Bayesian hierarchical spatiotemporal models for prediction of (under)reporting rates and cases: COVID-19 infection among the older people in the United States during the 2020-2022 pandemic.

The gap between the reported and actual COVID-19 infection cases has been an issue of concern. Here, we present Bayesian hierarchical spatiotemporal disease mapping models for state-level predictions of COVID-19 infection risks and (under)reporting rates among people aged 65 and above during the first two years of the pandemic in the United States. With prior elicitation based on recent prevalence studies, the study suggests that the median state-level reporting rate of COVID-19 infection was 90% (interquartile range: [78%, 96%]). Our study uncovers spatiotemporal variations and dynamics in state-level infection risks and (under)reporting rates, suggesting time-varying associations between higher population density, higher percentage of minorities, and higher percentage of vaccination and increased risks of COVID-19 infection, as well as an association between more easily accessible tests and higher reporting rates. With sensitivity analyses, we highlight the impact and importance of incorporating covariates information and objective prior references for evaluating the issue of underreporting.

Phase Change Nanocapsules Enabling Dual-Mode Thermal Management for Fast-Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries.

The fast-charging performance of conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is determined by the working temperature. LIBs may fail to work under harsh conditions, especially in the low-temperature range of the local environment or in the high-temperature circumstances resulting from the release of substantial Joule heating in the short term. Constructing a thermal engineering framework for thermal regulation and maintaining the battery running at an appropriate temperature range are feasible strategies for developing temperature-tolerant, fast-charging LIBs. In this work, we prepare phase change nanocapsules as a thermal regulating layer on the cell surface. The polyurea shells of the nanocapsules are decorated with polyaniline, where the molecular vibration of polyaniline is enhanced under solar irradiation, enabling light-to-heat conversion that achieves an effective temperature increment at low temperatures. Based on the large latent heat storage capability of the n-octadecane core in the nanocapsules, the thermal regulating layer is sufficient to modulate strong heat release when operating LIBs at a high current rate, which efficiently prevents strong side reactions at high temperatures or even the occurrence of thermal runaway. This work highlights the promise of optimizing the operating temperature with a thermal regulator to ensure the safety and performance stability of fast-charging LIBs.

Sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection risk reduction with methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone among people with prescription-type opioid use disorder: Findings from a Canadian pragmatic randomized trial.

INTRODUCTION: People who use drugs are disproportionally affected by sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs). While the benefits of methadone in reducing injecting-risk behaviours are well documented, less is known on its impacts on sexual-related risks, as well as its comparative effectiveness to buprenorphine/naloxone, particularly in the context of highly potent opioids. The aim of this study was to estimate the relative effects of buprenorphine/naloxone and methadone on injecting and STBBI risks among people with prescription-type opioid use disorder (POUD). METHODS: Secondary analysis of a pan-Canadian pragmatic 24-week randomized clinical trial comparing methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone models of care among 272 people with POUD (including licit or illicit opioid analgesics, fentanyl). The Risk Behaviour Survey was used to collect injecting and sexual risks at baseline, and weeks 12 and 24. RESULTS: In total, 210 participants initiated treatment (103 buprenorphine/naloxone and 107 methadone). At baseline, 113/205 (55.1%) participants reported recently injecting drugs, 37/209 (17.7%) unsafe injection practices and 67/162 (41.4%) high-risk sex. Both methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone were associated with reductions in the prevalence of injection drug use and high-risk sex at weeks 12 and 24 with no interactions between treatment arm and time. CONCLUSION: Methadone and buprenorphine/naloxone were similarly effective in reducing injecting and sexual risk behaviours among people with POUD. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov NCT03033732.

Multiple H-Bonding Cross-Linked Supramolecular Solid-Solid Phase Change Materials for Thermal Energy Storage and Management.

Solid-solid phase change materials (SSPCMs) are considered among the most promising candidates for thermal energy storage and management. However, the application of SSPCMs is consistently hindered by the canonical trade-off between high TES capacity and mechanical robustness. In addition, they suffer from poor recyclability due to chemical cross-linking. Herein, a straightforward but effective strategy for fabricating supramolecular SSPCMs with high latent heat and mechanical strength is proposed. The supramolecular polymer employs multiple H-bonding interactions as robust physical cross-links. This enables SSPCM with a high enthalpy of phase transition (142.5 J g-1 ), strong mechanical strength (36.9 MPa), and sound shape stability (maintaining shape integrity at 120 °C) even with a high content of phase change component (97 wt%). When SSPCM is utilized to regulate the operating temperature of lithium-ion batteries, it significantly diminishes the battery working temperature by 23 °C at a discharge rate of 3 C. The robust thermal management capability enabled through solid-solid phase change provides practical opportunities for applications in fast discharging and high-power batteries. Overall, this study presents a feasible strategy for designing linear SSPCMs with high latent heat and exceptional mechanical strength for thermal management.

The Synergistic Effects between Liquid Crystal and Crystalline Phase on Photo-Responsive Elastomers toward Quick Photo-Responsive Performance.

Adopting only a small amount of azobenzene molecular to design liquid crystal photo-responsive materials capable of quick response and flexible adjustability is in high demand but is challenging. Herein, azobenzenemolecules into polyurethane elastomer containing crystalline structure for preparing azobenzene liquid-crystal elastomers (ALCEs) are demonstrated and this phenomenon of the synergistic effects between liquid crystal and crystalline phase is discovered. The key point of the work is that the synthetic ALCEs can utilize the reversible isomerism capability of azobenzene molecules under light irradiation, which can pry the motion of the macromolecular crystalline region in system to realize the large macroscopic deformation of the photo-responsive behavior. Obviously, the ALCEs sample containing azobenzene molecule and polyethylene glycol crystallization can quickly bend, illuminated by ultraviolet light and rapidly straighten under green light. Under the same ultraviolet irradiation, the bending speed, final bending angle, recovery rate and recovery ratio of ALCEs are larger than that of ALCEs without any crystalline structure. This ALCEs based on the synergistic effects between liquid crystal and crystalline phase can break through the current dilemma that the application of traditional azobenzene photo-responsive materials is limited by their concentration, greatly expanding the design thought and their scope of application.

Exploring Self-Healing and Switchable Adhesives based on Multi-Level Dynamic Stable Structure.

It is a challenge to develop adhesives simultaneously capable of strong adhesion and efficient switchable ability. Herein, the authors report multifunctional switchable adhesives named Cu2+ -curcumin-imidazole-polyurethane (CIPUs:Cu2+ ) by introducing 1-(3-aminopropyl) imidazole and curcumin into polyurethane system crossed by Cu2+ forming dynamic metal-ligand bonds. This CIPUs:Cu2+ has strong adhesion (up to 2.46 MPa) on various material surfaces due to their specially designed functional groups alike the secretions from mussels. It can achieve fast switching speed (30 s) and high switch efficiency through multiple contactless remote stimulations. Importantly, density functional theory (DFT) calculation reveals that such metal-ligand bonds consisting of two components: stronger Cu2+ -curcumin complexes and weaker Cu2+ -imidazole complexes can aggregate to form multi-level dynamic stable structure . The special structure can not only be acted as sacrificial sites for easily broken and reformed, allowing efficient switchable adhesion and enormous energy dissipation but also acted as firm sites to maintain the cohesion of the adhesive and the reversible reconstruction network. Intriguingly, the CIPUs:Cu2+ can achieve self-healing at room temperature without needing external stimuli. Overall, this strategy can further broaden the design of switchable adhesives in the fields of intelligent gadgets, wearable bio-monitoring devices, etc.

Elevating the Photothermal Conversion Efficiency of Phase-Change Materials Simultaneously toward Solar Energy Storage, Self-Healing, and Recyclability.

To alleviate the predicament of resource shortage and environmental pollution, efficiently using abundant solar energy is a great challenge. Herein, we prepared unique photothermal conversion phase-change materials, namely, CNT@PCMs, by introducing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) used as photothermal conversion materials into the recyclable matrix of phase-change materials (PCMs). These devised CNT@PCMs cleverly combine the photothermal conversion capability of CNTs and the thermal energy storage capability of traditional PCMs. Especially, the surface temperature of the prepared CNT@PCMs can be raised to 100 °C within 165 s under the solar simulator (150 mW cm-2), showing a surprising heating rate that is much higher than that of the reported works and achieving a higher photothermal conversion efficiency for solar energy in this work. Furthermore, these CNT@PCMs can hold high melting latent heat with a maximum value at 110.0 J g-1, exhibiting remarkable thermal storage ability aside from preeminent photothermal conversion capability. Intriguingly, the introduction of dynamic oxime group-carbamate bonds into the molecular structure can endow CNT@PCMs with an outstanding self-healing performance and recyclability. The broken CNT@PCMs sample can be healed in 2 min under IR-laser irradiation. Importantly, the phase-change and mechanical properties and photothermal conversion efficiency of CNT@PCMs can also remain virtually unchanged after multiple recycles. It is of great significance to design this style of CNT@PCMs for achieving the efficient utilization of solar energy and environmental protection.

Oxime-Urethane Structure-Based Dynamically Crosslinked Polyurethane with Robust Reprocessing Properties.

Crosslinked polyurethane with excellent mechanical property, solvent resistance, and transparency has become one of the most widely used materials. However, the presence of chemical crosslinks makes it difficult to be reprocessed once molded, which largely restricts its recycling and reusing, resulting in the serious waste problems. Therefore, it is of great significance to prepare a new type of crosslinked polyurethane with reprocessing function. In this work, a novel reprocessable polyurethane (DOPU) based on reversible dibutanone oxime-carbamate bonds is facilely prepared. The gel fraction of DOPUs is all higher than 95%, endowing it with excellent solvent resistance. Meanwhile, the visible light transmittance of DOPUs can reach up to 97.48%. After four thermal recycles, the tensile strength and elongation at break of recycled DOPUs can still remain at 3.21 MPa and 219.09%, respectively. Importantly, the synthesized DOPUs exhibit excellent elastic shape memory and permanent shape reconstruction properties under thermal stimulation. The dibutanone oxime-carbamate bonds can also be degraded under UV irradiation, making this material easily degradable. Hence, this material has potential applications in coatings, elastomers, and some other fields.

In Situ-Formed Novel Elastic Network Binder for a Silicon Anode in Lithium-Ion Batteries.

High energy density lithium-ion batteries with preferable cycling stability are critical for the development of all-electric vehicles. Silicon (Si) has demonstrated a remarkable potential for application as anode materials due to its superior capacity performance and worldwide abundance. However, Si intrinsically undergoes substantial volume fluctuation during repeated lithiation/delithiation processes, which pulverizes the Si particles and undermines the integrity of the electrode structures, thus resulting in frustrating cycling stability. We developed a polymer binder with a highly stretchable and elastic network structure that can accommodate volume variation of Si. This was realized by an in situ cross-linking of polyacrylic acid (PAA) with isocyanate-terminated polyurethane oligomers that consist of polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains and 2-ureido-4-pyrimidinone (UPy) moieties through the reaction between isocyanate and carboxyl during the electrode preparation process. In this binder network, PAA could strongly adhere to the Si particles by forming hydrogen bonding with the surface hydroxyl groups. The PEG chains induce the flexibility of the polymer network, while the UPy moieties endow the polymer network with desirable mechanical strength through the formation of reversible and strong quadruple H-bonding cross-linkers. This binder not only can sufficiently accommodate the volume change of Si but can also provide a strong mechanical support to effectively sustain the integrity for the Si anode, consequently enhancing cycle stability and rate performance.

Inverse Vulcanized Polymers with Shape Memory, Enhanced Mechanical Properties, and Vitrimer Behavior.

The invention of inverse vulcanization provides great opportunities for generating functional polymers directly from elemental sulfur, an industrial by-product. However, unsatisfactory mechanical properties have limited the scope for wider applications of these exciting materials. Here, we report an effective synthesis method that significantly improves mechanical properties of sulfur-polymers and allows control of performance. A linear pre-polymer containing hydroxyl functional group was produced, which could be stored at room temperature for long periods of time. This pre-polymer was then further crosslinked by difunctional isocyanate secondary crosslinker. By adjusting the molar ratio of crosslinking functional groups, the tensile strength was controlled, ranging from 0.14±0.01 MPa to 20.17±2.18 MPa, and strain was varied from 11.85±0.88 % to 51.20±5.75 %. Control of hardness, flexibility, solubility and function of the material were also demonstrated. We were able to produce materials with suitable combination of flexibility and strength, with excellent shape memory function. Combined with the unique dynamic property of S-S bonds, these polymer networks have an attractive, vitrimer-like ability for being reshaped and recycled, despite their crosslinked structures. This new synthesis method could open the door for wider applications of sustainable sulfur-polymers.

Real-time tracking the Li+-ion transition behavior and dynamics in solid Poly(vinyl alcohol)/LiClO4 electrolytes.

To delicately track the Li-ion transport in SPEs under an external electric field (EF) is a big challenge, considering the limitation of most spectroscopic methods to monitor the real-time conformational changes and track the dynamic process. Herein, real-time Li-ion transition behavior and transport dynamics in typical poly(vinyl alcohol)/LiClO4 electrolytes under an external EF have been studied by combining time-resolved Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) with two-dimensional correlation FTIR spectroscopy. Results show that no migration of Li-ions has been detected when the time scale of the EF loading is at nanosecond (less than 200 ns). However, for the first time, Li-ions have been found to significantly transfer along the EF direction as the time scale enhances to microsecond order of magnitude and the migration period is less than 10 microseconds. The Li+ migration in the SPEs under an EF is a complicated process including quasi-periodic dissociation and coordination effects between Li-ion carriers and polymeric chains.

Synthesis and self-assembly behavior of a biodegradable and sustainable soybean oil-based copolymer nanomicelle.

Herein, we report a novel amphiphilic biodegradable and sustainable soybean oil-based copolymer (SBC) prepared by grafting hydrophilic and biocompatible hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) polymeric segments onto the natural hydrophobic soybean oil chains. FTIR, H(1)-NMR, and GPC measurements have been used to investigate the molecular structure of the obtained SBC macromolecules. Self-assembly behaviors of the prepared SBC in aqueous solution have also been extensively evaluated by fluorescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The prepared SBC nanocarrier with the size range of 40 to 80 nm has a potential application in the biomedical field.

Synthesis, characterization, and self-assembly behaviors of a biodegradable and anti-clotting poly(EDTA-diol-co-butylene adipate glycol urethanes).

Anti-clotting EDTA-diol was successfully synthesized by an esterification reaction between EDTA-2Na and poly(ethylene glycol). Novel anti-clotting and biodegradable multi-block polyurethanes were then prepared by EDTA-diol and biodegradable poly(1,4-butylene adipate glycol) (PBA) as the soft chain, and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) as the hard chain, respectively. The effect of the EDTA-diol content in the soft chain of the prepared polyurethanes on mechanical properties, thermal stability, hydrophilicity, and anticoagulant ability was largely investigated by tensile tests, thermogravimetric analysis, contact angle and water absorption measurements, and hemolytic measurement. Self-assembly behaviors of the resulting polyurethanes were also evaluated by fluorescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The prepared polyurethanes have large potential applications in the fields of biomedical materials such as tissue engineering and drug carriers.

In situ preparation of monodispersed Ag/polyaniline/Fe3O4 nanoparticles via heterogeneous nucleation.

Acrylic acid and styrene were polymerized onto monodispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles using a grafting copolymerization method. Aniline molecules were then bonded onto the Fe3O4 nanoparticles by electrostatic self-assembly and further polymerized to obtain uniform polyaniline/Fe3O4 (PANI/Fe3O4) nanoparticles (approximately 35 nm). Finally, monodispersed Ag/PANI/Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared by an in situ reduction reaction between emeraldine PANI and silver nitrate. Fourier transform infrared and UV-visible spectrometers and a transmission electron microscope were used to characterize both the chemical structure and the morphology of the resulting nanoparticles.