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Background Gliomas are highly lethal malignancies that develop in the central nervous system. The primary treatment for gliomas involves surgical resection followed by chemoradiotherapy. However, due to the infiltrative growth nature of gliomas, surgical resection is often incomplete. Moreover, the efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs is constrained by their ability to cross the blood–brain barrier, and the currently utilized agents can lose effectiveness, particularly with prolonged administration. Lentinan, an active compound in Lentinula edodes, exhibits various pharmacological activities.Purpose This study aims to investigate the anti-tumor effects of lentinan on glioma U251 cells.Materials and Methods Cell proliferation assays, cell fluorescence staining, scratch healing experiments, and transwell chamber experiments were conducted to assess the anti-tumor activity of lentinan on U251 cells. Additionally, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blot experiments were performed to validate the anti-tumor mechanism of lentinan.Results The findings revealed that lentinan significantly suppressed the proliferation of U251 cells, induced robust apoptosis, and decreased the cells’ migration and invasion capabilities. Furthermore, lentinan notably influenced the gene and protein expression of p53, Bcl-2, Cyto-c, Bax, Caspases, and MMP-9 in U251 cells.Conclusion These findings suggest that lentinan may inhibit glioma cells by activating P53 and caspase-related apoptosis pathways.

The mechanical properties of polymeric foams are strongly associated with their cellular structure. However, the relationship between the cellular structure and the mechanical behavior of polymeric foams is complicated by the interdependence of cell size and expansion ratio. Herein, we explored the relationship between cell size and impact strength in poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/rubber blend foams by controlling the cell size while maintaining a constant expansion ratio. Surprisingly, a cell size-induced brittle-to-tough transition was observed at a critical cell size. Foams exhibited brittleness when the cell size exceeded this critical threshold, whereas smaller cell sizes led to improved toughness. The increased toughness was attributed to the robust interaction of stress fields generated by adjacent cells and rubber particles, which could hinder the progression of cell-induced crazes into cracks, resulting in greater energy absorption. This study provides a universal strategy for enhancing the resilience of polymer/rubber blend foams.

In response to the limitations of slow reaction kinetics and elevated overpotentials in the OER, a novel core–shell structured electrocatalyst, termed NiCo–ZIF-67@Fe–Co–Ni-PBA or NiCo–ZIF@PBA, has been developed. This material demonstrates exceptional catalytic performance, exhibiting a minimal overpotential of approximately 188 mV at 10 mA cm–2, alongside a Tafel slope of 109 mV dec–1. Its robust stability in a 1 M KOH solution during the OER operations is noteworthy. Theoretical insights from DFT calculations reveal that a Co–O–Fe bridging configuration within NiCo–ZIF@PBA lowers the energy barrier for the reaction to 1.79 eV, a significant reduction from 2.67 eV observed with NiCo–ZIF-67. The improvement in electrochemical performance is primarily due to the emergence of Co3+ions, which results from the efficient charge transfer occurring at the interface of the PBA and NiCo–ZIF core–shell structure. These findings suggest a promising strategy for designing advanced core–shell materials for electrocatalytic applications.

Quench protection is used to ensure the safety of superconducting magnets. Only by understanding the quench characteristics of superconducting materials profoundly can we take reasonable protective measures to avoid the damage of magnets caused by local normal zone propagation. An experimental insert set-up has been accomplished and preliminary tested at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP). Measurements are performed as a function of normalized current ratio and magnetic field for several operating temperatures between 20 K and 50 K. This paper focuses on the measurement of experimental data and the fitting comparison of a simplified adiabatic models about normal zone propagation velocity (NZPV) and minimum quench energy (MQE). These studies provide necessary theoretical guidance for the thermal stability of superconducting materials.

In order to address the high-order mode (HOM) oscillation that may affect the stability of traveling wave tubes (TWTs), a new strategy called conformally loaded metasurface filter (MF) has been proposed. By loading MF into the waveguide type slow wave structure (SWS), the frequency-selective transmission properties of MF can confine the operating mode in the SWS, while the nonoperating modes are transmitted out. Therefore, the amplitude of HOMs is limited, even if synchronization conditions are met, thereby, the risk of HOM oscillation is reduced. Taking the staggered double grating slow wave structure (SDG-SWS) as an example, the effectiveness of the strategy was verified. In addition, MF is easy to manufacture, which makes it have promising applications in high-power and high-frequency THz amplifiers.

Pyrite, a common iron mineral in refractory iron ores, emits SO2during oxidative roasting, contributing to environmental pollution. This study investigated the effect of calcite on the thermal decomposition of pyrite, focusing on thermodynamics, phase transformation, microstructural evolution, and non-isothermal kinetics, with emphasis on SO2formation inhibition. Results showed that pyrite decomposed first to pyrrhotite, then to magnetite and hematite, with SO2as the primary gaseous product. Higher temperatures and lower oxygen concentrations favored S2gas formation. Non-isothermal decomposition of pyrite occurred between 400–725°C, initiated at the particle surface, and significantly increased product porosity, resulting in butterfly-shaped hematite. The addition of calcite resulted in the reaction of SO2with calcite to form anhydrite on the particle surface, inhibiting the release of SO2. Initially, the thermal decomposition of pyrite proceeded with a low apparent activation energy, making the reaction relatively easy. However, the presence of calcite significantly increased the apparent activation energy and inhibited the thermal decomposition reaction.

Roasting technology is increasingly used in the beneficiation of refractory iron ores. During the roasting process, the presence of pyrite in some iron ores leads to the formation of SO2, requiring effective sulfur fixation techniques. This study proposed an innovative in-situ sulfur fixation method by pre-oxidation roasting, in which sulfur was fixed during the oxidation roasting process before reduction roasting. The effects of the main iron mineral (hematite), primary gangue mineral (quartz), and common calcium-containing carbonate minerals (calcite and dolomite) on sulfur migration during pyrite roasting were investigated, with particular emphasis on the sulfur fixation capabilities of calcite and dolomite. The study included thermodynamic equilibrium analysis, phase transitions and microstructural evolution in different reaction systems. The results showed that calcite and dolomite effectively reduced SO2emissions by forming CaSO4and MgSO4, with calcite exhibiting a stronger sulfur fixation capacity for the same mass. Kinetic analysis indicated that pyrite pyrolysis followed a two-step random nucleation and growth model. Furthermore, the addition of calcite increased the apparent activation energy of SO2formation and altered the reaction pathway, providing insight into the sulfur fixation mechanism of calcite from a kinetic perspective.

The yokeless and segmented armature (YASA) machine's compact structure, high efficiency, and high torque density make it an ideal choice for electric vehicle in-wheel applications. The stator cores of YASA machines are available in different materials and geometries. This paper presents a comparative study of YASA machines with different stator cores to determine their advantages and disadvantages for electric vehicle in-wheel applications. First, YASA machines with radial lamination silicon steel (RLSS) stator cores and soft magnetic composite (SMC) stator cores are introduced. A new combined lamination silicon steel (CLSS) stator core, consisting of two tangential laminated shoes and a radial laminated bar, is also proposed. The main parameters of YASA machines with different stator cores for electric vehicle in-wheel applications are listed. Then, the electromagnetic performance, including efficiency, torque density, flux weakening capability, and torque/power characteristics, are comprehensively compared based on 3D finite element analysis (FEA). Finally, the guideline for the stator core selection of YASA machines for electric vehicle in-wheel applications is given.

In conventional Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) superconductors, electron–phonon coupling is the fundamental mechanism of superconductivity. For instance, the superconductivity of magnesium diboride (MgB2) comes from the coupling between E2gmodes (in-plane boron–boron bond vibrations) and self-doped charge carriers. In thin films and ceramics of BCS superconductors, interfaces with discontinuous chemical bonds may alter the local electron–phonon coupling. However, such effects remain largely unexplored. Here, we investigate the heterointerface of the MgB2film on the SiC substrate at the atomic scale using electron microscopy and spectroscopy. We detect the presence of a thin MgO layer with a thickness of ∼1 nm between MgB2and SiC. Atomic-level electron energy loss spectra (EELS) show MgB2-E2gmode splitting and softening near the MgB2/MgO interface, which enhances electron–phonon coupling at the interface. Our findings highlight the potential of interface engineering to enhance superconductivity via modulating local phonon states and/or electron states.

Designing distributed filter circuits (DFCs) is complex and time-consuming, involving setting and optimizing multiple hyperparameters. Traditional optimization methods, such as using the commercial finite element solver High-Frequency Structure Simulator to enumerate all parameter combinations with fixed steps and then simulate each combination, are not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also rely heavily on the expertise and experience of electronics engineers, making it difficult to adapt to rapidly changing design requirements. Additionally, these commercial tools struggle with precise adjustments when parameters are sensitive to numerical changes, resulting in limited optimization effectiveness. This study proposes a novel end-to-end automated method for DFC design. The proposed method harnesses reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms, eliminating the dependence on the design experience of engineers. Thus, it significantly reduces the subjectivity and constraints associated with circuit design. The experimental findings demonstrate clear improvements in design efficiency and quality when comparing the proposed method with traditional engineer-driven methods. Furthermore, the proposed method achieves superior performance when designing complex or rapidly evolving DFCs, highlighting the substantial potential of RL in circuit design automation. In particular, compared with the existing DFC automation design method CircuitGNN, our method achieves an average performance improvement of 8.72%. Additionally, the execution efficiency of our method is 2000 times higher than CircuitGNN on the CPU and 241 times higher on the GPU.Graphical Abstract

In soil-rice systems, microbial reduction of iron (Fe) has been recognized as a crucial biogeochemical process that regulates Fe and chromium (Cr) translocation; however, the underlying processes are unknown. To investigate the impacts of biochar on the biochemical cycling of Fe and Cr and their toxicity to rice, maize straw biochar was applied at 1% (weight/weight) to a paddy soil spiked with 300 mg kg-1Cr under two phosphorus (P) levels (0 or 90 mg kg-1) in a pot experiment. The key microbial groups affecting Fe dissimilatory reduction and their environmental drivers were explored. Biochar inhibited root Cr uptake by 36%, owing to the promoted iron plaque (IP) formation on the rice root surface. Correlation analysis showed that Fe concentration in pore water was strongly linked to the abundances of Geobacter(r= 0.81–0.94, P< 0.05) and Clostridium(r= 0.83–0.95, P< 0.05), indicating that Geobacterand Clostridiumplayed essential roles in Fe reduction. Redundancy analysis showed that labile carbon and pore water P concentrations were the key determinants influencing Fe-reducing bacterial abundances, accounting for 42% and 32% of the variation in community composition, respectively. Besides, biochar increased Fe and P concentrations in root cell walls, which retained more Cr. Overall, Cr stress in rice under biochar treatment was relieved through increasing IP formation and altering subcellular distribution. These mechanistic insights had important implications for reducing Cr uptake by rice.

In the presence of a high magnetic field, quantum Hall systems usually host both even- and odd-integer quantized states because of lifted band degeneracies. Selective control of these quantized states is challenging but essential to understand the exotic ground states and manipulate the spin textures. Here we demonstrate the quantum Hall effect in Bi2O2Se thin films. In magnetic fields as high as 50 T, we observe only even-integer quantum Hall states, but there is no sign of odd-integer states. However, when reducing the thickness of the epitaxial Bi2O2Se film to one unit cell, we observe both odd- and even-integer states in this Janus (asymmetric) film grown on SrTiO3. By means of a Rashba bilayer model based on the ab initio band structures of Bi2O2Se thin films, we can ascribe the only even-integer states in thicker films to the hidden Rasbha effect, where the local inversion-symmetry breaking in two sectors of the [Bi2O2]2+layer yields opposite Rashba spin polarizations, which compensate with each other. In the one-unit-cell Bi2O2Se film grown on SrTiO3, the asymmetry introduced by the top surface and bottom interface induces a net polar field. The resulting global Rashba effect lifts the band degeneracies present in the symmetric case of thicker films.

While the “amorphous to crystalline” transformation process, which has significant potential for application, has been widely studied, the microscopic mechanism on the nanometer scale is not fully understood. In contrast to common heat-driven phase transformations, the present study demonstrated the force-driven moisture-mediated nanocrystallization of perovskite CsPbBr3precipitated from a glass matrix. In the present case, the breakage of the glass network under shearing force produces high-energy sites to absorb H2O molecules/clusters from ambient moisture, and the hydration process promotes the crystallization process. Microscratch analysis combined with confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that the distribution of CsPbBr3nanocrystals almost reproduced that of the localized stress field and clearly reflected the crack propagation pathways. The potential applications of perovskite glass in the optical sensing of force and moisture are also explored. Our findings provide insight into crystal nucleation/growth in glass, as well as understanding the dynamics of crack propagation during the brittle fracture process.

Thermoelectric water spitting to hydrogen systems has great potential in the production of environment-friendly fuel using renewable solar energy in the future. In this work, we prepared porous nanosheet Mo doping Ni 5 P 4 catalysts on nickel foam with efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance in alkaline media. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations and experimental studies have shown that Mo doping deadeneds the interaction between H and O atomic orbitals of transition state water molecules, effectively weakening the activation energy of H 2 O dissociation. Therefore, Mo doping is favorable for enhancing HER activity with overpotential at 10 mA cm–2 of 93 mV and Tafel slope of 40.1 mV dec–1 in 1 M KOH. Besides, it exhibits high alkaline OER activity with an ultra-low overpotential of 200 mV at 10 mA cm–2. Moreover, this catalyst only needs 1.537 V in a dual-electrode configuration of the electrolytic cell, which is much lower than the commercial Pt/C-RuO 2 couple (1.614 V). In addition, we have developed and constructed a solar thermoelectric generator (TEG) that is capable of floating on water. This TEG has a continuous power output and an exceptionally long lifespan, providing a stable power supply to the synthesized catalyst electrolyzer. It can produce a maximum power output of over 90 mW, meeting the requirement of converting solar radiation heat into usable electricity. As a result, the system achieves productivity of 0.11 mL min–1 H 2. This solar thermal energy conversion technology shows the possibility of large-scale industrial production of H 2 and provides a new idea for exploring heat source utilization. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gallium-nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT) devices have great potential for high-power, high-temperature, and high-frequency applications. However, it is challenging to package GaN HEMT power module with both low parasitic inductance and thermal resistance because the lateral GaN HEMT devices have fast switching speed, high heat flux density, and small die size. This article made a comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art packaging technologies of GaN HEMT power modules based on different substrate integration structures, including printed circuit board (PCB) surface mounting, wire-bonded flip chip, PCB-embedded, ceramic-substrate integrated, insulated metal substrate (IMS) integrated, and hybrid PCB-on-direct bond copper (DBC) packaging. Each technology has a tradeoff among parasitic inductance, thermal performance, and manufacturability. Innovations are still necessary for packaging GaN HEMT modules for their applications in high-frequency and high-power-density converters.

One-to-one matching is a crucial design in DETR-like object detection frameworks. It enables the DETR to perform end-to-end detection. However, it also faces challenges of lacking positive sample supervision and slow convergence speed. Several recent works proposed the one-to-many matching mechanism to accelerate training and boost detection performance. We revisit these methods and model them in a unified format of augmenting the object queries. In this paper, we propose two methods that realize one-to-many matching from a different perspective of augmenting images or image features. The first method is One-to-many Matching via Data Augmentation (denoted as DataAug-DETR). It spatially transforms the images and includes multiple augmented versions of each image in the same training batch. Such a simple augmentation strategy already achieves one-to-many matching and surprisingly improves DETR's performance. The second method is One-to-many matching via Feature Augmentation (denoted as FeatAug-DETR). Unlike DataAug-DETR, it augments the image features instead of the original images and includes multiple augmented features in the same batch to realize one-to-many matching. FeatAug-DETR significantly accelerates DETR training and boosts detection performance while keeping the inference speed unchanged. We conduct extensive experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach on DETR variants, including DAB-DETR, Deformable-DETR, and $\mathcal {H}$H-Deformable-DETR. Without extra training data, FeatAug-DETR shortens the training convergence periods of Deformable-DETR (Zhu et al. 2020) to 24 epochs and achieves 58.3 AP on COCO val2017 set with Swin-L as the backbone.

Nanomaterials with a large chiroptical response and high structural stability are desirable for advanced miniaturized optical and optoelectronic applications. One-dimensional (1D) nanotubes are robust crystals with inherent and continuously tunable chiral geometries. However, their chiroptical response is typically weak and hard to control, due to the diverse structures of the coaxial tubes. Here we demonstrate that as-grown multiwalled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), featuring coherent-stacking structures including near monochirality, homo-handedness and unipolarity among the component tubes, exhibit a scalable nonlinear chiroptical response. This intrinsic architecture produces a strong nonlinear optical response in individual multiwalled BNNTs, enabling second-harmonic generation (SHG) with a conversion efficiency up to 0.01% and output power at the microwatt level—both excellent figures of merit in the 1D nanomaterials family. We further show that the rich chirality of the nanotubes introduces a controllable nonlinear geometric phase, producing a chirality-dependent SHG circular dichroism with values of −0.7 to +0.7. We envision that our 1D chiral platform will enable novel functions in compact nonlinear light sources and modulators.

Travel time reliability (TTR) holds significant importance as an evaluation index in the transportation industry. To simplify TTR calculations at the network level in engineering applications, this paper re-examines the highway network from the perspective of system theory, regards it as a road network system consisting of multiple subsystems, and proposes a framework for calculating the TTR of the highway network based on the information entropy model. The information entropy model is employed to quantify the level of disorder within the temporal distribution, thereby substituting the need for fitting or deducing the distribution function as practiced in conventional methodologies. The design of roadway indicators considers the social attributes of the transportation network, making reliability not solely dependent on temporal data. For the case study, we used data from the electronic toll collection gantry system on the Xi’an bypass highway. The results indicate that the TTR of the inner ring within the ring network is significantly higher than that of the outer ring. Furthermore, the reliability of the network is lower than that of any sub-section, during both peak and off-peak hours. The applicability of the proposed computational framework is demonstrated and the nature of the results is explored in comparisons with traditional metrics and time prediction attempts. The approach to the TTR evaluation problem from a novel perspective presented in this research omits the procedure of fitting the time distribution function and avoids being affected by its heterogeneity, making TTR calculation and extension more efficient and convenient.

SiO/C anode materials have gained significant attention due to their high specific capacity and environmental friendliness in high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, due to the volume effect generated during the long-term cycle, the battery capacity will decay rapidly and cause thermal safety problems. PFPN/TTFEB is employed as a compound electrolyte additive in this study to enhance the electrochemical performance and safety of Li/SiO@C batteries. The blank control electrolyte (BE) is the commercial electrolyte, which is 1.0 M LiPF6dissolved in ethylene carbonate (EC) and ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) at a 3:7 vol/vol ratio. The battery with the PFPN/TTFEB addition demonstrated a substantially higher capacity retention rate than the battery with BE, increasing from 45.23 % to 74.34 %, as indicated by the electrochemical and characterization test results. This suggests that the cycling stability of the battery was improved by the synergistic influence of ethoxy(pentafluoro)cyclotriphosphazene (PFPN) and tris(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) borate (TTFEB). In addition, a LiF-rich solid electrolyte interphase layer was observed on the surface of the anode, increasing interface stability by reducing the direct contact between the electrolyte and electrode. Differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and thermokinetic analysis revealed that the addition of PFPN/TTFEB increased apparent activation energy from 439.56 to 1090.01 kJ/mol and increased initial exothermic reaction temperature from 233.67 to 292.83 °C. The thermal stability of the battery also considerably increased, and the exothermic reaction was substantially delayed. Overall, the multifunctional electrolyte additive developed in this study offers a feasible pathway for developing LIBs with excellent cycling performance and safety.

O3-type NaNi0.5Mn0.5O2(NNM) is very competitive for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to its high capacity and easy production. Nevertheless, the intricate phase transitions during the charging–discharging significantly impede its practical application. This paper proposes a strategy for successfully synthesizing NaNi0.5Mn0.3Ti0.2O2(NNMT) by combining coprecipitation and a high-temperature solid-state method. This method introduces Ti elements while retaining the electrochemically active Ni2+content, thus, the NNMT has a high initial specific capacity of 151.4 mAh g–1at 1 C. It is demonstrated that introducing Ti4+leads to the transition metal layers becoming disordered by ex situ XRD, thus mitigating the irreversible phase transition of the material. In addition, Ti4+does not have an outer electron, which can reduce electron delocalization in the transition metal layer and improve the material’s cyclic stability. The NNMT possesses a capacity retention rate of 60.66% after 150 cycles, much higher than the initial NNM’s 18.96%. It also exhibits an excellent discharge capacity of 86.8 mAh g–1at 5 C. In conclusion, the cycling and rate performance of the Ti-substituted NNMT are greatly improved without capacity loss, which offers innovative concepts for the modification means of the SIBs layered oxide cathode materials.

ADCK3 is a member of the UbiB family of atypical protein kinases in humans, with homologues in archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes. In lieu of protein kinase activity, ADCK3 plays a role in the biosynthesis of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and inactivating mutations can cause a CoQ10 deficiency and ataxia. However, the exact functions of ADCK3 are still unclear, and small-molecule inhibitors could be useful as chemical probes to elucidate its molecular mechanisms. In this study, we applied structure-based virtual screening (VS) to discover a novel chemical series of ADCK3 inhibitors. Through extensive structural analysis of the active-site residues, we developed a pharmacophore model and applied it to a large-scale VS. Out of ∼170,000 compounds virtually screened, 800 top-ranking candidate compounds were selected and tested in both ADCK3 and p38 biochemical assays for hit validation. In total, 129 compounds were confirmed as ADCK3 inhibitors, and among them, 114 compounds are selective against p38, which was used as a counter-target. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were then conducted to predict the binding modes of the most potent compounds within the ADCK3 active site. Through metadynamics analysis, we successfully detected the key amino acid residues that govern intermolecular interactions. The findings provided in this study can serve as a promising starting point for drug development.

Carbon dioxide sequestration in oceanic saline aquifers via solid hydrates is a promising method for mitigating the greenhouse effect. Clay, a primary constituent of marine sediments, significantly impacts the hydrate kinetics. Here, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance was used to monitor carbon dioxide hydrate kinetics within porous media in montmorillonite suspensions with different concentrations. The results showed that the clays were stable in the suspensions, generating an electric field and affecting hydrate kinetics. During hydrate formation: hydrates formed preferentially in large pores, while water in small pores was restricted. In the presence of montmorillonite, the water conversion rate increased, and the sites of hydrate growth shifted. This may be due to additional nucleation sites and enhanced water molecule activity influenced by montmorillonite. During hydrate dissociation: the process was accompanied by the migration of gas, water, and montmorillonite. The study revealed changes in the water distribution and pore structure, which may relate to hydrate formation and clay concentration. At low clay concentrations (0.1 and 0.5 wt %), water molecules in pores dispersed, but at the 1 wt % group, blocking diminished, resembling the control group. The findings revealed the montmorillonite’s role in carbon dioxide hydrate kinetics within porous media, providing light on carbon dioxide sequestration in saline aquifers.

A theoretical analysis and calculation for the two-stream instability in a dual-sheet electron beam (DSEB) system immersed in an infinite magnetic field in semi-infinite space are proposed in this article. The dispersion equation of the DSEB system is obtained by solving the Maxwell equations. By analyzing the dispersion relation of two electron beams with different velocities, the instability generated by the coupling between the space charge waves is found, which leads to the growth of waves. Then, the growth rate of the instability is calculated. Furthermore, the impact of system parameters, such as the number density of electrons, the distance between two beams, and the thickness of beams, on the instability is analyzed. At last, a special case is discussed to further illustrate the mechanism of the instability. This study provides theoretical guidance for the utilization or avoidance of two-stream instability in the design and fabrication of dual-sheet beam vacuum electron devices (DSB-VEDs).

As one of the sub-systems for comprehensive research facility for fusion technology (CRAFT), the SC material testing facility will be used for performance research on superconducting wires/tapes, structural materials, insulations, and other sub-elements of fusion magnet systems. The SC material testing facility consists of 6 platforms including the superconducting material performance research platform, the AC loss research platform, the structure material performance research platform, the thermo-hydraulic research platform, the non-destructive examination technology research platform, and the high voltage research platform. The following key technologies are expected to be solved during the establishment of the platform: the design and manufacturing technologies of a 19 T hybrid superconducting magnet with an aperture larger than 70 mm, the design of the multifunctional critical current characterization sample holders, precise control of the vertical and radial deviation of a loading system simulating cyclic loads for AC loss measurement, the establishment of multi-media and complex structural parts simulation model for NDE. The SC material testing facility is planned to be accomplished and open by the end of 2024.

The 15 T DC magnet is one of the key components of the Super-X testing facility. It is composed of layer coils and pancake coils. The insulated conductor is wound into a layer coil by a pretension bending process. The plastic deformation simulation and the winding experiment for the layer coil are conducted. The key process parameters are obtained by comparing the results of the plastic deformation simulation and the winding experiment. The conductor insulation and coil dimension meet the technical requirements, and the feasibility of the pretension bending process has been verified. This article mainly introduces the research on pretension bending for layer coil of 15 T DC magnet.

The effective utilization and clean recycling of tailings are important to solve land occupation and waste mine pollution problems. A semi-industry experiment of hydrogen-based mineral phase transformation for tailings is conducted with a roasting temperature of 500 °C, a reducing gas concentration of 20 %, a total gas volume of 12 m3/h, and a handing capacity of 100 kg/h. A concentrate product with an iron grade of 66.75 % and a recovery of 82.79 % was obtained. The detail roasted iron phases of 23.96 % Fe3O4(A) and 47.93 % Fe3O4(B) were obtained. The maximum saturation magnetization increased from 6.69 to 18.96 A·m2·kg−1after roasting. The surface of Fe3O4occurred on the iron mineral surface. The SEM-EDS results showed the order of reduce behavior. In addition, the pollutions of the roasting process were controlled strictly, and the final benefit was calculated to be $33.86 million.

The 14-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) superconducting magnet utilizes reinforced multifilament Nb3Sn wires and multifilament NbTi wires to generate the required magnetic field. The resistances of the Nb3Sn-NbTi superconducting joints are crucial to the temporal field stability of the magnet operation in persistent mode. The resistance of each joint is required to be lower than 10−11 Ω under a 0.5 T background magnetic field to keep the temporal field drift lower than 0.1 ppm/hour. This paper presents the fabrication of multifilament Nb3Sn-NbTi superconducting joints and the measurement of their resistances. The joints were fabricated by the solder matrix replacement method using PbBi as the solder in an open-air environment. The samples were tested by an apparatus that was developed based on the current-decay method and can provide a background field up to 1 T. The sample loop with a Nb3Sn wire and a NbTi wire contains two Nb3Sn-NbTi joints. The Nb3Sn wire undergoes the heat treatment before the fabrication of superconducting joints with the NbTi wire. The measured results indicate that the joints can carry a current up to 809.8 A with a resistance lower than 6.20 × 10−13 Ω without a background field. Under a 1 T background field, the joints can carry a current up to 481.5 A with a resistance lower than 1.24 × 10−12 Ω, which meet the requirement of the 14-T MRI superconducting magnet.

Nature-based climate solutions (NbCSs) could play an important role in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. The contribution approach offers an alternative model to carbon offsetting for funding NbCSs. This paper presents three crucial design principles to help ensure the contribution approach results in high-quality climate and other benefits and avoids harms.

Noble metals often exhibit excellent catalytic activity when downsized into two-dimensional (2D) metals owing to their high atomic utilization and unique electronic properties. However, the controllable formation of 2D metals/support composites with clean interfaces/surfaces for practical applications still remains a synthetic bottleneck, with rather limited cases of 2D metals prepared through metal–support bonds. Herein, we developed a built-in electronic interface-guided method for in situ reduction of preadsorbed Pt atoms into 2D Pt metals along the surface of 2D nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) support through the electronic interaction at nonbonded metal–support interface. The interfacial electron exchange, driven by the difference in work functions between 2D Pt metals and NC support, enables the controllable synthesis of 2D Pt-based Schottky heterojunctions with clean interfaces/surfaces and a mean Pt thickness of 1.3 nm. Both experimental and theoretical results confirm the enhanced electron exchange at the interface between 2D Pt and the 2D NC support, resulting in a doubled electron density for 2D Pt. Consequently, the electron-rich 2D Pt metals exhibit remarkable mass activity of 67.3 A mgPt–1for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and a turnover frequency (TOF) value of 117 h–1in the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of phenol, notably outperforming those of the commercial Pt/C catalyst by a factor of 16.8 and 4.0, respectively. Our efficient built-in electronic interface-guided method not only facilitates the synthesis of novel 2D metal/2D support Schottky heterojunctions but also lays the groundwork for designing more powerful electronic interface catalysts with enhanced and diversified functionalities.

High-entropy alloy (HEA) catalysts exhibit enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity in water electrolysis, yet the understanding of their structure and active sites in reaction environments remains unclear. Here, we systematically investigated the HER activity and stability of PtPdRhRuCu/C through a combination of electrochemical measurements, in situsynchrotron radiation X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Cu K-edge and Pt L3-edge, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Uniformly sized PtPdRhRuCu HEA nanoparticles were prepared viaa facile one-step solvothermal method. In situXAS results revealed that the HEA nanoparticles maintained metallic states and a disordered arrangement of the overall structure at hydrogen evolution potential, implying the absence of the separated phases. Relying on multi-metal active sites, PtPdRhRuCu/C demonstrated a remarkably low overpotential of 23.3 mV at 10 mA cm–2in alkaline HER, which is significantly lower than the overpotential observed in commercial Pt/C (50.3 mV), and achieving a mass activity 7.9 times that of Pt/C. DFT calculations show that the synergy of each metal site optimizes the dissociation energy barrier of water molecules. This study not only demonstrates the advancement of high-entropy alloys in electrocatalysis but also provides a comprehensive understanding of the structure-activity relationship of these unique catalysts through detailed characterizations. Our findings further contribute to the rational design and application of high-entropy alloy catalysts, specifically in HER.

Byline: Hongxia. Yan, Peng. Gao, Xiangyi. Kong, Jianjian. Wei, Yi. Fang, Jing. Wang Background: This study investigated the reconstruction effect of skin-preserving breast cancer modified radical mastectomy combined with one-stage [...]

CO2mineralization is a safe and stable geological sequestration method that plays an important role in reducing and mitigating global carbon emission. Currently, the Carbfix project in Iceland and the Wallula project in the United States represent two different mineralization sequestration modes of CO2aqueous solution and wet supercritical CO2. In the microscopic process, the main difference between the two is that the CO2aqueous solution follows the dissolution–precipitation theory, and wet scCO2follows the adsorption–complexation process. We verified the changes of the components before and after mineralization as well as the evolution of the morphology and structure through different characterization methods and established three mineralization models. Furthermore, starting from the chemical reaction mechanism of the two methods, we modified the crystallization kinetics Avrami equation, and obtained the theoretical law of the mineralization rate under different conditions. Eventually, the effects of temperature, pressure, ore size and type, additives and water content on the mineralization efficiency were further explored. This paper discusses the various challenges to mineralization sequestration and its potential opportunities, especially in the field of biomineralization. These results are important for understanding the mechanism of CO2mineralization under geological conditions and proposing a potential strategy for the enhancement of sequestration efficiency.

ABSTRACTSenecavirus A (SVA) is a newly emerging picornavirus associated with swine vesicular lesions and neonatal mortality, threatening the global pig industry. Despite sustained efforts, the molecular mechanisms of SVA pathogenesis have not yet been fully elucidated. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that SVA infection can induce complete mitophagy in host cells, which depends on SVA replication. Mitophagy has been subsequently proven to promote SVA replication in host cells. Genome-wide screening of SVA proteins involved in inducing mitophagy showed that although VP2, VP3, 2C, and 3A proteins can independently induce mitophagy, only the 2C protein mediates mitophagy through direct interaction with TUFM (Tu translation elongation factor, mitochondrial). The glutamic acids at positions 196 and 211 of TUFM were shown to be two key sites for its interaction with 2C protein. Moreover, TUFM was discovered to interact directly with BECN1 and indirectly with the ATG12–ATG5 conjugate. Further experiments revealed that TUFM needs to undergo ubiquitination modification before being recognized by the macroautophagy/autophagy receptor protein SQSTM1/p62, and E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF185 catalyzes K27-linked polyubiquitination of TUFM through the interaction between RNF185’s transmembrane domain 1 and TUFM to initiate SVA-induced mitophagy. The ubiquitinated TUFM is recognized and bound by SQSTM1, which in turn interacts with MAP1LC3/LC3, thereby linking the 2C-anchored mitochondria to the phagophore for sequestration into mitophagosomes, which ultimately fuse with lysosomes to achieve complete mitophagy. Overall, our results elucidated the molecular mechanism by which SVA induces mitophagy to promote self-replication and provide new insights into SVA pathogenesis.Abbreviations: aa: amino acid; Baf A1: bafilomycin A1; BHK-21: baby hamster kidney-21; CCCP: carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone; co-IP: co-immunoprecipitation; CQ: chloroquine; DAPI: 4’,6-diamidino-2’-phenylindole; DMSO: dimethyl sulfoxide; EGFP: enhanced green fluorescent protein; ER: endoplasmic reticulum; GAPDH: glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; GFP: green fluorescent protein; GST: glutathione S-transferase; HA: hemagglutinin; hpi: hours post-infection; hpt: hours post-transfection; IPTG: isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside; mAb: monoclonal antibody; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3; MAVS: mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein; Mdivi-1: mitochondrial division inhibitor-1; MOI: multiplicity of infection; mRFP: monomeric red fluorescent protein; MS: mass spectrometry; ORF: open reading frame; PBS: phosphate-buffered saline; SD: standard deviation; SQSTM1/p62: sequestosome 1; ST: swine testis; SVA: Senecavirus A; TCID50: 50% tissue culture infectious dose; TIMM23: translocase of inner mitochondrial membrane 23; TM: transmembrane; TOMM20: translocase of outer mitochondrial membrane 20; TUFM: Tu translation elongation factor, mitochondrial; Ub: ubiquitin; UV: ultraviolet; VDAC1: voltage dependent anion channel 1; WT: wild-type; μg: microgram; μm: micrometer; μM: micromole.

At present, Information Communication Tech (ICT) and Thermal Management in data centers each only focus on their own key index parameters, resulting in a lack of collaboration and posing security risks and high energy consumption problems for data centers. Based on the key parameters in server chip cooling - chip core temperature and chip power, we have innovatively established a set of ICT thermal management full link indexes, aiming to improve the efficiency of ICT thermal management of the whole data center from micro to macro. This paper systematically analyzes the whole-link heat transfer process of the data center at three levels, proposes the Energy Calculus synergy index Data Center Performance (DCP), Thermal Matching Coefficient of server cabinet (TMC) and other indexes, establishes a new whole-link heat flow control index Temperature Cooling Index (TCI). It points out that by optimizing the key parameters across the entire chain, such as the chip energy utilization efficiency, thermal resistance, airflow organization, cooling infrastructure efficiency, the optimal ICT thermal management can be achieved, thus guaranteeing the safety and high efficiency of data center.

Nanoscale structures can produce extreme strain that enables unprecedented material properties, such as tailored electronic bandgap1–5, elevated superconducting temperature6,7and enhanced electrocatalytic activity8,9. While uniform strains are known to elicit limited effects on heat flow10–15, the impact of inhomogeneous strains has remained elusive owing to the coexistence of interfaces16–20and defects21–23. Here we address this gap by introducing inhomogeneous strain through bending individual silicon nanoribbons on a custom-fabricated microdevice and measuring its effect on thermal transport while characterizing the strain-dependent vibrational spectra with sub-nanometre resolution. Our results show that a strain gradient of 0.112% per nanometre could lead to a drastic thermal conductivity reduction of 34 ± 5%, in clear contrast to the nearly constant values measured under uniform strains10,12,14,15. We further map the local lattice vibrational spectra using electron energy-loss spectroscopy, which reveals phonon peak shifts of several millielectron-volts along the strain gradient. This unique phonon spectra broadening effect intensifies phonon scattering and substantially impedes thermal transport, as evidenced by first-principles calculations. Our work uncovers a crucial piece of the long-standing puzzle of lattice dynamics under inhomogeneous strain, which is absent under uniform strain and eludes conventional understanding.

The pursuit of high-performance electronic devices has driven the research focus toward 2D semiconductors with high electron mobility and suitable band gaps. Previous studies have demonstrated that quasi-2D Bi2O2Se (BOSe) has remarkable physical properties and is a promising candidate for further exploration. Building upon this foundation, the present work introduces a novel concept for achieving nonvolatile and reversible control of BOSe’s electronic properties. The approach involves the epitaxial integration of a ferroelectric PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3(PZT) layer to modify BOSe’s band alignment. Within the BOSe/PZT heteroepitaxy, through two opposite ferroelectric polarization states of the PZT layer, we can tune the Fermi level in the BOSe layer. Consequently, this controlled modulation of the electronic structure provides a pathway to manipulate the electrical properties of the BOSe layer and the corresponding devices.

Methanol synthesis is one of the most important and industrially viable approaches to carbon dioxide (CO2) utilization. Both the ZnZrOx(ZZO) solid solution catalyst and the In2O3catalyst have garnered extensive attention for their high methanol selectivity and excellent resistance to sintering and sulfur in CO2hydrogenation. Herein, a ZZO solid solution with a large surface area is selected as the carrier, and the supported In2O3strongly interacts with the ZZO to boost the generation of more oxygen vacancies on the ZZO surface that catalyzes methanol production. On incorporating an appropriate amount of In2O3(In 2.5 wt %) onto the ZZO catalyst, In2.5/ZZO exhibits markedly enhanced methanol production with a CO2conversion rate of 13.5% and a methanol space-time yield of 0.749 g gcat–1h–1at 330 °C, 5 MPa, and 24,000 mL gcat–1h–1. In situdiffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) reveals that the incorporated indium species facilitate hydrogen activation to increase the availability of surface hydrogen. The surface hydrogen is transferred to the active sites due to hydrogen spillover, facilitating the formation of HCOO* intermediates and boosting the hydrogenation of CO2to methanol. Theoretical analysis allows the rationalization of the observed improvement in the catalytic performance of the In2.5/ZZO catalyst. In2.5/ZZO showed excellent stability for up to 200 h on stream, demonstrating its potential as a practical catalyst for the hydrogenation of CO2to methanol.

Solid acid will be an ecofriendly and efficient catalyst for the hydrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Very highly Zr-doped MFI-structured zeolites as catalysts for PET hydrolysis were successfully synthesized for the first time. Comprehensive characterizations confirmed the successful incorporation of Zr into the framework. To comprehend the role of Zr within the framework, density functional calculations were employed to investigate its impact on the surface properties and hydrolysis processes. The results demonstrated that Zr d-orbitals enhance Lewis acidity of the catalyst by contributing to the formation of zeolite’s lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals. The interaction between the model molecule and the catalyst surface was enhanced by doping Zr, leading to electron redistribution toward the surface direction on the carbonyl oxygen of model molecule. Consequently, the carbonyl carbon developed a partial positive charge, and the hydrolysis reaction was promoted. The experimental results validated that the Zr-doped catalyst exhibited a 64% enhancement in the reaction rate.

In this study, Cu–9Ni–6Sn-xCr alloys (x = 0, 0.3, 0.6, or 1.0) were designed and prepared. The influence of Cr content on the microstructure, the precipitation behavior, and the mechanical properties of the alloys was systematically investigated. The results show that the Cu–9Ni–6Sn-0.6Cr alloy exhibits outstanding mechanical properties and higher level electrical conductivity after aging at 400 °C for 8 h: The peak-aged hardness reaches 323.6 ± 8.4 HV, with a tensile strength of 876.4 MPa and an electrical conductivity of 12.59 ± 0.33% IACS. These excellent comprehensive properties of Cu–9Ni–6Sn-0.6Cr alloy are attribute to the refinement effect and the precipitation of DO22phase within the Cu matrix grains. Further analysis reveals that the addition of an appropriate amount of Cr refines the microstructure of the alloy and promotes the precipitation of the DO22phase. At the same time, Cr also suppresses the precipitation of the DO3phase at grain boundaries, achieving an excellent combination of plasticity, electrical conductivity, and strength. This work suggests that the potential application prospects of Cr in the multi-component design of Cu–Ni–Sn alloy, and the addition of 0.6 wt% Cr can achieve good strengthening effects and provide outstanding comprehensive performance for Cu–Ni–Sn alloys.

Within the family of two-dimensional dielectrics, rhombohedral boron nitride (rBN) is considerably promising owing to having not only the superior properties of hexagonal boron nitride1–4—including low permittivity and dissipation, strong electrical insulation, good chemical stability, high thermal conductivity and atomic flatness without dangling bonds—but also useful optical nonlinearity and interfacial ferroelectricity originating from the broken in-plane and out-of-plane centrosymmetry5–23. However, the preparation of large-sized single-crystal rBN layers remains a challenge24–26, owing to the requisite unprecedented growth controls to coordinate the lattice orientation of each layer and the sliding vector of every interface. Here we report a facile methodology using bevel-edge epitaxy to prepare centimetre-sized single-crystal rBN layers with exact interlayer ABC stacking on a vicinal nickel surface. We realized successful accurate fabrication over a single-crystal nickel substrate with bunched step edges of the terrace facet (100) at the bevel facet (110), which simultaneously guided the consistent boron–nitrogen bond orientation in each BN layer and the rhombohedral stacking of BN layers via nucleation near each bevel facet. The pure rhombohedral phase of the as-grown BN layers was verified, and consequently showed robust, homogeneous and switchable ferroelectricity with a high Curie temperature. Our work provides an effective route for accurate stacking-controlled growth of single-crystal two-dimensional layers and presents a foundation for applicable multifunctional devices based on stacked two-dimensional materials.

Manganese cobaltite (MnCo2O4) is a promising electrode material because of its attractive redox chemistry and excellent charge storage capability. Our previous work demonstrated that the octahedrally-coordinated Mn are prone to react with the hydroxyl ions in alkaline electrolyte upon electrochemical cycling and separates on the surface of spinel to reconstruct into δ-MnO2nanosheets irreversibly, thus results in a change of the reaction mechanism with K+ion intercalation. However, the low capacity has greatly limited its practical application. Herein, we found that the tetrahedrally-coordinated Co2+ions were leached when MnCo2O4was equilibrated in 1 mol L−1HCl solution, leading to the formation of layered CoOOH on MnCo2O4surface which is originated from the covalency competition induced selective breakage of the CoT–O bond in CoT–O–CoOand subsequent rearrangement of free CoO6octahedra. The as-formed CoOOH is stable upon cycling in alkaline electrolyte, exhibits conversion reaction mechanism with facile proton diffusion and is free of massive structural evolution, thus enables utilization of the bulk electrode material and realizes enhanced specific capacity as well as facilitated charge transfer and ion diffusion. In general, our work not only offers a feasible approach to deliberate modification of MnCo2O4's surface structure, but also provides an in-depth understanding of its charge storage mechanism, which enables rational design of the spinel oxides with promising charge storage properties.

Online penetration monitoring for complex butt welding is challenging due to steel plate's groove instability and welding heat deformation. In this paper, automatic cold metal transfer (CMT) welding is used to join two complex bevelled austenitic stainless steel with SS304 as the base metal. This work reports a hybrid approach combining deep learning, computer vision, and sound signal processing to monitor groove welding penetration under full penetration in real time. Sequence signals such as video and sound can complimentarily characterize the melt pool state. In this paper, the proposed Multimodal continuous signals Characteristic Reinforcement Network (MCRNet) utilizes 3D convolution and multiscale convolution with channel attention to considerably improve the performance of lightweight networks. At the same time, a new fusion method with similarity loss is proposed to cope with the input of visual and acoustic signals. That improves the effect by at least 18 % compared with the single-modal signal input. The experimental results show that the Mean Square Error (MSE) of MCRNet improved the performance by 44 % compared with the mainstream deep learning framework. Meanwhile, the inference speed under multimodal input reaches 57 frames per second (FPS). MCRNet finally achieves online penetration accurate prediction of the melt pool.

Online penetration monitoring of complex grooves remains challenging due to steel plates’ groove instability and welding heat distortion. Penetration is an accumulation process of material deposition. Temporal signals, such as video, can provide a more comprehensive characterization of the melt pool state. A deep learning method based on continuous video is designed to monitor groove welding penetration in-process. The proposed Fast Video-feature Extraction Net (FVENet) consists of a video extraction module and a multi-feature screening module. The efficient network can quickly extract high-dimensional data features in complex arc environments and achieve accurate results for backside melt width prediction. The feature extraction process of the network is explored by visualizing the results of different network layers. Experimental results indicate that the mean squared error (MSE) of FVENet reaches 0.0634 mm, outperforming other mainstream deep learning frameworks. The inference time under video input reaches 100 FPS. The network structure designed in this paper has the potential to become a universal template for processing melt pool images.

ABSTRACT Asphalt mixture is a kind of anisotropic multiphase granular materials. The compaction is the consequence of particle rolling and migratory permutation. To anatomize the migration properties of aggregates during [...]