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Optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs) with ultrahigh sensitivity offer the potential for a significant advancement in magnetoencephalography (MEG), enabling wearable systems that benefit from their compact size and flexibility. OPM requires operating near-zero magnetic field. To compensate the residual magnetic field within the magnetic shielding room, external compensation coils are necessary. Biplanar coils are widely applied for magnetic compensation due to their simplicity and practicality. We introduce a novel convolution-type Gauss fast Fourier transform (CGFT) algorithm for accurate and efficient computation of convolution-type integrals, which plays an essential role in the forward and inverse modeling of biplanar coils. We prove that the traditional discrete/fast Fourier transform (DFT/FFT)-based algorithm should be used with caution. An insufficient value of grid expansion would bring significant errors into the forward process, which will further lead to an inadequately compensated target magnetic field. Numerical tests show that the CGFT algorithm is superior both in accuracy and efficiency comparing with the DFT/FFT algorithm and, thus, is always recommended in forward and inverse calculations. The CGFT method can be applied to the coil design of magnetic resonance imaging or the development of quantum precision measurement instruments, such as atomic gyroscopes and atomic magnetometers.

In nature, aflatoxins, especially aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), are the common mycotoxins, which cause serious health problems for humans and animals. This paper aimed to study the effects of AFB1 on flesh flavor and muscle development of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and its mechanism. There were 1440 individual fish in total, with 6 treatments and each treatment replicated 3 times. The 6 treatments were fed a control diet with different doses of AFB1 (0.04, 29.48, 58.66, 85.94, 110.43 and 146.92 μg/kg diet) for 60 d. AFB1 increased myofiber diameter, as well as decreased myofiber density of grass carp muscle (P < 0.05). The contents of free amino acid decreased gradually (P < 0.05) as dietary AFB1 increased in the muscle of grass carp. The levels of reactive oxygen species, malonaldehyde and protein carbonyl (PC) were increased (P < 0.05) with the dietary AFB1 increased. The levels of antioxidant enzyme (glutathione peroxidase, glutathione, glutathione reductase, total antioxidant capacity, anti-superoxide anion, and anti-hydroxyl radical) were decreased (P < 0.05) with the dietary AFB1 increased. In addition, dietary AFB1 decreased the content of collagen, and downregulated the mRNA and protein levels of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/Smads signaling pathway in grass carp muscle (P < 0.05). The mRNA and protein levels of myogenic regulatory factors were downregulated in grass carp muscle (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the activities of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were increased (P < 0.05), and the protein levels of phosphorylate-38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38MAPK), phosphorylate-c-Jun N-terminal kinase, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), MMP-2 and MMP-9 were upregulated (P < 0.05), but collagen Ⅰ, laminin β1 and fibronectin were downregulated (P < 0.05) with the dietary AFB1 increased in the muscle of grass carp. Based on the results of this study, we can draw the following conclusion: dietary AFB1 might damage flesh flavor and inhibit the muscle development through MAPK/uPA/MMP/extracellular matrix (ECM) signaling pathway in grass carp. Moreover, the recommended safe limit of AFB1 in feed is no more than 26.77 μg/kg diet according to the PC levels in grass carp muscle.

Lead-free ferroelectric ceramics, 0.67Bi1–xEuxFeO3-0.33BaTiO3(BF-BT-xEu, x = 0–0.02), were prepared via a solid-state reaction. The effect of Eu3+doping on the microstructure, dielectric properties, ferroelectric properties, and electric-field-induced strain was investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate the presence of a mixed phase of tetragonal and rhombohedral at the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). Doping with an appropriate amount of Eu3+reduces the Fe2+content and decreases the leakage current in the binary system. A converse piezoelectric coefficient (d33∗) of 392 pm/V is obtained at BF-BT-0.003Eu under an electric field of 60 kV/cm at room temperature, which has a Curie temperature (TC) of 414 °C. The unipolar strain and d33∗of BF-BT-0.003Eu ceramics increase to 0.438% and 730 pm/V at 125 °C. The field-induced strain response of the BF-BT-0.003Eu ceramics is greater than that of 0.67BF-0.33BT, mainly due to its optimal grain size, reduction of leakage current, and coexistence of ferroelectric-relaxation phases. BF-BT-0.003Eu ceramic is a lead-free candidate for high-temperature actuator applications.

Effects of ultrasonic vibration (UV) and mechanical vibration (MV) on the Mn-rich phase modification and mechanical properties of Al−12Si−4Cu−1Ni−1Mg−2Mn piston alloys were investigated. The results show that the UV and UV+MV treatments can significantly refine and fragmentize the microstructures. In addition, UV treatment can significantly passivate the primary Mn-rich Al15Mn3Si2intermetallics. The formation mechanisms of refinement and passivation of the grains and non-dendrite particles were discussed. Compared with the gravity die-cast alloys, the UV and UV+MV treated alloys exhibit improved tensile and creep resistance at room and elevated temperatures. These results can be attributed to the refinement of the α(Al) grains and the secondary intermetallics, the increased proportion of refined heat-resistant precipitates, and the formation of nano-sized Si particles. The ultimate tensile strength of the UV treated alloys at 350 °C exceeds that of commercial piston alloys. This indicates the high application potential of the developed piston alloys in density diesel engines.

Biomineralization through microbial process has attracted great attention in the field of geotechnical engineering due to its ability to bind granular materials, clog pores, and seal fractures. Although minerals formed by biomineralization are generally the same as that by mineralization, their mechanical behaviors show a significant discrepancy. This study aims to figure out the differences between biomineralization and mineralization processes by visualizing and tracking the formation of minerals using microfluidics. Both biomineralization and mineralization processes occurred in the Y-shaped sand-containing microchip that mimics the underground sand layers. Images from different areas in the reaction microchannel of microchips were captured to directly compare the distribution of minerals. Crystal size and numbers from different reaction times were measured to quantify the differences between biomineralization and mineralization processes in terms of crystal kinetics. Results showed that the crystals were precipitated in a faster and more uncontrollable manner in the mineralization process than that in the biomineralization process, given that those two processes presented similar precipitation stages. In addition, a more heterogeneous distribution of crystals was observed during the biomineralization process. The precipitation behaviors were further explained by the classical nucleation crystal growth theory. The present microfluidic tests could advance the understanding of biomineralization and provide new insight into the optimization of biocementation technology.

Bacillus thuringiensisCry9 proteins show high insecticidal activity against different lepidopteran pests. Cry9 could be a valuable alternative to Cry1 proteins because it showed a synergistic effect with no cross-resistance. However, the pore-formation region of the Cry9 proteins is still unclear. In this study, nine mutations of certain Cry9Aa helices α3 and α4 residues resulted in a complete loss of insecticidal activity against the rice pest Chilo suppressalis; however, the protein stability and receptor binding ability of these mutants were not affected. Among these mutants, Cry9Aa-D121R, Cry9Aa-D125R, Cry9Aa-D163R, Cry9Aa-E165R, and Cry9Aa-D167R are unable to form oligomers in vitro, while the oligomers formed by Cry9Aa-R156D, Cry9Aa-R158D, and Cry9Aa-R160D are unstable and failed to insert into the membrane. These data confirmed that helices α3 and α4 of Cry9Aa are involved in oligomerization, membrane insertion, and toxicity. The knowledge of Cry9 pore-forming action may promote its application as an alternative to Cry1 insecticidal proteins.

The permeability of the sintering process can be significantly improved by the pellet sintering, but the excessive permeability will impact the heat accumulation of the sinter bed. Thus, it is very essential to clarify the influence of the pellet particle size on the heat transfer process of sintering. Therefore, pilot-scale sinter pot tests of pellet sintering with manganese ore fines of different particle sizes were conducted, and traditional sintering was compared to reveal the heat transfer process of sintering and its impact on the microstructure of sintered ore. The results indicate that under suitable pellet sizes (8–12 mm), the heat transfer efficiency and the heat accumulation effect between the layers of sinter bed are strengthened by the pellet sintering, as well as the highest temperature in the combustion zone and the duration of high-temperature zone. This also leads to the further growth of ferrotephroite or hausmannite in liquid phase and its more reasonable crystal distribution. Ultimately, compared with the traditional sintering process, the total solid fuel consumption can be reduced by 20%–30%, and the productivity can be increased by 11.71%–16.21%.

This comprehensive review explores the intricate mechanisms of PANoptosis and its implications in cancer. PANoptosis, a convergence of apoptosis, pyroptosis, and necroptosis, plays a crucial role in cell death and immune response regulation. The study delves into the molecular pathways of each cell death mechanism and their crosstalk within PANoptosis, emphasizing the shared components like caspases and the PANoptosome complex. It highlights the significant role of PANoptosis in various cancers, including respiratory, digestive, genitourinary, gliomas, and breast cancers, showing its impact on tumorigenesis and patient survival rates. We further discuss the interwoven relationship between PANoptosis and the tumor microenvironment (TME), illustrating how PANoptosis influences immune cell behavior and tumor progression. It underscores the dynamic interplay between tumors and their microenvironments, focusing on the roles of different immune cells and their interactions with cancer cells. Moreover, the review presents new breakthroughs in cancer therapy, emphasizing the potential of targeting PANoptosis to enhance anti-tumor immunity. It outlines various strategies to manipulate PANoptosis pathways for therapeutic purposes, such as targeting key signaling molecules like caspases, NLRP3, RIPK1, and RIPK3. The potential of novel treatments like immunogenic PANoptosis-initiated therapies and nanoparticle-based strategies is also explored.

Adjuvants for vaccines with characteristics of improving adaptive immunity particularly via leverage of antigen presenting cells (APCs) are currently lacking. In a previous work we obtained a new soluble 300 kDa homogeneous β-glucan named GFPBW1 from the fruit bodies of Granola frondosa. GFPBW1 could activate macrophages by targeting dendritic cell associated C-type lectin 1 (Dectin-1)/Syk/NF-κB signaling to achieve antitumour effects. In this study the adjuvant effects of GFPBW1 were explored with OVA-antigen and B16-OVA tumor model. We showed that GFPBW1 (5, 50, 500 μg/mL) dose-dependently promoted activation and maturation of APCs in vitro by increasing CD80, CD86 and MHC II expression. We immunized female mice with OVA in combination with GFPBW1 (50 or 300 μg) twice with an interval of two weeks. GFPBW1 markedly and dose-dependently increased OVA-specific antibody titers of different subtypes including IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b and IgG3, suggesting that it could serve as an adjuvant for both Th1 and Th2 type immune responses. Furthermore, GFPBW1 in combination with aluminum significantly increased the titers of OVA-specific IgG2a and IgG2b, but not those of IgG1, suggesting that GFPBW1 could be used as a co-adjuvant of aluminum to compensate for Th1 deficiency. For mice immunized with OVA plus GFPBW1, no obvious pathological injury was observed in either major organs or injection sites, and no abnormalities were noted for any of the hematological parameters. When GFPBW1 served as an adjuvant in the B16-OVA cancer vaccine models, it could accomplish entire tumor suppression with preventive vaccines, and enhance antitumour efficacy with therapeutic vaccines. Differentially expressed genes were found to be enriched in antigen processing process, specifically increased tumor infiltration of DCs, B1 cells and plasma cells in the OVA plus GFPBW1 group, in accordance with its activation and maturation function of APCs. Collectively, this study systematically describes the properties of GFPBW1 as a novel potent and safe adjuvant and highlights its great potential in vaccine development.

Lead-free piezoceramics with large controllable deformations are highly desirable for numerous energy converter applications ranging from consumer electronics to medical microrobots. Although several new classes of high-performance ferroelectrics have been discovered, a universal strategy to enable various piezoceramics to realize large electromechanical deformations is still lacking. Herein, by gradually reducing the thickness from 0.5 mm to 0.1 mm, we discover that a large nominal electrostrain of ∼11.49% can be achieved in thin 0.937(Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3–0.063BaTiO3(BNT–BT) ceramics with highly asymmetric strain–electric field curves. Further analyses of the polarization switching process reveal that the boosted strain curves originate from the bending deformation driven by asymmetric ferroelastic switching in the surface layers. Based on this, one monolayer BNT–BT was designed to realize digital displacement actuation and a scanning mirror application with a maximum mirror deflection angle of 44.38°. Moreover, the surface effect-induced bending deformation can be extended to other piezoceramics, accompanied by derived shape retention effects. These discoveries raise the possibility of utilizing thickness engineering to design large-displacement actuators and may accelerate the development of high-performance lead-free piezoceramics.

Purpose: For improving a beam quality of the linear accelerator and decreasing the influence of failure recovery on the accelerator available time, a high-voltage pulse modulator system is required to enhance the stability of high-voltage pulses and maintain a low failure rate as well as a low failure recovery time, in order to implement a high-performance and stable operation. Methods: This paper systematically analyzes the current status and operating conditions of the modulator equipment of BEPCII linear accelerator and simulates the typical parameters of the modulator considering the high-voltage DC charging power supply, DC charging cables and components and pulsed hydrogen thyratron. The technical route and retrofit scheme are proposed to decrease the failure rate and its recovery time. Results: The stability of the high-voltage pulse modulator has increased by 1000 ppm, the failure rate has been decreased by two orders of magnitude, and the averaged recovery time from failures has been reduced by 94% as compared to the last operation period via implementing technical transformation with repeated exploration and experimental verification.

Automatic retinal layer segmentation with medical images, such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) images, serves as an important tool for diagnosing ophthalmic diseases. However, it is challenging to achieve accurate segmentation due to low contrast and blood flow noises presented in the images. In addition, the algorithm should be lightweight to be deployed for practical clinical applications. Therefore, it is desired to design a lightweight network with high performance for retinal layer segmentation. In this article, we propose LightReSeg for retinal layer segmentation which can be applied to OCT images. Specifically, our approach follows an encoder-decoder structure, where the encoder part uses multiscale feature extraction and a transformer block for fully exploiting the semantic information of feature maps at all scales and making the features have better global reasoning capabilities, while the decoder part, we design a multiscale asymmetric attention (MAA) module for preserving the semantic information at each encoder scale. The experiments show that our approach achieves a better segmentation performance compared with the current state-of-the-art method TransUnet with 105.7 M parameters on both our collected dataset and two other public datasets, with only 3.3 M parameters.

Fault diagnosis of hydraulic system is of great significance to reduce the risk of damage to road machinery and improve construction safety. The hydraulic system of highway machinery has the characteristics of uncertainty, nonlinearity, and time-varying, so it is difficult to carry out efficient fault diagnosis under complex working conditions. In this article, a new approach to classification based on a hybrid model of transformer and long short-term memory neural network (LS-TF) is proposed. At first, the feature information of 1-D time series is extracted by the convolution layer and long short-term memory (LSTM) network, which reduces the problems, such as gradient disappearance. Second, the location feature information is obtained by location encoding in transformer, and the multihead attention mechanism (MHAM) as well as the residual network realize the capture of associated features in time series to facilitate the transfer of feature information in the network. Finally, the anti-noise experiments are conducted on the model in the dataset of the hydraulic system of road machinery, and the results of fault diagnosis are visualized. The analysis has shown that the proposed model has high diagnostic accuracy and noise resolution compared with other diagnostic methods.

Organic ammonium salts which are formed from heterogeneous reactions are one of the important components of nitrogen-containing organic compounds (NOCs) in the atmosphere. In order to investigate the formation process of organic ammonium salts, a gas-flow system with the diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) technique was applied to monitor the influence of a simulated illumination on the heterogeneous reactions of toluene/O3/NH3on hematite nanoparticles. The results revealed that toluene was transformed into benzoic acid under the action of oxidants (O3and OH radicals). The carboxylic acid was neutralized with NH3to form ammonium benzoate. The effect of light intensities on the reaction kinetics of ammonium benzoate formation from the heterogeneous reactions was also analyzed. With an increase in the light intensity from dark to 36 mW cm−2, the reaction rates increased from (1.20 ± 0.02) × 1018ions per g s−1to (2.30 ± 0.09) × 1018ions per g s−1. This induced the formation of abundant active radicals, which accelerated the conversion of toluene to ammonium benzoate on hematite nanoparticles. However, the reaction rates decreased to (1.80 ± 0.03) × 1018ions per g s−1as the light intensity continued to increase to 100 mW cm−2. The yield of organic ammonium salts might be reduced owing to the volatilization of ammonium benzoate at a high light intensity. Meanwhile, the initial uptake coefficient showed a similar change trend. The values of the uptake coefficient increased by 81.1% when the light intensity increased from 0 mW cm−2to 36 mW cm−2but decreased by 21.1% when the light intensity increased from 36 mW cm−2to 100 mW cm−2. Our results not only propose the heterogeneous reaction kinetics of toluene/O3/NH3on the nanoscale hematite surface under different light intensity conditions, but also provide a theoretical support for further understanding the conversion process of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under combined atmospheric pollution.

Revealing the periodic fracture pattern of the main roof and the key influencing factors of the support resistance is crucial for strata control and support selection of the shallow buried working face with large mining height. Based on the cantilever beam theory, an improved step rock beam model, and the measured strata pressure data of the 12,401 working face in Shangwan Mine, the mine pressure behavior law of the shallow buried with a large mining height working face was analyzed. The results show that both ratio of maximum principal stress to load (σ1/q) and ratio of maximum shear stress to load (τmax/q) inside the main roof increase with increasing periodic advancing distance, while the ratio of maximum shear stress to maximum principal stress (K) is the opposite, indicating that the increase rate of σ1/qis higher than that of τmax/q. Kis less than 1 when the periodic advancing distance exceeds 8 m, indicating that the periodic fracture of the main roof will be dominated by tensile failure. Support resistance increases with increasing immediate roof thickness, main roof thickness, periodic fracture step distance of the main roof, and mining height, and decreases nonlinearly with increasing friction coefficient of periodic fracture rock block hinge surface. The main roof thickness, the periodic fracture distance of main roof, and the friction coefficient of the hinge surface of the periodic fracture rock block are the key factors influencing the support resistance. The advance breaking of the main roof and increasing the friction coefficient of the hinged surface of the main roof can reduce the support resistance of the working face. The support resistance of the 12,401 working face in Shangwan Mine presents an arch distribution characteristic. The average periodic weighting step interval, average support resistance, and dynamic load coefficient are 15.6 m, 17,552 kN, and 1.3, respectively. Finally, the rationality and validity of the model are verified by comparing the measured and theoretical values of the support resistance in the 12,401 working face of Shangwan Mine and other shallow coal seams with large mining height.

We investigated the microscale electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction pumps in a wide range of working regimes, from the saturation regime to the ohmic regime. We showed that the existing macro- and microscale theoretical models could not accurately predict the electric force of microscale EHD conduction pumps, especially for the cases of a strong diffusion effect. We clarified that the failure is caused by a rough estimate of the heterocharge layer thickness. We revised the expression of heterocharge layer thickness by considering the diffusion effect and developed a new theoretical model for the microscale EHD conduction pumps based on the revised expression of heterocharge layer thickness. The results showed that our model can accurately predict the dimensionless electric force of the microscale EHD conduction pumps even for the cases of a strong diffusion effect. Furthermore, we developed a working regime map of microscale EHD conduction pumps and found that the microscale EHD conduction pumps more easily fall into the saturation regime compared with the macroscale EHD conduction pumps due to the enhanced diffusion effect; in other words, the microscale EHD conduction pumps have a wider saturation regime. We showed that the conduction number C0could not distinguish the working regime of the microscale EHD conduction pumps because it does not take the diffusion effect into account. By employing the revised expression of heterocharge layer thickness, we proposed a new dimensionless number, C0Dto distinguish the working regimes of microscale EHD conduction pumps.

In phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry ($\varphi$ -OTDR) systems, DCM and Arctan demodulation algorithms are typically used to recover the information on vibration events along the fiber. The amplitude-frequency response characteristics of the DCM and Arctan algorithms are investigated and compared using a 3×3 coupler demodulation technique. We first testify the demodulation capability of the DCM and Arctan algorithms through experiments in $\varphi$ -OTDR. Then the amplitude-frequency response ranges of the two algorithms are analyzed according to the demodulated phase error distribution from both the experiment and simulation. It is shown that the Arctan algorithm has a wider amplitude-frequency range than the DCM algorithm. The phase error generation mechanism is also investigated and we find that, in a noise-free condition, the phase errors still appear with use of the DCM algorithm, which cannot be explained by the general perspective that the phase errors arise from the sensitivity of the differential operator to noise. For both algorithms the phase error is related to the amplitude (D) and frequency (f) of the vibration signal, and pulse repetition frequency (${f}_{\text{pulse}}$). When the phase error tolerance is less than 0.1, the expression of the amplitude-frequency response characteristic of DCM algorithm is $5.7({D + 1})f \leq {f}_{\text{pulse}}$, whereas that of the Arctan algorithm is $2Df \leq {f}_{\text{pulse}}$.

In theory, a 180° hybrid bridge can be used as a variable power divider and combiner. This study focuses on applying the variable power divider and combiner to a high-vacuum and high-power environment, aiming at realizing future applications in particle accelerators. Beginning from theoretical derivation, this article reports the design of an $S$ -band variable waveguide power divider and combiner based on a Magic Tee. The simulation results are consistent with those predicted by theory. A prototype of the variable power divider was fabricated for the microwave cold test, and the measurement results verify the variable power division. The power division ratio curve is consistent with the theoretical and simulated curves. The variable power combiner was experimentally verified by combining the Magic Tee and coaxial components. The measurement results are consistent with those of numerical analysis. Simulations evaluating the high-power performance reveal that the matching probe of the Magic Tee and the phase shifting plate tip of the straight waveguide phase shifter could not satisfy the high-power requirement. Thus, the structure of the Magic Tee is improved in the proposed design, and a 3-dB bridge waveguide phase shifter was adopted. The simulation results show qualified performance for high-power applications, and other microwave performance characteristics also show great improvement. The study lays a good foundation for application in future high-vacuum and high-power environments.

Fast and accurate prediction of sound radiation of Contra-Rotating Open Rotors (CRORs) is an essential element of design methods of low-noise open rotor propulsion systems. In the present work, a previous frequency-domain model is extended to predict CROR noise. It builds explicitly the relationship between harmonic loadings and corresponding tonal noise, by which the influential parameters to noise generation can be clearly understood. The real distributions of steady and unsteady blade loadings are calculated by the Nonlinear Harmonic (NLH) method. In the present hybrid approach, both the CFD and acoustic modules are solved in the frequency domain. To assess the accuracy of the developed method, the loading noise of a CROR is calculated and compared against results by using the time-domain FW-H module of NUMECA. The predicted sound directivities by the two methods are in good agreements. The present acoustic model in the frequency domain is proven to be accurate and have high efficiency in far-field noise prediction and data processing. Furthermore, the characteristics of the CROR interaction tonal noise are analyzed and discussed.

ABSTRACTThis study is designed to explore the role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) NCK1-AS1 in proliferative and invasive activities of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells by binding to microRNA-133b (miR-133b) to regulate ENPEP. Differentially expressed lncRNAs, miRs, genes and their targeting relationships were screened on ESCC-related gene expression datasets GSE17351 and GSE6188. The targeting relationships among NCK1-AS1, miR-133b, and ENPEP were verified using functional assays. Loss- and gain- of function assays were carried out to examine the roles of NCK1-AS1, miR-133b, and ENPEP in ESCC cell proliferative, invasive, migrative and apoptotic abilities as well as tumorigenesis in vivo. Elevated NCK1-AS1 and ENPEP but reduced miR-133b expression were found in ESCC. NCK1-AS1 knockdown or miR-133b overexpression inhibited the malignant properties of ESCC cells as well as tumorigenesis in vivo. NCK1-AS1 regulated the ENPEP expression by competitively binding to miR-133b. ENPEP overexpression reversed inhibition of NCK1-AS1 knockdown on the function of ESCC cells. This study provides evidence that silencing NCK1-AS1 inhibits expression of ENPEP by sponging miR-133b, thereby suppressing ESCC.

Under photoirradiation, inorganic photostrictive materials undergo a unidirectional deformation (mainly expansion), resulting in tiny strains one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the electric field-driven strains. Here, we report an unprecedented bidirectional deformation under photoirradiation in inorganic solid Pb3V2O8, showing expansion (up to 0.01%) at low photoexcitation and, at high photoexcitation, becoming contracted with compressive strain over 0.4%, comparable to electric field-induced strains. We find that the expansion at low photoexcitation is prompted by photoinduced thermal and nonthermal expansion owing to the elongation of Pb–O bonds driven by photoexcitation-generated interatomic force, whereas the contraction at high photoexcitation with a much larger strain is driven by the V dimerization via an electron-lattice self-amplification process when the photoexcitation-generated V–O interatomic force overwhelms the Pb–O interatomic force. These findings provide a promising candidate with more degrees of freedom for photoactuation and also open a new avenue to design photostrictive materials.

High power radio frequency (RF) conditioning is a key step for the RF components to gain full performance. In the construction of high energy photon source (HEPS), upgrading Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPCII), preresearch of circular electron positron collider (CEPC), and other projects at Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), there will be a lot of RF conditioning tasks within a very tight schedule. To improve the conditioning efficiency, an optimized automatic control has been developed. The automatic control system is developed based on the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). The control hardware platform adopts a combination of the Micro Telecom Computing Architecture (MTCA) based low-level control and programmable logic controller (PLC) interlocking unit, which integrates a variety of measurements to ensure safe and reliable unattended operations during high-power (up to 160 MW) and high gradient (up to 33 MV/m) testing. The finite state transfer based on multiple event-triggered interrupt processes is used to improve conditioning efficiency. Taking the conditioning of the HEPS 3-m-long acceleration structure as an example, the breakdown rate (BDR) at high power is less than one out of 180 000 pulses. The time consumed for each accelerating structure is reduced by a factor of nearly 2/3. Experiments show that the system realizes the unattended operation of whole process, and improves conditioning efficiency.

200 Gb/s transceiver specification is under development in IEEE 802.3 as an essential technology for 800 GbE and 1.6 TbE, including electrical and optical interconnection applications. Both IM-DD and coherent modulations are being considered for optical solutions. Due to the higher rate transmission and more stringent requirements, advanced FEC beyond RS (544, 514) code used in 100 Gb/s transceivers is most likely to be mandatory. To enable 200 Gb/s transceivers for 800 GbE and 1.6 TbE, this article investigates on FEC coding gain performance, latency, and area from logic layer perspective.

Purpose: The High-Energy Photon Source (HEPS) is a 6 GeV storage ring-based light source under construction in Beijing, China. Its accelerator consists of a 6 GeV storage ring, a full-energy booster, an S-band normal-conducting 500 MeV linac, and three transport lines. As the beginning of HEPS, a stable linac is quite important, which needs a qualified waveguide distribution system to transmit microwave power from klystrons to accelerating structures. Methods: Installation and high-power conditioning of the HEPS linac were performed from February to September 2022. The assembly and conditioning of the waveguide distribution system were completed in April and July, respectively. The design of the waveguide distribution system began in 2018 and was finalized at the end of 2020 after multiple iterations. Results: Owing to careful design, fabrication, and assembly preparation, the assembly and conditioning of the system proceeded smoothly and considerable time was saved. Conclusion: The entire process from the design to the ultimate realization of the system is introduced in detail in this paper. Satisfactory measurement results were obtained for some waveguide components.

Under cyclic loading, particle breakage occurs at gravelly soil-structure interface, resulting in the decrease of interface strength and the increase of normal displacement. Based on the theory of critical state soil mechanics, the modified Cam-Clay model (MCC) was extended to the plane strain condition of the interface, the state parameter was introduced and the influence of particle breakage on the critical state line was considered, and the cyclic constitutive model for gravelly soil-structure interface considering particle breakage was established by using the non-associated flow rule. Then, the established cyclic constitutive model was used to simulate large-scale cycle direct shear tests of Zipingpu rockfill-steel interface and Zipingpu rockfill-concrete interface under constant normal load (CNL) and constant normal stiffness (CNS), respectively. The simulation results show that under the CNL cyclic loading path, there is little difference between the cyclic shear stress considering particle breakage and that without particle breakage, but the normal displacement considering particle breakage is larger than that without particle breakage, and the difference increases with the increasing number of cycles and normal stress; Under the CNS cyclic loading path, with the increase of the number of cycles, the cyclic shear stress and cyclic normal stress considering particle breakage is significantly smaller than that without particle breakage, and the shear contraction of normal displacement becomes more obvious. In general, the simulation results are closer to the experimental results when particle breakage is considered.

The development of wearable electronics urgently requires the cost-effective and scalable fabrication of high-performance pressure sensors. This work aims to develop a simple carbonization strategy to facilitate sensor sensitivity by decorating discrete nickel nanoparticles on carbonized cotton fibers (CCFs). The increased air gap between the fibers at the unloading state, as well as the enlargement of the deformation distance and the contact area between the conductive materials at the loading state, contribute to a more significant resistance change. Therefore, the sensitivity of the piezoresistive sensor is improved more than 5 times within 1 N by introducing Ni nanoparticles, and it is characterized by a rapid response (∼160 ms) and recovery (∼100 ms), wide detection range (∼20 N/∼130 kPa), and good durability (∼4000 cycles). The flexible sensor has been successfully demonstrated to monitor human movements, physical stimuli, and pressure distribution. Furthermore, the proposed device can control temperature accurately as a uniform and large-scale heater. This work reveals that the Ni@CCFs-based sensor is prospective in wearable electronics, artificial intelligence, health monitoring, medical diagnosis and treatment.

A compact 10 MeV S-band irradiation electron linear accelerator (linac) was developed to simulate electronic radiation in outer space and perform electron irradiation effect tests on spacecraft materials and devices. According to the requirements of space environment simulation, the electron beam energy can be adjusted in the range from 3.5 to 10 MeV, and the average current can be adjusted in the range from 0.1 to 1 mA. The linac should be capable of providing beam irradiation over a large area of 1 m2with a uniformity greater than 90% and a scanning rate of 100 Hz. A novel method was applied to achieve such a high beam scanning rate by combining a kicker and a scanning magnet. Based on this requirement, a design for the 10 MeV linac is proposed with an RF power pulse repetition rate of 500 Hz; it includes a thermal cathode electron gun, a bunching-accelerating section, and a scanning transport line. The detailed physical design and dynamic simulation results of the proposed 10 MeV electron linac are presented in this paper.

For expanding the amplitude-frequency response range of the differential cross-phase multiply (DCM) algorithm in the φ-OTDR system, a temporal spline interpolation (TSI) method is proposed to pre-process Rayleigh backscattering (RBS) signals. Through the TSI method, the discrete temporal signals characterizing RBS traces are subjected to interpolation, facilitating a reduction in differential approximation errors. This, in turn, establishes a heightened level of precision in phase demodulation, especially relevant across extensive sensing distances. By comparing the recovered time-domain waveforms and the corresponding power spectral densities without and with the TSI, the above improvement effect has been experimentally validated by utilizing the TSI. The results show that, with the TSI, the amplitude-frequency response range of the DCM algorithm is enlarged by 2.78 times, and the new relationship among fpulse, f, and Dunder the root mean square error (RMSE) tolerance less than 0.1 can be expressed as 1.9(D+1)f≤ fpulse. This contribution underscores a substantial advancement in the capabilities of the DCM algorithm, holding promise for refined performance in optical fiber sensing applications.

• The long-chain dodecylammonium bromide (DABr) was introduced to form the 2D/3D perovskite using a post-processing method. • The 2D/3D perovskite provides a clear heterojunction and the amino group passivates the defects of the perovskite surface. • A PCE of 21.81% was achieved from a PSC based on the 2D/3D perovskite. • More than 64% of initial PCE for 1065 h storage in ambient air (unencapsulated device). Designing post-formed two-dimensional (2D) perovskite on the surface of three-dimensional (3D) perovskite with matched energy levels and high stability is crucial for improving the performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, a long alkyl chain dodecylammonium bromide (DABr) was applied to react with excessive lead iodide (PbI 2) on the grain boundary of metal halide perovskite preferentially, forming DA 2 PbI 4 (n = 1) to constitute a clear 2D/3D heterojunction. The existence of heterojunction increases the intensity of the built-in electric field of the device to enhance carrier separation and extraction, and the amino group of dodecylammonium cation passivates defects, which jointly contribute to the improvement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 20.35 to 21.81%. The long alkyl chain endows the 2D perovskite with good hydrophobic properties, improving the humidity and thermal stability of the device. The unencapsulated device can maintain 64% of its initial efficiency after 1065 h storage in ambient air. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anomalous photovoltaic (APV) effect with an above-bandgap photovoltage and polarization-dependent photocurrent shows unique advantages in the field of photoelectronics in comparation to the conventional semiconductor photovoltaic effect. With the combination of the flexoelectric effect, the APV effect can be extended to a large pool of materials systems than to ferroelectric materials. Herein, we present the self-biased photoelectric performance of centrosymmetric BiVO4(BVO) driven by the APV effect induced by applying unidirectional mechanical polishing. In addition, nitrogen doping was realized on BVO ceramics by annealing treatment under a gaseous NH3environment to further optimize the photovoltaic outputs and the photoresponse range. It was observed that N doping effectively improves its photoabsorption at the visible light range. Under zero external bias, in comparison to pure BVO, N-doped BVO exhibits an open-circuit voltage improved from 6 to 14.1 V and a short-circuit photocurrent improved from 0.5 to 0.9 nA when illuminated by a 405 nm laser at 100 mW/cm2. Besides, the short-circuit photocurrent shows a fast response time and a high light on/off ratio above 103. These findings verify the potential of N-doped BVO ceramics for self-powered photoelectric applications despite the centrosymmetric structure.

Mitochondrial ATP synthase is vital not only for cellular energy production but also for energy dissipation and cell death. ATP synthase c-ring was suggested to house the leak channel of mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT), which activates during excitotoxic ischemic insult. In this present study, we purified human c-ring from both eukaryotic and prokaryotic hosts to biophysically characterize its channel activity. We show that purified c-ring forms a large multi-conductance, voltage-gated ion channel that is inhibited by the addition of ATP synthase F1subcomplex. In contrast, dissociation of F1from FOoccurs during excitotoxic neuronal death suggesting that the F1constitutes the gate of the channel. mPT is known to dissipate the osmotic gradient across the inner membrane during cell death. We show that ATP synthase c-subunit knock down (KD) prevents the osmotic change in response to high calcium and eliminates large conductance, Ca2+and CsA sensitive channel activity of mPT. These findings elucidate the gating mechanism of the ATP synthase c-subunit leak channel (ACLC) and suggest how ACLC opening is regulated by cell stress in a CypD-dependent manner.