Spatio-Temporal Usage Patterns of Dockless Bike-Sharing Service Linking to a Metro Station: A Case Study in Shanghai, China

The dockless bike-sharing (DLBS) system serves as a link between metro stations and travelers\u27 destinations (or originations). This paper aims to uncover spatio-temporal usage patterns of dockless bike-sharing service linking to metro stations for supporting scientific planning and management of the dockless bike-sharing system. A powerful visualization tool was used to analyze the differences in usage patterns in workdays and weekends. The travel distance distributions of using dockless bike-sharing near metro stations were investigated to shed light on the service area of the dockless bike-sharing system. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering was applied to analyze differences in usage patterns of metro stations located in different areas. The results show that the usage patterns of dockless bike-sharing on weekends are different from those on workdays. The average travel distance using the dockless bike-sharing system at weekends is significantly larger than that of workdays. The travel distance distribution could be nicely fitted by the Frechet distribution of the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution family. The usage characteristics of shared bikes are correlated with land use and population density around metro stations. No matter in urban or suburban areas, there is a great demand for bike-sharing in densely populated areas with intensive land development, such as university towns in suburban areas. This study improves the understandings regarding the usage patterns of the DLBS system serving as a link between the final destinations (or originations) and metro stations. The results can be helpful to the operation and demand management of DLBS. \ua9 2020 by the authors

Solar carbon fuel via photoelectrochemistry

A promising strategy to mitigate both energy shortage and global warming is the conversion of CO 2 into chemicals that can be used as fuels (chemical fuels) by utilizing renewable energy sources. Up to date, solar-driven CO 2 reduction has been achieved with photochemical (PC) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems or electrochemical cells combined with a photovoltaic system (PV-EC). This study is intended to compare and highlight the state-of-the-art PEC systems for CO 2 reduction and show the limitation factors that still hinder their widespread utilization. The review starts with a description of semiconducting photocatalyst properties and fundamental understanding of PEC CO 2 reduction process. Then, the most significant performance metrics used for evaluation of PEC systems are explained in details. In addition, recent progress in PEC CO 2 reduction systems is summarized and classified in different categories according to the chemical product. Different strategies such as doping, combination of two or more semiconductors, synthesis of nanostructured materials, passivation layers and co-catalysts that enhance light absorption, chemical stability, charge transfer and reduce ohmic losses and overpotentials of photoactive materials are reviewed. Besides the improvement of photocatalysts, research progress on the front of PEC reactor design, combined with the development of advanced modelling tools and characterization techniques are expected to bring PEC CO 2 reduction a step closer to commercialization

The Director’s Method in Contemporary Visual Effects Film: The Influence of Digital Effects on Film Directing

The director’ s method – meant as the organisation of the filmmaking process – is usually characterised by common procedures such as work on the script, shot design and the actors’ performance. For films involving a large-scale use of digital effects, directors consistently approach such procedures with a particular attitude dictated by the digital pipeline, the step-by-step technical procedure through which computer-generated images are created. In light of this, the use of digital effects might influence the director’s method. This thesis aims to define what is considered to be a consensual methodological approach to direct films with no or few digital effects and then compares this approach to when such effects are conspicuously involved. This analysis is conducted through interviews with working directors, visual effects companies and practitioners, and integrated with the current literature. The frame of the research is represented by a large spectrum of contemporary films produced in western countries and which involve digital effects at different scales and complexity but always in interaction with live-action. The research focuses on commercial films and excludes computer-animated and experimental films. The research is intended to address an area in production studies which is overlooked. In fact, although the existent literature examines both digital effects and film directing as distinct elements, there is to date no detailed analysis on the influence that the former has on the latter. In light of this, this dissertation seeks to fill a gap in production studies. The research looks to argue that the director’s method has been changed by the advent of digital effects; it describes a common workflow for digital effects film and notes the differences between this method and the method applied when digital effects are not involved. This is of significant importance for a film industry which is heavily dependent on such effects, as the analysis on contemporary filmmaking reveal

Sequence variations in DNA repair gene XPC is associated with lung cancer risk in a Chinese population: a case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The nucleotide excision repair (NER) protein, xeroderma pigmentosum C (XPC), participates in recognizing DNA lesions and initiating DNA repair in response to DNA damage. Because mutations in <it>XPC </it>cause a high risk of cancer in XP patients, we hypothesized that inherited sequence variations in <it>XPC </it>may alter DNA repair and thus susceptibility to cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this hospital-based case-control study, we investigated five <it>XPC </it>tagging, common single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagging SNPs) in 1,010 patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer and 1,011 matched cancer free controls in a Chinese population.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In individual tagging SNP analysis, we found that rs3731055<it>AG+AA </it>variant genotypes were associated with a significantly decreased risk of lung adenocarcinoma [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.71; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.56–0.90] but an increased risk of small cell carcinomas [adjusted OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.05–3.07]. Furthermore, we found that haplotype <it>ACCCA </it>was associated with a decreased risk of lung adenocarcinoma [OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.62–0.97] but an increased risk of small cell carcinomas [OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.04–2.71], which reflected the presence of rs3731055<it>A </it>allele in this haplotype. Further stratified analysis revealed that the protective effect of rs3731055<it>AG+AA </it>on risk of lung adenocarcinoma was more evident among young subjects (age ≤ 60) and never smokers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that inherited sequence variations in <it>XPC </it>may modulate risk of lung cancer, especially lung adenocarcinoma, in Chinese populations. However, these findings need to be verified in larger confirmatory studies with more comprehensively selected tagging SNPs.</p

In situ microscopic studies on the structural and chemical behaviors of lithium-ion battery materials

The direct observation of the microstructural evolution and state-of-charge (SOC) distribution in active materials is crucial to understand the lithiation/delithiation mechanisms during electrochemical cycling of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Owing to their high spatial resolutions and capability to map chemical states by combining other spectroscopic techniques, microscopic techniques including X-ray fluorescence (XRF) microscopy, Raman microscopy, transmission X-ray microscopy (D(M), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) play significant roles in real time monitoring the dynamic changes in the LIB electrodes and materials. This paper reviews the recent progress of using in situ microscopic techniques to study LIB materials, including Si-, Sn-, Ge-, C- and metal oxides-based anode materials, and layered oxysulfide, metal fluorides, LiCoO2, LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2, LiMn2O4, LiFePO4 cathode materials. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Electrocatalysis in Fuel Cells

Low temperature fuel cells are expected to come into widespread commercial use in the areas of transportation and stationary and portable power generation, and thus will help solve energy shortage and environmental issues. [...

Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Activity of Platinum Monolayer with a Gold Interlayer on Palladium

The activity of Pt monolayer supported on conventional (cuboctahedral) Pd nanoparticles for the oxygen reduction reaction was improved by 2-fold by introducing an Au submonolayer between the Pd core and Pt shell. By controlling the shape of the Pd cores (cubic and octahedral), we are able to distinguish the role of Au on the activity improvement at different facets. The Au interlayer can enhance the Pt monolayer activity toward oxygen reduction on both (100) and (111) surfaces, with the enhancement on (100) much more pronounced. The larger enhancement degree at the (100) sites may be due to the larger decrease of oxygen binding energy caused by Au interlayer (0.275 eV) than that at (111) sites (0.075 eV)

Pt Monolayer Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Pd-Cu Alloy: First-Principles Investigation

First principles approach is used to examine geometric and electronic structure of the catalyst concept aimed to improve activity and utilization of precious Pt metal for oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. The Pt monolayers on Pd skin and Pd1-xCux inner core for various compositions x were examined by building the appropriate models starting from Pd-Cu solid solution. We provided a detailed description of changes in the descriptors of catalytic behavior, d-band energy and binding energies of reaction intermediates, giving an insight into the underlying mechanism of catalytic activity enhancement based on the first principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Structural properties of the Pd-Cu bimetallic were determined for bulk and surfaces, including the segregation profile of Cu under different environment on the surface