress of diseased growth. The performance has been compared against other state-of-the-art models such as Fine-Tuned Neural Networks (FTNN), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Very Deep Convolutional Networks for Large-Scale Image Recognition developed by Visual Geometry Group (VGG), and convolutional neural network architecture that expanded with few changes. The HAM10000 dataset is used and the proposed method has outperformed other methods with more than 85% accuracy. Its robustness in recognizing the affected region much faster with almost 2× lesser computations than the conventional MobileNet model results in minimal computational efforts. Furthermore, a mobile application is designed for instant and proper action. It helps the patient and dermatologists identify the type of disease from the affected region's image at the initial stage of the skin disease. These findings suggest that the proposed system can help general practitioners efficiently and effectively diagnose skin conditions, thereby reducing further complications and morbidity.

Mental health consequences of COVID-19 media coverage: the need for effective crisis communication practices.

Abstract: During global pandemics, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), crisis communication is indispensable in dispelling fears, uncertainty, and unifying individuals worldwide in a collective fight against health threats. Inadequate crisis communication can bring dire personal and economic consequences. Mounting research shows that seemingly endless newsfeeds related to COVID-19 infection and death rates could considerably increase the risk of mental health problems. Unfortunately, media reports that include infodemics regarding the influence of COVID-19 on mental health may be a source of the adverse psychological effects on individuals. Owing partially to insufficient crisis communication practices, media and news organizations across the globe have played minimal roles in battling COVID-19 infodemics. Common refrains include raging QAnon conspiracies, a false and misleading “Chinese virus” narrative, and the use of disinfectants to “cure” COVID-19. With the potential to deteriorate mental health, infodemics fueled by a kaleidoscopic range of misinformation can be dangerous. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of research on how to improve crisis communication across media and news organization channels. This paper identifies ways that legacy media reports on COVID-19 and how social media-based infodemics can result in mental health concerns. This paper discusses possible crisis communication solutions that media and news organizations can adopt to mitigate the negative influences of COVID-19 related news on mental health. Emphasizing the need for global media entities to forge a fact-based, person-centered, and collaborative response to COVID-19 reporting, this paper encourages media resources to focus on the core issue of how to slow or stop COVID-19 transmission effectively.

Adjuvant pembrolizumab versus placebo in resected stage III melanoma (EORTC 1325-MG/KEYNOTE-054): distant metastasis-free survival results from a double-blind, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial

Abstract: Summary Background The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 1325/KEYNOTE-054 trial assessed pembrolizumab versus placebo in patients with resected high-risk stage III melanoma. At 15-month median follow-up, pembrolizumab improved recurrence-free survival (hazard ratio [HR] 0·57 [98·4% CI 0·43–0·74], p Methods This double-blind, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial was done at 123 academic centres and community hospitals across 23 countries. Patients aged 18 years or older with complete resection of cutaneous melanoma metastatic to lymph node, classified as American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system, seventh edition (AJCC-7) stage IIIA (at least one lymph node metastasis >1 mm), IIIB, or IIIC (without in-transit metastasis), and with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1 were eligible. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) via a central interactive voice response system to receive intravenous pembrolizumab 200 mg or placebo every 3 weeks for up to 18 doses or until disease recurrence or unacceptable toxicity. Randomisation was stratified according to disease stage and region, using a minimisation technique, and clinical investigators, patients, and those collecting or analysing the data were masked to treatment assignment. The two coprimary endpoints were recurrence-free survival in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population and in patients with PD-L1-positive tumours. The secondary endpoint reported here was distant metastasis-free survival in the ITT and PD-L1-positive populations. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT02362594 , and EudraCT, 2014-004944-37. Findings Between Aug 26, 2015, and Nov 14, 2016, 1019 patients were assigned to receive either pembrolizumab (n=514) or placebo (n=505). At an overall median follow-up of 42·3 months (IQR 40·5–45·9), 3·5-year distant metastasis-free survival was higher in the pembrolizumab group than in the placebo group in the ITT population (65·3% [95% CI 60·9–69·5] in the pembrolizumab group vs 49·4% [44·8–53·8] in the placebo group; HR 0·60 [95% CI 0·49–0·73]; p Interpretation Pembrolizumab adjuvant therapy provided a significant and clinically meaningful improvement in distant metastasis-free survival at a 3·5-year median follow-up, which was consistent with the improvement in recurrence-free survival. Therefore, the results of this trial support the indication to use adjuvant pembrolizumab therapy in patients with resected high risk stage III cutaneous melanoma. Funding Merck Sharp & Dohme.

Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein is elevated in cognitively normal older adults at risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract: Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), an astrocytic cytoskeletal protein, can be measured in blood samples, and has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, plasma GFAP has not been investigated in cognitively normal older adults at risk of AD, based on brain amyloid-β (Aβ) load. Cross-sectional analyses were carried out for plasma GFAP and plasma Aβ1–42/Aβ1–40 ratio, a blood-based marker associated with brain Aβ load, in participants (65–90 years) categorised into low (Aβ−, n = 63) and high (Aβ+, n = 33) brain Aβ load groups via Aβ positron emission tomography. Plasma GFAP, Aβ1–42, and Aβ1–40 were measured using the Single molecule array (Simoa) platform. Plasma GFAP levels were significantly higher (p < 0.00001), and plasma Aβ1–42/Aβ1–40 ratios were significantly lower (p < 0.005), in Aβ+ participants compared to Aβ− participants, adjusted for covariates age, sex, and apolipoprotein E-e4 carriage. A receiver operating characteristic curve based on a logistic regression of the same covariates, the base model, distinguished Aβ+ from Aβ− (area under the curve, AUC = 0.78), but was outperformed when plasma GFAP was added to the base model (AUC = 0.91) and further improved with plasma Aβ1–42/Aβ1–40 ratio (AUC = 0.92). The current findings demonstrate that plasma GFAP levels are elevated in cognitively normal older adults at risk of AD. These observations suggest that astrocytic damage or activation begins from the pre-symptomatic stage of AD and is associated with brain Aβ load. Observations from the present study highlight the potential of plasma GFAP to contribute to a diagnostic blood biomarker panel (along with plasma Aβ1–42/Aβ1–40 ratios) for cognitively normal older adults at risk of AD.

Blue carbon as a natural climate solution

Abstract: Blue carbon ecosystems (BCEs), including mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and tidal marshes, store carbon and provide co-benefits such as coastal protection and fisheries enhancement. Blue carbon sequestration has therefore been suggested as a natural climate solution. In this Review, we examine the potential for BCEs to act as carbon sinks and the opportunities to protect or restore ecosystems for this function. Globally, BCEs are calculated to store >30,000 Tg C across ~185 million ha, with their conservation potentially avoiding emissions of 304 (141–466) Tg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year. Potential BCE restoration has been estimated in the range of 0.2–3.2 million ha for tidal marshes, 8.3–25.4 million ha for seagrasses and 9–13 million ha for mangroves, which could draw down an additional 841 (621–1,064) Tg CO2e per year by 2030, collectively amounting to ~3% of global emissions (based on 2019 and 2020 global annual fossil fuel emissions). Mangrove protection and/or restoration could provide the greatest carbon-related benefits, but better understanding of other BCEs is needed. BCE destruction is unlikely to stop fully, and not all losses can be restored. However, engineering and planning for coastal protection offer opportunities for protection and restoration, especially through valuing co-benefits. BCE prioritization is potentially a cost-effective and scalable natural climate solution, but there are still barriers to overcome before blue carbon project adoption will become widespread. Mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass meadows have historically been lost or degraded, threatening their ability to store carbon and provide ecosystem services. This Review details the global potential of blue carbon ecosystem protection and restoration in climate change mitigation, through carbon sequestration and co-benefit production.

Engineered graphitic carbon nitride-based photocatalysts for visible-light-driven water splitting: A review

Abstract: Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), a polymeric semiconductor, has become a rising star for photocatalytic energy conversion because of its facile accessibility, metal-free nature, low cost, and environmentally benign properties. This work reviews the latest progress of g-C₃N₄-based materials in visible-light-driven water splitting to hydrogen. It begins with a brief history of g-C₃N₄, followed by various engineering strategies of g-C₃N₄, such as elemental doping, copolymerization, crystalline tailoring, surface engineering, and single-atom modification, for elevated photocatalytic water decomposition. In addition, the synthesis of g-C₃N₄ in different dimensions (0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D) and configurations of a series of g-C₃N₄-based heterojunctions (type II, Z-scheme, S-scheme, g-C₃N₄/metal, and g-C₃N₄/carbon heterojunctions) were also discussed for their improvement in photocatalytic hydrogen production. Lastly, the challenges and opportunities of g-C₃N₄-based nanomaterials are provided. It is anticipated that this review will promote the further development of the emerging g-C₃N₄-based materials for more efficiency in photocatalytic water splitting to hydrogen.

Many brains are better than one: the importance of interdisciplinary studies on COVID-19 in and beyond tourism

Abstract: As the COVID-19 outbreak expands across the globe, researchers in both the medical and health sciences and social sciences continue to share timely insight meant to enlighten all sectors of society. In this paper, a cross-disciplinary team of tourism and public health academics critically consider how these and other seemingly disparate research domains can cooperate on timely research endeavours, including but not limited to COVID-19. This article provides a brief overview of the intricacies of interdisciplinary work. We then discuss some of the diverse challenges and benefits of cross-disciplinary research. Future interdisciplinary research collaboration opportunities regarding COVID-19, within and outside tourism, are also proposed. Our conclusions should promote multidisciplinary research into global health problems as a way to enhance social welfare.

A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change

Abstract: Assessing global progress on human adaptation to climate change is an urgent priority. Although the literature on adaptation to climate change is rapidly expanding, little is known about the actual extent of implementation. We systematically screened >48,000 articles using machine learning methods and a global network of 126 researchers. Our synthesis of the resulting 1,682 articles presents a systematic and comprehensive global stocktake of implemented human adaptation to climate change. Documented adaptations were largely fragmented, local and incremental, with limited evidence of transformational adaptation and negligible evidence of risk reduction outcomes. We identify eight priorities for global adaptation research: assess the effectiveness of adaptation responses, enhance the understanding of limits to adaptation, enable individuals and civil society to adapt, include missing places, scholars and scholarship, understand private sector responses, improve methods for synthesizing different forms of evidence, assess the adaptation at different temperature thresholds, and improve the inclusion of timescale and the dynamics of responses. Determining progress in adaptation to climate change is challenging, yet critical as climate change impacts increase. A stocktake of the scientific literature on implemented adaptation now shows that adaptation is mostly fragmented and incremental, with evidence lacking for its impact on reducing risk.

From anger to action: Differential impacts of eco-anxiety, eco-depression, and eco-anger on climate action and wellbeing

Abstract: Research documents the experiences of depression and anxiety evoked by climate change, but little attention has been given to frustration and anger, or to untangling the effects of different emotional responses to the climate crisis on human and planetary health Using Australian national survey data, we found that experiencing eco-anger predicted better mental health outcomes, as well as greater engagement in pro-climate activism and personal behaviours Eco-anxiety and eco-depression were less adaptive, relating to lower wellbeing Interestingly, those feeling eco-depressed were more likely to report participating in collective climate action, while those feeling eco-anxious were less likely to join the cause Our findings implicate anger as a key adaptive emotional driver of engagement with the climate crisis, and prompt warnings about the mental health of populations increasingly worried and miserable about climate change

Additive manufacturing of metallic lattice structures: Unconstrained design, accurate fabrication, fascinated performances, and challenges

Abstract: Lattice structures, which are also known as architected cellular structures, have been applied in various industrial sectors, owing to their fascinated performances, such as low elastic modulus, high stiffness-to-weight ratio, low thermal expansion coefficient, and large specific surface area. The lattice structures fabricated by conventional manufacturing technologies always involve complicated process control, additional assembly steps, or other uncontrollable factors. Furthermore, limited types of unit cells can be used to construct lattice structures when using conventional processes. Fortunately, additive manufacturing technology, based on a layer-by-layer process from computer-aided design models, demonstrates the unique capability and flexibility and provides an ideal platform in manufacturing complex components like lattice structures, resulting in an effective reduction in the processing time to actual application and minimum of material waste. Therefore, additive manufacturing relieves the constraint of structure design and provides accurate fabrication for lattice structures with good quality. This work systematically presents an overview of conventional manufacturing methods and novel additive manufacturing technologies for metallic lattice structures. Afterward, the design, optimization, a variety of properties, and applications of metallic lattice structures produced by additive manufacturing are elaborated. By summarizing state-of-the-art progress of the additively manufactured metallic lattice structures, limitations and future perspectives are also discussed.

A Unified Form of Fuzzy C-Means and K-Means algorithms and its Partitional Implementation

Abstract: This paper proposes as an element of novelty the Unified Form (UF) clustering algorithm, which treats Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) and K-Means (KM) algorithms as a single configurable algorithm. UF algorithm was designed to facilitate the FCM and KM algorithms software implementation by offering a solution to implement a single algorithm, which can be configured to work as FCM or KM. The second element of novelty of this paper is the Partitional Implementation of Unified Form (PIUF) algorithm, which is built upon the UF algorithm and designed to solve in an elegant manner the challenges of processing large datasets in a sequential manner and the scalability of the UF algorithm for processing datasets of any size. PIUF algorithm has the advantage of overcoming any possible hardware limitations that can occur if large volumes of data are processed (required to be stored, loaded in memory and processed by a certain specified computational system). PIUF algorithm is designed and formulated to be used on a single machine if the processed dataset is very big and it cannot be entirely loaded in the memory; at the same time it can be scaled to multiple processing nodes for reducing the processing time required to find the optimal solution. UF and PIUF algorithms are implemented and validated in BigTim platform, which is a distributed platform developed by the authors, and offers support for processing various datasets in a parallel manner but they can be implemented in any other data processing platforms. The Iris dataset is considered and next modified to obtain different datasets of different sizes in order to test the algorithms implementations in BigTim platform in different configurations. The analysis of PIUF algorithm and the comparison with FCM, KM and DBSCAN clustering algorithms are carried out using two performance indices; three performance indices are employed to evaluate the quality of the obtained clusters.

Interface formation and bonding control in high-volume-fraction (TiC+TiB2)/Al composites and their roles in enhancing properties

Abstract: As interfaces play a more important role in high-volume-fraction ceramic/metal composites because of containing more hetero-phase interfaces, it is a great challenge to control the interfaces in such composites to balance their strength and plasticity and to obtain high performances. In this work, 50–60 vol% (TiC + TiB2)/Al composites were fabricated in Al–Ti–B4C system via a one-step method of reaction and densification, and their interface bonding and mechanical properties were compared with those of in-situ TiC/Al composites. Apparently, the defects, such as interfacial discontinuity, macro-pores, coarsening and agglomeration of particles, caused by increased ceramic content in the TiC/Al composites, are eliminated in the (TiC + TiB2)/Al composites using Al–Ti–B4C system. The 60 vol% (TiC + TiB2)/Al composite exhibits significantly enhanced mechanical properties, i.e. 70.5%, 60.7% and 69.8% respectively higher yield strength, ultimate compressive strength and plastic strain than 60 vol% TiC/Al composite. Such enhanced mechanical properties are attributed to the improvement in interface bonding strength and therefore the increase in the energy dissipation of crack propagation. The formation of enhanced interface in the (TiC + TiB2)/Al composites results from the reduction in the reaction heat in the Al–Ti–B4C system, improved crystallographic match and improved adhesion work between ceramic particles and matrix. This work may provide a new idea for the design and control of interfaces in high-volume-fraction ceramic-metal composites.

Sustainable redox processes induced by peroxymonosulfate and metal doping on amorphous manganese dioxide for nonradical degradation of water contaminants

Abstract: Manganese oxides have been applied in advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), however, underlying oxidation regimes are still debatable. In this work, we synthesized various crystalline manganese oxides and single or dual metal-doped amorphous MnO2 (M-AMO, M = Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) for organic oxidation with peroxymonosulfate (PMS). M-AMO at 1 mol% exhibited much higher activities than crystalline manganese oxides and Cu-AMO displayed the rate constant at 3.5 times as high as that of AMO. Different from conventional radical oxidation, nonradical degradation occurred via two pathways. Cu-doping resulted in relatively higher-crystallized structure, more oxygen vacancies, and a higher ratio of Mn4+/Mn3+ for a faster redox cycle between MnⅣ(s) and MnⅢ(s) to boost PMS activation and direct/indirect (Cu-AMO–PMS complex-based) phenol oxidation. This study contributes to a new insight to the structure-catalysis relationship in manganese-catalyzed PMS oxidation. The outcomes will direct the rational synthesis of reaction-oriented catalysts for nonradical AOPs and novel remediation technologies.

Enhancing strength-ductility synergy and mechanisms of Al-based composites by size-tunable in-situ TiB2 particles with specific spatial distribution

Abstract: The increase in strength usually accompanies by the sacrifice of ductility in the composites. This work proposed a strategy of design and synthesis of in-situ TiB2 particles to effectively tailor the microstructures and to enhance the mechanical performance of Al–Si-based composites. The tuning mechanisms for size and morphology of TiB2 particles were investigated by combustion synthesis in the Al–Ti–B reaction system. The nano/submicron-sized TiB2 particles with desirable morphology were then specially selected to construct high-performance Al–Si-based composites. Thanks to the strong interface bonding with a low crystallographic mismatch, TiB2 particles significantly refined the primary α-Al dendrites, eutectic Si and θ’ precipitates in the composites, which were 79.2%, 51.9% and 37.6% respectively smaller than those of the matrix. Numerical modeling results suggested that submicron-sized TiB2 particles were more likely to be engulfed or serve as heterogeneous sites while nano-sized TiB2 particles would be repulsed to the solid/liquid interface to physically restrict the growth of α-Al dendrites. The strength-ductility trade-off dilemma was broken therefore superior mechanical properties were obtained in the composites. This work provides a novel perspective for manipulating Al–Si-based alloys in terms of avoiding poisoning and achieving microstructural refinement and outstanding strength-ductility synergy.

Optimal tuning of interval type-2 fuzzy controllers for nonlinear servo systems using Slime Mould Algorithm

Abstract: This paper presents a novel application of the metaheuristic Slime Mould Algorithm (SMA) to the optimal tuning of interval type-2 fuzzy controllers. Inserting the information feedback model F1 in S...

What actually works to enhance graduate employability? The relative value of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular learning and paid work

Abstract: The focus on short-term graduate employment metrics has catalysed the employability agenda as a strategic directive in universities. A raft of embedded, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities has emerged for developing employability. Their relative value lacks empirical exploration. This study explored graduates’ self-reported participation in, and their perspectives on the value of, a range of embedded, extra-curricular, and co-curricular learning activities, as well as paid work, for employability. Survey data were gathered (N = 510) from Business and Creative Industries graduates from three Australian universities about the perceived value of activities for skill development, gaining relevant experience, networking, and creating employment opportunities. The activities were considered more useful for gaining experience and skills than for broadening networks and improving career outcomes. Embedded and extra-curricular internships, as well as extra-curricular activities, were believed to be important for enhancing employability. Internships organised as an extra-curricular activity rated better than those delivered as work-integrated learning. Implications for stakeholders responsible for curricular and co-curricular design are discussed.

The renaissance of Odum's outwelling hypothesis in 'Blue Carbon' science

Abstract: The term ‘Blue Carbon’ was coined about a decade ago to highlight the important carbon sequestration capacity of coastal vegetated ecosystems. The term has paved the way for the development of programs and policies that preserve and restore these threatened coastal ecosystems for climate change mitigation. Blue carbon research has focused on quantifying carbon stocks and burial rates in sediments or accumulating as biomass. This focus on habitat-bound carbon led us to losing sight of the mobile blue carbon fraction. Oceans, the largest active reservoir of carbon, have become somewhat of a blind spot. Multiple recent investigations have revealed high outwelling (i.e., lateral fluxes or horizontal exports) of dissolved inorganic (DIC) and organic (DOC) carbon, as well as particulate organic carbon (POC) from blue carbon habitats. In this paper, we conceptualize outwelling in mangrove, saltmarsh, seagrass and macroalgae ecosystems, diagnose key challenges preventing robust quantification, and pave the way for future work integrating mobile carbon in the blue carbon framework. Outwelling in mangroves and saltmarshes is usually dominated by DIC (mostly as bicarbonate), while POC seems to be the major carbon species exported from seagrass meadows and macroalgae forests. Carbon outwelling science is still in its infancy, and estimates remain limited spatially and temporally. Nevertheless, the existing datasets imply that carbon outwelling followed by ocean storage is relevant and may exceed local sediment burial as a long-term (>centuries) blue carbon sequestration mechanism. If this proves correct as more data emerge, ignoring carbon outwelling may underestimate the perceived sequestration capacity of blue carbon ecosystems.

Graphitic Carbon Nitride-Based Z-Scheme Structure for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Abstract: Photocatalytic CO2 reduction (PCR) into hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals such as CH4, CH3OH, HCHO, and HCOOH is a promising strategy for simultaneously solving environmental challenges and realizing...

Coupling hydrothermal and photothermal single-atom catalysis toward excellent water splitting to hydrogen

Abstract: Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (PER) suffers from deficient solar light efficiency, high cost of noble-metal cocatalysts and low responses to visible and infrared light. In this article, we report single-atom silver incorporated g-C3N4 (SAAg-g-CN) as a low-cost and stable catalyst with higher activities in PER and solar-heat-assisted PER processes than Ag nanoparticle decorated g-C3N4 (AgNP-g-CN) and PtNP-g-C3N4. The excellent activity of SAAg-g-CN is benefited from the proper Gibbs free energy of the adsorbed hydrogen atom (ΔGH*) and robust structure of N-Ag bonding of the SAAg-g-CN. The PER rate of SAAg-g-CN at 55 °C was doubled as compared to that at 25 °C, meanwhile, AgNP-g-CN and PtNP-g-CN showed descending PER performances, due to the agglomeration of metal NPs. This work demonstrates the ultrahigh photoactivity and photothermal stability of SAAg-g-CN, and its potential in facilitating the full exploitation of solar energy.