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Artificial intelligence (AI)‐driven learning has become an irreversible trend in foreign language education. Scholars are increasingly focusing on this field, yet few have examined its impact within English literature classes. To fill this gap, we designed an 8‐week intervention study with mixed methods and recruited 90 students, with 42 in the experimental group and 48 in the control group, matched for average age, English proficiency and gender ratio. Critical thinking levels were measured before and after the intervention using a standardised assessment tool. In the experimental group, students used AI tools (ChatGPT‐3.5, Bodoudou, SummarizBot, etc.) to generate and answer text‐related questions, and participate in interactive quizzes and AI‐assisted debates during classes, while the control group followed traditional methods without AI tools. The findings revealed a statistically significant improvement in the critical thinking skills of the experimental group compared to the control group, as measured by pre and postintervention assessments (p < 0.05). This suggests that AI tools can effectively enhance critical thinking abilities in English literature classes. This study not only contributes to the emerging discourse on AI in education but also offers practical implications for integrating AI technologies to support and enrich the learning experiences of EFL students in literature classes. The findings have the potential to guide educators and policymakers in designing AI‐driven educational strategies that are culturally responsive and pedagogically effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly altered teaching methodologies by integrating technology into syllabi, emphasising the crucial role of teacher well‐being influenced by positive psychology. Also, as the foremost issues of education, teachers' individual factors should be considered as their beliefs in their capabilities to persist in the case of difficulties and their emotion regulation (ER) have been underlined in the literature. Therefore, this study examined the correlation between teacher self‐efficacy (TSE), resilience and ER and teacher well‐being among 424 Chinese teachers. The findings through running the structural equation model revealed that those teachers with a heightened degree of TSE, resilience and ER are more likely to have better well‐being. Multiple regression analysis indicated that TSE explained 61% of the variance in teachers' well‐being. Meanwhile, the same analysis found that resilience and ER explained 54% and 51% of the variance in teachers' well‐being, respectively. Succinctly, some educational implications are provided for educational members to attract their attention to the role of these constructs in technology‐enhanced teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragment‐based drug design is an emerging technology in pharmaceutical research and development. One of the key aspects of this technology is the identification and quantitative characterization of molecular fragments. This study presents a strategy for identifying important molecular fragments based on molecular fingerprints and decision tree algorithms and verifies its feasibility in predicting protein‐ligand binding affinity. Specifically, the three‐dimensional (3D) structures of protein‐ligand complexes are encoded using extended‐connectivity fingerprints (ECFP), and three decision tree models, namely Random Forest, XGBoost, and LightGBM, are used to quantitatively characterize the feature importance, thereby extracting important molecular fragments with high reliability. Few‐shot learning reveals that the extracted molecular fragments contribute significantly and consistently to the binding affinity even with a small sample size. Despite the absence of location and distance information for molecular fragments in ECFP, 3D visualization, in combination with the reverse ECFP process, shows that the majority of the extracted fragments are located at the binding interface of the protein and the ligand. This alignment with the distance constraints critical for binding affinity further supports the reliability of the strategy for identifying important molecular fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the toughness and hydrophobic property of the cycloaliphatic epoxy resin (CEP), which is vital to application in high voltage insulation of outdoor transmission lines, 3‐aminopropyltriethoxysilane was used as the intermediate to prepare the silicone prepolymer by the interaction of the end groups of the CEP and the hydroxy‐terminated polydimethylsiloxane. The results showed that the silicone prepolymer segments were self‐assembled to form solid dispersion phases distributed uniformly in the CEP. The size of the dispersed phase gradually increased in CEP with more concentration of silicone prepolymer. The tensile strength and static contact angle of the CEP were simultaneously improved when content of the silicone prepolymer reached 10 phr. The tensile strength and static contact angle were mainly affected by the distribution of dispersed phase and by surface tension, respectively. With the increase of Si/C on the surface, surface tension decreased and tended to saturate. Due to small molecule migration, the CEP containing silicone prepolymer was also endowed with hydrophobic transfer properties. This paper affords a method to simultaneously enhance toughness and hydrophobic properties of CEP and deepens fundamental understanding of hydrophobic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D electrode design is normally opted for multiple advantages, however, instability/detachment of active material causes the pulverization and degradation of the structure, and ultimately poor cyclic stability. Here, a dually protected, highly compressible, and freestanding anode is presented for sodium‐ion batteries, where 3D carbon nanotube (CNT) sponge is decorated with homogeneously dispersed CoSe2 nanoparticles (NPs) which are protected under carbon overcoat (CNT/CoSe2/C). The 3D CNT sponge delivers enough space for high mass loading while providing high mechanical strength and faster conduction pathway among the NPs. The outer amorphous carbon overcoat controls the formation of solid electrolyte interphase film by avoiding direct contact of CoSe2 with electrolyte, accommodates large volume changes, and ultimately enhances the overall conductivity of cell and assists in transmitting electron to an external circuit. Moreover, the hybrid can be densified up to 11‐fold without affecting its microstructure that results in ultrahigh areal mass loading of 17.4 mg cm−2 and an areal capacity of 7.03 mAh cm−2 along with a high gravimetric capacity of 531 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1. Thus, compact and smart devices can be realized by this new electrode design for heavy‐duty commercial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Achieving a high areal capacity is essential for the transfer of outstanding laboratory electrode results to commercial applications and also to ensure there exists a capacity matched cathode and anode for a properly tuned battery. Despite intensive efforts, most electrode materials exhibit areal capacities lower than that of the graphite anodes (4 mA h cm−2). An effective and low‐cost approach is reported to attain a high areal capacity via an intense densification by compacting a porous carbon nanotube sponge grafted with Co3O4 nanoparticles. The hybrid sponge can be compacted to a large degree (up to a tenfold densification) while still keeping its structural integrity and the 3D porous network. This method allows achieving a mass loading of up ‑to 14.3 mg cm−2 and an areal capacity of 12 mA h cm−2 (at a current density of 200 mA g−1) together with a gravimetric capacity of >800 mA h g−1. This densification by compaction approach offers an effective and low‐cost strategy to develop high mass loading and areal capacity electrodes for practical energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) hybridized with a conductive matrix could potentially serve as a sulfur host for lithium‐sulfur (Li‐S) battery electrodes; so far most of the previously studied hybrid structures are in the powder form or thin compact films. This study reports 3D porous MOF@carbon nanotube (CNT) networks by grafting MOFs with tailored particle size uniformly throughout a CNT sponge skeleton. Growing larger‐size MOF particles to entrap the conductive CNT network yields a mutually embedded structure with high stability, and after sulfur encapsulation, it shows an initial discharge capacity of ≈1380 mA h g−1 (at 0.1 C) and excellent cycling stability with a very low fading rate. Furthermore, owing to the 3D porous network that is suitable for enhanced sulfur loading, a remarkable areal capacity of ≈11 mA h cm−2 (at 0.1 C) is obtained, which is much higher than other MOF‐based hybrid electrodes. The mutually embedded MOF@CNTs with simultaneously high specific capacity, areal capacity, and cycling stability represent an advanced candidate for developing high‐performance Li‐S batteries and other energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With wearable electronics rapidly coming into fashion, research into flexible energy storage devices and in particular, pliable electrodes, is attracting a lot of attention. Pliable electrodes are usually fabricated by intercalating an active material in a flexible matrix with superior mechano-electrical properties, and can be grouped either as substrate-supported or free-standing. Depending on their mode of deformation the electrodes can be labeled as bendable, compressible or stretchable. Recent progress and challenges in the design and fabrication of pliable electrodes for constructing flexible lithium ion batteries and flexible supercapacitors are highlighted. 2 pliable core-shell structure electrodes fabricated from: a) carbon nanotube sponge embedded with MoS2 nanoparticles and b) electrospun polyethylene terephthalate fibers impregnated with graphene nanoplatelets are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cover image, prepared by Yuhao Liu, Ying Lin, Liming Wang, and Yaying Xu, shows a silicone prepolymer prepared to modify a cycloaliphatic epoxy resin (CEP) with uniformly distributed solid dispersion phases. The proposed mechanism offers a guide on how to design hydrophobic CEP materials. The toughness, hydrophobicity, and hydrophobic transfer properties of the CEP were simultaneously improved. [Extracted from the article]

Freestanding composite structures with embedded transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) as the active material are highly attractive in the development of advanced electrodes for energy storage devices. Most 3D electrodes consist of a bilayer design involving a core–shell combination. To further enhance the gravimetric and areal capacities, a 3D trilayer design is proposed that has MoSe2 as the TMDC sandwiched in‐between an inner carbon nanotube (CNT) core and an outer carbon layer to form a CNT/MoSe2/C framework. The CNT core creates interconnected pathways for the e−/Na+ conduction, while the conductive inert carbon layer not only protects the corrosive environment between the electrolyte and MoSe2 but also is fully tunable for an optimized Na+ storage. This unique heterostructure is synthesized via a solvothermal‐carbonization approach. Due to annealing under a confined structural configuration, MoSe2 interlayer spaces are expanded to facilitate a faster Na+ diffusion. It is shown that an ≈3 nm thick carbon layer yielded an optimized anode for a sodium‐ion battery. The 3D porosity of the heterostructure remains intact after an intense densification process to produce a high areal capacity of 4.0 mAh cm−2 and a high mass loading of 13.9 mg cm−2 with a gravimetric capacity of 347 mAh g−1 at 500 mA g−1 after 500 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanowire aerogels (NWAs) are highly versatile and used in many applications. However, most synthesized NWAs are composed of single components that may produce unsatisfactory aggregated performance in mechanical strength, conductivity, and electrochemistry. To address this issue, a reticulate dual‐nanowire aerogel (rDNWA) composed of FeS2 nanowires and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) via a simple solvothermal method is synthesized. The rDNWA possesses excellent compressibility (modulus of 1.32 MPa), good conductivity (0.65 S cm−1), and high porosity (>98%). It can be applied as a high‐performance strain sensor with good sensitivity (Gauge Factor = 1.69) and enhanced stability. It can be densified to yield a high areal capacity of 10.0 mAh cm−2 and a high mass loading of 14.4 mg cm−2 after 100 cycles. As a freestanding anode for lithium ion battery (LIB), it exhibits a high specific mass capacity of 1031 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g−1 and retains it to 729 mAh g−1 at a current density of 500 mA g−1 after 400 cycles. The outstanding overall performance of the hybrid aerogel is derived from the synergistic effect of intertwined CNTs and FeS2 nanowires and can be extended to fabricate NWAs with novel multifunctional capabilities. A densely packed and reticulate dual‐nanowire aerogel is fabricated by harnessing the synergistic effects of intertwined carbon nanotubes and FeS2 nanowires. The 3D hybrid aerogel exhibits high‐porosity, excellent compressibility, and high‐conductivity with multifunctional capabilities that can be used to construct a highly sensitive strain sensor with enhanced stability and a high‐areal capacity, and high‐mass loading electrode for lithium ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With wearable electronics becoming increasingly fashionable, flexible energy storage devices are attracting a lot of attention. Their main component, the pliable electrodes can be categorized as substrate‐supported and free‐standing. Depending on their modes of deformation they can be labeled as bendable, compressible or stretchable electrodes. In article number 1600490, Ray P. S. Han and co‐workers summarize recent progress and challenges in the design and fabrication of pliable electrodes for flexible energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Subclinical atrial fibrillation (SCAF) is often asymptomatic nonetheless harmful. In patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices, we evaluated the combined performance of homocysteine and uric acid (UA) biomarkers to discriminate high-risk patients for SCAF. Methods and Results We enrolled 1224 consecutive patients for evaluation of SCAF in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices in Dalian, China, between January 2013 and December 2019. Clinical data and blood samples were obtained from patients selected according to the absence or presence of atrial high-rate episodes >6 minutes. Blood samples were obtained, and homocysteine and UA biomarkers were tested in all patients to distinguish their prognostic performance for SCAF. Homocysteine and UA biomarkers were significantly different in SCAF versus no SCAF. On multivariable Cox regression analysis with potential confounders, elevated homocysteine and UA biomarkers were significantly associated with an increased risk of SCAF. A rise of 1 SD in homocysteine (5.7 μmol/L) was associated with an increased risk of SCAF in men and women regardless of their UA levels. Similarly, a 1-SD increase in UA (91 μmol/L) was associated with an increased risk of SCAF among the patients with high levels of homocysteine in men (hazard ratio, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.43-2.30) and women (hazard ratio, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.69-2.62). The addition of homocysteine and UA to the atrial fibrillation risk factors recommended by the 2020 European Society of Cardiology Guidelines significantly improved risk discrimination for SCAF. Conclusions Homocysteine and UA biomarkers were strongly associated with SCAF. The prediction performance of the European Society of Cardiology model for SCAF was increased by the addition of the selected biomarkers. Registration URL: https://www.chictr.org.cn; Unique identifier: Chi-CTR200003837.