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Showing papers by "University of Western Ontario published in 2022"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a high entropy concept is utilized to design an NiFeCoMnAl oxide with amorphous structure as an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst.
Abstract: The exploration of an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is urgently required for sustainable renewable-energy conversion and storage. Due to the increased chemical complexity, multimetallic catalysts provide flexibility to alter their electronic and crystal structure to attain a superior intrinsic catalytic activity via synergistic effects, which is seldom accomplished using single metal catalysts. However, the high chemical complexity increases the difficulty to prepare elemental homogenous catalysts and reveal their synergistic effect during OER process, which further hinder the design of multimetallic catalysts. Here, high entropy concept is utilized to design an NiFeCoMnAl oxide with amorphous structure as OER catalyst. The direct evidence of active Ni sites is provided by the operando Raman measurements and Fe can modify oxygen intermediates binding energy on Ni sites. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) reveal that the incorporation of Mn can construct the electron-rich environment of active Ni center, and the relatively lower oxidation state of Ni facilitates the self-construction of β-NiOOH intermediates, which shows promoted OER activity as confirmed by density functional theory calculations. Doping Co can enhance the conductivity and doping Al leads to the formation of nanoporous structure through dealloying process, thus each component is essential for improving OER performance. The optimized NiFeCoMnAl catalyst exhibits an overpotential of 190 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH solution, much superior to the ternary and quaternary counterparts. This work sheds light on understanding the origin of high entropy catalysts’ OER activity and thereby enables the rational design of multinary transition metallic catalysts.

80 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Feb 2022
TL;DR: In this paper , a high entropy concept is utilized to design an NiFeCoMnAl oxide with amorphous structure as an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst.
Abstract: The exploration of an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is urgently required for sustainable renewable-energy conversion and storage. Due to the increased chemical complexity, multimetallic catalysts provide flexibility to alter their electronic and crystal structure to attain a superior intrinsic catalytic activity via synergistic effects, which is seldom accomplished using single metal catalysts. However, the high chemical complexity increases the difficulty to prepare elemental homogenous catalysts and reveal their synergistic effect during OER process, which further hinder the design of multimetallic catalysts. Here, high entropy concept is utilized to design an NiFeCoMnAl oxide with amorphous structure as OER catalyst. The direct evidence of active Ni sites is provided by the operando Raman measurements and Fe can modify oxygen intermediates binding energy on Ni sites. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) reveal that the incorporation of Mn can construct the electron-rich environment of active Ni center, and the relatively lower oxidation state of Ni facilitates the self-construction of β-NiOOH intermediates, which shows promoted OER activity as confirmed by density functional theory calculations. Doping Co can enhance the conductivity and doping Al leads to the formation of nanoporous structure through dealloying process, thus each component is essential for improving OER performance. The optimized NiFeCoMnAl catalyst exhibits an overpotential of 190 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH solution, much superior to the ternary and quaternary counterparts. This work sheds light on understanding the origin of high entropy catalysts’ OER activity and thereby enables the rational design of multinary transition metallic catalysts.

67 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the distribution and possible sources of MPs in aquatic and terrestrial environments are described and the adverse effects of MPs on natural creatures due to ingestion have been discussed, and the identification methods based on MPs particle size and chemical bond have been summarized.
Abstract: Microplastics (MPs) are distributed in the oceans, freshwater, and soil environment and have become major pollutants. MPs are generally referred to as plastic particles less than 5 mm in diameter. They consist of primary microplastics synthesized in microscopic size manufactured production and secondary microplastics generated by physical and environmental degradation. Plastic particles are long-lived pollutants that are highly resistant to environmental degradation. In this review, the distribution and possible sources of MPs in aquatic and terrestrial environments are described. Moreover, the adverse effects of MPs on natural creatures due to ingestion have been discussed. We also have summarized identification methods based on MPs particle size and chemical bond. To control the pollution of MPs, the biodegradation of MPs under the action of different microbes has also been reviewed in this work. This review will contribute to a better understanding of MPs pollution in the environment, as well as their identification, toxicity, and biodegradation in the ocean, freshwater, and soil, and the assessment and control of microplastics exposure.

46 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors identify objective exercise capacity differences between patients with and without dysautonomia and find no associations between subjective symptoms or perceived functional limitation and dysautonomic disorders.

45 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , a peak-fitting algorithm for graphitic-like materials and adventitious carbon (AdC) was proposed for X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results.

45 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors report that iPSC CD19-CAR T cells showed comparable antigen-specific activation, degranulation, cytotoxicity, and cytokine secretion compared with conventional CD19 CAR T cells and maintained homogeneous expression of the TCR derived from the initial clone.

31 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the atomically dispersed dual metal atom catalysts exhibit significant promise for the electrochemical energy conversion technologies, and the hetero-nuclear precious-non-precious (Au-Co) dual atoms have been synthesized and subsequently applied for the acidic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).
Abstract: The atomically dispersed dual metal atom catalysts exhibit significant promise for the electrochemical energy conversion technologies. Herein, the hetero-nuclear precious-non-precious (Au-Co) dual atoms have been synthesized and subsequently applied for the acidic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The (Au-Co) dual atoms exhibit an outstanding activity with half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.82 V in 0.1 M HClO4. Additionally, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) analysis reveals a peak power density of 360 mW cm−2 under H2/air condition. Co-N2C2 with axial Au atom moieties act as the active sites of the (Au-Co) dual atoms towards ORR. Further, *OH adsorbed on the Co atom induces a coordinated change in the adjacent Au atom symmetry, which leads the anti-bond spin orbitals to a low energy level, thus, further improving ORR performance. The development of (Au-Co) dual atoms via the regulation of d -orbitals symmetry provides an encouraging way to design highly efficient (electro)catalysts.

30 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a strategy of reactive Li2S collaborated with dual-directional Fe3C electrocatalyst is proposed to achieve fast and continuous conversion of sulfur species for drastically boosting the performance of Li-S batteries.

28 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , a strategy of reactive Li2S collaborated with dual-directional Fe3C electrocatalyst is proposed to achieve fast and continuous conversion of sulfur species for drastically boosting the performance of Li-S batteries.

28 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors comprehensively summarize the recent progress in the emerging area of thick electrodes to solve the critical issue and develop high-performance all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs).

27 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use fine-scale network mobility data in Ontario, Canada to study the association between three different mobility measures and four socioeconomic indicators throughout the first and second wave of Covid-19 (January to December 2020).

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , a carboxylic acid sodium functionalized polyarylether linked COF (denoted as NaOOC-COF) was proposed as an advanced Na-ion quasi-solid-state conductor film.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of lignin molecular weight (MW) in determining hard carbon (HC) structure and eventually ion storage mechanism was investigated, and a series of hard carbon anode materials from Lignin with different MWs at serial pyrolysis temperatures was developed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a multi-metal chloride SSE with an excellent electrochemical stability (up to 4.5 V vs. Li+/Li), which originates from the strong Zr-Cl bonding, was presented.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , a multi-metal chloride SSE with an excellent electrochemical stability (up to 4.5 V vs. Li+/Li), which originates from the strong Zr-Cl bonding, was presented.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , the authors examined how household demographic, socioeconomic, and neighbourhood food environment characteristics influenced household food wasting during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that the quantity and composition of household food waste was strongly influenced by the number of people and children in a household.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic may have amplified the environmental, social, and economic implications of household food waste. A better understanding of household food wasting during the pandemic is needed to improve the management of waste and develop best practices for municipal waste management programs under crisis circumstances. A waste composition study was undertaken with 100 single-family households across the city of London, Ontario, Canada to determine the quantity and composition of household food waste disposed in June 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines how household demographic, socioeconomic, and neighbourhood food environment characteristics influence household food wasting. On average, each household sent 2.81 kg of food waste to landfill per week, of which 52% was classified as avoidable food waste and 48% as unavoidable food waste. The quantity and composition of household food waste was found to be strongly influenced by the number of people and children in a household, and somewhat influenced by socioeconomic factors and neighbourhood food environment characteristics, including the availability, density, and proximity of retail food outlets.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a discretized continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is used to simulate nonstationary non-Gaussian vector process for prescribed marginal probability distribution functions and the time-scale power spectral density function matrix.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Feb 2022
TL;DR: In this paper , a photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor has been developed and fabricated for OFL determination based on CoAl layered double hydroxide/graphitic carbon nitride (CoAl LDH/g-C3N4) with two-dimensional/two-dimensional (2D/2D) structure.
Abstract: Ofloxacin (OFL), as a typical third-generation fluoroquinolone antibiotic, has been widespread employed in applications of preventing and treating skin tissue and bacterial infections. Detection of the residual OFL in water environment is extremely urgent on account of its toxicity to human body. Herein, a photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor has been developed and fabricated for OFL determination based on CoAl layered double hydroxide/graphitic carbon nitride (CoAl LDH/g-C3N4) with two-dimensional/two-dimensional (2D/2D) structure. Strongly coupled 2D/2D structure with closed-connected contact can be beneficial to the formation of large numbers of high-speed transfer channels at the interfacial heterojunction, thereby shortening the transmission distance of carriers. Photocurrent signal of 2D/2D CoAl LDH/g-C3N4 heterojunction realized the remarkable amplification, endowing it excellent PEC performance. Based on the oxidation of OFL by photoinduced holes, this developed aptasensing platform exhibited a wide linearity range of 1 × 10–2~1 × 105 pmol L–1 with a low limit detection of 3.4 fmol L–1, along with anti-inference and feasibility for OFL assay in actual water samples. This design can be proposed by the layered structure materials coupled with g-C3N4 to significantly amplify the photocurrent signal, which opens the way for the field of PEC analysis and environmental pollutants detection.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a self-powered triboelectric pressure sensor with hollow and bamboo-joint microstructures has been presented for real-time monitoring of human health in real time.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway was originally discovered in Drosophila and later found to play a fundamental role in human development and diseases as discussed by the authors , which is a major driver of basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and medulloblastoma.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , a self-powered triboelectric pressure sensor with hollow and bamboo-joint microstructures has been developed for real-time monitoring of human health in real time.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2022-Fuel
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of extraction solvents: acetone, ethanol, dichloromethane (DCM), and ethyl acetate (EA) on the yields and characteristics of bio-oil products obtained from liquefaction of rubberwood sawdust (RS) at 300 ℃ for 30min in water, ethanol or water-ethanol mixed solvent (50/50, v/v) were comparatively studied.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , a discretized continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is used to simulate nonstationary non-Gaussian vector process for prescribed marginal probability distribution functions and the time-scale power spectral density function matrix.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , a neurohormone secreted from pineal gland, substantially inhibited the horizontal transfer of RP4-7 plasmid in a dose-dependent manner and suppressed the conjugal frequency of different types of clinical plasmids carrying colistin resistance gene mcr-1 rather than blaNDM or tet(X) genes.
Abstract: The widespread dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is a serious problem and constitutes a threat for public health. Plasmid-mediated conjugative transfer of ARGs is recognized as one of the most important pathways accounting for this global crisis. Inhibiting the conjugative transfer of resistant gene-bearing plasmids provides a feasible strategy to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance. Here we found that melatonin, a neurohormone secreted from pineal gland, substantially inhibited the horizontal transfer of RP4-7 plasmid in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, melatonin could also suppress the conjugal frequency of different types of clinical plasmids that carrying colistin resistance gene mcr-1 rather than blaNDM or tet(X) genes. Next, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effect of melatonin on conjugation. As a result, we showed that the addition of melatonin markedly reduced bacterial membrane permeability and inhibited the oxidative stress. In line with these observations, the conjugative transfer-related genes were regulated accordingly. Most importantly, we uncovered that melatonin disrupted bacterial proton motive force (PMF), which is an essential bacterial energy metabolism substance and is important for conjugative process. Collectively, these results provide implications that some non-antibiotics such as melatonin are effective inhibitors of transmission of ARGs and raise a promising strategy to confront the increasing resistant infections.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper developed a flexible self-powered temperature-pressure dual functional e-skin (STPES) based on the coupling triboelectrics and thermoelectric effects, which converted temperature and pressure stimuli into two independent voltage signals without signal interference.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The distance-controlled boundary coefficient (DCBC) as discussed by the authors is an unbiased criterion to evaluate discrete parcellations of the human neocortex in their power to predict functional boundaries for an fMRI data set with many different tasks, as well as for resting-state data.
Abstract: One important approach to human brain mapping is to define a set of distinct regions that can be linked to unique functions. Numerous brain parcellations have been proposed, using cytoarchitectonic, structural, or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. The intrinsic smoothness of brain data, however, poses a problem for current methods seeking to compare different parcellations. For example, criteria that simply compare within-parcel to between-parcel similarity provide even random parcellations with a high value. Furthermore, the evaluation is biased by the spatial scale of the parcellation. To address this problem, we propose the distance-controlled boundary coefficient (DCBC), an unbiased criterion to evaluate discrete parcellations. We employ this new criterion to evaluate existing parcellations of the human neocortex in their power to predict functional boundaries for an fMRI data set with many different tasks, as well as for resting-state data. We find that common anatomical parcellations do not perform better than chance, suggesting that task-based functional boundaries do not align well with sulcal landmarks. Parcellations based on resting-state fMRI data perform well; in some cases, as well as a parcellation defined on the evaluation data itself. Finally, multi-modal parcellations that combine functional and anatomical criteria perform substantially worse than those based on functional data alone, indicating that functionally homogeneous regions often span major anatomical landmarks. Overall, the DCBC advances the field of functional brain mapping by providing an unbiased metric that compares the predictive ability of different brain parcellations to define brain regions that are functionally maximally distinct.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article , a large watershed-estuarine area of Bohai Sea was used as a case study, and soils and sediments were sampled adjacent to each other at a wide range of sites.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a large watershed-estuarine area of Bohai Sea was used as a case study, and soils and sediments were sampled adjacent to each other at a wide range of sites.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Feb 2022
TL;DR: In this paper , a nanoscale mullite whiskers growing on the fiber strengthen the interfacial bonding, thereby improving the mechanical properties of the composite and achieving high compression stress and modulus of 6.45 MPa and 69.74 MPa at 50% strain.
Abstract: Fiber-reinforced aerogel composites are extensively used in thermal insulation and energy-saving fields, while the inherently weak interface combination between fiber and aerogel undermines the effect of fiber reinforcement. To deal with this problem, mullite whiskers were in-situ synthesized on the surface of alumina silicate fiber through a facile and environmentally benign method. The nanoscale mullite whiskers growing on the fiber strengthen the interfacial bonding, thereby improving the mechanical properties of the composite. The alumina silicate fiber/mullite whisker/silica aerogel composites delivered ultrahigh compression stress and modulus of 6.45 MPa and 69.74 MPa at 50% strain, which is 6.14 times and 9.07 times higher than those of bare fiber reinforced silica aerogel. Meanwhile, the composite maintained a high retention rate of maximum stress of 97.8% after being compressed at 30% strain for 200 cycles. Moreover, the composite exhibits an ultralow thermal conductivity of 27.5 mW m−1 K−1 and a low density of 0.26 g cm−3. The strong, resilient, lightweight composite with ultralow thermal conductivity is applicable for heat preservation and energy saving.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors conducted a cohort study of adults with a recent experience of homelessness, inadequate housing, or shelter use between June 14, 2020, and June 14-21, 2021 (a period within 6 months of Dec 14-2020, when COVID-19 vaccine administration was initiated in Ontario).
Abstract: People experiencing homelessness face a high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission, as well as health complications and death due to COVID-19. Despite being prioritised for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in many regions, little data are available on vaccine uptake in this vulnerable population. Using population-based health-care administrative data from Ontario, Canada-a region with a universal, publicly funded health system-we aimed to describe COVID-19 vaccine coverage (ie, the estimated percentage of people who have received a vaccine) and determinants of vaccine receipt among individuals with a recent history of homelessness.We conducted a retrospective, population-based cohort study of adults (aged ≥18 years) with a recent experience of homelessness, inadequate housing, or shelter use as recorded in routinely collected health-care databases between June 14, 2020, and June 14, 2021 (a period within 6 months of Dec 14, 2020, when COVID-19 vaccine administration was initiated in Ontario). Participants were followed up from Dec 14, 2020, to Sept 30, 2021, for the receipt of one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine using the province's real-time centralised vaccine information system. We described COVID-19 vaccine coverage overall and within predefined subgroups. Using modified Poisson regression, we further identified sociodemographic factors, health-care usage, and clinical factors associated with receipt of at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.23 247 individuals with a recent history of homelessness were included in this study. Participants were predominantly male (14 752 [63·5%] of 23 247); nearly half were younger than 40 years (11 521 [49·6%]) and lived in large metropolitan regions (12 123 [52·2%]); and the majority (18 226 [78·4%]) visited a general practitioner for an in-person consultation during the observation period. By Sept 30, 2021, 14 271 (61·4%; 95% CI 60·8-62·0) individuals with a recent history of homelessness had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 11 082 (47·7%; 47·0-48·3) had received two doses; in comparison, over the same period, 86·6% of adults in the total Ontario population had received a first dose and 81·6% had received a second dose. In multivariable analysis, factors positively associated with COVID-19 uptake were one or more outpatient visits to a general practitioner (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] 1·37 [95% CI 1·31-1·42]), older age (50-59 years vs 18-29 years: 1·18 [1·14-1·22], ≥60 years vs 18-29 years: 1·27 [1·22-1·31]), receipt of an influenza vaccine in either of the two previous influenza seasons (1·25 [1·23-1·28]), being identified as homeless via a visit to a community health centre versus exclusively a hospital-based encounter (1·13 [1·10-1·15]), receipt of one or more SARS-CoV-2 tests between March 1, 2020, and Sept 30, 2021 (1·23 [1·20-1·26]), and the presence of chronic health conditions (one condition: 1·05 [1·03-1·08]; two or more conditions: 1·11 [1·08-1·14]). By contrast, living in a smaller metropolitan region (aRR 0·92 [95% CI 0·90-0·94]) or rural location (0·93 [0·90-0·97]) versus large metropolitan regions were associated with lower uptake.In Ontario, COVID-19 vaccine coverage among adults with a recent history of homelessness has lagged and, as of Sept 30, 2021, was 25 percentage points lower than that of the general adult population in Ontario for a first dose and 34 percentage points lower for a second dose. With high usage of outpatient health services among individuals with a recent history of homelessness, better utilisation of outpatient primary care structures might offer an opportunity to increase vaccine coverage in this population. Our findings underscore the importance of leveraging existing health and service organisations that are accessed and trusted by people who experience homelessness for targeted vaccine delivery.The Public Health Agency of Canada.For the French translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.