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Large rivers are the arteries of continents. Those originating from the Tibetan Plateau and traversing East Asia have a relatively young history due to continuous Cenozoic perturbations. However, it has been a long journey to reconstruct their genesis and dynamic evolution, in which many puzzles and challenges remain. The river history is documented by provenance information in the ultimate sediment sinks in the East and South China Seas, but a regional-scale correlation of provenance data is still developing. Here, we explore the promise of this provenance perspective by reconstructing the evolution of three large rivers in China (the Yangtze, Pearl, and Red Rivers) by compiling and reevaluating a large volume of published provenance data (zircon U-Pb geochronology, K-feldspar Pb isotopes, and whole-rock Nd isotopes) from both Cenozoic strata and modern sediments from the East and South China Seas and the large river basins. Unlike traditional approaches that average provenance signatures, intersample variability was carefully evaluated. The general inheritance of zircon age spectral patterns and small fluctuations of Nd isotopes in the Neogene strata suggest provenance stabilization in the East and South China Seas and the establishment of near-modern drainage configurations. The paleodrainage basins before the Miocene are interpreted to have been smaller than their modern sizes, and drainage expansion likely occurred over the Oligocene. Our analysis suggests that the widely accepted models that link drainage between the ancient Yangtze and Red Rivers may be unlikely. The compiled provenance signatures and prior paleocurrent measurements of Paleogene strata distributed in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau margin show sediment supplied from local terranes instead of through-flowing river systems.

Yimin Liang,* Jingyao Liang,* Qiongxiao Huang, Xin Tian, Lei Shao, Manqi Xia, Yumei Liu Institute of Dermatology, Guangzhou Medical University, Department of Dermatology, Guangzhou Institute of Dermatology, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yumei Liu, Department of Dermatology, Guangzhou Institute of Dermatology, 56 HengFu Road, Guangzhou, 510095, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-13660403350, Email liuyumei1109@163.comAbstract: Knuckle pads (KPs) are benign hyperkeratotic fibrous thickening skin disorder characterized by nodules or plaques located on the extensor surface of the joints. However, there are no specific treatments for KPs so far. Here, we reported a case of KPs successfully treated with 2% crisaborole ointment combined with triamcinolone acetonide and neomycin plaster. This combined therapy might be a new therapeutic option for KPs.Keywords: knuckle pads, crisaborole, PDE-4 inhibitors, primary, emerging therapy

This paper introduces Block Data Representations (BDR), a framework for exploring and evaluating a wide spectrum of narrow-precision formats for deep learning. It enables comparison of popular quantization standards, and through BDR, new formats based on shared microexponents (MX) are identified, which outperform other state-of-the-art quantization approaches, including narrow-precision floating-point and block floating-point. MX utilizes multiple levels of quantization scaling with ultra-fine scaling factors based on shared microexponents in the hardware. The effectiveness of MX is demonstrated on real-world models including large-scale generative pretraining and inferencing, and production-scale recommendation systems.

Narrow bit-width data formats are key to reducing the computational and storage costs of modern deep learning applications. This paper evaluates Microscaling (MX) data formats that combine a per-block scaling factor with narrow floating-point and integer types for individual elements. MX formats balance the competing needs of hardware efficiency, model accuracy, and user friction. Empirical results on over two dozen benchmarks demonstrate practicality of MX data formats as a drop-in replacement for baseline FP32 for AI inference and training with low user friction. We also show the first instance of training generative language models at sub-8-bit weights, activations, and gradients with minimal accuracy loss and no modifications to the training recipe.

Lei Shao, Chuan Zhang, Li Dong, Wen Da Zhou, Rui Heng Zhang, Wen Bin Wei Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Key Laboratory of Intraocular Tumor Diagnosis and Treatment, Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key Lab, Medical Artificial Intelligence Research and Verification Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Wen Bin WeiBeijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, 1 Dong Jiao Min Xiang, Dong Cheng District, Beijing, 100730, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-10-58269516Fax +86-10-6512 5617Email weiwenbintr@163.comPurpose: To explore the prevalence and associations of vitreous macular traction (VMT) in Chinese population.Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study with 3468 individuals (mean age of 64.6 ± 9.8 years) based on Beijing Eye Study 2011. Participants underwent detailed ophthalmic examinations, including spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). VMT was defined as abnormal posterior vitreous detachment with anatomical deformation of the fovea, which may include pseudocyst, macular schisis, cystoid macular edema, and subretinal fluid.Main Outcome Measure: Prevalence of VMT.Results: A VMT was detected in 151 (2.3%) eyes (prevalence rate (mean ± SE): 2.3± 0.2%; 95% CI: 1.9%, 2.7%) of 80 (2.4%) subjects (prevalence rate: 2.4± 0.3%; 95% CI: 1.9%, 2.9%). Mean age of all subjects with VMT was 70.1± 8.7 years (median, 70.0 years; range, 50– 90 years), mean refractive error was − 0.22 ± 2.38D (median, 0.25 D; range, − 15.00 to 5.25D). In multivariate analysis, prevalence of VMT was associated with elder age (P=0.001, OR 1.06), female gender (P = 0.036, OR 1.77), subfoveal retinal thickness (P = 0.005, OR 1.01), and subfoveal choroidal thickness (P = 0.026, OR 0.10).Conclusion: In adult Chinese in Greater Beijing, the prevalence of VMT was 2.3% for eyes

Plasmonic color generation from metal nanostructures has attracted intensive attention because of their excellence in achieving high spatial resolution, strong color contrast, and long‐term durability. The limited area of plasmonic patterns anchored on substrates and produced by current top‐down methods, however, severely restricts the advanced developments and potential applications in structural color display. Herein a robust method for realizing the laser printing of plasmonic colors inside transparent gold nanodisk‐embedded poly(dimethylsiloxane) matrices is presented. It is found that various colors can not only be easily generated by embedding gold nanodisks of different sizes, but also finely varied by adjusting the laser pulse intensity during printing. It is further demonstrated that multiple color layers can be laser‐printed at different depths. Stereoscopic images in the 3D matrices are laser‐printed with sizes as large as 12 × 15 mm2 and a resolution of 4600 dots per inch.

In this work, antibacterial activity of finger citron essential oil (FCEO, Citrus medica L. var. sarcodactylis) and its mechanism against food-borne bacteria were evaluated. A total of 28 components in the oil were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, in which limonene (45.36%), γ-terpinene (21.23%), and dodecanoic acid (7.52%) were three main components. For in vitro antibacterial tests, FCEO exhibited moderately antibacterial activity against common food-borne bacteria: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus luteus. It showed a better bactericidal effect on Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative. Mechanisms of the antibacterial action were investigated by observing changes of bacteria morphology according to scanning electron microscopy, time-kill analysis, and permeability of cell and membrane integrity. Morphology of tested bacteria was changed and damaged more seriously with increased concentration and exposure time of FCEO. FCEO showed a significant reduction effect on the growth rate of surviving bacteria and lead to lysis of the cell wall, intracellular ingredient leakage, and consequently, cell death. © 2019 by the authors.

Carbon nanotube (CNT) thin-film transistor (TFT) is a promising candidate for flexible and wearable electronics. However, it usually suffers from low semiconducting tube purity, low device yield, and the mismatch between p- and n-type TFTs. Here, we report low-voltage and high-performance digital and analog CNT TFT circuits based on high-yield (19.9%) and ultrahigh purity (99.997%) polymer-sorted semiconducting CNTs. Using high-uniformity deposition and pseudo-CMOS design, we demonstrated CNT TFTs with good uniformity and high performance at low operation voltage of 3 V. We tested forty-four 2-ium channel 5-stage ring oscillators on the same flexible substrate (1,056 TFTs). All worked as expected with gate delays of 42.7 +/- 13.1 ns. With these high-performance TFTs, we demonstrated 8-stage shift registers running at 50 kHz and the first tunable-gain amplifier with 1,000 gain at 20 kHz. These results show great potentials of using solution-processed CNT TFTs for large-scale flexible electronics.

Carbon nanotube (CNT) thin-film transistor (TFT) is a promising candidate for flexible and wearable electronics. However, it usually suffers from low semiconducting tube purity, low device yield, and the mismatch between p- and n-type TFTs. Here, we report low-voltage and high-performance digital and analog CNT TFT circuits based on high-yield (19.9%) and ultrahigh purity (99.997%) polymer-sorted semiconducting CNTs. Using high-uniformity deposition and pseudo-CMOS design, we demonstrated CNT TFTs with good uniformity and high performance at low operation voltage of 3 V. We tested forty-four 2-ium channel 5-stage ring oscillators on the same flexible substrate (1,056 TFTs). All worked as expected with gate delays of 42.7 +/- 13.1 ns. With these high-performance TFTs, we demonstrated 8-stage shift registers running at 50 kHz and the first tunable-gain amplifier with 1,000 gain at 20 kHz. These results show great potentials of using solution-processed CNT TFTs for large-scale flexible electronics.

Carbon nanotube (CNT) thin-film transistor (TFT) is a promising candidate for flexible and wearable electronics. However, it usually suffers from low semiconducting tube purity, low device yield, and the mismatch between p- and n-type TFTs. Here, we report low-voltage and high-performance digital and analog CNT TFT circuits based on high-yield (19.9%) and ultrahigh purity (99.997%) polymer-sorted semiconducting CNTs. Using high-uniformity deposition and pseudo-CMOS design, we demonstrated CNT TFTs with good uniformity and high performance at low operation voltage of 3 V. We tested forty-four 2-ium channel 5-stage ring oscillators on the same flexible substrate (1,056 TFTs). All worked as expected with gate delays of 42.7 +/- 13.1 ns. With these high-performance TFTs, we demonstrated 8-stage shift registers running at 50 kHz and the first tunable-gain amplifier with 1,000 gain at 20 kHz. These results show great potentials of using solution-processed CNT TFTs for large-scale flexible electronics.

Probabilistic programming languages (PPLs) are receiving widespread attention for performing Bayesian inference in complex generative models. However, applications to science remain limited because of the impracticability of rewriting complex scientific simulators in a PPL, the computational cost of inference, and the lack of scalable implementations. To address these, we present a novel PPL framework that couples directly to existing scientific simulators through a cross-platform probabilistic execution protocol and provides Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and deep-learning-based inference compilation (IC) engines for tractable inference. To guide IC inference, we perform distributed training of a dynamic 3DCNN--LSTM architecture with a PyTorch-MPI-based framework on 1,024 32-core CPU nodes of the Cori supercomputer with a global minibatch size of 128k: achieving a performance of 450 Tflop/s through enhancements to PyTorch. We demonstrate a Large Hadron Collider (LHC) use-case with the C++ Sherpa simulator and achieve the largest-scale posterior inference in a Turing-complete PPL., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures

Understanding the paradoxical presence of extensive low-relief surfaces perched above deep valleys in SE Tibet is a long-standing challenge. Its origin, based on topographic analysis, has been explained traditionally by incision of a regional relict landscape or, more recently, by in situ formation in response to drainage area loss feedback. Here we apply a qualitative and quantitative source-to-sink approach to test whether either of the two mechanisms may apply by establishing potential links among detrital zircon provenance of the Oligocene–Miocene Pearl River Mouth Basin, drainage evolution of the Pearl River, and low-relief, high-elevation surface formation in the SE Tibetan Plateau margin. Our zircon record, combined with previous geochemical records from the northern South China Sea, confirms a significant Late Oligocene provenance shift, represented by an intensive addition of Proterozoic zircons and a gradual negative excursion in Nd isotopes. We interpret this provenance shift as a response to a progressive drainage expansion of the Pearl River, evolving from relatively small rivers confined to coastal South China in the Early Oligocene to a near-modern continental-scale drainage configuration in the Early Miocene, which may be correlated with an earlier surface uplift of SE Tibet than previously thought. This westward expansion process of the Pearl River favors the envisaged drainage evolution of the relict landscape model over that of the drainage area loss feedback model, suggesting that the Middle–Late Cenozoic low-relief, high-elevation surface formation in SE Tibet may be readily interpreted as preserving past tectonic and environmental conditions.

Deep learning is a promising tool to determine the physical model that describes our universe. To handle the considerable computational cost of this problem, we present CosmoFlow: a highly scalable deep learning application built on top of the TensorFlow framework. CosmoFlow uses efficient implementations of 3D convolution and pooling primitives, together with improvements in threading for many element-wise operations, to improve training performance on Intel(C) Xeon Phi(TM) processors. We also utilize the Cray PE Machine Learning Plugin for efficient scaling to multiple nodes. We demonstrate fully synchronous data-parallel training on 8192 nodes of Cori with 77% parallel efficiency, achieving 3.5 Pflop/s sustained performance. To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale science application of the TensorFlow framework at supercomputer scale with fully-synchronous training. These enhancements enable us to process large 3D dark matter distribution and predict the cosmological parameters $\Omega_M$, $\sigma_8$ and n$_s$ with unprecedented accuracy.

Deep learning is a promising tool to determine the physical model that describes our universe. To handle the considerable computational cost of this problem, we present CosmoFlow: a highly scalable deep learning application built on top of the TensorFlow framework. CosmoFlow uses efficient implementations of 3D convolution and pooling primitives, together with improvements in threading for many element-wise operations, to improve training performance on Intel(C) Xeon Phi(TM) processors. We also utilize the Cray PE Machine Learning Plugin for efficient scaling to multiple nodes. We demonstrate fully synchronous data-parallel training on 8192 nodes of Cori with 77% parallel efficiency, achieving 3.5 Pflop/s sustained performance. To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale science application of the TensorFlow framework at supercomputer scale with fully-synchronous training. These enhancements enable us to process large 3D dark matter distribution and predict the cosmological parameters $\Omega_M$, $\sigma_8$ and n$_s$ with unprecedented accuracy., Comment: 11 pages, 6 pages, presented at SuperComputing 2018

We present a novel probabilistic programming framework that couples directly to existing large-scale simulators through a cross-platform probabilistic execution protocol, which allows general-purpose inference engines to record and control random number draws within simulators in a language-agnostic way. The execution of existing simulators as probabilistic programs enables highly interpretable posterior inference in the structured model defined by the simulator code base. We demonstrate the technique in particle physics, on a scientifically accurate simulation of the tau lepton decay, which is a key ingredient in establishing the properties of the Higgs boson. Inference efficiency is achieved via inference compilation where a deep recurrent neural network is trained to parameterize proposal distributions and control the stochastic simulator in a sequential importance sampling scheme, at a fraction of the computational cost of a Markov chain Monte Carlo baseline., Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures

Deep learning is a promising tool to determine the physical model that describes our universe. To handle the considerable computational cost of this problem, we present CosmoFlow: a highly scalable deep learning application built on top of the TensorFlow framework. CosmoFlow uses efficient implementations of 3D convolution and pooling primitives, together with improvements in threading for many element-wise operations, to improve training performance on Intel(C) Xeon Phi(TM) processors. We also utilize the Cray PE Machine Learning Plugin for efficient scaling to multiple nodes. We demonstrate fully synchronous data-parallel training on 8192 nodes of Cori with 77% parallel efficiency, achieving 3.5 Pflop/s sustained performance. To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale science application of the TensorFlow framework at supercomputer scale with fully-synchronous training. These enhancements enable us to process large 3D dark matter distribution and predict the cosmological parameters $\Omega_M$, $\sigma_8$ and n$_s$ with unprecedented accuracy., Comment: 11 pages, 6 pages, presented at SuperComputing 2018

Brownian microparticles diffusing in optical potential-energy landscapes constitute a generic test bed for nonequilibrium statistical thermodynamics and have been used to emulate a wide variety of physical systems, ranging from Josephson junctions to Carnot engines. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to scale down this approach to nanometric length scales by constructing a tilted washboard potential for the rotation of plasmonic gold nanorods. The potential depth and tilt can be precisely adjusted by modulating the light polarization. This allo`ws for a gradual transition from continuous rotation to discrete stochastic jumps, which are found to follow Kramers dynamics in excellent agreement with stochastic simulations. The results widen the possibilities for fundamental experiments in statistical physics and provide insights into how to construct light-driven nanomachines and multifunctional sensing elements.

The plate kinematic history of the South China Sea opening is key to reconstructing how the Mesozoic configuration of Panthalassa and Tethyan subduction systems evolved into today's complex Southeast Asian tectonic collage. The South China Sea is currently flanked by the Palawan Continental Terrane in the south and South China in the north and the two blocks have long been assumed to be conjugate margins. However, the paleogeographic history of the Palawan Continental Terrane remains an issue of uncertainty and controversy, especially regarding the questions of where and when it was separated from South China. Here we employ detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology and heavy mineral analysis on Cretaceous and Eocene strata from the northern South China Sea and Palawan to constrain the Late Mesozoic–Early Cenozoic provenance and paleogeographic evolution of the region testing possible connection between the Palawan Continental Terrane and the northern South China Sea margin. In addition to a revision of the regional stratigraphic framework using the youngest zircon U–Pb ages, these analyses show that while the Upper Cretaceous strata from the Palawan Continental Terrane are characterized by a dominance of zircon with crystallization ages clustering around the Cretaceous, the Eocene strata feature a large range of zircon ages and a new mineral group of rutile, anatase, and monazite. On the one hand, this change of sediment compositions seems to exclude the possibility of a latest Cretaceous drift of the Palawan Continental Terrane in response to the Proto-South China Sea opening as previously inferred. On the other hand, the zircon age signatures of the Cretaceous–Eocene strata from the Palawan Continental Terrane are largely comparable to those of contemporary samples from the northeastern South China Sea region, suggesting a possible conjugate relationship between the Palawan Continental Terrane and the eastern Pearl River Mouth Basin. Thus, the Palawan Continental Ter

Gold nanorods can be optically trapped in aqueous solution and forced to rotate at kilohertz rates by circularly polarized laser light. This enables detailed investigations of local environmental parameters and processes, such as medium viscosity and nanoparticle-molecule reactions. Future applications may include nanoactuation and single-cell analysis. However, the influence of photothermal heating on the nanoparticle dynamics needs to be better understood in order to realize widespread and quantitative use. Here we analyze the hot Brownian motion of a rotating gold nanorod trapped in two dimensions by an optical tweezers using experiments and stochastic simulations. We show that, for typical settings, the effective rotational and translational Brownian temperatures are drastically different, being closer to the nanorod surface temperature and ambient temperature, respectively. Further, we show that translational dynamics can have a non-negligible influence on the rotational fluctuations due to the small size of a nanorod in comparison to the focal spot. These results are crucial for the development of gold nanorods into generic and quantitative optomechanical sensor and actuator elements. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Plasmonic gold nanorods are prime candidates for a variety of biomedical, spectroscopy, data storage, and sensing applications. It was recently shown that gold nanorods optically trapped by a focused circularly polarized laser beam can function as extremely efficient nanoscopic rotary motors. The system holds promise for-applications ranging from nanofluidic flow control and nanorobotics to biomolecular actuation and analysis. However, to fully exploit this potential, one needs to be able to control and understand heating effects associated with laser trapping. We investigated photothermal heating of individual rotating gold nanorods by simultaneously probing their localized surface plasmon resonance spectrum and rotational Brownian dynamics over extended periods of time. The data reveal an extremely slow nanoparticle reshaping process, involving migration of the order of a few hundred atoms per minute, for moderate laser powers and a trapping wavelength close to plasmon resonance. The plasmon spectroscopy and Brownian analysis allows for separate temperature estimates based on the refractive index and the viscosity of the water surrounding a trapped nanorod. We show that both measurements yield similar effective temperatures, which correspond to the actual temperature at a distance of the order 10-15 nm from the particle surface. Our results shed light on photothermal processes on the nanoscale and will be useful in evaluating the applicability and performance of nanorod motors and optically heated nanoparticles for a variety of applications., Funding Agency:Chalmers Area of Advance Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

We explore scaling of the standard distributed Tensorflow with GRPC primitives on up to 512 Intel Xeon Phi (KNL) nodes of Cori supercomputer with synchronous stochastic gradient descent (SGD), and identify causes of scaling inefficiency at higher node counts. To our knowledge, this is the first exploration of distributed GRPC Tensorflow scalability on a HPC supercomputer at such large scale with synchronous SGD. We studied scaling of two convolution neural networks - ResNet-50, a state-of-the-art deep network for classification with roughly 25.5 million parameters, and HEP-CNN, a shallow topology with less than 1 million parameters for common scientific usages. For ResNet-50, we achieve >80% scaling efficiency on up to 128 workers, using 32 parameter servers (PS tasks) with a steep decline down to 23% for 512 workers using 64 PS tasks. Our analysis of the efficiency drop points to low network bandwidth utilization due to combined effect of three factors. (a) Heterogeneous distributed parallelization algorithm which uses PS tasks as centralized servers for gradient averaging is suboptimal for utilizing interconnect bandwidth. (b) Load imbalance among PS tasks hinders their efficient scaling. (c) Underlying communication primitive GRPC is currently inefficient on Cori high-speed interconnect. The HEP-CNN demands less interconnect bandwidth, and shows >80% weak scaling efficiency for up to 256 nodes with only 1 PS task. Our findings are applicable to other deep learning networks. Big networks with millions of parameters stumble upon the issues discussed here. Shallower networks like HEP-CNN with relatively lower number of parameters can efficiently enjoy weak scaling even with a single parameter server., Comment: Published as a poster in NIPS 2017 Workshop: Deep Learning At Supercomputer Scale

A continuous-gradient approach of material evaporation is employed by L. Shao, M. Käll, and co-workers to fabricate nanostructures with varying geometric parameters such as thickness, lateral positioning, and orientation on a single substrate. This method for mask lithography, described on page 4658, allows continuous tuning of the physical properties of a sample. The technique is highly valuable in simplifying the overall optimization process for constructing metasurfaces., QC 20171214

A continuous-gradient approach of material evaporation is employed to fabricate nanostructures with varying geometric parameters, such as thickness, lateral positioning, and orientation on a single substrate. The method developed for mask lithography allows continuous tuning of the physical properties of a sample. The technique is highly valuable in simplifying the overall optimization process for constructing metasurfaces., QC 20171215

A flexible electronic paper in full color is realized by plasmonic metasurfaces with conjugated polymers. An ultrathin large-area electrochromic material is presented which provides high polarization-independent reflection, strong contrast, fast response time, and long-term stability. This technology opens up for new electronic readers and posters with ultralow power consumption., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Chalmers Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Area of Advance

A flexible electronic paper in full color is realized by plasmonic metasurfaces with conjugated polymers. An ultrathin large-area electrochromic material is presented which provides high polarization-independent reflection, strong contrast, fast response time, and long-term stability. This technology opens up for new electronic readers and posters with ultralow power consumption., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Chalmers Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Area of Advance

Yongzhong Wang,1 Zhen Fan,2 Lei Shao,3 Xiaowei Kong,1 Xianjuan Hou,1 Dongrui Tian,1 Ying Sun,1 Yazhong Xiao,1 Li Yu4 1School of Life Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Modern Bio-manufacture, Anhui University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA; 3State Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Pharmaceutical Process, Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, Shanghai, 4Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Anhui Provincial Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology, Anhui Key Laboratory of Zoonoses, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Owing to peculiar properties of nanobody, including nanoscale size, robust structure, stable and soluble behaviors in aqueous solution, reversible refolding, high affinity and specificity for only one cognate target, superior cryptic cleft accessibility, and deep tissue penetration, as well as a sustainable source, it has been an ideal research tool for the development of sophisticated nanobiotechnologies. Currently, the nanobody has been evolved into versatile research and application tool kits for diverse biomedical and biotechnology applications. Various nanobody-derived formats, including the nanobody itself, the radionuclide or fluorescent-labeled nanobodies, nanobody homo- or heteromultimers, nanobody-coated nanoparticles, and nanobody-displayed bacteriophages, have been successfully demonstrated as powerful nanobiotechnological tool kits for basic biomedical research, targeting drug delivery and therapy, disease diagnosis, bioimaging, and agricultural and plant protection. These applications indicate a special advantage of these nanobody-derived technologies, already surpassing the “me-too” products of other equivalent binders, such as the full-length antibodies, single-chain variable fragments, antigen-binding fragments, targeting peptides, and DNA-based aptam

A flexible electronic paper in full color is realized by plasmonic metasurfaces with conjugated polymers. An ultrathin large-area electrochromic material is presented which provides high polarization-independent reflection, strong contrast, fast response time, and long-term stability. This technology opens up for new electronic readers and posters with ultralow power consumption., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Chalmers Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Area of Advance

Yongzhong Wang,1 Zhen Fan,2 Lei Shao,3 Xiaowei Kong,1 Xianjuan Hou,1 Dongrui Tian,1 Ying Sun,1 Yazhong Xiao,1 Li Yu4 1School of Life Sciences, Collaborative Innovation Center of Modern Bio-manufacture, Anhui University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA; 3State Key Laboratory of New Drugs and Pharmaceutical Process, Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry, Shanghai, 4Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Anhui Provincial Laboratory of Microbiology and Parasitology, Anhui Key Laboratory of Zoonoses, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Owing to peculiar properties of nanobody, including nanoscale size, robust structure, stable and soluble behaviors in aqueous solution, reversible refolding, high affinity and specificity for only one cognate target, superior cryptic cleft accessibility, and deep tissue penetration, as well as a sustainable source, it has been an ideal research tool for the development of sophisticated nanobiotechnologies. Currently, the nanobody has been evolved into versatile research and application tool kits for diverse biomedical and biotechnology applications. Various nanobody-derived formats, including the nanobody itself, the radionuclide or fluorescent-labeled nanobodies, nanobody homo- or heteromultimers, nanobody-coated nanoparticles, and nanobody-displayed bacteriophages, have been successfully demonstrated as powerful nanobiotechnological tool kits for basic biomedical research, targeting drug delivery and therapy, disease diagnosis, bioimaging, and agricultural and plant protection. These applications indicate a special advantage of these nanobody-derived technologies, already surpassing the “me-too” products of other equivalent binders, such as the full-length antibodies, single-chain variable fragments, antigen-binding fragments, targeting peptides, and DNA-based aptam

A flexible electronic paper in full color is realized by plasmonic metasurfaces with conjugated polymers. An ultrathin large-area electrochromic material is presented which provides high polarization-independent reflection, strong contrast, fast response time, and long-term stability. This technology opens up for new electronic readers and posters with ultralow power consumption., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Chalmers Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Area of Advance

A flexible electronic paper in full color is realized by plasmonic metasurfaces with conjugated polymers. An ultrathin large-area electrochromic material is presented which provides high polarization-independent reflection, strong contrast, fast response time, and long-term stability. This technology opens up for new electronic readers and posters with ultralow power consumption., Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Chalmers Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Area of Advance

Efficient and robust artificial nanomotors could provide a variety of exciting possibilities for applications in physics, biology and chemistry, including nanoelectromechanical systems, biochemical sensing, and drug delivery. However, the application of current man-made nanomotors is limited by their sophisticated fabrication techniques, low mechanical output power and severe environmental requirements, making their performance far below that of natural biomotors. Here we show that single-crystal gold nanorods can be rotated extremely fast in aqueous solutions through optical torques dominated by plasmonic resonant scattering of circularly polarized laser light with power as low as a few mW. The nanorods are trapped in 2D against a glass surface, and their rotational dynamics is highly dependent on their surface plasmon resonance properties. They can be kept continuously rotating for hours with limited photothermal side effects and they can be applied for detection of molecular binding with high sensitivity. Because of their biocompatibility, mechanical and thermal stability, and record rotation speeds reaching up to 42 kHz (2.5 million revolutions per minute), these rotary nanomotors could advance technologies to meet a wide range of future nanomechanical and biomedical needs in fields such as nanorobotics, nanosurgery, DNA manipulation and nano/microfluidic flow control.

Gold nanocrystals and nanoassemblies have attracted extensive attention for various applications, including chemical and biological sensing, solar energy harvesting, and plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies, due to their unique plasmonic properties. It is of great importance to prepare shape-controlled Au nanocrystals with high monodispersity over a large range of sizes. In this work, Au nanospheres with sizes ranging from 20 nm to 220 nm are prepared using a simple seed-mediated growth method aided with mild oxidation. As-prepared Au nanospheres are remarkably uniform in size. The resultant Au nanospheres of different sizes are ideal building blocks for constructing plasmonic nanoassemblies. Core/satellite nanostructures are assembled out of differently sized Au nanospheres with molecular linkers. The core/satellite nanostructures show a red-shifted plasmon resonance peak in comparison to that of the Au cores, which is consistent with the results calculated according to Mie theory. As predicted by finite-difference time-domain simulations, the assembled core/satellite nanostructures exhibit strongly enhance Raman signals. This facile growth of Au nanospheres and assembly of core/satellite nanostructures are expected to facilitate the design of new nanoassemblies with desired plasmonic properties and functions.

Gold nanocrystals and nanoassemblies have attracted extensive attention for various applications, including chemical and biological sensing, solar energy harvesting, and plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies, due to their unique plasmonic properties. It is of great importance to prepare shape-controlled Au nanocrystals with high monodispersity over a large range of sizes. In this work, Au nanospheres with sizes ranging from 20 nm to 220 nm are prepared using a simple seed-mediated growth method aided with mild oxidation. As-prepared Au nanospheres are remarkably uniform in size. The resultant Au nanospheres of different sizes are ideal building blocks for constructing plasmonic nanoassemblies. Core/satellite nanostructures are assembled out of differently sized Au nanospheres with molecular linkers. The core/satellite nanostructures show a red-shifted plasmon resonance peak in comparison to that of the Au cores, which is consistent with the results calculated according to Mie theory. As predicted by finite-difference time-domain simulations, the assembled core/satellite nanostructures exhibit strongly enhance Raman signals. This facile growth of Au nanospheres and assembly of core/satellite nanostructures are expected to facilitate the design of new nanoassemblies with desired plasmonic properties and functions.

Gold nanocrystals and nanoassemblies have attracted extensive attention for various applications, including chemical and biological sensing, solar energy harvesting, and plasmon-enhanced spectroscopies, due to their unique plasmonic properties. It is of great importance to prepare shape-controlled Au nanocrystals with high monodispersity over a large range of sizes. In this work, Au nanospheres with sizes ranging from 20 nm to 220 nm are prepared using a simple seed-mediated growth method aided with mild oxidation. As-prepared Au nanospheres are remarkably uniform in size. The resultant Au nanospheres of different sizes are ideal building blocks for constructing plasmonic nanoassemblies. Core/satellite nanostructures are assembled out of differently sized Au nanospheres with molecular linkers. The core/satellite nanostructures show a red-shifted plasmon resonance peak in comparison to that of the Au cores, which is consistent with the results calculated according to Mie theory. As predicted by finite-difference time-domain simulations, the assembled core/satellite nanostructures exhibit strongly enhance Raman signals. This facile growth of Au nanospheres and assembly of core/satellite nanostructures are expected to facilitate the design of new nanoassemblies with desired plasmonic properties and functions.

Shao, Lei = 基於金納米棒組裝的寡聚體及陣列的表面等離子體共振特性研究 / 邵磊., Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013., Includes bibliographical references., Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web., also in Chinese., Shao, Lei = Ji yu jin na mi bang zu zhuang de gua ju ti ji zhen lie de biao mian deng li zi ti gong zhen te xing yan jiu / Shao Lei., http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5884474, Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Blood banking has a broad public health impact influencing millions of lives daily. It could potentially benefit from emerging biopreservation technologies. However, although vitrification has shown advantages over traditional cryopreservation techniques, it has not been incorporated into transfusion medicine mainly due to throughput challenges. Here, we present a scalable method that can vitrify red blood cells in microdroplets. This approach enables the vitrification of large volumes of blood in a short amount of time, and makes it a viable and scalable biotechnology tool for blood cryopreservation., National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH R21 EB007707), Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, United States. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreement RO1 A1081534), Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, United States. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreement R21 AI087107), United States. Army. Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center

Blood banking has a broad public health impact influencing millions of lives daily. It could potentially benefit from emerging biopreservation technologies. However, although vitrification has shown advantages over traditional cryopreservation techniques, it has not been incorporated into transfusion medicine mainly due to throughput challenges. Here, we present a scalable method that can vitrify red blood cells in microdroplets. This approach enables the vitrification of large volumes of blood in a short amount of time, and makes it a viable and scalable biotechnology tool for blood cryopreservation., National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH R21 EB007707), Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, United States. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreement RO1 A1081534), Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, United States. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreement R21 AI087107), United States. Army. Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center

Shao, Lei = 金顆粒納米晶中角度、能量和空間位置分辨的表面等離子共振耦合 / 邵磊., Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010., Includes bibliographical references., s in English and Chinese., Shao, Lei = Jin ke li na mi jing zhong jiao du, neng liang he kong jian wei zhi fen bian de biao mian deng li zi gong zhen ou he / Shaolei., p.1, 摘要 --- p.iii, Acknowledgement --- p.v, Table of Contents --- p.vii, List of Figures --- p.ix, List of Tables --- p.xiv, Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1, Chapter 1.1 --- Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances of Noble Metal Nanocrystals --- p.3, Chapter 1.1.1 --- Dielectric Functions of Noble Metal Nanocrystals --- p.3, Chapter 1.1.2 --- Absorption and Scattering of Light by Noble Metal Nanoparticles --- p.7, Chapter 1.2 --- Coupling between Localized Surface Plasmons --- p.14, Chapter 1.2.1 --- Theoretical Treatments for Plasmon Coupling --- p.14, Chapter 1.2.2 --- Unique Properties Resulting from Plasmon Coupling --- p.15, Chapter 1.2.3 --- Applications Based on Plasmon Coupling --- p.17, Chapter 1.3 --- Outline of Thesis --- p.18, Chapter 2. --- Growth of Gold Nanocrystals and Characterization Techniques --- p.26, Chapter 2.1 --- Growth of Gold Nanocrystals --- p.26, Chapter 2.2 --- Characterization Techniques --- p.29, Chapter 3. --- Surface Plasmon Coupling in Homodimers of Elongated Gold Nanocrystals --- p.34, Chapter 3.1 --- Formation of Homodimers of Elongated Gold Nanocrystals --- p.35, Chapter 3.2 --- Angle-Resolved Plasmon Coupling in Gold Nanorod Dimers --- p.37, Chapter 3.2.1 --- Experimental Results --- p.39, Chapter 3.2.2 --- FDTD Calculations --- p.43, Chapter 3.2.3 --- Dipolar Modeling --- p.49, Chapter 3.3 --- Effect of the Head Shape on the Plasmon Coupling --- p.57, Chapter 3.4 --- Summary --- p.60, Chapter 4. --- Surface Plasmon Coupling in Heterodimers of Gold Nanocrystals --- p.64, Chapter 4.1 --- Formation of Heterodimers of Gold Nanocrystals --- p.65, Chapter 4.2 --- Energy-Resolved Plasmon Coupling in Gold Nanorod Heterodimers --- p.67, Chapter 4.3 --- Position-Resolved Plasmon Coupling in Gold Nanorod-Nanosphere Heterodimers --- p.70, Chapter 4.3.1 --- Experimental Results --- p.71, Chapter 4.3.2 --- FDTD Calculations --- p.75, Chapter 4.4 --- Summary --- p.83, Chapter 5. --- Summary and Conclusion --- p.87, http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5894458, Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

There are some active bottom currents on the northern continental slope of the South China Sea (SCS). Reflection seismic profiles show that the bottom current channels occur in the water depth range of 1000 to 2700 m, extending from the NE to the SW, leading to accumulation of discontinuous drifts with higher sedimentation rates on the eastern side of the channel. The stacking pattern of the layers suggests that these drifts propagated southwestward, following the direction of the bottom currents. One sedimentary drift to the southeast of the Dongsha Islands has the highest sedimentation rate of 97cm/ka in the last 12 ka. The sedimentary characteristics of the sediment layers indicate that these bottom currents are most likley caused by the water movement of a branch of the West Pacific Ocean Current, which enters the northern SCS via the Bashi Strait. Once formed, the bottom currents transport sediments along the northern slope of SCS southwestward and finally disappear into the central basin of the SCS. Due to the bottom current activity, the deep-sea sedimentary process in the northern SCS is complex.

There are some active bottom currents on the northern continental slope of the South China Sea (SCS). Reflection seismic profiles show that the bottom current channels occur in the water depth range of 1000 to 2700 m, extending from the NE to the SW, leading to accumulation of discontinuous drifts with higher sedimentation rates on the eastern side of the channel. The stacking pattern of the layers suggests that these drifts propagated southwestward, following the direction of the bottom currents. One sedimentary drift to the southeast of the Dongsha Islands has the highest sedimentation rate of 97cm/ka in the last 12 ka. The sedimentary characteristics of the sediment layers indicate that these bottom currents are most likley caused by the water movement of a branch of the West Pacific Ocean Current, which enters the northern SCS via the Bashi Strait. Once formed, the bottom currents transport sediments along the northern slope of SCS southwestward and finally disappear into the central basin of the SCS. Due to the bottom current activity, the deep-sea sedimentary process in the northern SCS is complex.