Search

Hydrate-based CO2storage in the ocean is considered a potential method for mitigating the greenhouse effect. Numerous studies demonstrated that NaCl exhibited the dual effects of promotion and inhibition in the nucleation and growth processes of CO2hydrate, whose mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, the effects of NaCl at various concentrations on the CO2hydrate growth and crystal are investigated. The independent gradient model based on Hirshfeld partition, electrostatic potential, and binding energy is conducted to study the interaction between ions and water molecules. The motion trajectories of ions are observed at the molecular level to reflect the impact of ion motion on hydrate growth. The results show that the influence of NaCl on hydrate growth depends on a delicate balance of dual promotion–inhibition effects. NaCl can combine more water molecules and provide a transport channel of CO2to promote hydrate growth at low concentrations. Meanwhile, the promoting effects shift toward inhibition with increasing NaCl concentrations. In a word, this paper proposes a novel mechanism for the dual promotion–inhibition effects of NaCl on hydrate growth, which is significant for further research on hydrate-based CO2storage in the ocean.

This study is devoted to the development of a neural network‐free radial field flexible scale ultra‐high resolution parallax map generation method to improve the generation of ultra‐high resolution parallax maps for naked eye 3D display. In naked eye 3D display, the acquisition of parallax maps is crucial, the traditional method is to shoot the object by camera array, which requires high hardware conditions, in recent years, with the advancement of technology, the generation of parallax maps by Nerf has appeared, but this method generates lower quality images and requires a longer time to train the model, with a single GPU training taking more than one hour. In this paper, we propose a method to generate parallax maps based on neural network‐free radial field and arbitrary scale super‐resolution, firstly, we generate sparse voxel mesh by neural network‐free radial field (Plenoxels), and the optimization time on a single Titan RTX GPU is more than ten minutes, and then we get parallax maps by setting up a virtual camera, however, the parallax maps obtained are low‐resolution and can't match with the size of the naked‐eye 3D displays, therefore, we introduce an arbitrary scale super‐resolution network for the parallax maps, and we get high‐resolution parallax maps and can match the size of the naked‐eye 3D displays.

Although APEX2-mediated proximity labeling has been extensively implemented for studying RNA subcellular localization in live cells, the biotin-phenoxyl radical used for labeling RNAs has a relatively low efficiency, which can limit its compatibility with other profiling methods. Herein, a set of phenol derivatives were designed as APEX2 probes through balancing reactivity, hydrophilicity, and lipophilicity. Among these derivatives, Ph_N3exhibited reliable labeling ability and enabled two biotinylation routes for downstream analysis. As a proof of concept, we used APEX2/Ph_N3labeling with high-throughput sequencing analysis to examine the transcriptomes in the mitochondrial matrix, demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity. To further expand the utility of Ph_N3, we employed mechanistically orthogonal APEX2 and singlet oxygen (1O2)-mediated strategies for dual location labeling in live cells. Specifically, DRAQ5, a DNA-intercalating photosensitizer, was applied for nucleus-restricted 1O2labeling. We validated the orthogonality of APEX2/Ph_N3and DRAQ5-1O2at the imaging level, providing an attractive and feasible approach for future studies of RNA translocation in live cells.

Surfactant-free microemulsions (SFMEs) have been explored extensively to avoid the residual surfactant problem caused by traditional surfactant microemulsions. Many researchers focused on the SFMEs with tertiary amine, which exhibited the typical CO2response behavior. In this study, the phase diagram of the SFMEs consisting of tripropylamine (TPA), ethanol, and water was readily prepared via the measurements of electrical conductivity. The CO2response behavior of SFME was confirmed by determination of conductivity and measurement of the average diameter of SFME, which was mainly dependent on the protonation of TPA induced by the additional CO2. The transition of protonated TPA to a more hydrophilic nature from lipophilicity to hydrophilicity should be responsible for the variation of SFME average diameter. In addition, the SFMEs exhibited remarkable solubilizing capacity of crude oil, and three types of SFMEs achieved more than 80% oil removal rate in the washing process of oil sands. It was noted that both oil-in-water and bicontinuous SFMEs could be circularly utilized at least three times with a relatively high oil removal rate (%). Our work provided the insight perspective on the mechanism of SFMEs with a CO2response behavior.

This brief proposes a high-area-efficiency reconfigurable (RC) Polar decoder chip architecture. For the code length of 2048 bits, it can be reconfigured to decode SCL with the list size of 2 or 4 and SCF in chip. In addition to our proposed hardware architecture, we also develop three useful design techniques for different design purposes, including Four-Stage Reconfigurable Sorter (FRS), Non-Uniformly Segmented CRC Scheme (NSCS), and LLR Register Bit Reduction (LRBR). Regarding the ASIC implementation with TSMC 40-nm low-Vt CMOS technology, our design work only occupies a total core area of $1.146~{\mathrm{ mm}}^{2}$ in chip layout, maximally operating at 522 MHz. The throughput for SCL ( $\text{L}=$ 2), SCL ( $\text{L}=$ 4), and SCF decoding is 331, 244, and 269 Mbps (worst case), respectively. As compared to other works in the current literature, our developed chip has the best area-efficiency property while supporting the usage choices of SCL (two list sizes) and SCF decoding in chip.

In order to investigate the effect of terminal donors on the structures and photophysical properties, four donor (D1)-acceptor (A)-π bridge-donor (D2) prototype fluorophores were synthesized and characterized. Single crystal analysis indicated that changing the types of terminal donors (D2) would give rise to different frontier molecular orbitals and molecular packing modes, leading to their different emission behaviors in solid states. In dilute solution, the four D–A–π-D compounds displayed different absorption and emission behaviors in dilute solution with solvatochromism properties. Assisted by the quantum chemical calculations and wave function analysis, the essence of optical properties of four compounds were explored. The results indicated that changing the types of terminal donors (D2) can affect the structures and photophysical properties of such donor (D1)-acceptor (A)-π bridge-donor (D2) prototype fluorophores, which provided guidance to design new fluorophores.

Multidrug-resistant Edwardsiella tardathreatens both sustainable aquaculture and human health, but the control measure is still lacking. In this study, we adopted functional proteomics to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying norfloxacin (NOR) resistance in E. tarda. We found that E. tardahad a global proteomic shift upon acquisition of NOR resistance, featured with increased expression of siderophore biosynthesis and Fe3+-hydroxamate transport. Thus, either inhibition of siderophore biosynthesis with salicyl-AMS or treatment with another antibiotic, kitasamycin (Kit), which was uptake through Fe3+-hydroxamate transport, enhanced NOR killing of NOR-resistant E. tardaboth in vivoand in vitro. Moreover, the combination of NOR, salicyl-AMS, and Kit had the highest efficacy in promoting the killing effects of NOR than any drug alone. Such synergistic effect not only confirmed in vitroand in vivobacterial killing assays but also applicable to other clinic E. tardaisolates. Thus, our data suggest a proteomic-based approach to identify potential targets to enhance antibiotic killing and propose an alternative way to control infection of multidrug-resistant E. tarda.

Drawing inspiration from adaptively responsive capability of biological auditory, we have developed a self-powered bionic auditory device that mimics the behavior of intelligent biological information recognition. The device comprises a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), a synaptic transistor, and an effector. The TENG has a wide range of sound pressure and frequency recognition capabilities, allowing it to convert dynamic sound pressure into the gate voltage of the synaptic transistor. The effector is triggered when the excitatory post-synaptic current reaches a threshold. The unique bionic synaptic device enables it to respond adaptively to sound signals in real-time. This innovative design enables the bionic auditory device to detect and process sound information in an adaptive and responsive manner.

Ionic liquids (ILs) are considered effective additives to inhibit shale hydration swelling in recent years. The imidazolium-based bola-form ionic liquids (IBFILs) with two positively charged groups and optimal alkyl chain lengths can greatly enhance their electrostatic interaction with clay to improve their inhibition ability. The present study further extends our previous research on IBFILs to investigate the effects of different modified functional groups on the inhibition properties of three novel IBFILs including [C6(BIM)2]Br2, [C6(NBIM)2]Br2, and [C6(ABIM)2]Br2. Then, their inhibition performances are evaluated via immersion tests, linear swelling tests, and hot-rolling recovery tests. The inhibition properties of three novel IBFILs are evidently improved in different degrees, especially for the [C6(ABIM)2]Br2with amine groups. Then, the inhibition mechanisms are analyzed via contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), particle size distribution measurement, ζ-potential, and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) distribution. The results reveal that the hydrogen bonding and protonation of amine groups should be responsible for the outstanding inhibition property of [C6(ABIM)2]Br2, whereas the nitro groups indirectly hinder the coverage of the benzene rings at the clay surface to partially affect the inhibition capacity of [C6(NBIM)2]Br2. Finally, the proposed mechanisms are further confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations. Our work may provide novel insight into the development and design of efficient IL inhibitors with modified functional groups.

This work introduces a new method to estimate Doppler frequency which carries important characteristics feature of time-variant multipath fading channels. The proposed method employs the time diversity (TD) of general random processes with rich correlation characteristics introduced by various time intervals, where a maximum-likelihood (ML) algorithm is utilized. A closed-form weighted least-square equation is derived with the help of basis expansion approximation. In addition, the Cram $\acute{\text{e}}$ r-Rao lower bound (CRLB) of the estimation is analyzed. The results show that the proposed method performs well in terms of Doppler frequency estimation accuracy.

Flexible electronic devices to obtain accurate and efficient information interactions between humans and machines have gained increasing attention in recent years. A series of soft materials for flexible electronics have been developed to improve device performance in terms of electrical and mechanical properties. Among them, conductive polymer‐based hydrogels (CPHs), which combine the tunable electronic properties of conductive polymers and the soft mechanical properties of hydrogels, are promising candidates for next‐generation wearable electronic devices. This review summarized the material design and preparation of CPHs, and presented the properties of CPHs, including tunable conductivity, outstanding mechanical performance, biocompatibility, self‐healing capability, resistance to freezing, and solution processability. In particular, their emerging applications in flexible electronics devices including flexible supercapacitors, flexible sensors, and biomedical electronics are highlighted. Furthermore, perspectives on existing challenges and opportunities in this field are discussed.

The stability of the foam directly impacts the final efficiency of the foam flooding in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). In the present work, a series of Janus SiO2-nnanoparticles (JSnNPs) with various modification degrees were successfully prepared and employed to improve the stability of the nonionic surfactant polyethylene glycolmonoisodecylether (PMIE)-stabilized foam. The PMIE–JS3 system with a much low JS3 NP concentration (0.1 wt %) displayed extraordinary foamability and stabilizing foam ability via the foam volume, half-life, relative volume decay, and optical microscope photograph measurements. Then, the dynamic surface tension and dilatational viscoelasticity tests were conducted to explore the mechanism. It was found that the PMIE–JS3 system with great interfacial activity and intensive interfacial film highly facilitated the generation of the foam and improved the foam stability. Moreover, the PMIE–JS3-stabilized foam exhibited outstanding stability, even under the influence of crude oil. The sandpack flooding tests indicated that the PMIE–JS3-stabilized foam could effectively plug the high-permeability channels to modify the water injection profile and consequently greatly enhanced tertiary oil recovery (∼15.3% of the initial oil in place).

Metabolic reprogramming is a hallmark of cancer. However, systematic characterizations of metabolites in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) are still lacking. Our study profiled the polar metabolome and lipidome in 330 TNBC samples and 149 paired normal breast tissues to construct a large metabolomic atlas of TNBC. Combining with previously established transcriptomic and genomic data of the same cohort, we conducted a comprehensive analysis linking TNBC metabolome to genomics. Our study classified TNBCs into three distinct metabolomic subgroups: C1, characterized by the enrichment of ceramides and fatty acids; C2, featured with the upregulation of metabolites related to oxidation reaction and glycosyl transfer; and C3, having the lowest level of metabolic dysregulation. Based on this newly developed metabolomic dataset, we refined previous TNBC transcriptomic subtypes and identified some crucial subtype-specific metabolites as potential therapeutic targets. The transcriptomic luminal androgen receptor (LAR) subtype overlapped with metabolomic C1 subtype. Experiments on patient-derived organoid and xenograft models indicate that targeting sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), an intermediate of the ceramide pathway, is a promising therapy for LAR tumors. Moreover, the transcriptomic basal-like immune-suppressed (BLIS) subtype contained two prognostic metabolomic subgroups (C2 and C3), which could be distinguished through machine-learning methods. We show that N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate is a crucial tumor-promoting metabolite and potential therapeutic target for high-risk BLIS tumors. Together, our study reveals the clinical significance of TNBC metabolomics, which can not only optimize the transcriptomic subtyping system, but also suggest novel therapeutic targets. This metabolomic dataset can serve as a useful public resource to promote precision treatment of TNBC.

Purpose: This paper aims to offer a framework explaining how product experience (i.e. think vs feel) and product involvement (high vs low) influence the helpfulness of online reviews. It also reexamined how online consumer review dimensions help to build online review helpfulness under different contexts. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected using content analysis on 1,200 online customer reviews on 12 products from four categories to measure the relationships between online review dimensions and the helpfulness of reviews. The regression analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses. Findings: The findings indicate that the effectiveness of length of a review is moderated by product type; for think products, longer reviews yield higher helpfulness. Furthermore, the level of consistency between individual review ratings and overall product ratings is associated with review helpfulness. The length of product descriptions and product ratings is moderated by the level of involvement. For products with high involvement, longer descriptions yield higher helpfulness. Originality/value: A conceptual connection to customer interaction is proposed by online customer reviews that vary by product type. The findings provide implications for online retailers to better manage online customer reviews and increase the value of product ratings.

If the data contain both multicollinearity and outliers, the ridge M-estimator is the preferred estimator to the usual least square estimator (Silvapulle, Aust J Stat 33:319–333, 1991). Many other estimators, such as the pretest ridge M-estimator and Stein-rule shrinkage ridge M-estimator, have been developed on the basis of the ridge M-estimator. However, all these existing estimators do not consider shrinkage estimation for the intercept term. Hence, there are some rooms for improving the existing estimators by improving the estimator for the intercept term. In this paper, we propose several new ridge M-estimators for regression coefficients and an intercept term by introducing pretest and Stein-rule shrinkage schemes. Our estimators are obtained by using the Jimichi-type ridge matrix that allows shrinkage operations to be applicable to both the intercept term and regression coefficients. We conduct Monte Carlo simulation studies to examine the performance of the proposed estimators. For demonstration, we analyze the corporate finance data from the Nikkei Economic Electronic Databank System in Japan, and the gene expression data from Japanese ovarian cancer patients.

We designed β-difluoroalkylamine to capture RNAs and proteins with high tempospatial resolution via proximity labeling mediated by photoinduced singlet oxygen. The appended azide group allows for RNA biotinylation and downstream analysis through both SPAAC and CuAAC. In particular, the β-difluoroalkylazide motif enjoys an enhanced CuAAC reaction rate, thus preserving good RNA integrity.

This study aimed to assess and compare the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture and related therapies (ARTs) add-on to conventional treatment (CT) for heart failure (HF) through pairwise and network meta-analyses.

Two zwitterionic surface-active ionic liquids (SAILs), 3-(1-hexadecyl-3-imidazolio) propanesulfonate (C16IPS) and 3-(1-hexadecyl-3-imidazolio) propanesulfonate β-naphthalenesulfonate (C16IPS-Nsa), were evaluated for their potential application in chemical enhanced oil recovery. It was found that the zwitterionic SAILs had a higher interfacial activity than the traditional SAILs. Interestingly, the C16IPS-Nsa molecule with the large hydrophobic group β-naphthalenesulfonate had a greater ability for reducing the interfacial tension (IFT) of water/crude oil. Moreover, the systematic investigations of the dynamic IFT and the salt and temperature effects further confirmed the proposed mechanism of two zwitterionic SAIL effects on the IFT. The C16IPS-Nsa system exhibited a satisfactory displacement performance (15.3% of initial oil in place), which may be attributed to the transient minimum value (∼1 × 10–3mN/m) in its dynamic IFT curve.

A novel polymeric ionic liquid (PDBA-IL-NH2) using imidazolium ionic liquids with short alkyl chains as monomers and two control ionic liquids (PDBA-IL-OH and PIL-NH2) were synthesized. Their inhibition properties and mechanisms were explored via surface analysis, weight loss tests, electrochemical studies, and adsorption isotherm analysis. The corrosion inhibition efficiency (CIE) of PDBA-IL-NH2gradually increased with increasing concentration, and the largest efficiency was 94.67% at 100 ppm. At the same concentration (50 ppm), the corrosion inhibition abilities of inhibitors were in the order of PDBA-IL-NH2> PDBA-IL-OH > PIL-NH2> IL-NH2. Based on the experimental investigation, the synergistic effect of electrostatic interaction, protonation, and electron donor–acceptor interaction facilitated the intensive entanglement and coverage of PDBA-IL-NH2with the reticulated form on the metal, and the generated densest films protected the metal from the corrosive media. Ultimately, the theoretical results of molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical study were in high agreement with the experimental data, which confirmed the proposed inhibition mechanisms on the microscopic scale. This study contributed valuable perspectives to the design of efficient and ecofriendly corrosion inhibitors.

Wearable energy harvesters (WEHs) have garnered significant attention recently due to their promising capabilities in powering wearable devices. In this research, we present a core–shell yarn-structured triboelectric nanogenerator (CY-TENG) that operates in two modes: the single-electrode TENG (SE-TENG) and the droplet-based electricity generator. This design facilitates energy harvesting from both waterdrops and biomechanics. The CY-TENG is fabricated using fluorinated ethylene propylene ultrafine heat-shrink tubes combined with stainless-steel yarns, ensuring its flexibility, durability, and weavability. Such attributes underscore its potential as a dual-function WEH.

In printing, microreactors, and bioassays, the precise control of micrometer-scale droplet generation is essential but challenging, often restricted by the equipment and nozzles used in traditional methods. We introduce a needle-plate electrode corona discharge technique that injects charges into an oil layer, enabling the precise manipulation of droplet polarization and splitting. This method allows for meticulous adjustment of microdroplet formation regarding location, size, and quantity by modulating the discharge voltage, discharge time, and electrode positioning. It enables the immediate initiation and cessation of droplet production, thereby facilitating on-demand droplet generation. Our study on the voltage-dependent droplet stretch coefficient shows that as the voltage increases, the droplets transition from controlled splitting to regular Taylor cone-like ejections, eventually reaching the Rayleigh limit and fully breaking apart. These advancements significantly improve microfluidic droplet manipulation, offering considerable benefits for applications in targeted drug delivery, rapid disease diagnostics, and precise environmental monitoring.

Great aqueous dispersibility, a large specific surface area, and high impermeability make graphene oxide (GO) the ideal candidate for a high-performance corrosion inhibitor. Numerous symmetrical modification methods have been reported to enhance the adsorption of GO on metal surfaces in various corrosive media. This work aims to investigate the enhancement and mechanism of unilateral hydrophobic modification on the corrosion inhibition performance of GO. In this study, amphiphilic Janus GO (JGO) was prepared by grafting hydrophobic alkyl chains on one side of GO, and its anticorrosion performance was evaluated via weight loss experiments and electrochemical tests. The results revealed that the corrosion inhibition efficiency for Q235 mild steel (MS) in a 1 M HCl aqueous solution of 25 ppm JGO (81.08%) was much higher than that of GO at the same concentration (22.12%). Furthermore, the Langmuir adsorption isotherm and computational study demonstrated that the synergistic effect of physical adsorption and chemical adsorption promoted the hydrophilic side of JGO close to the surface of the metal, and the dense protective layer was formed by the hydrophobic chains toward the corrosive medium, which effectively hindered the corrosion of MS by the acidic liquid. This study emphasizes the significant role of asymmetrically modified hydrophobic alkyl chains in improving the corrosion prevention performance of GO and provides a perspective for the structural design of GO-based corrosion inhibitors.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive subtype of breast cancer with poor prognosis. TNBCs with high homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) scores benefit from DNA-damaging agents, including platinum drugs and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, whereas those with low HRD scores still lack therapeutic options. Therefore, we sought to exploit metabolic alterations to induce HRD and sensitize DNA-damaging agents in TNBCs with low HRD scores. We systematically analyzed TNBC metabolomics and identified a metabolite, guanosine diphosphate (GDP)–mannose (GDP-M), that impeded homologous recombination repair (HRR). Mechanistically, the low expression of the upstream enzyme GDP-mannose-pyrophosphorylase-A (GMPPA) led to the endogenous up-regulation of GDP-M in TNBC. The accumulation of GDP-M in tumor cells further reduced the interaction between breast cancer susceptibility gene 2 (BRCA2) and ubiquitin-specific peptidase 21 (USP21), which promoted the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of BRCA2 to inhibit HRR. Therapeutically, we illustrated that the supplementation of GDP-M sensitized DNA-damaging agents to impair tumor growth in both in vitro (cancer cell line and patient-derived organoid) and in vivo (xenograft in immunodeficient mouse) models. Moreover, the combination of GDP-M with DNA-damaging agents activated STING-dependent antitumor immunity in immunocompetent syngeneic mouse models. Therefore, GDP-M supplementation combined with PARP inhibition augmented the efficacy of anti–PD-1 antibodies. Together, these findings suggest that GDP-M is a crucial HRD-related metabolite and propose a promising therapeutic strategy for TNBCs with low HRD scores using the combination of GDP-M, PARP inhibitors, and anti–PD-1 immunotherapy.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are conducted to systematically benchmark the effects of molecular weight, chain number, and cooling rate on the glass transition temperature (Tg) and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). Hyperbolic regression as an objective identified method is used to extract Tg and CTE. The results show that for a cooling rate higher than 5?×?1013?K/min, Tg and CTE are both strongly affected by rapid quenching. For a cooling rate lower than 5?×?1013?K/min, Tg and CTE in the high-temperature domain still slightly depend on the cooling rate. Eventually, to eliminate the finite size effect of the model, a threshold molecular weight of 11,240?g/mol should be satisfied in the system. In addition, the chain number must be more than 10, at least for an oligomer system (50 monomers).

It is greatly desired to develop a high-efficiency demulsifier for the treatment of O/W emulsions in the production fluids of the petroleum industry. In this study, the amphiphilic Janus-SiO2nanoparticles (Janus-C18) was synthesized and used as a demulsifier for surfactant-stabilized O/W emulsions. The successful preparation of Janus-C18 was verified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and contact angle measurements. Then, Janus-C18’s demulsification efficiency was systematically evaluated by the bottle test. Various silica nanoparticles and emulsifier were employed in the control experiments. Based on the Janus-C18’s demulsification performance in different conditions and the ζ-potential measurement, the possible demulsification mechanism of Janus-C18 was proposed. Furthermore, Janus-C18 exhibited excellent performance in separating oil from crude oil/water emulsions at a relatively low concentration (150 mg/L), with the oil removal rate exceeding 99%.

The alkyl chain lengths of ionic liquid shale inhibitors are critical to their inhibitive properties. To design high-performance shale inhibitors with bola-form molecular structures, a series of imidazolium-based bola-form ionic liquids (IBFILs) with different spacer lengths (s), denoted as MsM (s= 2, 4, 6, 8, 10), were synthesized, and their inhibitive properties were evaluated through linear swelling tests and hot-rolling recovery tests. The results indicated that the optimized IBFILs with a proper spacer length that had six carbon atoms performed best in linear swelling rate tests and hot-rolling recovery tests. Based on the investigation of interaction modes between MsM and clay materials via contact angle measurement, ζ-potential measurement, X-ray diffraction, and molecular electrostatic potentials calculation, the possible explanation for the effects of spacer lengths on the inhibitive performance of MsM was proposed. The IBFILs with medium spacer lengths decreased the montmorillonite (Mt) ζ-potential close to zero, and the intercalated MsM in the clay interlayer acted as a binding bridge to reduce the Mt interlayer distance. This work demonstrates that the optimization of spacer lengths is crucial to the inhibitive property of IBFILs, which could be inspiring to the designing of other novel shale inhibitors.

This research compared and analyzed the adaptation of four evapotranspiration equations: the FAO56 Penman-Monteith (PM), Priestley-Taylor, Hargreaves-Samani and Thornthwaite equations by using the day-to-day meteorological data of the 42 observation stations in the Pearl River basin. Numberical simulation of the four equations in different seasons and regions was made in order to find out the most suitable one for the evapotranspiration estimate in the Pearl River basin. Results show that the calculation results of the PM equation seem more stable in different seasons and regions, and is closer to the actual observation, due to the detailed consideration of the effects of aerodynamics and energy supply on evapotranspiration in its calculation procedure. The missing data of relative humidity, sunshine duration, wind speed and air pressure would have influence on the calculation accuracy of the PM equation. Temperature can be used to instead of the above variable in the PM equation, which is called the PMT equation. The applicability and the calculation accuracy is explored in this study. And the results show that the calculation results of the PMT equation is larger than those of the PM equation. By setting a correction coefficient in the PMT equation, the calculation accuracy can be obviously improved. Therefore, in the absence of other data, the PMT equation calculated only using temperature data can be use as an ideal equation for the evapotranspiration calculation and research in the Pearl River basin.

The interfacial assembly process and configuration of the pseudogemini surfactant fabricated by sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and 4,4′-oxydianilinium chloride (ODC) were studied using quantum mechanical calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The MD simulation results revealed that SDBS and ODC showed the vertical and horizontal arrangements at the oil/water interface, respectively, and the interfacial assembled configuration presented an unexpected “H” shape rather than the traditional “U” shape. The radial distribution functions between the head groups and water molecules were employed to explore the effects of the surrounding water molecules on the SDBS/ODC interaction. Furthermore, the results of the nonbonded interaction calculations and the reduced density gradient method directly confirmed that the cation−π interaction should be responsible for the SDBS/ODC assembly mechanism and the final configuration at the oil/water interface.

ABSTRACTStreptococcus agalactiae(GBS) is an important pathogenic bacteria that infected both aquatic animals and human beings, causing huge economic loss. The increasing cases of antibiotic-resistant GBS impose challenges to treat such infection by antibiotics. Thus, it is highly demanded for the approach to tackle antibiotic resistance in GBS. In this study, we adopt a metabolomic approach to identify the metabolic signature of ampicillin-resistant GBS (AR-GBS) that ampicillin is the routine choice to treat infection by GBS. We find glycolysis is significantly repressed in AR-GBS, and fructose is the crucial biomarker. Exogenous fructose not only reverses ampicillin resistance in AR-GBS but also in clinic isolates including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) and NDM-1 expressing Escherichia coli. The synergistic effect is confirmed in a zebrafish infection model. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the potentiation by fructose is dependent on glycolysis that enhances ampicillin uptake and the expression of penicillin-binding proteins, the ampicillin target. Our study demonstrates a novel approach to combat antibiotic resistance in GBS.

Recently, there has been significant research interest in higher-order topological states within artificial lattices, primarily due to their potential for manipulating waves. In this study, we focus on a three-dimensional hexagonal bilayer acoustic crystal with rotation, layer, and translation degrees of freedom. By systematically reducing the crystal symmetries, we realize a full hierarchical structure of the higher-order topological states. This hierarchical progression begins with the valley-induced two-dimensional surface state, followed by the one-dimensional hinge state that arises from the topological obstruction, and ultimately culminating in the zero-dimensional corner state resulting from the edge polarization mechanism. Through finite element simulations and numerical calculations of topological invariants, we confirm the topological origins of all these hierarchical states. Moreover, we successfully verified the full hierarchical topology by directly probing the acoustic field within a finite-sized three-dimensional sample. This study offers novel perspectives on the fundamental research pertaining to wave modulation and the intelligent control of sound fields.

Electrical performances, output stability and use of comfort are three crucial indexes for the rapid advancements in wearable power generators. However, there exist few studies that can simultaneously improve the three aforementioned indexes in a simple manner. Here, a bio-inspired Trimurti poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) tribo-material with a transcendent electrical performance, excellent output stability in high environmental humidity, and increased use of comfort under a sweating condition is designed, by simple self-assembly of electro-pore-creating. The nanoporous cancellous-bone-like, hydrophobic lotus-leaf-like, and hydrophilic root-xylem-like structures are assembled respectively in the interior, on the upper surface and on the bottom surface of Trimurti PVDF mat, endowing the fabricated Trimurti triboelectric nanogenerator (T-TENG) with outstanding electrical performances and availability in different application environments. With a high power density of 10.6 W m−2, the T-TENG can directly drive 714 light-emitting-diodes and small electronics. Additionally, under the relative humidity of 85%, the output retention rate of the T-TENG reaches up to 22%. Under the simulated sweating condition, the Trimurti PVDF mat can absorb sweat into its bottom region to accelerate evaporation of sweat. This work indicates a substantial progress of wearable high-performance power sources for dealing with various complex conditions in practical applications.

The system of suspended gold nanoring on silicon nanotube substrate with enhanced light harvesting and electromagnetic field enhancements was proposed in the present study. The effects of outer/inner diameter (D/d) ratio of the ring and tube on the plasmonic behavior were studied by systemic simulations and experiments. In simulations, the high order quadrupole–dipole mode was also excited in addition to the typical dipole–dipole mode, and the resonant configurations were characterized by both electric field profile and resonant surface charge distribution. Experimentally, both dark-field and Raman microscopies were conducted to examine the plasmonic behavior. The plasmon-enhanced scattering could be controlled by tailoring the D/dratio, and the dark-field image colors could be manipulated covering the visible range. Raman spectra using two excitation wavelengths were also recorded and showed good agreement with calculated enhancement factor which, in turn, provided the evidence of the evolution of resonance mode and denoted our designed structure as a potential candidate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering applications.

A calculation program of the modulation transfer function (MTF) of a fish-eye lens is developed with the autocorrelation method, in which the sixth-order wave aberration theory of ultra-wide-angle optical systems is used to simulate the wave aberration distribution at the exit pupil of the optical systems. The autocorrelation integral is processed with the Gauss–Legendre integral, and the magnification chromatic aberration is discussed to calculate polychromatic MTF. The MTF calculation results of a given example are then compared with those previously obtained based on the fourth-order wave aberration theory of plane-symmetrical optical systems and with those from the Zemax program. The study shows that MTF based on the sixth-order wave aberration theory has satisfactory calculation accuracy even for a fish-eye lens with a large acceptance aperture. And the impacts of different types of aberrations on the MTF of a fish-eye lens are analyzed. Finally, we apply the self-adaptive and normalized real-coded genetic algorithm and the MTF developed in the paper to optimize the Nikon F/2.8 fish-eye lens; consequently, the optimized system shows better MTF performances than those of the original design.

Developing eco-friendly polymers, such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), is a hopeful strategy to reduce the dependence on petroleum-based polymers and alleviate the “white pollution” crisis. Nonetheless, the manufacture of high-performance biodegradable films remains a major challenge, which are lightweight, highly porous, and combine favorable flexibility with excellent thermal stability. Herein, brand-new porous PLA films with enhanced flexibility and heat resistance are successfully prepared via a simple combination of blade coating and thermally induced phase separation without damaging the environmental protection advantage. The elongation at break of the prepared pure poly(l-lactide) film can reach 45.5%. Thanks to enhanced crystallization ability of stereocomplex crystals, leaf vein-like-oriented pores are obtained, finally resulting in flexible poly(l-lactide)/poly(d-lactide) blend films (elongation at break of 10–40%) with improved mechanical properties and high porosity. For example, the 50/50 blend film has the elongation at break of 10.4%, tensile strength of 4.1 MPa, specific modulus of 328.2 MPa cm3g–1, porosity of 90.1%, and pore size range of 0–10 μm. Additionally, the improved crystallinity significantly enhances the films’ heat resistance, and the T5%and TMAXof the 50/50 blend film increased by 32 and 16 °C, respectively, compared with those of the pure film. This work will open up a new path for the use of PLA in microfiltration, packaging, and modified applications.

Nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit great potential to improve various properties of viscoelastic surfactant (VES) fracturing fluids in the development of low-permeability reservoirs. In the present study, the amphiphilic Janus NPs (JANPs) were fabricated via the Pickering emulsion method and employed to construct the novel JA12C (JANPs with dodecyl hydrophobic carbon chains)-assisted VES fracturing fluid (JAVES). The successful fabrication of JANPs was confirmed via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements and water contact angle tests. The rheology behavior of the VES fracturing fluid incorporating various SiO2NPs including hydrophilic SiO2NPs (HLNPs), JA8C (JANPs with octyl hydrophobic carbon chains), and JA12C was systematically investigated. It was revealed that the additional JA12C significantly improved the tolerance and proppant suspension properties. To explore the subsequent oil recovery performance of various gel breaking liquids, the formation wettability and the oil–water interfacial tension (IFT) were studied after the evaluation of breaking properties and formation damage properties of various fracturing fluids. The results suggested that the JAVES gel breaking liquid showed remarkable wettability alternation capability and moderate oil–water IFT reduction ability, which can partially reduce the impact on reservoir permeability. Moreover, the formation mechanism of the JAVES was proposed by molecular dynamics simulations at the molecular level, which was further visually verified via the cryo-TEM images. The improved viscoelasticity of developed the JAVES with moderate interfacial activity is advantageous to enhance subsequent oil recovery.

The silver nanoparticle-decorated suspended graphene was proposed and fabricated to increase the efficiency of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) mainly by the enhanced electric field resulting from exciting the localized surface plasmon resonance. The morphology of cavity under the graphene was controlled by the thickness of catalyst and the etching time in the metal-assisted chemical etching process (MacEtch). The reflectance and ellipsometric spectra were examined to understand the optical behaviors of silver nanoparticle-decorated suspended graphene as functions of the etching time. For the samples treated with MacEtch, the Raman signals of graphene and p-mercaptoaniline were greatly enhanced due to the plasmonic cavity effect. Moreover, the graphene could increase the Raman intensity of the probed molecules by chemical enhancement. With the optimal etching time of 15 s, the SERS signals reached the maximum that was 13–15 times larger than those without etching. The electric field enhancement profiles and the SERS enhancement factor were simulated by finite-difference time-domain method to characterize the field distribution around the silver nanoparticles and to verify the enhanced SERS phenomenon observed in measurements.

The theory of orthogonal test provides a new design idea for the design of muffler with complicated structure. The second baffle plate position, outlet pipe perforation rate, connecting pipe diameter and perforation rate of a heavy vehicle exhaust muffler are chosen as the level factors. The sum of the transmission loss in the frequency range from 510Hz to 640Hz is chosen as the evaluation index. Based on the orthogonal test theory, GT-POWER software is used to analyze the evaluation index under different level factors. According to the orthogonal analysis table, optimization of the internal structure for the muffler is carried out. The optimized results show that attenuation performance of the optimized muffler in the optimized band is superior to the original muffler and the frequency bands allowing noise to pass through is significantly reduced.

In the present study, we have synthesized a room-temperature ionic liquid by mixing imidazolium-type zwitterions with lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide. We constructed nanostructured aqueous lithium-ion conductors having hexagonal, lamellar, and bicontinuous cubic structures by the self-assembly of this amphiphilic ionic liquid. These nanostructured lithium-ion conductors exhibited an assembled-structure dependent lithium-ion conduction behavior. The introduction of highly ordered and well-defined liquid crystal structures into room-temperature ionic liquid radically changes the conduction mechanism from diffusion to hopping.

The surface plasmon resonances of gold contour bowtie nanostructures were simulated in the present study. The local electromagnetic field enhancement and the resonance wavelength for different dimensions of contour bowtie antennas with various contour thicknesses were investigated to find the critical conditions to induce additional enhancement compared to the solid bowtie antenna. Both the phase of the electric field and the bound surface charge distribution on the surface of the contour bowtie were studied to characterize the coupled plasmon configurations of the contour bowtie antenna. Also, a model was proposed to explain the resonance and hybridization behavior in the contour bowtie nanoantenna, and it was verified by examining the phase of the electric field in the polarization direction.

Inspired by electronic transistors, electric field gating has been adopted to manipulate ionic currents of smart nanofluidic devices. Here, we report a PNP nanofluidic bipolar junction transistor (nBJT) consisting of one polyaniline (PANI) layer sandwiched between two polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanoporous membranes. The PNP nBJT exhibits three different responses of currents (quasi-linear, rectification, and sigmoid) due to the counterbalance between surface charge distribution and base voltage applied in the nanofluidic channels; thus, they can be switched by base voltage. Four operating modes (cutoff, active, saturation, and breakdown mode) occur in the collector response currents. Under optimal conditions, the PNP nBJT exhibits an average current gain of up to 95 in 100 mM KCl solution at a low base voltage of 0.2 V. The present nBJT is promising for fabrication of nanofluidic devices with logical-control functions for analysis of single molecules.

With the development of technology, the agricultural industry has become far more efficient and mechanization. In this paper, image processing method was adopted to detect the changes in seeds temperature, aiming at discovering the laws in seed germination. Oak seeds were selected as samples. The method can be divided into two steps----image segmentation, data extraction and analysis. 32400 images for 90 seeds were captured, and the changing curve of seeds temperature was described based on the images we collected. The result showed that the method was available to capture the changes of seeds temperature during its germination. Even, further research aiming at distinguishing seeds vigor by temperature information, is of great value.

Hybrid Nafion membranes were successfully fabricated by incorporating with protic imidazolium ionic liquids 1-(2-aminoethyl)-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([MimAE]Cl), 1-(2-hydroxylethyl)-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([MimHE]Cl), and 1-carboxylmethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([MimCM]Cl) for high-temperature fuel cells. The composite membranes were characterized by impedance spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The incorporated protic ionic liquids enhance the doping of phosphoric acid (PA) and result in a relatively high ionic conductivity. The Nafion/10 wt % [MimAE]Cl/PA composite membrane exhibits an ionic conductivity of 6.0 mS/cm at 130 °C without humidification. [MimAE]Cl can swell the Nafion matrix more homogeneously than [MimHE]Cl or [MimCM]Cl, which results in a better ionic conductivity. It is notable that the composite Nafion/IL/PA membranes have a better thermal stability than the pristine Nafion membranes.

The solution-refined method is developed to solve electrostatic fields of the electron-beam direct-write lithography system. The prediction of accurate electron trajectories and the geometry of the developed photoresist patterns rely on high-resolution electrostatic fields in the whole system. Considering fabrication errors, such electrostatic fields cannot be solved using a cylindrical symmetry. Thus, this problem is a multiscale problem that requires a huge computer memory to solve. In our cases, the minimum number of grids of 1 nm length are applied and the total memory required approaches 75 Gbyte. Since the proposed solution-refined technique has a tradeoff with computational time, fewer central processing units (CPUs) are needed to solve this system because each CPU that solves the problem exceeds its available storage memory. The proposed technique can be used to solve the electron-beam direct-write lithography system at higher resolution and the problems exceed the available storage memory.