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Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer anodes are proposed as potential reversible anode materials for lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their simple thin‐film formation process and cost‐effectiveness. Nevertheless, challenges such as the use of toxic aprotic solvents and the irreversible consumption of Li ions during the initial cycle need to be addressed to improve their performance. Herein, a water‐soluble poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) polymer processed using a simple spin‐casting method as a reversible LIB anode is presented. Unlike the PMMA anode, the conjugated carbonyl groups of the crystalline PMAA polymer readily form a chain backbone during ex situ thermal annealing, demonstrating a reversible capacity. The mechanism underlying the superior electrochemical characteristics of the PMAA anode is revealed using grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction and theoretical calculations. In particular, the highly crystalline cyclic anhydride PMAA polymer induced by thermal annealing shows enhanced interactions between Li ions and CO groups during operation, resulting in improved electrochemical properties. The resulting crystalline cyclic anhydride PMAA anode achieves a capacity of ≈427.7 mAh g−1 and retains a reversible specific capacity of 156 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles, indicating that it is a promising polymeric anode for next‐generation LIBs.

Research on multidirectional waves is increasing as studies on added resistance advance. In this study, the added resistance of the multidirectional regular waves of the KCS hull was estimated by numerical analysis. The direction of the grid was changed according to the heading angle to consider waves in multiple directions. In addition, the method in which the entire domain moved along the movement of the hull was used without using the overset method to minimize the numerical errors. The added resistance and motion RAOs for each angle and the flow characteristics were compared to support the results. For fluid dynamics, time-averaged stern dynamics pressure, boundary layer, and nominal wake for each heading angle were compared, and differences compared to calm water were also reviewed. Based on the bow quartering sea condition analysis results, the added resistance in long-crested and short-crested irregular wave conditions was estimated using the spectral method. The JONSWAP spectrum was used as the target wave spectrum, and the cos-power type was considered the directional spreading function.

Summary: Due to the enhanced labeling capability of maleimide-based fluorescent probes, lysine-cysteine-lysine (KCK) tags are frequently added to proteins for visualization. In this study, we employed an in vitro single-molecule DNA flow-stretching assay as a sensitive way to assess the impact of the KCK tag on the property of DNA-binding proteins. Using Bacillus subtilis ParB as an example, we show that, although no noticeable changes were detected by in vivo fluorescence imaging and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, the KCK tag substantially altered ParB’s DNA compaction rates and its response to nucleotide binding and to the presence of the specific sequence (parS) on the DNA. While it is typically assumed that short peptide tags minimally perturb protein function, our results urge researchers to carefully validate the use of tags for protein labeling. Our comprehensive analysis can be expanded and used as a guide to assess the impacts of other tags on DNA-binding proteins in single-molecule assays. Motivation: Single-molecule fluorescence microscopy has been extensively used in modern biology to define the molecular action of proteins. Appending short peptide tags is a common strategy to enhance fluorescence labeling. Here, we evaluate the impact of a commonly used tag, the lysine-cysteine-lysine (KCK) tag, on protein behavior in single-molecule DNA flow-stretching assay, which is a sensitive and versatile method to understand the action of DNA-binding proteins. Our motivation is to provide researchers with an experimental framework to validate fluorescently labeled DNA-binding proteins in single-molecule methods.

Abstract Various studies on multi-valued-logic (MVL) computing, which utilizes more than two logic states, have recently been resumed owing to the demand for greater power saving in the current logic technologies. In particular, unlike old-fashioned researches, extensive efforts have been focused on implementing single devices with multiple threshold voltages via a negative-differential current change phenomenon. In this work, we report a multiple negative-differential-transconductance (NDT) phenomenon, which is achieved through the control of partial gate potential and light power/wavelength in a van-der-Waals (vdW) multi-channel phototransistor. The partial gating formed a controllable potential barrier/well in the vdW channel, enabling control over the collection of carriers and eventually inducing the NDT phenomenon. Especially, the strategy shining lights with different powers/wavelengths facilitated the precise NDT control and the realization of the multiple NDT phenomenon. Finally, the usability of this multiple NDT device as a core device of MVL arithmetic circuits such as MVL inverters/NAND/NOR gates is demonstrated.

Designing high-performance and energy efficient neural network hardware remains a challenge. Here, the authors develop a van der Waals hybrid synaptic device that features linear and symmetric conductance-update characteristics and demonstrate the feasibility for hardware neural network performing acoustic pattern recognition.

In this paper, multispectral pedestrian detection is mainly discussed, which can contribute to assigning human-aware properties to automated forklifts to prevent accidents, such as collisions, at an early stage. Since there was no multispectral pedestrian detection dataset in an intralogistics domain, we collected a dataset; the dataset employs a method that aligns image pairs with different domains, i.e. RGB and thermal, without the use of a cumbersome device such as a beam splitter, but rather by exploiting the disparity between RGB sensors and camera geometry. In addition, we propose a multispectral pedestrian detector called SSD 2.5D that can not only detect pedestrians but also estimate the distance between an automated forklift and workers. In extensive experiments, the performance of detection and centroid localization is validated with respect to evaluation metrics used in the driving car domain but with distinct categories, such as hazardous zone and warning zone, to make it more applicable to the intralogistics domain.

Plant disease detection is essential for optimizing agricultural productivity and crop quality. With the recent advent of deep learning and large-scale plant disease datasets, many studies have shown high performance of supervised learning-based plant disease detectors. However, these studies still have limitations due to two aspects. First, labeling cost and class imbalance problems remain challenging in supervised learning-based methods. Second, plant disease datasets are either unstructured or weakly-unstructured and the shapes of leaves and diseased areas on them are variable, rendering plant disease detection even more challenging. To overcome these limitations, we propose an instance-aware unsupervised plant disease detector, which leverages normalizing flows, a visual saliency map and positional encodings. A novel way to explicitly combine these methods is the proposed model, in which the focus is on reducing background noise. In addition, to better fit the model to the plant disease detection domain and to enhance feature representation, a feature extractor is pre-trained in a self-supervised learning manner using only unlabeled data. In our extensive experiments, it is shown that the proposed approach achieves state-of-the-art performance on widely-used datasets, such as BRACOL (Weakly-unstructured) and PlantVillage (Unstructured), regardless of whether the dataset is weakly-structured or unstructured.

Although shipping was not included in the final text of the Paris Agreement in 2015, IMO (International Maritime Organization) adopted the EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) and the EEOI (Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator) to control climate change and also to reduce gas emission from ships. Accurate prediction of added resistance in waves is essential to evaluate the minimum fuel consumption of a ship in a real sea state. In this paper, the added resistance and motions of a KCS (KRISO Container Ship) with rudder were calculated using a commercial CFD program, STAR-CCM+. Wave forcing was used to generate the waves in the numerical domain, in which no extra wave generation and damping zones were produced. DFBI (Dynamic Fluid Body Interaction) was used for the motions of the KCS with rudder. In this study, five (5) regular head waves from a short wavelength to a long wavelength based on the LPP were considered. Finally, added resistance and the heave and pitch motions of the simulation were compared with experimental data. Simulation and experimental data were in qualitatively and quantitatively good agreement.

The Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (SMC) proteins are essential for chromosome condensation, cohesion and DNA repair. Here the authors use single molecule imaging to visualise how Bacillus subtilisSMC interacts with and condenses DNA.

Computations of all-speed multiphase real fluid flows for aerospace launch vehicles are known to be very demanding, owing to several issues that include robust capturing of two-phase shock/phase discontinuity and proper scaling of numerical flux at steady/unsteady all-speed flows. This paper deals with the development of computational components to overcome difficulties arising from these issues. First, the shock-discontinuity-sensing term used in the two-phase AUSMPW+ and RoeM schemes is modified because the existing shock-discontinuity-sensing term is not suitable for complex equation of state of real fluids. The accuracy of the two-phase AUSMPW+ and RoeM schemes for unsteady low-Mach-number flows is then improveed through separate scaling of the velocity- and pressure-difference terms. It is demonstrated that the resulting schemes are capable of robustly and accurately capturing phenomena involving shock and phase discontinuities and interactions between them for numerous two-phase problems. Finally, numerical simulations of cryogenic cavitation and three-dimensional cavitating flows around the Korea Aerospace Research Institute turbopump are presented to confirm accurate and robust behavior of the proposed approaches in computations of multiphase real fluid flows at all speeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conjugated polymers, in general, are unstable when exposedto air,solvent, or thermal treatment, and these challenges limit their practicalapplications. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop newmaterials or methodologies that can enable organic electronics withair stability, solvent resistance, and thermal stability. Herein,we have developed a simple but powerful approach to achieve solvent-resistantand thermally stable organic electronic devices with a remarkablyimproved air stability, by introducing an azide cross-linkable groupinto a conjugated polymer. To demonstrate this concept, we have synthesizedpolythiophene with azide groups attached to end of the alkyl chain(P3HT-azide). Photo-cross-linking of P3HT-azide copolymers dramaticallyimproves the solvent resistance of the active layer without disruptingthe molecular ordering and charge transport. This is the first demonstrationof solvent-resistant organic transistors. Furthermore, the bulk-heterojunctionorganic photovoltaics (BHJ OPVs) containing P3HT-azide copolymersshow an average efficiency higher than 3.3% after 40 h annealing atan elevated temperature of 150 °C, which represents one of themost thermally stable OPV devices reported to date. This enhancedstability is due to an in situ compatibilizer that forms at the P3HT/PCBMinterface and suppresses macrophase separation. Our approach pavesa way toward organic electronics with robust and stable operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We simultaneously measure both the step size, via FIONA, and the 3-D orientation, via DOPI, of the light-chain domain of individual dimeric myosin Vls. This allows for the correlation of the change in orientation of the light chain domain to the stepping of the motor. Three different pairs of positions were tested using a rigid bifunctional rhodamine on the calmodulin of the IQ domain. The data for all three labeling positions support the model that the light chain domain undergoes a significant rotation of approximately 180°. Contrary to an earlier study [Sun, V. et al. (2007) Mol Cell 28, 954-964], our data does not support a model of multiple angles of the lever arm of the lead head, nor "wiggly" walking on actin. Instead, we propose that for the two heads of myosin VI to coordinate their processive movement, the lever arm of the lead head must be uncoupled from the converter until the rear head detaches. More specifically, intramolecular strain causes the myosin VI lever arm of the lead head to uncouple from the motor domain, allowing the motor domain to go through its product-release (phosphate and ADP) steps at an unstrained rate. The lever arm of the lead head rebinds to the motor and attains a rigor conformation when the rear head detaches. By coupling the orientation and position information with previously described kinetics, this allows us to explain how myosin VI coordinates its heads processively while maintaining the ability to move under load with a (semi-) rigid lever arm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which explores the digital selective transformation and patterning of highly conductive hydrogel bioelectronics by laser-induced phase separation. It mentions that study demonstrated stable neural signal recording and stimulation with hydrogel electrodes fabricated by laser.