Search

Research on pouch-type or flexible batteries is currently being conducted with the increasing interest in flexible devices. However, lithium-ion batteries using liquid electrolytes, which are currently the most widely used, have limitations in terms of lithium reserves and the use of flammable organic electrolytes. To solve this problem, research is being actively conducted on Al-ion batteries (AIBs) that are highly safe and capable of fast charge/discharge. In this study, gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) were developed by in-situ polymerization of ethyl acrylates in AlCl3/[EMIm]Cl ionic liquids. AIBs with GPEs as a solid-state electrolyte medium can solve the crucial problems in current liquid AIB systems, including electrolyte leakage, anode corrosion, and moisture sensitivity. AIBs with GPEs exhibit a reasonable energy storage capacity of 90 mAh g−1 even at a high current density of 200 mA g−1 with a high coulombic efficiency of 95%. Additionally, they exhibit a high long-term stability over 500 cycles without capacity reduction. Furthermore, AIBs demonstrate exceptional operational stability and safety under harsh operating conditions, such as folding, bending, and cutting. These results suggest that new solid-state AIBs based on GPEs provide a promising strategy for the development of high-performance solid-state flexible rechargeable battery systems.

As COVID-19 has let many students into remote learning environments and exacerbated inequality among marginalized individuals, there is a growing concern about Bias-Based Bullying (BBB) in online spaces among school-aged youths. Learning modality and perceived school fairness may affect youth's likelihood of reporting BBB.Data were collected as part of "No Place For Hate" (NPFH) project, which was conducted by an equity office of a school district. A sample of middle and high school students (N = 1117) in the school district was used as an analytic sample. We conducted a series of independent samples t tests and calculated a hierarchical stepwise multivariate regression model to examine the proposition.Results demonstrated that students in fully remote modality reported slightly higher levels of witnessing BBB (t = 2.29, p .05), lower perceived school fairness (t = -2.94, p .01), and higher levels of likelihood of reporting BBB (t = 2.31, p .05). Results of the regression model showed that perceived school fairness was positively associated with likelihood of reporting BBB, even when considering the influences of sociodemographic characteristics, learning modality, and experience of witnessing BBB.Findings of this study suggest that learning modality and perceived school fairness can meaningfully explain witnesses' likelihood of reporting BBB. Additional research should continue investigating how schools can encourage students to increase their likelihood of reporting and adopt the bystander response of reporting against BBB at school to ensure school health and safety.

Guided by the ecological systems perspective, the objective of the study was to examine whether caregivers' difficulty paying their child's health-care bills is associated with bullying victimization directly and indirectly through the mediating mechanisms of caregivers' frustration, adolescents' internalizing problems, and social difficulty focusing on adolescents with physical disabilities. The 2019 National Survey of Children's Health dataset, which collected data on adolescents' and caregivers' demographic characteristics and health and well-being, was used. The study sample consisted of 368 caregivers of adolescents, 12-17 years of age with physical disabilities. No direct association between caregivers' difficulty paying their child's health-care bills and bullying victimization was found. However, caregivers' frustration and adolescents' internalizing problems were shown to have an indirect association with bullying victimization, which was mediated by difficulty making friends. In addition, adolescents' difficulty making friends was positively associated with bullying victimization. Practitioners working with adolescents with physical disabilities are encouraged to foster collaborative processes across various ecological systems of the adolescent and family to address caregivers' frustration and promote positive social and emotional development of the adolescent with physical disabilities, which can decrease their risk of bullying victimization.

Guided by the Risk and Resilience Model, the present study aims to generate hypotheses by investigating a wide range of variables that might buffer the association between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms from a convenience sample of African American adolescents in four neighborhoods in Chicago’s Southside. Measures for the study included internalizing symptoms, peer victimization, four protective factors (parental closeness, teacher’s care, religiosity, and positive future orientation) and covariates (age, sex, and government assistance). Controlling for the covariates, a series of multivariate regression analyses were conducted to explore the direct effects of peer victimization and internalizing symptoms and the interaction between peer victimization and the four protective factors. The study found that peer victimization was directly associated with internalizing symptoms. In terms of the interactions, the study found that parental closeness moderated the association between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms. The findings show that parental closeness is an important protective factor that needs to be considered in the research hypotheses. The findings specifically demonstrated the importance of developing hypotheses to test whether parental closeness protects adolescents from internalizing symptoms linked to peer victimization.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the independent and cumulative impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on the subgroups of anxiety and depression among 12–17 aged adolescents in the U.S. A sample of 21,496 cases was derived from the 2017–2018 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). Four adolescent subgroups were identified depending on their mental health condition: Anxiety-only (7.2%), Depression-only (1.5%), Anxiety-Depression (6.3%), and None (85.0%). All sociodemographic characteristics such as sex, age, race/ethnicity, and family structure had significant associations with the subgroups. Two multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the independent and cumulative effects of ACEs on the subgroups. The findings suggested having a family member with severe mental illness showed the strongest relationship with the development of anxiety, depression, and both. A dose–response relationship was found between cumulative ACEs and the subgroups, with Anxiety-Depression as the most prevalent group when adolescents had multiple ACEs. Implications for service providers and future research are discussed.

With the recent growth of interest in wearable electronics, gel electrolytes or solid electrolytes of energy conversion devices such as batteries and capacitors have been actively studied. All-solid-state supercapacitor has advantages such as high power density, outstanding mechanical stability, and long cycle life. However, the low energy density of supercapacitor makes it difficult to replace the battery. Therefore, a hybrid supercapacitor combining a battery and a supercapacitor has been significantly attracted. In this study, aluminum as a battery electrode and graphene as a capacitor electrode were hybridized in a cell and ethyl acrylate and ionic liquid were used to make a polymer gel electrolyte. Aluminum has high energy density due to three-electron reaction and can be considered as a promising battery type electrode of a hybrid supercapacitor. Conversely, graphene is appropriate for capacitor type electrodes owing to its large specific surface area (~2675 m2 g-1) and high theoretical capacity (550 F g-1 ). With the increase of charge/discharge cycling, the dissolution and deposition reactions of aluminum were repeated and the contact of the aluminum anode and gel electrolyte decreases, which can result in a decrease in capacitance and cycle stability. Two strategic approaches were applied to improve the cell performance and charging-discharging behaviors were investigated with the variations of aluminum surface morphology. Firstly, aluminum metal was electropolished to remove the surface oxide film and applied as an anode. Secondly, thin aluminum metal film was prepared with electroplating and tested as an anode. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was used to characterize the gel electrolyte and to measure the contact resistance between electrolyte and the surface-treated aluminum. SEM and XRD were used to analyze the aluminum surface structure.

The reactions of those who witness bullying are important because they can stop the bullying and prevent further harm. Factors associated with telling behavior were investigated with 477 elementary school students who witnessed bullying. Approximately seventy percent of the students talked to someone about bullying incidents, most often, teachers. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses demonstrated that gender, frequency of witnessing, cognitive empathy, and social skills were found to be associated with telling behavior of witnesses, whereas affective empathy and school connectedness were not significantly related. Findings from this research are important for future practice and studies on bystander intervention.

Objectives There has been increasing attention to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among adolescents in the U.S because ACEs may result in severe mental health issues. Although associations between ACEs and mental health have been explored, research on how different types or combinations of ACEs render different impacts on adolescents is limited. Therefore, this study aims to (a) examine latent classes of ACEs among adolescents who have experienced at least one ACE and (b) investigate associations of each latent group of ACEs with mental health problems, depression and anxiety. Method Questionnaires on ACEs and depression/anxiety from the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) were used, and a total of 11,437 adolescents aged 10–17 years were included in this study. For analyses, latent class analysis (LCA) was implemented to identify the number and types of classes, which are pertinent to represent the heterogenous combinations of ACEs. Moreover, chi-square tests and ordinal regression were performed to investigate the associations of class memberships within ACEs with depression/anxiety. Results The LCA found four class memberships within ACEs: Multiple High-Risk, Broken Family, Income Hardship, and Multiple Low-Risk. These classes displayed differences in depression/anxiety. For both pre-existing and current conditions of depression/anxiety, the most prominence has been found in the Multiple High-Risk, followed by the Multiple Low-Risk, the Broken Family, and the Income Hardship, in order. Conclusions These differences among the classes indicate that understanding of ACEs and interventions should be based on considering latent classes of ACEs.