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The fusion of digital media art with film and television animation production ushers in a new artistic and technological synergy era. This form of art, merging visual, sound, and digital innovations, faces unparalleled growth opportunities and significant challenges. This paper investigates the impact of digital media art on animation, emphasizing its influence on creative expression and production processes. Through case study analysis, we demonstrate the efficiency gains and aesthetic enhancements afforded by digital media, including a 70% reduction in rendering time and a 40% increase in character animation realism. Incorporating Virtual Reality (V.R.) and Augmented Reality (A.R.) technologies also opens up novel avenues for immersive viewer experiences. Despite facing obstacles in technology adaptation and financial investment, the application of digital media art in animation represents a crucial driver of industry evolution.

Increasing attention is being given to traditional culture-orientated product design. While Chinese design students lack a deep understanding of traditional Chinese culture and its applications, little in-depth research has investigated this issue. Thus, how educators should guide and improve their students' cultural design in the context of current Chinese design education and practices remains unclear. This study explores these design students' cognition and application of different levels of Chinese cultural design elements to provide new insights for improving and adapting cultural design teaching practices. This study comprised three related stages. In stage 1, we extracted three levels of 15 representative cultural design elements from Chinese culture based on cultural hierarchy theory. In stage 2, we examined the students' cognition about different levels of cultural elements using two questionnaire surveys. In stage 3, we further compared the differences in the application of cultural elements between experts and students to explore the students' cultural application ability. The results showed that different design students have differing cognition of Chinese culture, which can be divided into two categories: i.e., cognitive deficiency or sufficiency. Compared with experts, students lack application experience and ability in the design elements of inner 'intangible' and middle 'behavioural' levels, because of their insufficient understanding of these two cultural design levels. These findings may reveal deficiencies in Chinese design students' cognition and application, and provide targeted cultural teaching guidance.

BACKGROUND: Detoxifying enzymes are likely involved in lignin feeding and immune defense mechanisms within termites, rendering them potential targets for biological control. However, investigations into the dual functionality of termite detoxification enzymes in vivo have not been documented. RESULTS: In this study, the complete cDNA of the catalase gene (Cfcat) derived from Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki was amplified. CFCAT comprises an open reading frame spanning 1527 bp, encoding a 508‐amino acid sequence. The highest expression was observed in the epidermal tissues (including the fat body and hemolymph) followed by the foregut/salivary gland. Furthermore, we confirmed the catalase activity of the recombinant Cfcat protein. Using RNA interference (RNAi) technology, the importance of Cfcat in the lignin‐feeding of C. formosanus was demonstrated, and the role of Cfcat in innate immunity was investigated. Survival assays showed that Cfcat RNAi significantly increased the susceptibility of C. formosanus to Metarhizium anisopliae. Irrespective of the infection status, Cfcat inhibition had a significant impact on multiple factors of humoral and intestinal immunity in C. formosanus. Notably, Cfcat RNAi exhibited a more pronounced immunosuppressive effect on humoral immunity than on intestinal immunity. CONCLUSION: Cfcat plays an important role in the regulation of innate immunity and lignin feeding in C. formosanus. Cfcat RNAi can weaken the immune response of termites against M. anisopliae, which may aid the biocontrol efficiency of M. anisopliae against C. formosanus. This study provides a theoretical basis and technical reference for the development of a novel biocontrol strategy targeting detoxifying enzymes of termites. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are promising for power batteries because of their high energy density and working voltage, but the high accident rate caused by the flammable electrolyte and constantly accumulating heat scares consumers and restricts their market. Herein, a novel heat storage ionomer binder (HSIB) with highly efficient heat-storage ability is proposed to function as an internal temperature conditioner, which can effectively store heat and accommodate temperature rise, allowing the battery to function steadily over a wider temperature range while not significantly increasing the weight or volume of the battery. A nail test and thermal simulation demonstrate that HSIB can decrease the temperature rise of the cell by about 30% and reduce the risk of thermal runaway due to the heat storage ability of the polyethylene glycol (PEG) main body. The assembled LiFePO4 (LFP) cell with HSIB shows lower polarization (ΔV decreased by 25 mV over PVDF) in a CV test owing to fast Li+ diffusion pathways constructed by the binder, and extra capacity and higher capacity retention of 14.38% are achieved. Moreover, an LFP cell with HSIB shows good thermal endurance in a designed temperature variation test, suggesting that HSIB offers a novel practical solution for battery safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]