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Oblique incidence reflectance difference (OIRD) is an emerging technique enabling real-time and label-free detection of bio-affinity binding events on microarrays. The interfacial architecture of the microarray chip is critical to the performance of OIRD detection. In this work, a sensitive label-free OIRD microarray chip was developed by using gold nanoparticle-decorated fluorine-doped tin oxide (AuNPs-FTO) slides as a chip substrate. This AuNPs-FTO chip demonstrates a higher signal-to-noise ratio and improved sensitivity compared to that built on FTO glass, showing a detection limit of as low as 10 ng mL−1 for the model target, HRP-conjugated streptavidin. On-chip ELISA experiments and optical calculations suggest that the enhanced performance is not only due to the higher probe density enabling a high capture efficiency toward the target, but most importantly, the AuNP layer arouses optical interference to improve the intrinsic sensitivity of OIRD. This work provides an effective strategy for constructing OIRD-based microarray chips with enhanced sensitivity, and may help extend their practical applications in various fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strong metal–support interactions (SMSI) between metal and its support have been regarded as a valid approach to enhance the catalytic performance; however, the extent to which exploration of electronic state regulation affects catalytic performance of alcohol oxidation reactions (AOR) has been rarely reported. In this paper, PdAg nanoparticles loaded on a N-doped carbon substrate with controlled nitrogen content (PdAg@NxC, x representing the nitrogen contents) was synthesized through a seeded synthesis strategy for alkaline AOR. Results show that the electronic state of PdAg nanoparticles was significantly modified after nitrogen doping in the carbon support. Experimental and theoretical results indicate that with increasing nitrogen content, the degree of electronic state regulation becomes increasingly significant. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the increased degree of SMSI promotes OH* adsorption on the PdAg surface and weakens the binding between catalyst and CO*. As a result, the PdAg@N15.3C with the highest N content exhibits excellent AOR performance, achieving a MA/SA of 10.8 A mgPd−1/13.2 mA cm−2 and 3.8 A mgPd−1/4.7 mA cm−2 on the EOR and MOR, respectively. Moreover, due to the changes in the adsorption energy of key intermediates on PdAg nanoparticles, the onset oxidation potential of PdAg@N15.3C shows a negative shift of 180 mV compared to PdAg@C as revealed by CO stripping analysis, signifying an increase in the CO tolerance. Our study demonstrates the influence of the SMSI effect between the active center and the support on the catalytic performance for AOR and presents a pathway to achieve high AOR performance through SMSI engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an all-dielectric nanorod array for ultra-sensitive refractive index sensing based on quasi-bound states in the continuum (BICs). The nanorod is fabricated by silicon or silicon with an air hole, i.e., the hollow silicon nanorod. The quasi-BICs are formed in the hollow silicon nanorod array due to the symmetry-breaking of air holes. The high-quality factor (Q-factor) and ultra-narrow reflectance spectral width at quasi-BICs contribute to high performances of the sensor. The numerical results show that the sensitivity and figure of merit (FOM) can reach up to 602.9 nm/RIU and 34,977, respectively. The results indicate that the proposed nanostructures of quasi-BICs are promising for advanced biosensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to limited in-situ ocean observations, reanalysis data are often considered as an important source for studying tropical cyclone (TC)-induced ocean waves. Here, we introduced a method to quantitatively evaluate the errors of TC-induced ocean waves in reanalysis datasets. The TC data are from the IBTrACS dataset. We compared TC-induced ocean waves in two reanalysis datasets (i.e., ERA5 and WAVERYS) with those in buoy data when TCs are near the buoy stations. We showed that the errors of TC-induced ocean waves in WAVERYS and ERA5 are similar, because the surface winds in these two datasets are the same. We noticed that the errors in the North Pacific are remarkably smaller than those in the North Atlantic due to more realistic probability density of TC-induced ocean waves in the North Pacific compared with those in the North Atlantic. Moreover, the errors are strongly related to significant wave height (SWH) and the distance from TC center. The larger the SWH and the shorter the distance, the larger the error. Furthermore, the errors in TC-induced ocean waves decreased significantly over the past decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatively little is known about the impact of global warming on the tropical cyclone (TC) outflow, despite its large contribution to TC intensity. In this study, based on the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) dataset and ERA5 reanalysis data, we show that the TC outflow height has risen significantly (48.20 ± 22.18 m decades−1) in the past decades (1959–2021) over the western North Pacific, and the rising trend tends to be sharper for stronger TCs (the uptrend of severe typhoon is 61.09 ± 40.92 m decades−1). This rising trend of the outflow height explains the contradiction between the decrease trend of the TC outflow temperature and the increase trend of the atmospheric troposphere temperature. Moreover, possible contribution of the TC outflow height uptrend to TC intensity has also been investigated. The results show that the rise of outflow height leads to the decrease of outflow temperature, and thus an increased difference between underlying sea surface temperature (SST) and TC outflow temperature, which eventually favors the increase of TC intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have established that exosomes (EXs) derived from follicular fluid (FF) can promote oocyte development. However, the specific sources of these EXs and their regulatory mechanisms remain elusive. It is universally acknowledged that oocyte development requires signal communication between granulosa cells (GCs) and oocytes. However, the role of GC-secreted EXs and their functions are poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the role of porcine granulosa-cell-derived exosomes (GC-EXs) in oocyte development. In this study, we constructed an in vitro model of porcine GCs and collected and identified GC-EXs. We confirmed that porcine GCs can secrete EXs and investigated the role of GC-EXs in regulating oocyte development by supplementing them to cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) cultured in vitro. Specifically, GC-EXs increase the cumulus expansion index (CEI), promote the expansion of the cumulus, alleviate reactive oxygen species (ROS), and increase mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), resulting in improved oocyte development. Additionally, we conducted small RNA sequencing of GC-EXs and hypothesized that miR-148a-3p, the highest-expressed microRNA (miRNA), may be the key miRNA. Our study determined that transfection of miR-148a-3p mimics exerts effects comparable to the addition of EXs. Meanwhile, bioinformatics prediction, dual luciferase reporter gene assay, and RT-qPCR identified DOCK6 as the target gene of miR-148a-3p. In summary, our results demonstrated that GC-EXs may improve oocyte antioxidant capacity and promote oocyte development through miR-148a-3p by targeting DOCK6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind fields provide direct power for exchanging energy and matter in the atmosphere. All-fiber coherent Doppler lidar is a powerful tool for detecting boundary-layer wind fields. According to the characteristics of the lidar echo signal, an adaptive noise-reduction peak retrieval (ANRPR) algorithm is proposed in this study. Firstly, the power spectrum data are divided into several continuous range gates according to the time series. Then, the adaptive iterative reweighted penalized least-squares (airPLS) method is used to reduce the background noise. Secondly, the continuity between spectra is enhanced by 2D Gaussian low-pass filtering. Finally, an adaptive peak-retrieval algorithm is employed to extract the Doppler shift, facilitating the synthesis of a spatial atmospheric 3D wind field through the vector synthesis method. When comparing data from different heights of the meteorological gradient tower, both the horizontal wind-speed correlation and the horizontal wind-direction correlation exceed 0.90. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has better robustness and a longer detection distance than the traditional algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of temperature and humidity on the absorption spectrum and concentration of nitrous oxide ( N 2 O ) using a compact, portable open optical-path gas detection sensor system. We obtained the absorption coefficient and widened the linear function of the N 2 O absorption spectrum related to temperature by theoretical analysis and the high-resolution transmission molecular absorption database (HITRAN). Afterward, we conducted real-time monitoring of N 2 O in both campus and laboratory environments using lasers for a duration of 32 h and 6 h, respectively, and the results were compared and analyzed with the theoretical derivation. The results show that the concentration of N 2 O increased with increasing environmental temperature but decreased with increasing humidity. Furthermore, the variations in temperature and humidity significantly affected the peak values of the second-harmonic (2f) and first-harmonic (1f) signals. Finally, the temperature N 2 O concentration and humidity N 2 O curves were calibrated separately, and temperature changes were positively correlated with the N 2 O concentration, while humidity changes were negatively correlated with the N 2 O concentration. The experimental results indicate that the concentration of N 2 O and its absorption spectra are influenced by humidity and temperature, which has a significant reference value in the absorption and measurement of N 2 O in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amphiphilic copolymers (AP) represent a class of novel antibiofouling materials whose chemistry and composition can be tuned to optimize their performance. However, the enormous chemistry‐composition design space associated with AP makes their performance optimization laborious; it is not experimentally feasible to assess and validate all possible AP compositions even with the use of rapid screening methodologies. To address this constraint, a robust model development paradigm is reported, yielding a versatile machine learning approach that accurately predicts biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa on a library of AP. The model excels in extracting underlying patterns in a "pooled" dataset from various experimental sources, thereby expanding the design space accessible to the model to a much larger selection of AP chemistries and compositions. The model is used to screen virtual libraries of AP for identification of best‐performing candidates for experimental validation. Initiated chemical vapor deposition is used for the precision synthesis of the model‐selected AP chemistries and compositions for validation at solid–liquid interface (often used in conventional antifouling studies) as well as the air–liquid–solid triple interface. Despite the vastly different growth conditions, the model successfully identifies the best‐performing AP for biofilm inhibition at the triple interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) is a common data analysis method, but the clustering effect of this algorithm is easily affected by the initial clustering centers. Currently, scholars often use the multiple population genetic algorithm (MPGA) to optimize the clustering centers, but the MPGA has insufficient global search ability and lacks self-adaptability, is prone to premature convergence, and has poor initial clustering centers. Therefore, this paper proposes an adaptive FCM clustering algorithm DMGA-FCM based on a derivative multiple population genetic algorithm (DMGA). In DMGA-FCM algorithm, firstly, the derivative operator, which is proposed for the first time in this paper, performs derivative operations on initialized populations to improve the algorithm's searchability and deal with the lack of inter-population search ability. Secondly, the adaptive probability fuzzy control operator is used to dynamically adjust the genetic probability to improve the adaptability of the algorithm, which in turn enhances the global merit-seeking ability of the DMGA algorithm and avoids premature convergence. Finally, the initial clustering center of FCM algorithm is optimized with DMGA to enhance the clustering effect of the algorithm. The analysis of simulation experiments and MRI brain map application results show that the DMGA-FCM algorithm can obtain a better clustering effect of medical data and image clustering segmentation effect compared with other related FCM algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite numerous studies, the impact of global warming on the tropical cyclone (TC) track and intensity by reasons of data inhomogeneity in remote sensing and large natural variability over a relatively short period of observation is still controversial. Three carbon-emission sensitivity experiments are conducted to investigate how TC track and intensity respond to changes in the oceanic and atmospheric environment under global warming. The results show a high sensitivity of the simulated TC track and intensity to global warming. On one hand, with increase in carbon emissions, the western Pacific subtropical high expands notably, increasing the poleward steering flow and eventually leading to a poleward shift of TC. On the other hand, the underlying sea-surface temperature and surface-entropy flux increase and, thus, favor the convections near the eyewall. Moreover, the TC structure becomes more upright, which is closely related to the larger pressure gradient near the eyewall. As a result, TC intensity increases with carbon emissions. However, this increase is notably smaller than the maximum potential intensity theory as the TC intensity can reach a threshold if carbon emission still increases in the future. The involved mechanisms on the changes of TC track and intensity are also revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oblique-incidence reflectivity difference (OIRD) is a compelling technique for real-time, label-free and non-destructive detection of antibody microarray chips, but its sensitivity needs essential improvement for clinical diagnosis. In this study, we report an innovative high-performance OIRD microarray by using poly[oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate] (POEGMA-co-GMA) brush grafted fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) as the chip substrate. The polymer brush enhances the interfacial binding reaction efficiency of targets from the complicated sample matrix due to its high antibody loading and excellent anti-fouling merits; the FTO-polymer brush layered structure, on the other hand, excites the interference enhancement effect of OIRD to achieve enhanced intrinsic optical sensitivity. Synergistically, the sensitivity of this chip is significantly improved compared to rival chips, achieving a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 25 ng mL−1 for the model target C-reactive protein (CRP) in 10% human serum. This work explores the tremendous influence of the chip interfacial structure on the OIRD sensitivity and proposes a rational interfacial engineering strategy to boost the performance of the label-free OIRD based microarray and other bio-devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclones (TCs) seriously threaten the safety of human life and property especially when approaching a coast or making landfall. Robust, long-lead predictions are valuable for managing policy responses. However, despite decades of efforts, seasonal prediction of TCs remains a challenge. Here, we introduce a deep-learning prediction model to make skillful seasonal prediction of TC track density in the Western North Pacific (WNP) during the typhoon season, with a lead time of up to four months. To overcome the limited availability of observational data, we use TC tracks from CMIP5 and CMIP6 climate models as the training data, followed by a transfer-learning method to train a fully convolutional neural network named SeaUnet. Through the deep-learning process (i.e., heat map analysis), SeaUnet identifies physically based precursors. We show that SeaUnet has a good performance for typhoon distribution, outperforming state-of-the-art dynamic systems. The success of SeaUnet indicates its potential for operational use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oblique-incidence reflectivity difference (OIRD) is a novel optical technique for protein microarray detection with the characteristics of being real-time, label-free, high-throughput and compatible with arbitrary chip substrates. It is necessary yet challenging to improve the sensitivity of the OIRD microarray and gain a clear understanding of the enhancement mechanism for practical applications. In this study, we report a microarray chip specifically designed for OIRD to improve its sensitivity by using an electrochemically etched nanostructured fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) slide as the substrate. Compared with chips printed on a conventional glass slide and pristine FTO, the OIRD sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio of this microarray are significantly improved, reaching a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 50 ng mL−1 for the streptavidin target in 10% human serum, which is one order of magnitude lower than that of the glass-based chip. On-chip ELISA and theoretical calculation reveal that the enhanced sensitivity is not only because of its higher capture efficiency towards the target, but also benefits from the optical enhancement enabled by its unique nanostructured sensing interface. This work provides a new universal strategy for designing high performance OIRD-based chips via rational interfacial engineering, thus paving the way to a label-free OIRD immunoassay and real-time analysis of biomolecular interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O-GlcNAcylation is a reversible post-translational modification involved in the regulation of cytosolic, nuclear, and mitochondrial proteins. Only two enzymes, OGT (O-GlcNAc transferase) and OGA (O-GlcNAcase), control the attachment and removal of O-GlcNAc on proteins, respectively. Whereas a variant OGT (mOGT) has been proposed as the main isoform that O-GlcNAcylates proteins in mitochondria, identification of a mitochondrial OGA has not been performed yet. Two splice variants of OGA (short and long isoforms) have been described previously. In this work, using cell fractionation experiments, we show that short-OGA is preferentially recovered in mitochondria-enriched fractions from HEK-293T cells and RAW 264.7 cells, as well as mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Moreover, fluorescent microscopy imaging confirmed that GFP-tagged short-OGA is addressed to mitochondria. In addition, using a Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET)-based mitochondrial O-GlcNAcylation biosensor, we show that co-transfection of short-OGA markedly reduced O-GlcNAcylation of the biosensor, whereas long-OGA had no significant effect. Finally, using genetically encoded or chemical fluorescent mitochondrial probes, we show that short-OGA overexpression increases mitochondrial ROS levels, whereas long-OGA has no significant effect. Together, our work reveals that the short-OGA isoform is targeted to the mitochondria where it regulates ROS homoeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, mechanical properties and microstructure evolution of an economical 19Cr-type TRIP-aided duplex stainless steel were investigated under varied uniaxial tensile strain rates at room temperature. Deformation mechanisms of ferrite and austenite phases exhibit obvious distinctions: ferrite phase deforms by dislocation slipping, whereas deformation mechanism of austenite phase is dominated by martensite transformation accompanied with a small amount of dislocations. The annealing-treated duplex stainless steel exhibits good comprehensive combination of mechanical properties orientated from transformation-induced plasticity of metastable austenite phase: ultimate tensile strength of 950 MPa with 60% elongation at strain rate of 1.67 × 10−4 s−1. Mechanical properties are sensitive to tensile strain rates and exhibit obvious strain-rate dependence effects at room temperature. The increased strain rate promoting suppressed martensite phase transformation results in decreased ultimate tensile strength as well as elongation. Heterogeneous deformation of austenite and ferrite phases increases with the increasing in strain rate, promoting initiative microcracks at the interphase boundaries. This deterioration in mechanical properties of TRIP-aided duplex stainless steel hinders its forming process application at high deformation rate conditions at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) urgently needs a marker for early diagnosis and targeted treatment. C2orf40 has been identified as a tumor suppressor gene in many cancers. However, the precise role and regulatory mechanism by C2orf40 contribute to HCC remain elusive and merit exploration. Methods: Reverse‐transcription PCR, quantitative real‐time PCR, and methylation‐specific PCR were used to detect expression and methylation of C2orf40 in HCC cell lines or tissues. The effects of C2orf40 in liver cancer cells were examined via colony formation, CCK8, transwell, and flow cytometric assays. The effect of C2orf40 on tumorigenesis in vivo was determined by xenografts and immunohistochemical analysis. Western blot, indirect immunofluorescence, Co‐IP, and cycloheximide (CHX) were used to further investigate the potential mechanism of C2orf40. Results: The down‐regulation of C2orf40 in hepatocellular cancer tissue samples is often related to the degree of methylation of its promoter CpG. The recovery of C2orf40 expression in HCC cell lines can induce G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis and also inhibit cell migration and invasion by reversing the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, C2orf40 can increase the expression of p21 through interaction with UBR5. Conclusions: Low expression levels of C2orf40 are related to the hypermethylation of its promoter. C2orf40 can inhibit HCC through UBR5‐dependent or p53‐independent mechanisms. C2orf40 may be a diagnostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twin boundaries (TBs), as one kind of crystal defect, have often been observed in various material systems, and the (111)/[110] TB has been verified to show weak phonon scattering. However, it's still not clear whether other TBs can show similar thermal properties to the (111)/[110] TB. To solve this issue, in this work, we perform a systematic study of heat transport across six kinds of twin boundaries in diamond, including the (111)/[110], (221)/[110], (331)/[110], (113)/[110], (112)/[110] and (310)/[001] TBs, by both molecular dynamics simulations and first-principles calculations. The results indicate that the thermal boundary resistance of the six TBs ranges from 1.01 × 10−11 to 6.35 × 10−10 m2 K W−1; specifically, the (111)/[110] TB shows much weaker phonon scattering than the others. The different phonon scattering at TBs mainly depends on the transmission coefficients across the twin boundaries for boundaries with the same symmetry, as well as the combined action of group velocity and phonon mean free path. Furthermore, by analyzing the structural properties of TBs, it can be observed that TB thermal resistance varies significantly with the TB structure, and is strongly correlated with TB energy and bond difference parameter. Our findings will provide useful guidelines for designing efficient thermoelectric and thermal management materials based on phonon-TB scattering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bonding of thermal-sprayed coatings largely depends on the substrate surface morphology. This study examines the effect of the substrate surface texture shapes on the adhesion strength of coatings. For that, it used plasma-sprayed Ni-based MoS2 coatings deposited on grit-blasted and laser-textured surfaces, and investigated the coating bonding strength (ASTM 633 pull-off test), and cross-sectional and fracture morphologies, as well as phase compositions and element distribution. The results showed that the surface texture shape has a significant effect on the improvement of coating adhesion. The coatings deposited on sinusoidal-textured surfaces had the highest adhesion strength (50.0 MPa), followed by coatings deposited on groove-textured surfaces, while dimple and dimple–groove textures resulted in the lowest coating adhesion strength. The coating fracture analysis revealed that cohesive failure occurred mainly at the texture positions, while adhesive failure occurred almost always in plain areas. Therefore, it could be concluded that, in the conditions of this study, the existence of plain areas and dimple textures did not improve coating adhesion. Factors such as coating bond mode, contact area ratio, and coating deposition quality should be comprehensively considered in texture design to improve coating adhesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of nanomaterials in biomedical fields is greatly influenced by their properties such as size, morphology, and surface properties. The deformability of nanomaterials in recently found influence the blood circulation, pharmacokinetics, tumor accumulation, and treatment performance for diseases. In the work, we successfully fabricated small-sized deformable mesoporous organosilica nanocapsules (SDMONC) via a preferential etching approach. To synthesize the SDMONC, a series of small mesostructured organosilica nanoparticles (MONs) are prepared by adjusting the concentrations of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). After etching the interiors of the MONs with NaOH, small-sized SDMONC with diameters ranging from 70 to 156 nm are obtained. The prepared SDMONC have uniform diameter, high specific surface area (266 m2 g−1), uniform pore diameter (4.0 nm), and excellent biocompability. The cellular uptake of the SDMONC was investigated, which exhibited higher cellular uptake efficiency and cancer cell-killing efficiency than the nondeformable nanoparticles, showing great promise for biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sublevel caving method without bottom column and filling method were used for mining in a mine. This paper studied the change of stope ground pressure and stope stability when two mining methods were used simultaneously. FLAC3D numerical simulation technology was used to simulate the evolution law of stope ground pressure in this mine, and microseismic monitoring technology was used to verify the simulation results. The results showed that with the development of sublevel caving method, the stability of the lower consolidated backfill was significantly improved, and the force on the lower stope pillar was on the decline. After the mining of sublevel caving method, the vertical stress of the lower stope pillar decreased by about 35%. Thus, it was proved that the mining method of sublevel caving without bottom column can effectively relieve the ground pressure in the lower filling stope and is conducive to improving the stability of stope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bedding rock slope is affected by natural geological structure and its stability is relatively poor. However, under the influence of strong degradation factors such as heavy rain, blasting and earthquakes, its stability is more threatened. Therefore, based on the strength reduction theory, this paper analyzed the stability of the bedding rock slope of a mine by numerical simulation. Meanwhile, this paper studied the position of the sliding surface of the rock slope, the lateral deformation and the stress change law of the rock slope under the bedding design and two optimization schemes under the three conditions of heavy rain, blasting and earthquake. The research results indicated that: the earthquake had the greatest impact on the stability of the bedding slope of the mine; in addition, the safety factor of the slope under the conditions of the proposed design scheme was lower than the standard value, and the slope was in an unstable state. Through the optimization study of the bedding slope of the mine, the optimal design plan of the mine was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the thermal and mechanical behaviors were investigated by simulating laser remelting of atmospheric plasma‐sprayed yttria‐stabilized zirconia coatings, and the molten depth and regions of stress concentration were compared between simulation and experiment. The heat treatment process of the remelted coating was also simulated. The crack formation mechanism in the YSZ coating remelted by laser and the heat‐treatment effect on residual stress were investigated. Results showed that the simulated results were consistent with the experimental measurements, and the residual thermal stress was the main cause of cracks formation. The coating remelted by a laser power of 1500 W and a scanning rate of 9 mm/s possessed less residual concentrated stress and segmented cracks. Heat treatment released concentrated stress, which was still accurate for the ceramic coating. If the coatings were slowly heated to demonstrate heat treatment after laser remelting, the cracks in the remelted layer decreased correspondingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Er-doped α-MnO2 (Er/α-MnO2) microspheres were successfully synthesized via a chemical process. The various techniques were used to investigate the crystal structures, morphologies, valence states, and electrochemical performances of the as-prepared materials. The results showed that Er can be doped into the lattice of α-MnO2 as Er3+ to distinctly affect the structure of α-MnO2. The as-obtained Er(1.5 at.%)/α-MnO2 presented the most optimized structure with a surface composed of many regular layered triangles. The specific capacitance of Er(1.5 at.%)/α-MnO2 electrodes reached 224.3 F g−1 at a current density of 0.25 A g−1 with a capacity retention ratio of 93.7% after 2000 cycles at a current density of 1.0 A g−1. The values were higher than those of α-MnO2 synthesized under the same conditions. Overall, these findings look promising for future applications of rare elements in modified MnO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon allotropes play an important role in the thermal transmission field, while there are huge thermal differences in their thermal conductivities. In this work, thermal transmission in three novel carbon allotropes with sp2 and sp3 hybridization has been studied, including T6-carbon, T10 and 3D-C5 by using non-equilibrium molecular dynamic simulations and phonon kinetic theory. Graphene and diamond with standard sp2 and sp3 hybridization, respectively, are also examined for comparison. Our results indicate that the thermal conductivities of T6-carbon, T10 and 3D-C5 at room temperature are much lower than those of diamond and graphene. Phonon kinetic theory analysis shows that the lower thermal conductivity of T6-carbon, T10 and 3D-C5 is caused by the combined action of their reduced phonon group velocities and relaxation time. Moreover, the bond difference parameter has been proposed to describe the relationship between bond structures and thermal conductivity in carbon allotropes, which presents a new and convenient method for in-depth understanding the thermal conductivity of carbon allotropes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sea surface drag coefficient plays an important role in momentum transmission between the atmosphere and the ocean, which is affected by ocean waves. The total air–sea momentum flux consists of effective momentum flux and sea spray momentum flux. Sea spray momentum flux involves sea surface drag, which is largely affected by the ocean wave state. Under strong winds, the sea surface drag coefficient ( C D ) does not increase linearly with the increasing wind speed, namely, the increase of C D is inhibited by strong winds. In this study, a sea surface drag coefficient is constructed that can be applied to the calculation of the air–sea momentum flux under high wind speed. The sea surface drag coefficient also considers the influence of wave state and sea spray droplets generated by wave breaking. Specially, the wave-dependent sea spray generation function is employed to calculate sea spray momentum flux. This facilitates the analysis not only on the sensitivity of the sea spray momentum flux to wave age, but also on the effect of wave state on the effective C D ( C D ,   e f f ) under strong winds. Our results indicate that wave age plays an important role in determining C D . When the wave age is >0.4, C D decreases with the wave age. However, when the wave age is ≤0.4, C D increases with the wave age at low and moderate wind speeds but tends to decrease with the wave age at high wind speeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]