Search

SUMMARY: Sorghum is an important crop for food, forage, wine and biofuel production. To enhance its transformation efficiency without negative developmental by‐effects, we investigated the impact of GRF4‐GIF1 chimaera and GRF5 on sorghum transformation. Both GRF4‐GIF1 and GRF5 effectively improved the transformation efficiency of sorghum and accelerated the transformation process of sorghum to less than 2 months which was not observed when using BBM‐WUS. As agrobacterium effectors increase the ability of T‐DNA transfer into plant cells, we checked whether ternary vector system can additively enhance sorghum transformation. The combination of GRF4‐GIF1 with helper plasmid pVS1‐VIR2 achieved the highest transformation efficiency, reaching 38.28%, which is 7.71‐fold of the original method. Compared with BBM‐WUS, overexpressing GRF4‐GIF1 caused no noticeable growth defects in sorghum. We further developed a sorghum CRISPR/Cas9 gene‐editing tool based on this GRF4‐GIF1/ternary vector system, which achieved an average gene mutation efficiency of 41.36%, and null mutants were created in the T0 generation. Significance Statement: An accelerated and efficient transformation strategy of sorghum was established which has 38.28% efficiency in less than 2 months. The regenerated plants showed no growth defect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wear and rolling contact fatigue (RCF) cracks are the key defects affecting the service life of heavy‐haul railways in China. In this study, based on the influences of the loading sequence and the interaction between adjacent loads, a modified nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation model under the steady‐state wheel–rail contact was developed to predict the coexistence of wear growth and head check (HC) initiation. A twin‐roller fatigue test was designed and performed, and the testing data were compared with the predicted data to verify the established model. Compared with the linear model, the nonlinear model yielded the faster fatigue damage with an HC initiation life of 2.58 × 105 wheel cycles, which was 24.34% less than that of the linear model. In addition, the HC initiation lives obtained from the nonlinear and linear models were close to the median and upper limits observed in the field, respectively. The results of the linear and nonlinear models were respectively 41.3% and 22.5% higher than the two‐round test results. The result of the nonlinear model was closer to the two‐round test result of 2 × 105. Highlights: A nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation model was applied for rail head check initiation prediction.The effect of load sequence and loads interaction were considered in the nonlinear model.Critical plane model depends on the stress and strain in rail by wheel–rail contact.Head check initiation life by nonlinear model was conservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium metal has been recognized as the most promising anode material due to its high capacity and low electrode potential. However, the high reactivity, infinite volume variation, and uncontrolled dendrites growth of Li during long‐term cycling severely limit its practical applications. To address these issues, herein, a novel 3D Al/Mg/Li alloy (denoted as AM‐Li) anode is designed and constructed by a facile smelting‐rolling strategy, which improves the surface stability, electrochemical cycling stability, and rate capability in lithium metal batteries. Specifically, the optimized AM‐Li|AM‐Li symmetric cell exhibits low polarization voltage (< 20 mV) and perfect cycling stability at 1 mA cm−2‐1 mAh cm−2 for more than 1600 h. Moreover, the AM‐Li|NCM811 full cell exhibits superior rate capability up to 5 C and excellent cyclability for 100 cycles at 0.5 C with a high capacity retention of 90.8%. The realization of lithium‐poor or lithium‐free anode materials will be a major development trend of anode materials in the future. Therefore, the research shows that the construction of 3D alloy framework is beneficial to improve the cycling stability of Li anodes by suppressing the volume expansion effect and Li dendrite growth, which will promote the further development of lithium‐poor metal anodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indigenization of sociology has been an issue of considerable controversy in China. Rather than taking a side in the debate itself, this article intends to make sense of different perspectives in the debate. Utilizing Bourdieu's field theory, it links a sociologist's view on indigenization with the sociologist's position within China's sociological field. This article traces the history of the indigenization debate in China and proposes a theoretical model based on Bourdieu's insight. It then analyzes how the different combinations of academic and political capital shape the different positions on indigenization and how such a debate can be viewed as a symbolic struggle in the intellectual field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the fixed‐time coordination control problem is addressed for a class of uncertain human‐robot systems without velocity information. Specifically, due to the absence of approximation function, the developed control scheme is more practical. Firstly, a new fixed‐time velocity observer is introduced to estimate unmeasured velocities with the homogeneity theory. Then, the performance of the velocity observer in the presence of parametric uncertainties and non‐parametric uncertainties is analyzed seriously. Furthermore, a novel distributed continuous fixed‐time control (DCFTC) scheme is proposed. Compared with the existing velocity‐free controllers, fixed‐time convergence is achieved both for velocity estimation and trajectory tracking. More than that, distributed control is realized by using graph theoretic notions. Finally, numerical simulation results and experiment results demonstrate the efficacy and superior performance of the proposed velocity estimation method and control algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the state feedback fixed‐time control problem is addressed for a class of high‐order strict‐feedback non‐linear systems (SFNSs) with mismatching system uncertainties. Based on the fixed‐time control technique and uniform exact difference method, a new fixed‐time tracking control algorithm via the backstepping method in conjunction with a novel second‐order sliding mode super‐twisting‐like structure adaptive fixed‐time disturbance observer is proposed. Compared with many existing finite‐time control results in which the convergence time grows unboundedly when the system initial conditions grow, the fixed‐time control provides faster convergence rate by using high‐degree terms and the settling time function derived only with controller parameters, is allowed to be adjusted independently of the system initial conditions. Moreover, to avoid the computation explosion, the singularity problem and to relax the assumption on the mismatching system uncertainties, the dynamics surface control method is employed based on a novel non‐linear non‐smooth first‐order filter. Then the semi‐globally uniformly fixed‐time convergent performance of the high‐order SFNSs is achieved. Finally, theoretical results are supported by simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been a challenge to develop a new transparent conductor to replace the brittle and expensive indium tin oxide (ITO) film to make film heater with high transmittance in the visible wavelength range, high surface conductivity and mechanical flexibility. Here, we report the synthesis of a transparent composite film comprising a silver nanowire (AgNW) percolation network inlaid in the surface of a heat-resistant polymer film. This composite conductor has a figure-of-merit sheet resistance of 25 Ω · sq−1 with 86.4% transmittance at 550 nm. The composite film possesses outstanding heat-resistant property and can generate high temperature up to 230 °C at low operation voltages as an efficient thin film heater. Compared with the film heaters previously reported, the composite film heater shows faster heating response and higher saturation temperature under the same input voltage. The film heater could be bent to 10 mm diameter and the generated temperature decreased by less than 3 °C after 3 000 bending cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a predictor‐based robust synchronization control scheme is proposed for a non‐collocated nonlinear master–slave system with any large networked communication time delays. In contrast to traditional collocated teleoperation systems, enhanced flexibility, and operation capacity will be obtained under the non‐collocated system structure in this article. Yet, due to the introduced input delays, existing control strategies for teleoperation systems are no longer applicable. Aiming at this problem, the terminal sliding mode (TSM) admittance control approach is proposed for the master robot to improve system transparency by receiving the contact force from the slave robot to the local side, first. Moreover, complete position synchronization performance is realized by developing a predictor‐based TSM control method for the slave robot while the closed‐loop system is subject to time‐variant large delays. It is mathematically proved that the synchronization errors between the master and the slave will converge to zero completely in finite time by compensating the effect of time delays. Finally, numerical simulations and comparisons are executed to illustrate the superior performance of the posed control algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The layered transition‐metal‐oxide materials are one type of promising cathode materials for sodium‐ion batteries, which typically include P2, P3, and O3 phases, and each has its own advantages and challenges. Taking into account the complementarity of each single‐phase structure, constructing the composite structures is an efficient pathway to stabilize the structure and improve the electrochemical performance. Herein, three composite cathode materials owning the phase structures of P3/P2, P2/O3, and P3/P2/O3 are prepared by changing the calcinating conditions without introducing any doping element. Among them, the composite of P3/P2/O3 shows the best capacity retention of 80 mAh g–1 after 200 cycles and the highest rate performance of 100 mAh g–1 at a current density of 750 mA g–1. The improved electrochemical performance can be attributed to the staggered arrangement of different phase structures and the gradient Na‐extraction/intercalation voltages of different phases. The slip of the transition metal layer is subjected to the constraint of the adjacent phase structure, thus inhibiting the phase transformation for capacity fading. This work provides an easy way for the preparation of composite cathode structures and brings a clear case for understanding the advantage of composite structures on electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zn metal anode has emerged as a promising contender for aqueous batteries. However, challenges such as H2 evolution and Zn dendrite formation have hindered the attainment of satisfactory cycling longevity. In this context, a hydrophobic and zincophilic interfacial nanofilm (HZF) is successfully developed and demonstrated as a protective layer for stabilizing Zn anodes. The HZF nanofilm, characterized by its uniformly distributed zincophilic groups, actively participates in the interfacial solvated structure of Zn2+ ions, thereby modulating the uniform deposition of Zn2+ flux onto Zn anodes and curtailing the deprotonation of solvated water molecules. Concurrently, the exposed hydrophobic surfactant within the nanofilm effectively acts as a barrier, preventing direct contact between water and the Zn anode. As a result, the Zn anode coated with the HZF nanofilm achieves stable and reversible Zn plating/stripping behavior. This is evidenced by the extended cycling lifespan of over 300 h at a discharge capacity of 10 mAh cm−2, with a deep discharge of 67% Zn utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiosarcomas are rare highly aggressive tumours of vascular or lymphatic endothelial origin, which account for 1-2% of all soft tissue sarcomas.1 Due to the difficulty of timely and accurate diagnosis, primary angiosarcoma of the gastrointestinal system is extremely rare. Computed tomography showed that a bulky mass in the horizontal segment of the duodenum and no distant metastasis (Fig. After the tumour resection, the remaining duodenum anastomosis was performed (b). gl Haematoxylin and eosin staining (HE) section showed that the tumour is composed of irregular vascular spaces filled with atypical endothelial cells (Fig. [Extracted from the article]

Addiction to morphine is a chronic brain disease leading to compulsive abuse. Drug addiction animal models with and without conditioned place preference (CPP) training have been used to investigate cue‐elicited drug craving. We used 18F‐fluorodeoxyglucose (18F‐FDG) and 11C‐2‐β‐carbomethoxy‐3‐β‐(4‐fluorophenyl)tropane (11C‐CFT) micro‐PET/CT scans to examine the regional changes in brain glucose metabolism and dopamine transporter (DAT) availability to study their relationship underlying drug memory in morphine‐treated rat models with and without CPP. Standardized uptake value ratio (SUVr) of 18F‐FDG significantly decreased in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and cingulate with short‐term morphine administration compared with the baseline condition. Voxelwise analysis indicated glucose metabolism alterations in the somatosensory cortex, hippocampus and cingulate in morphine‐treated rats and in the striatum, thalamus, medial prefrontal cortex, primary motor cortex and many regions in the cortex in the CPP group compared with the baseline condition. Alterative glucose metabolism was also observed in the striatum, primary somatosensory cortex and some cortical regions in the CPP group compared with morphine alone group. DAT expression alterations were only observed in the long‐term morphine compared with the short‐term morphine group. This study shows that cerebral glucose metabolism significantly altered during morphine administration and CPP process mainly in the mPFC, striatum and hippocampus, which indicates that the function of these brain regions is involved in cue‐induced craving and memory retrieval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The future of electronics is expected to include healable and wearable devices and systems. To realize this futuristic perspective, several smart conductive materials possessing the characteristics of being healable, flexible, and/or stretchable, are introduced. Silver nanowire (AgNW) healable polymer composite is one of the more promising candidates for this class of material. This ability of AgNW polymer composite to be healable under practical operating conditions is demonstrated. Specifically cracks induced by both mechanical and electrical loading are demonstrated to be healed by thermal treatment. Furthermore, a fatigue test of the AgNW healable conductor is conducted to investigate its mechanical behavior, an important prerequisite for the deployment of new materials. As a proof of concept, a healable touch panel is fabricated to demonstrate its feasibility, laying a stepping stone for future healable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric elastomers have been widely investigated for muscle-like soft actuators and capacitive sensors. Mechanical properties play a central role in the performances of the active material. Most elastomers have specific moduli pre-determined by the polymers' molecular structures, which are not suitable for applications in changing working conditions as natural muscles are capable of. Here new dielectric elastomers are described exhibiting variable moduli controlled via thermal treatment. The elastomers contain furan-maleimide Diels-Alder adduct moieties to administer the crosslinking densities of the elastomeric networks via reversible Diels-Alder/retro-Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction, resulting in changes in the elastomers' moduli. One of the synthesized elastomers has moduli that can be controlled between 0.17 and 0.52 MPa incrementally and reversibly. Capacitive strain sensors based on this elastomer can be operated in both rigid and soft modes to achieve variable sensing response up to 30% linear strain. Actuators were fabricated and operated in both high strain mode (35% actuation area strain at 65 MV m−1) and high force output mode (0.55 MPa at 104 MV m−1). The elastomers can exhibit a range of stress-strain outputs in similar fashion as muscle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymerized‐dioxolane(P‐DOL) is of potential as a solid‐polymer‐electrolyte(SPE) due to its high Li+‐conductivity, good compatibility with Li‐metal and desired preparation method of in situ polymerization in cells. In this study, SnF2 was demonstrated not only to be an efficient catalyst for the polymerization of DOL at room temperature, but also an effective additive for improving interfacial wettability and suppressing dendrite through the reaction with Li‐metal and the formation of LiF/LixSn based composite solid electrolyte interlayer(SEI). Using the SnF2 polymerized P‐DOL containing 1 M LiTFSI as SPE(P‐DOL‐SPE), obviously denser Li‐deposition was obtained, and the all‐solid‐state(ASS) Li/LiFePO4 cell delivered stable cycling over 350 cycles at 45 °C. At the same time, the irreversible decomposition of P‐DOL‐SPE into formaldehyde and small molecule epoxides are observed at 110 °C, which is even initiated at lower temperature of 40 °C under vacuum. This thermal decomposition of P‐DOL‐SPE in pouch cell causes huge volume swell, and therefore putting a strict limitation on the operating temperature window for the P‐DOL based electrolytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymerized‐dioxolane(P‐DOL) is of potential as a solid‐polymer‐electrolyte(SPE) due to its high Li+‐conductivity, good compatibility with Li‐metal and desired preparation method of in situ polymerization in cells. In this study, SnF2 was demonstrated not only to be an efficient catalyst for the polymerization of DOL at room temperature, but also an effective additive for improving interfacial wettability and suppressing dendrite through the reaction with Li‐metal and the formation of LiF/LixSn based composite solid electrolyte interlayer(SEI). Using the SnF2 polymerized P‐DOL containing 1 M LiTFSI as SPE(P‐DOL‐SPE), obviously denser Li‐deposition was obtained, and the all‐solid‐state(ASS) Li/LiFePO4 cell delivered stable cycling over 350 cycles at 45 °C. At the same time, the irreversible decomposition of P‐DOL‐SPE into formaldehyde and small molecule epoxides are observed at 110 °C, which is even initiated at lower temperature of 40 °C under vacuum. This thermal decomposition of P‐DOL‐SPE in pouch cell causes huge volume swell, and therefore putting a strict limitation on the operating temperature window for the P‐DOL based electrolytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti‐perovskite type Li2OHCl was previously studied as a solid‐state Li+ conductor. Here, we report that the Li2OHCl can be electrolyzed at 3.3 V or 4.0 V, with the creation of O2/HCl gases and the release of 2 equiv. Li+ via two different decomposition routes, depending on the acidity of electrolyte. In the electrolyte with trace acid, the Li2OHCl is oxidized at a constant voltage of 3.3 V. In neutral electrolyte, the oxidization of Li2OHCl starts at 4.0 V, but the produced HCl will increase the acidity of electrolyte and lead to a voltage drop to 3.3 V for the electrolysis of Li2OHCl. The electrolysis of Li2OHCl delivers a lithium releasing capacity as high as 810 mAh g−1, with an equivalent Li‐deposition or Li‐intercalation on anode, making it a promising candidate as a Li reservoir for prelithiation of anode. Using Li2OHCl as the lithium source, silicon‐carbon (Si@C) composite anode can be effectively prelithiated. The full cells composed of LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) cathode and prelithiated Si@C anode exhibited increased capacities with the increment of prelithiation dosages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti‐perovskite type Li2OHCl was previously studied as a solid‐state Li+ conductor. Here, we report that the Li2OHCl can be electrolyzed at 3.3 V or 4.0 V, with the creation of O2/HCl gases and the release of 2 equiv. Li+ via two different decomposition routes, depending on the acidity of electrolyte. In the electrolyte with trace acid, the Li2OHCl is oxidized at a constant voltage of 3.3 V. In neutral electrolyte, the oxidization of Li2OHCl starts at 4.0 V, but the produced HCl will increase the acidity of electrolyte and lead to a voltage drop to 3.3 V for the electrolysis of Li2OHCl. The electrolysis of Li2OHCl delivers a lithium releasing capacity as high as 810 mAh g−1, with an equivalent Li‐deposition or Li‐intercalation on anode, making it a promising candidate as a Li reservoir for prelithiation of anode. Using Li2OHCl as the lithium source, silicon‐carbon (Si@C) composite anode can be effectively prelithiated. The full cells composed of LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) cathode and prelithiated Si@C anode exhibited increased capacities with the increment of prelithiation dosages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garnet structured ceramic electrolyte Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) attracts much attention in solid‐state lithium batteries for its high ionic conductivity, wide electrochemical window, and lack of reducible element. However, the application of LLZO has been hindered by severe dendrite penetration. The theoretical investigations on the mechanisms of lithium dendrite evolution are carried out, aiming at quantifying the promotion effects of overpotential and the limitation counterpart of bulk modulus. Since dendrites preferentially propagate along connected defects, while intrinsic defects are difficult to be compeletely eliminated, manipulation of overpotential should be a more feasible way for dendrites suppression. The mixed electronic‐ionic conducting interphase, which in situ forms by introducing a Ti‐doping Li56La24Zr15TiO96 (T‐LLZO) interlayer between Li and LLZO, is suggested based on the proposed mechanisms, which effectively facilitates to alleviate the overpotential thus suppress the lithium dendrites theoretically. This strategy is verified experimentally by obviously improved stability of Li/Li symmetric cell using T‐LLZO ceramic pellet electrolyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) is one type of the most promising solid‐state electrolytes for next‐generation solid‐state batteries, due to its good compatibility with Li‐metal, high flexibility, and safety. To compete with currently used conventional Li‐ion batteries in energy density, SPEs must be integrated with high energy density cathode of LiNixMnyCozO2 (x + y + z = 1, 0.5 < x < 1) (NMC). However, the application of SPEs with NMC is limited by the narrow redox window of single SPEs and interfacial decomposition of SPEs by NMC. To overcome these challenges, a strategy is proposed utilizing a polymeric‐catholyte/‐anolyte‐composed dual‐polymer electrolyte and a cathode coating: a low voltage stable polyether works as a separator and stabilizes the interface with Li‐metal, while a high voltage stable polyoxalate functions as the catholyte and NMC particles are precoated by TiO2. This cell model not only widens the voltage window of the electrolyte system, but also protects the polyoxalate in the cathode from interfacial decomposition. With this strategy, cycling stability of all‐solid‐state Li‐metal/LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 (NMC622) cells is significantly improved. Meanwhile, large volume expansions of deposited lithium on both the Li‐metal anode and the copper collector are observed, which deserve more attention in the investigation of all‐solid‐state cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunction nanocomposite particles were prepared through hydrothermal method. X‐ray diffractometer (XRD), static nitrogen adsorption apparatus, DelsaNano C particle analyzer, SEM, TEM, ultraviolet visible light spectrophotometer (UV‐Vis) were employed to characterize and reveal the microcosmic characteristics, surface micromorphology and optical features of the Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunction nanocomposite particles. The photocatalytic degradation regularity of rhodamine B utilizing Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunction nanocomposite was optimized via the response surface methodology (RSM), and the quadratic regression equation of the degradation rate and coding of experimental variables were constructed. First principle calculation was applied through density function theory (DFT), the binding energies of the heterojunction of multiple Cu2O crystal surfaces and TiO2 were computed by Vienna Ab‐Initio Simulation Package. The results showed that the prepared Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunction nanocomposite crystal nanoparticles had high purity with a Cu2O crystallization preferential orientation of (111) plane. TiO2 doped Cu2O nanocomposite increased the forbidden band width, specific surface, dispersibility and absorbance efficiency in the visible light range. R2 value of the constructed quadratic regression equation was 0.9233, showing the constructed regression model was available and the photocatalytic process and the established model had good fitness. The optimum conditions for the rhodamine B degradation were obtained as follows: the photocatalytic time was 3 h, the amount of catalyst was 40 mg/L and the solution pH value was 3. The experimental degradation rate of rhodamine B was predicted to be 91.8% and the relative error between the theoretical value and the experimental value was 2.8%. All the calculated binding energies of Cu2O/TiO2 heterojunction nanocomposites were positive and Cu2O (111)/TiO2 heterojunction nanocomposites were most likely to present high catalytic activity. The photocatalytic degradation mechanism, transfer and separation laws of photogenerated carriers of Cu2O/TiO2 p‐n heterojuncion were explored and revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dual-Polymer-Electrolytes: High Voltage Stable Polyoxalate Catholyte with Cathode Coating for All-Solid-State Li-Metal/NMC622 Batteries (Adv. Keywords: high voltage cathodes; lithium-metal batteries; solid-state electrolytes EN high voltage cathodes lithium-metal batteries solid-state electrolytes 1 1 1 11/12/20 20201110 NES 201110 In article number 2002416, Weidong Zhou and co-workers develop a poly-oxalate/poly-ether dual-polymer-electrolyte system to electrochemically tolerate both high potential cathodes and low potential anodes, respectively. High voltage cathodes, lithium-metal batteries, solid-state electrolytes. [Extracted from the article]