Identification of doping suspicions through artificial intelligence-powered analysis on athlete’s performance passport in female weightlifting

IntroductionDoping remains a persistent concern in sports, compromising fair competition. The Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) has been a standard anti-doping measure, but confounding factors challenge its effectiveness. Our study introduces an artificial intelligence-driven approach for identifying potential doping suspicious, utilizing the Athlete’s Performance Passport (APP), which integrates both demographic profiles and performance data, among elite female weightlifters.MethodsAnalyzing publicly available performance data in female weightlifting from 1998 to 2020, along with demographic information, encompassing 17,058 entities, we categorized weightlifters by age, body weight (BW) class, and performance levels. Documented anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) cases were also retained. We employed AI-powered algorithms, including XGBoost, Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), and an Ensemble model, which integrates XGBoost and MLP, to identify doping suspicions based on the dataset we obtained.ResultsOur findings suggest a potential doping inclination in female weightlifters in their mid-twenties, and the sanctioned prevalence was the highest in the top 1% performance level and then decreased thereafter. Performance profiles and sanction trends across age groups and BW classes reveal consistently superior performances in sanctioned cases. The Ensemble model showcased impressive predictive performance, achieving a 53.8% prediction rate among the weightlifters sanctioned in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics. This demonstrated the practical application of the Athlete’s Performance Passport (APP) in identifying potential doping suspicions.DiscussionOur study pioneers an AI-driven APP approach in anti-doping, offering a proactive and efficient methodology. The APP, coupled with advanced AI algorithms, holds promise in revolutionizing the efficiency and objectivity of doping tests, providing a novel avenue for enhancing anti-doping measures in elite female weightlifting and potentially extending to diverse sports. We also address the limitation of a constrained set of APPs, advocating for the development of a more accessible and enriched APP system for robust anti-doping practices

Coverage of capping ligands determining the selectivity of multi-carbon products and morphological evolution of Cu nanocatalysts in electrochemical reduction of CO2

© The Royal Society of Chemistry.Identifying the active sites of Cu nanoparticles that convert CO2 to multi-carbon (C2+) materials has remained elusive. It is caused by the reconstruction of Cu nanoparticles during electrochemical CO2 reduction and the unrevealed effect of capping ligands covering the Cu surface. We show that the C2+ selectivity and morphological evolution of Cu nanoparticles largely depend on the density of the capping ligand, tetradecylphosphonate (TDP). Ultraviolet-ozone pre-treatment of Cu nanoparticles reduced the density of TDP. Desorption of the remaining ligands was expedited within 3 h of the CO2 reduction process, and the concurrent aggregation of NPs formed bare Cu clusters. The increased C2+ selectivity of >50% faradaic efficiency revealed that the existing grain boundaries of Cu clusters promoted CO dimerization to produce C2+ materials. Despite similar cluster formation, Cu nanoparticles without ultraviolet-ozone treatment showed poor C2+ selectivity, suggesting that the remaining TDP, half of the original concentration, passivated the grain boundaries. Further the morphological transformation of Cu did not increase C2+ selectivity even after 20 h of the reaction.11Nsciescopu

Subnanometer Cu Clusters on Porous Ag Enhancing Ethanol Production in Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction

Controlling the electrochemical CO2 reduction process for multicarbon production is challenging. Ethanol is typically produced with lower selectivity compared to ethylene. In addition, ill-defined catalytic active sites and elusive mechanisms of C–C coupling further hinder the enhancement of ethanol generation. Here, we carefully regulated the quantity of the Cu atoms and deposited them onto a Ag inverse-opal structure (AgIOs) using the pulse-electrodeposition method. Subnanometer Cu clusters demonstrated a 2.5 times higher Faradaic efficiency for ethanol production compared to that for ethylene at −1.05 V vs RHE. Conversely, as the size of Cu increased to nanometers, ethylene became the dominant product. Excessive adsorption of CO on Cu clusters, which migrates from the Ag surface, is attributed to the improved ethanol production. Abundant Ag/Cu boundaries and adjacent spacing between Ag and Cu clusters may enhance the surface migration of CO. In contrast, the preferential site-selective CO adsorption on large Cu nanoparticles is associated with solution-mediated CO migration. Operando shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS) revealed a high coverage of the CO on the Cu clusters. The initial intermediate *OCCOH by C–C coupling appeared for both Cu clusters and nanoparticles. However, Cu clusters accommodated more carbonaceous intermediates, highlighting the critical role of CO and intermediate coverages on Cu in ethanol production

Catalytic boosting on AuCu bimetallic nanoparticles by oxygen-induced atomic restructuring

Understanding the structure-activity relationship over silica-supported Au-based bimetallic nanocatalysts in CO oxidation is essential in elucidating active sites and catalytic mechanisms. Here, we uncover that structure-activity relationship over a silica-supported 10 nm sized AuCu bimetallic model nanocatalyst for CO oxidation. Oxygen–induced atomic restructuring of AuCu nanocrystals is comprehensively investigated using combined operando spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, including near-ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier-transform spectroscopy, and environmental transmission electron microscopy. We show that the formation of CuOx/Au heterostructure gives rise to the enhancement of catalytic activity for CO oxidation. The formation of the reactive heterostructure on catalysis was rationalized by density functional theory calculation. Our results indicate that intermediate heterostructure with a metal-oxide interface leads to strong electronic coupling between catalyst and support (i.e., electronic metal-support interaction effect). © 2023 Elsevier B.V.11Nsciescopu