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Reversible luminescence modulation behavior upon the photochromic effect endows the photochromic ceramics with great potential in anti-counterfeiting and data storage applications. Here, Sm3+-doped KSr2Nb5O15 photochromic ceramics exhibit superior anti-counterfeiting ability: good covertness and considerable modulation ratio of luminescent emission intensity after photochromic reaction. The results show that the photochromism originated from oxygen and cation vacancies, which were directly identified by electron paramagnetic resonance and positron annihilation lifetime spectra. Unexpectedly, oxygen vacancies work more effectively than cation vacancies during photochromic reactions. Moreover, the extraordinary anti-counterfeiting ability was attributed to the high energy transfer rate, which was particularly caused by the short mean distance below 1 nm between the Sm3+ and vacancies. The work here has provided atomic-scale structural evidence and made a progress in understanding the photochromic origins and mechanism in color-center theory.

0.83 Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2)O3-0.11Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.06Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZNNT) samples with plate-like PbTiO3 (PT) template were prepared using tape casting technology. The microstructure evolution and reaction mechanism between the matrix and PT template was investigated systematically. The quench heat treatment experiment was designed and the microstructure was evaluated. The results showed that the plate-like PT template has relatively low thermal stability which would decompose to form Pb-rich liquid phase and Ti-rich region at the sintering temperature of 900 °C–1050 °C. Plate-like PT template reacted with the PZNNT matrix materials during the sintering process, which did not contribute to the grain growth orientation for PZNNT matrix. Finally, the mechanism of grain growth for the PZNNT ceramics with plate-like PT template is clarified. This work demonstrated that the thermal stability of plate-like template is one of the key factors for fabricating textured piezoelectric ceramics.

A novel tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) type Sm3+-doped KSr2Nb5O15 (KSN-Sm) optical ceramic is fabricated by atmosphere sintering technology. A reversible photochromic effect between faint yellow and olive colors and accompanied luminescence modulation behaviour can be realized by alternating the 395 nm light irradiation and thermal treatment. The thermal stimulus model is introduced to modify the classical resonance energy transfer mechanism. The results show that the optimal luminescence modulation ratio △Rt about the red emission (601 nm) intensity amounted to 60.0 %, and the KSN-Sm ceramic exhibits excellent luminescence modulation rate and reproducibility. The colored KSN-Sm ceramic can be partly bleached by external light stimulus (620 nm), and the luminescence emission intensity can be recovered from 45 % to 84.2 %. The light bleaching efficiency is strongly dependent on the irradiation wavelength, exposure duration and irradiation dose. These discoveries pave the way to develop new luminescence materials with TTB structure.

A sample of 0.83Pb(Zr0.5Ti0.5)O3-0.11Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.06Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZNNT) to which MnO2 was added, with a high mechanical quality factor (Qm) and a good transduction coefficient (d33×g33), were systematically investigated. Based on the SEM analysis there existed two kinds of “secondary phases”, Rich Ti and Rich Zn phases, which arose due to the B-site substation of PZNNT-based ceramics by manganese ions. One phase was due to the Mn3+ replacing the Ti4+ to create oxygen vacancies and induce the hardening effect. Another phase was due to the Mn2+ replacing the Zn-site to stabilize the perovskite phase. When the addition of MnO2 reached the solubility limit of 1.5 mol% in the PZNNT-based ceramics, the sample showed optimal electrical properties (Qm=357, d33×g33=9859 × 10−15 m2/N, kp=0.56), which suggested its potential application for piezoelectric energy harvesting in larger field excitation environments.

Transparent KSr2Nb5O15 (KSN) lead-free ferroelectric ceramics have been synthesized via modified pressureless sintering method. A significant photochromic effect was observed for the transparent KSN ceramics prepared without rare-earth dopant modification. The piezoelectric properties depend on the grain orientations were investigated. The optical transmittance of the KSN ceramics is greater than 40% in the wavelength range of 530–800 nm. After NUV irradiation, the absorbance was enhanced by more than 40% in a broad visible range (more than 79%). The absorbance returned to the initial value after a thermal bleaching process. The results of the cycling tests and response experiments showed the stability and saturation of the photochromic effect. In addition, the possible photochromic mechanism of the KSN ceramics is discussed and the photochromic centers are identified. This transparent KSN ceramics exhibits an obvious photochromic effect and is a potential candidate materials for optical data storage and information recording applications.

This study reports 0.83Pb(Zr1/2Ti1/2)O3–0.11Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O3–0.06Pb(Ni1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PZNNT) ceramics doped with MnO2 were obtained through the conventional solid-state reaction method. The effects of MnO2 additive with different phases (β-, γ-, and e-) on the microstructure and piezoelectric properties of PZNNT ceramics were discussed under the same condition. On the basis of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the results clearly showed that Mn ions in different crystal forms of MnO2 could convert from Mn4+ ions to diverse valence states (Mn2+, Mn3+) and produce different oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, the relevant electric properties of samples increased as follows: PZNNT/β-MnO2

Novel plate-like B-site complex Bi4(ZrxTi1-x)3O12 microcrystals consisted with both (Bi2O2)2+ layer and Zr4+substituted [Bi2Ti3O10]2- blocks have been synthesized through molten salt method. With the increase of Zr4+ content, the lattice constant of Bi4(ZrxTi1-x)3O12 increases. From the Raman analysis, the bending vibration was mainly influenced by the Zr4+ content, while both of bending and stretching vibration was influenced at relative high calcination temperature. The reaction conversion process was mainly controlled by the solution-precipitation mechanism and TiO2 provided the basis crystal nucleation in NaCl-KCl molten salt, where the reactant ionic can precipitation, epitaxial growth and finally generated the final bismuth layer-structure products. Finally, fine crystallinity and orientation of plate-like Zr substituted Bi4(Zr0.1Ti0.9)3O12 microcrystals with high aspect ratio can be successful fabricated at 900 °C, which paved a way to design and fabricate the novel plate-like B-site complex perovskite compounds in the future.

Unmanned aerial-aquatic vehicle (UAAV) is a new type of aircraft that can navigate both in air and underwater. Considering that the diving motion of UAAV plays an important role in the performance of UAAV and is under exploration, the dynamics modeling and trajectory optimization problem are studied in this paper. The UAAV model used in this study is introduced firstly, and folded wings are adopted to reduce the drag in the diving process. Among the forces imposed on UAAV, fluid force is the most complicated and is calculated by the forces induced by ideal fluid and viscous fluid respectively. Based on the established dynamic model, the diving process is regarded as a free motion to avoid the instability during the control switch between air and water. Therefore, the trajectory of UAAV is determined by the initial states of diving process. To obtain the satisfactory trajectory under certain optimization index, an adaptive and global-best guided CS algorithm, named as improved cuckoo search (ICS) algorithm, is developed to strength the exploitation ability and search efficiency. Simulation results demonstrate that the established dynamical model of UAAV is rational and can reflect the characteristic of the diving motion. The proposed ICS algorithm performs better than the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and the standard CS algorithm both in optimizing the elapsed time of diving process and the terminal position error.

DNA methylation is widespread in plants and associated with plant development and defense mechanisms. However, the relationship between DNA methylation and plant secondary metabolism has rarely been reported. Here, when birch suspension cells were treated with 5-azacytidine (5-azaC), which blocks DNA methylation, triterpenoid accumulation was significantly promoted and antioxidant and defense enzymatic activity changed. For studying triterpenoid accumulation, 0.1 mM azaC was optimal. A qRT-PCR assay revealed increased expression of genes encoding key triterpenoid biosynthetic enzymes. Evaluation of methylation polymorphisms at CCGG sites showed that the methylation level was lower in cells treated with 5-azaC. These results demonstrated that 5-azaC treatment led to an increase in the production of triterpenoids in cell cultures through a mechanism that involved in DNA methylation, which resulted in the induction of genes encoding the key enzymes. The study provides evidence of a relationship between DNA methylation and regulation of secondary metabolism.

The Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous magmatism at the margin of the South China Block (SCB) provide ideal targets to investigate magma petrogenesis and tectonic evolution of the SCB during th...

A quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) protocol is presented. In the proposed protocol, the omega state is introduced to detect the eavesdropping during the quantum communication, eavesdropping behaviors will change the state of the omega state, and the sender Alice and the receiver Bob detect eavesdropping through the state measurement results. The relationship between the amount of information that the eavesdropper gets and the probability of being detected is also given. Compared with the original QSDC protocol based on the Bell state, when the same amount of information is obtained, the eavesdropper must face a higher detection probability in the proposed protocol, and the eavesdropper mostly can obtain 0.676 (bit) of information. The security analysis is also given, and the result indicates that the proposed protocol is more secure. A simulation based on the law of large number and the Monte Carlo method is also given, and the mean square error is introduced to describe the similarity between the simulation data and the theoretical value. The simulation result indicates that the proposed security in an ideal environment and the security analysis are correct, and the proposed protocol is more secure by sending more quantum particles in detecting eavesdropping.

In this paper, a 420 km Optical transport network (OTN) transmission system of 8 × 100 Gbit/s signals was achieved with amplifier combination of a low cost second order Raman amplifier and an enhanced remotely pump amplifier. The second order Raman amplifier consist of a commercial first order Raman amplifier and two auxiliary lasers which is completely controlled by the first order Raman amplifier. The total link budget is 84 dB with a power margin of more than 4 dB. The new amplifier structure increased the link power budget by 6.5 dB and OSNR by 1.4 dB on average.

Global warming and land-use change affects runoff in the regional basin. Affected by different factors, such as abundant rainfall and increased impervious surface, the Taihu basin becomes more vulnerable to floods. As a result, a future flood risk analysis is of great significance. This paper simulated the land-use expansion and analyzed the surface change from 2020 to 2050 using the neural network Cellular Automata Markov (CA-Markov) model. Moreover, the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Climate Projections (NEX-GDDP) dataset was corrected for deviation and used to analyze the climate trend. Second, the verified SWAT model was applied to simulate future runoff and to analyze the future flood risk. The results show that (1) land use is dominated by cultivated land and forests. In the future, the area of cultivated land will decrease and construction land will expand to 1.5 times its present size. (2) The average annual precipitation and temperature will increase by 1.2% and 1.5 degrees from 2020 to 2050, respectively. During the verified period, the NSE and r-square values of the SWAT model are greater than 0.7. (3) Compared with the historical extreme runoff, the extreme runoff in the return period will increase 10%~25% under the eight climate models in 2050. In general, the flood risk will increase further under the climate scenarios.

A simulation algorithm based on the law of large number and Monte Carlo method in the classical computer environment is presented. During the simulation of the original quantum BB84 protocol in ideal environment, the sender Alice tries to send classical bit 0 or 1 to the receiver Bob, and the eavesdropper Eve tries to get the transmission information by intercepting and resending the quantum particles. The bit error rate in the quantum BB84 protocol is also given, and the value of the bit error rate can be analyzed if Eve eavesdrops the communication. In addition, the mean square error is introduced to describe the similarity between the simulation data and the theoretical data. (The smaller the mean square error is, the more reasonable the simulation will be.) In this simulation, the value of MSE is $$6.705\times 10^{-5}$$ after 5000 times simulation when Eve eavesdrops the communication with the probability of 100%. The time complexity of the simulation algorithm is O(n) in our experiment. The reason why there is always an error between the simulation data and theoretical data is analyzed, and the correctness and rationality of the simulation algorithm are also analyzed.

Semi-supervised support vector machine ( $$S^3VM$$ ) is a popular strategy for many machine learning tasks due to the expensiveness of getting enough labeled data. In this paper, we propose a quantum Help-Training $$S^3VM$$ and design a quantum Parzen window model to select $$n_1+n_2$$ unlabeled data from l labeled and n unlabeled data set in each iteration, the time complexity is $$O(\tau \sqrt{nn_1}+\tau \sqrt{nn_2}+\tau \sqrt{n})$$ for $$\tau $$ iterations, which exhibits a quadratic speed-up over classical algorithm, we adopt quantum linear system to build Lagrangian multipliers with accuracy $$\varepsilon $$ , the time complexity is $$O(\tau \kappa ^3$$ $$\varepsilon ^{-3} \hbox {polylog}(N(n+l)))$$ , where condition number is $$\kappa $$ and feature dimension is N, it is exponentially faster than classical $$S^3VM$$ algorithm. Our scheme has two significant merits, (i) we provide the first quantum method for semi-supervised learning, which uses multiple unlabeled data with quantum superposition to predict Lagrangian multipliers at the same time, (ii) quantum matrix decomposition method avoids building matrices of different dimensions in one iteration; specially, this work provides inspiration to explore the potential quantum machine learning applications.

Under the influence of climate change and human activities, sediment load in rivers has changed significantly, which has a profound impact on the stability of ecosystems and the sustainable development of human beings. Taking the Yanhe River watershed as a case, this paper expounds the dynamic relationship among the Grain for Green Project, social and economic development, population migration, and sediment transport. The variability of sediment load was detected by Pettitt test, the double cumulative curve method, and the regression analysis method, and the effects of climate and human activities on sediment load were quantitatively analyzed. The results showed that 1) from 1956 to 2016, the precipitation of Yanhe River watershed rose slightly in the past 10 years, but the sediment load decreased significantly, 1996 was identified as the catastrophic year of the study period, when the contribution of climate change and human activity to reduced sediment load was 14.1% and 85.9%, respectively. 2) The Grain for Green Project increased the vegetation coverage of the study area from 40.6% to 78.5%. 3) The proportion of agricultural GDP in total GDP decreased from 52.26% to 7.3%, and the proportion of agricultural GDP was positively correlated with sediment transport and cultivated land area (p &lt, 0.01). 4) Population migration resulted in the urbanization rate reaching 40.23%, and the urbanization rate is negatively correlated with sediment load and cultivated land area (p &lt, 0.01), while the cultivated land area is positively correlated with sediment load (p &lt, 0.01). The decrease of cultivated land area makes the sediment load gradually decrease. Therefore, socio-economic factors promote the sustainable development of the river basin.

The sparse data and large computational overhead in the use of large-scale knowledge graphs have caused widespread attention to Knowledge Representation Learning (KRL) technology. Although many KRL models have been proposed to embed structure information, their ability to accurately represent newly added entities or entities with few relations is significantly insufficient. In some studies, the introduction of textual information has partially solved this problem. However, most existing text-enhanced models only consider the shallow description information of the entities, and ignore the relation mention information between entities, and deep semantic information between sentences and words, which is not optimized for long texts supplementary information like Wikipedia.

With the rapid development of advanced technology, piezoelectric energy harvesting (PEH) with the advantage of simple structure, polluted relatively free, easily minimization, and integration has been used to collect the extensive mechanical energy in our living environment holding great promise to power the self-sustainable system and portable electronics. In this paper, attempts have been made to review the progress of piezoelectric materials and devices used for energy harvesting. The review focused on three parts: structure of piezoelectric devices (cantilever, cymbal, and stacks); theoretical mode, including vibration mode (d31 and d33) and its responding theories of different devices; and piezoelectric materials, among which the electric performance of Pb(ZrTi)O3-based, lead-free-based, and composites applied in bulk/micro/nano-PEH devices were introduced in details. It is suggested that a new structure of PEH should be designed by combining advantages of cantilever, stacks, and cymbal structure. Besides, high d33 × g33 value and low e of piezoelectric materials are required in order to generate high electric output power for bulk/micro/nano-PEH. Additionally, lead-free piezoelectric ceramics is a candidate for manufacturing PEH devices, and nano-composite materials should be developed to further improve the flexibility of piezoelectric materials.

Accurate watershed delineation is a precondition for runoff and water quality simulation. Traditional digital elevation model (DEM) may not generate realistic drainage networks due to large depressions and subtle elevation differences in local-scale plains. In this study, we propose a new method for solving the problem of watershed delineation, using the Taihu Basin as a case study. Rivers, lakes, and reservoirs were obtained from Sentinel-2A images with the Canny algorithm on Google Earth Engine (GEE), rather than from DEM, to compose the drainage network. Catchments were delineated by modifying the flow direction of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and overland flow, instead of using DEM values. A watershed was divided into the following three types: Lake, reservoir, and overland catchment. A total of 2291 river segments, seven lakes, eight reservoirs, and 2306 subwatersheds were retained in this study. Compared with results from HydroSHEDS and Arc Hydro, the proposed method retains crisscross structures in the topology and prevented erroneous streamlines in large lakes. High-resolution Sentinel-2A images available on the GEE have relatively greater merits than DEMs for precisely representing drainage networks and catchments, especially in the plains area. Because of the higher accuracy, this method can be used as a new solution for watershed division in the plains area.

Odometer is a good information source for land vehicle navigation because it can detect the velocity or mileage of a vehicle. Odometer scale factor, misalignment, and level arm with inertial measurement unit are the three sources of integration inaccuracy. However, they are difficult to be calibrated using a single procedure as they vary with many factors, such as the environment temperature, loading, and mounting factors. The online calibration method of the total odometer error and the odometer-aided inertial navigation system algorithm based on Coriolis Law were derived in this study. Vehicle test results indicated that the proposed calibration method can perform a good estimation of total odometer error. Navigation accuracy can be improved significantly with the calibrated odometer when the Global Positioning System declares loss-of-lock, which is approximately 1‰ of the mileage.

PurposeMeasurement-while-drilling (MWD) system has been used to provide trajectory and inclination parameters of the oil and gas well. Fluxgate magnetometer is a traditional choice for one MWD system; however, it cannot obtain effective trajectory parameters in nonmagnetic environments. Fiber-optic-gyroscope (FOG) inclinometer system is a favorable substitute of fluxgate magnetometer, which can avoid the flaws associated with magnetic monitoring devices. However, there are some limitations and increasing surveying errors in this system under high impact conditions. This paper aims to overcome these imperfections of the FOG inclinometer system.Design/methodology/approachTo overcome the imperfections, filtering algorithms are used to improve the precision of the equipment. The authors compare the low-pass filtering algorithm with the wavelet de-noising algorithm applied to real experimental data. Quantitative comparison of the error between the true and processed signal revealed that the wavelet de-noising method outperformed the low-pass filtering method. To achieve optimal positioning effects, the wavelet de-noising algorithm is finally used to inhibit the interference caused by the impact.FindingsThe experimental results show that the method proposed can ensure the azimuth accuracy lower than ±2 degrees and the inclination accuracy lower than ± 0.15 degrees under the condition of interval impact. The method proposed can overcome the interference generated by the impact in the well, which makes the instrument suitable for the measurement of small-diameter casing well.Originality/valueAfter conducting the wavelet threshold filtering on the raw data of accelerometers, the noise generated by the impact is successfully suppressed, which is expected to meet the special requirement of the down-hole survey environment.

0.83Pb(Zr 0.5 Ti 0.5 )O 3 − 0.11Pb(Zn 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 − 0.06Pb(Ni 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 (PZNNT) ceramics with different content of plate-like Sr 3 Ti 2 O 7 compound was prepared. Effect of Sr 3 Ti 2 O 7 amount and sintering temperature on the microstructures and piezoelectric properties of PZNNT ceramics were investigated. The results revealed that the content of tetragonal phase at morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) and grain size decreased significantly by increasing Sr 3 Ti 2 O 7 content. In addition, with further increase of sintering temperature for better density, the content of tetragonal phase and electric properties of PZNNT-5 wt%Sr 3 Ti 2 O 7 ceramics gradually increased. The optimal piezoelectric and dielectric properties of PZNNT-5 wt%Sr 3 Ti 2 O 7 ceramics sintered at 1040 °C for 2 h was d 33 = 572 pC/N, d 33 × g 33 = 17,630 × 10 –15 m 2 /N and k p = 0.57, which is potential candidate materials used for piezoelectric energy harvesting.

(1 − x)(K0.52Na0.48)NbO3–xKSr2Nb5O15 [(1 − x)KNN–xKSN] lead-free ferroelectric composite ceramics were successfully prepared using KNN powders and rod-like KSN particles as raw materials. Effects of KSN content on the microstructure, electrical, and optical properties were investigated. The results showed that perovskite KNN phase and tungsten bronze KSN phase coexisted in (1 − x)KNN–xKSN ceramics, which resulted in double dielectric peaks in the temperature dependence plots. With increasing the content of KSN, the dielectric relaxor characteristic was weakened, the Curie temperature shifted to relatively lower temperature, the dielectric tunability and the optical transmittance were enhanced. 0.8KNN–0.2KSN ceramics showed the optimized electrical and optical properties, with dielectric tunability up to 45.4% at bias of 6 kV/mm, and the optical transmittance reached ~ 84% at the wavelength of near-infrared region.

A Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) and authentication protocol based on the W-class state is presented to enhance the efficiency of eavesdropping detection. In this protocol, the W-class state is used to transmission the checking sequence and detect eavesdroppers. In the security analysis, the method of entropy theory is introduced, and two detection strategies are compared quantitatively by using the constraint between the information that eavesdroppers can obtain and a normalized difference parameter is introduced. To obtain the same amount of information, the eavesdropper must face a higher detection probability in the proposed protocol than in the comparison. The security of the proposed protocol is also discussed. The analysis results indicate that the proposed protocol is more secure, but it must send more particles.

Triassic A-type granites in eastern South China Block (SCB) are abundant in the Wuyi–Yunkai tectonic domain and provide an important opportunity to explore the early Mesozoic evolution of continental crust of the SE part of the SCB. We carried out U–Pb zircon dating, Lu–Hf isotope analyses of zircon, and whole-rock geochemical analyses for two granitic plutons, the Guiyantou (GYT) and Luoguyan (LGY) granites, from northwestern Fujian Province. LA–ICP–MS U–Pb zircon analyses yielded ages of 232 ± 4 to 231 ± 7 Ma and 221 ± 5 Ma (Middle-Late Triassic) for the GYT and LGY granites. These two granites belong to metaluminous to weakly peraluminous high K calc-alkaline A-type granite that are enriched in K, Al, light rare earth element and Rb, Th, U, and Pb, and depleted in Nb, Ta, P, and Ti. Their rare earth element patterns are highly fractionated with (La/Yb)N ratios of 2–21 and strong negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.02–0.31). In situ Hf isotopic analysis of zircon from the GYT and LGY granites yiel...

Knowledge of the Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the eastern South China Block (ESCB) plays a crucial role in understanding the formation of the Large Granitic Province and polymetallic mineralization. This review focuses on two controversial issues: (1) which one was the primary controlling factor of the Triassic geodynamic process of the South China Block (SCB), oceanic subduction or intracontinental convergence? (2) what was the subduction style of the Paleo-Pacific plate during the Jurassic–Cretaceous? Based on analyses of regional deformation and published geochronological, petrological, and Nd isotopic data of the magmatic rocks, we reconstruct the Mesozoic tectonic architecture and determined the temporal and spatial evolution of magmatic activities in the ESCB. The analysis of regional deformation shows that two groups of folds, including NE/NNE-trending folds in the Cathaysia Block and NW/NWW-trending folds in the inland, were formed in the Middle–Late Triassic. Subsequently, Middle–Late Jurassic NW–SE compression led to large-scale NE-trending fold-thrust deformation in the SCB, except for roughly S–N extension in the eastern Nanling tectonic belt, which caused the occurrence of the NE-striking dextral-normal oblique faults. Geochronological data indicate that magmatism in the ESCB can be divided into five separate stages: at 250–210 Ma, 210–170 Ma, 170–145 Ma, 145–120 Ma, and 120–85 Ma, respectively. In the first stage, granitic rocks consist mainly of S- and A-type granites, with subordinate I-type granites. These three types of granites were all derived from the partial melting of Proterozoic rocks. In the second stage, the magmatic activities are characterized by mantle-derived magmas in the coastal area, while they are featured by the mixing of predominantly mantle-derived melts with the Neoproterozoic crust in the inland area. In the third stage, widespread I- and A-type granites, which are characterized by the crust-mantle mixing, were formed in the Nanling tectonic belt and adjacent regions in response to the intense extension of lithosphere. In contrast, the development of crust-derived magmas in the Wuyi tectonic belt indicates a relatively weak lithosphere extension. The granitoids of the fourth stage, which are composed of I- and A-type granites, are mainly distributed in two separate areas, the eastern Jiangnan Orogenic Belt and southeastern Guangdong Province. Their petrogenesis is related to the crust-mantle mixing under the extensional setting. The magmatic activities in the last stage propagated eastward and were developed in the coastal area. The intrusive suites comprise major I- and A-type granitoids, and minor gabbroids, which were formed in an enhanced lithospheric extensional setting. Combined with the records of regional deformation, sedimentology, and magmatic evolution, we propose a new tectonic evolution model for the ESCB covering the range of ca. 270 Ma to 85 Ma. This model demonstrates that the ESCB probably experienced a coeval multi-plate convergence during the Triassic, producing an intracontinental deformation belt in the Yangtze Block and an Andean-type retro-arc foreland system in the Cathaysia Block. During the Jurassic–Cretaceous period, the subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate beneath the SCB triggered crustal thickening, local extension, and large-scale lithospheric extension through the advance, tearing, rollback, and breakoff of the oceanic slab.

Lipid turnover in Schizochytrium supports a preferential degradation of saturated fatty acids and a reservation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. In this study, multiple omics were utilized at different cultivation stages of Schizochytrium sp. S31 to reveal the mechanism of lipid turnover. During the lipid turnover stage, palmitic acid content decreased from 41.18% to 21.33%, while docosahexaenoic acid content increased from 31.20% to 50.43%. The lipidomic analysis showed that the lipid turnover mainly happened to saturated triacylglycerol accompanying with an increased level of phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine. The transcriptomic result further indicated that the differential expression genes related to the fatty acid degradation pathway were significantly increased, and the formation of phospholipids from diacylglycerol was enhanced. Finally, genomic sequencing and genetic engineering proved that the characterized triacylglycerol lipase might participate in the preferential hydrolysis of saturated fatty acids during lipid turnover. These results would not only enrich the current knowledge regarding the lipid turnover phenomenon but also contribute to the production of high-quality single cell oil from microalgae.

Noise is a problem that communication channels cannot avoid. It is, thus, beneficial to analyze the security of MDI-QKD in noisy environment. An analysis model for collective-rotation noise is introduced, and the information theory methods are used to analyze the security of the protocol. The maximum amount of information that Eve can eavesdrop is 50%, and the eavesdropping can always be detected if the noise level e ≤ 0.68. Therefore, MDI-QKD protocol is secure as quantum key distribution protocol. The maximum probability that the relay outputs successful results is 16% when existing eavesdropping. Moreover, the probability that the relay outputs successful results when existing eavesdropping is higher than the situation without eavesdropping. The paper validates that MDI-QKD protocol has better robustness.

CuZnAl catalysts with different Cu/Zn/Al molar ratio prepared by precipitation-hydrothermal method were evaluated for synthesis of higher alcohols from syngas. All the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), temperature programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD-MS) and carbon dioxide (CO2-TPD-MS), and N2 adsorption. These results show that CuZnAl catalysts with hydrotalcite-like structure exhibited optimum performance in terms of both activity and selectivity to higher alcohols. The catalyst with highly dispersed CuO and suitable interaction between Cu with Zn and Al was favorable for synthesis of higher alcohols. Moreover, the synergistic effect between weak acid sites and medium basic sites promoted the chain propagation and oxygenation. When the molar ratio of Cu/Zn/Al was 0.4:0.6:1, the CO conversion could reach 12.5% and the C2+OH selectivity was 13.8%.

In this study, we employed an in-situ transformation method to prepared a mesoporous spindle like BiVO 4 /nanosheet BiOCl composite photocatalyst. The nanostructure and content of 2-D BiOCl could be facilely tuned by controlling the concentration of Cl − ions in the reaction solution. The as-prepared BiVO 4 -BiOCl photocatalyst showed an excellent photocatalytic norfloxacin degradation performance, and removed it in 1 h almost completely. Further research results indicated that a well-defined p-n heterojunction interface has been formed between BiVO 4 and BiOCl, to enhance the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. In addition, after the nanosheets BiOCl interlaced with the mesoporous BiVO 4 spindles, since the 2-D structure of the former, the charge transfer capacity of the composite would be improved to prolong the lifetime of the photoinduced carriers.

Hierarchical microstructured copper phosphate (HCuPO), which could accelerate water evaporation was well designed based on d–d transition of 3d electrons in Cu2+ and fabricated via a solvothermal method. A very strong vis–NIR absorption with the maximum at 808 nm was observed for the HCuPO. Upon irradiation of 808 nm NIR laser light, the HCuPO generated heat with a light-to-heat converting efficiency of 41.8%. The reason for this high efficiency was investigated and assigned to a high probability of nonradiative relaxation, which released the energy in form of heat, happened to the excited 3d electrons of Cu2+. The proposed photothermal mechanism was quite different from the surface–plasmon mechanism of other Cu-based photothermal materials. By adding HCuPO into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), HCuPO–PDMS composite sheets were fabricated. Due to the intrinsic hydrophobicity of PDMS matrix, the sheets were floatable on water surface and the heat generated by HCuPO was confined within water–air interface region...

Sand burial plays important role in the life history of species in sandy areas of arid and semi-arid temperate regions, by affecting seed germination, seedling growth and survival and plant community. However, few studies have focused on the effects of sand burial on the dynamics of seed dormancy in such areas. In this study, seed germination characteristics of Allium tenuissimum, a dominant perennial herb in the dune ecosystem in Ordos Plateau in northern China, was investigated. Dormancy dynamics were monitored for seeds buried at sand depths of 0, 2 and 5 cm in the natural habitats for 13 months. Freshly matured seeds of A. tenuissimum were conditionally dormant and germinated to high percentages at high but not low temperatures. Germination percentages were increased by incubation at summer temperature (15/25 °C) and dry storage, but GA3 and cold stratification had no significant effects. These results suggested that seeds of A. tenuissimum were conditionally dormant, and incubation under warm, wet (but not cold, wet) conditions and dry after-ripening resulted in complete dormancy releasing. Seeds buried at 2 and 5 cm in the field for 13 months exhibited seasonal changes in germination, with an increase in spring and summer followed by decrease in autumn and winter. However, seeds on the soil surface (0 cm) gradually came out of dormancy beginning in January, and germinated percentage was highest in July, after which remained high. The peak of nondormancy for seeds buried in the field was in the summer, which corresponds to the period of highest annual precipitation. Sand burial helped mediate seeds dormancy dynamics of A. tenuissimum via seasonal dormancy cycling. Our finding contributes to a better understanding of how timing of seedling establishment is controlled in a semiarid dune ecosystem in temperate climate.

The widespread migmatites in the northwestern part of the Sulu Orogen, China, indicate regional anatexis that is of great significance when discussing the tectonic evolution of this continental orogenic belt. Cathodoluminescence (CL) images, U–Pb ages, and in situ trace element compositions of zircons from four pegmatite veins within these migmatites provide clear evidence for the nature of the post-collisional evolution of the Sulu Orogen. The inherited zircon cores reveal that the protoliths of the migmatites were middle Neoproterozoic magmatic rocks (810–620 Ma) of the South China Block. The protoliths underwent two partial melting events. The mantle domains of the inherited zircons record a Late Triassic (222.0–204.0 Ma) partial melting event that occurred during the exhumation and retrograde metamorphism, after ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphism. Subsequent newly grown zircons record a Middle–Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (164.1–125.5 Ma) anatexis event, indicating that the late Mesozoic anatexis started before ca. 164.1 Ma, reached a peak at ca. 152.1 Ma, and ceased at ca. 125.5 Ma. Combined with previous results of studies on the Sulu orogen, the late Mesozoic anatexis suggested that the thickened crust of the Sulu Orogen had started to become unstable before 164.1 Ma. The duration of ~164.1–137 Ma corresponds to a period of transition in the tectonic regime of the Sulu Orogen, enabling the early high-temperature ductile deformation. After ca. 137 Ma, the tectonic regime was fully transformed into extension and the Sulu Orogen underwent rapid thinning and collapse, thus leading to the late medium–low temperature ductile deformation (137–121 Ma) and laying the foundations for the large-scale magmatic emplacement during the late Early Cretaceous (127–115 Ma). These two partial melting events together promoted the rapid exhumation of the Sulu UHP rocks.

Based the idea of original “Ping-pong” protocol, an improved “Ping-pong” protocol based on single-particle and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement is presented. The EPR entanglement is used to detect the eavesdropping and the single particle is used to transmit the information. During the protocol, the sender Alice transmits an EPR entanglement pairs and a single particle to the receiver Bob at the same time. The bit error is caused by the random position of the single particle. In our security analysis, an eavesdropping will cause at least a bit error rate of 16.7%, and the probability of detecting eavesdropping with bit error rate is 50.0%. We also give a simulation which is based on law of large numbers and Monte Carlo method. In our simulation, we use mean square error (the value is \(1.8115\times 10^{-5}\)) to indicate that the simulation data is approach to the theoretical value. Compared with the original “Ping-pong” protocol, the presented protocol doesn’t need the control mode, and it doesn’t need to store the quantum state.

A novel quantum key distribution protocol based on entanglement and dense coding is proposed, which does not need to store the qubits. Every four particles is divided into a group, of which \(\{(1,2),(3,4)\}\) or \(\{(1,3),(2,4)\}\) are in entanglement. Some of the groups are used to transfer the message, and the others are used to check the eavesdropping. In the message mode, the authorized party needn’t to know the location information of the group, he only needs to make the unitary operation to the first and the forth of the group. Also, the trade-off between information and disturbance is calculated under the intercept-measure-resend attack and entanglement-measure attack, which tells that the protocol is asymptotically secure. Moreover, the quantum circuit simulation of the protocol is shown.

Cycle slip (CS) is a primary error source in Precise Point Positioning/Inertial Navigation System (PPP/INS) integrated systems. In this study, an INS-aided CS detection and repair method is presented. It utilizes high-precision INS information instead of a pseudorange to remove the satellite&ndash, receiver geometric range in the wide-lane (WL) and ionospheric-free (IF) phase combinations and creates an INS-aided WL (WL-INS) model and an INS-aided IF (IF-INS) model. Since INS information is superior to pseudorange, the INS-aided models have high detection accuracy. However, the effectiveness of INS-aided models cannot persist for a long time because of INS accumulation error. To overcome the disturbance of INS error, improved INS-aided models are proposed. This idea takes advantage of the long wavelength of WL combination and tries to fix WL CS. Once it succeeds, the INS error can be evaluated and removed. The proposed method was tested using land vehicle data, in which simulated cycle slips and signal interruption were introduced. The results show that this method can accurately detect and repair different cycle slips between the continuous Global Positioning System (GPS) epoch. When it comes to the cycle slip after a GPS interruption, the method can also accelerate PPP re-convergence, as it is not affected by the inertial accumulation error.

Angiogenesis plays an essential role in tumourigenesis and tumour progression, and anti-angiogenesis therapies have shown promising antitumour effects in solid tumours. 2-Methoxyestradiol (2ME2), an endogenous metabolite of estradiol, has been regarded as a potential antitumour agent mainly targeting angiogenesis. Here we synthesized a novel series of chalcones based on 2-methoxyestradiol and evaluated their potential activities against tumours. Compound 11e was demonstrated to have potent antiangiogenic activity. Further studies showed that 11e suppressed tumour growth in human breast cancer (MCF-7) xenograft models without obvious side effects. Evaluation of the mechanism revealed that 11e targeted the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) process in MCF-7 cells and inhibited HUVEC migration and then contributed to hindrance of angiogenesis. Thus, 11e may be a promising antitumour agent with excellent efficacy and low toxicity.

Indoor navigation and location-based services increasingly show promising marketing prospects. Indoor positioning based on Wi-Fi radio signal has been studied for more than a decade because Wi-Fi, a signal of opportunity without extra cost, is extensively deployed for internet connections. Bayesian fingerprinting positioning, a classical Wi-Fi-based indoor positioning method, consists of two phases: radio map learning and position inference. Thus far, the application of Bayesian fingerprinting positioning is limited due to its poor usability, radio map learning requires an adequate number of received signal strength indication (RSSI) observables at each reference point, long-term fieldwork, and high development and maintenance costs. In this paper, based on a statistical analysis of actual RSSI observables, a Weibull&ndash, Bayesian density model is proposed to represent the probability density of Wi-Fi RSSI observables. The Weibull model, which is parameterized with three parameters that can be calculated with fewer samples, can calculate the probability density with a higher accuracy than the traditional histogram method. Furthermore, the parameterized Weibull model can simplify the radio map by storing only three parameters that can restore the whole probability density, i.e., it is not necessary to store the probability distribution based on traditionally separated RSSI bins. Bayesian positioning inference is performed in the positioning phase using probability density rather than the traditional probability distribution of predefined RSSI bins. The proposed method was implemented on an Android smartphone, and the performance was evaluated in different indoor environments. Results revealed that the proposed method enhanced the usability of Wi-Fi Bayesian fingerprinting positioning by requiring fewer RSSI observables and improved the positioning accuracy by 19&ndash, 32% in different building environments compared with the classic histogram-based method, even when more samples were used.

With the popularization of 3D printing technology, micro/nanoparticles sintering technology has drawn lots of attentions all over the world. Here, molecular dynamic simulation is employed to discuss the effects of different interfacial lattice structures, different diameter of nanoparticles, and different heating rates on the coalescence of metallic Cu nanoparticles. The results showed that the diameter of nanoparticles determine the melting point of the system. Besides, the interfacial lattice structure, diameter of nanoparticles, and heating rate have an influence on the initial sintering temperature. This is because the melting point is the inherent property of material which relies on the mass of substance. However, the initial sintering temperature is sensitive to many factors, including the temperature, interfacial, and intermolecular interactions.

As our research focuses on anticancer drugs, a series of novel derivatives of flexicaulin A (FA), an ent-kaurene diterpene, condensed with an aromatic ring were synthesized, and their antiproliferative activities against four human cancer cell lines (TE-1, EC109, MCF-7, and MGC-803) were evaluated. The activities of most of the new compounds were better than those of FA. Compound 2y exhibited the best activity with an IC50 value reaching 0.13 μM against oesophageal cancer cells (EC109 cells). The IC50 values for 2y in normal cells (GES-1 cells and HUVECs) were 0.52 μM and 0.49 μM, respectively. Subsequent mechanistic investigations found that compound 2y can inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and cell cloning. In addition, 2y could reduce the mitochondrial membrane potential, increase the apoptosis rate, and increase the ROS level in EC109 cells. Moreover, 2y can upregulate the expression of ROS/JNK pathway-related proteins (p-ASK1, p-MKK4, p-JNK, and p-Cjun (ser63)) and pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax, Bad, and Bim). In vivo experiments showed that 2y can inhibit tumour growth in nude mice. The mechanism involves an increase in protein expression in the ROS pathway, leading to changes in apoptosis-related proteins. In addition, compound 2y shows low toxicity. These results indicate that compound 2y holds promising potential as an antiproliferative agent.

Sm3+ doped KSr2Nb5O15 (KSN-Sm) ceramics exhibiting the electro-photoluminescent coupling effect were prepared by two-step sintering technology. The microstructures, electrical and luminescent properties were characterized. In addition, the luminescence modulation behavior upon the application of an in-situ electric field was investigated. It was found that the luminescent emission intensity decreased with increasing in-situ dc bias, and a high modulation ratio of approximately 20%@20 kV/cm was achieved. This work demonstrates that KSN-based ferroelectric ceramics with the tetragonal tungsten bronze structure are promising optical materials with good luminescence modulation behavior.

As the main composition of combustion, black carbon (BC) is becoming more and more noticeable at home and abroad. Ozone-oxidized black carbon (oBC) was produced through aging of ozone, one of the near-surface pollutants, to black carbon. And oBC was found to be more oxidation and cell toxicity when compared with BC. Besides, as a key cell of immunity, whether CD4(+) T cell would involve in lung inflammation induced by particular matter is still unclear. This study aims to observe the effect of oBC on lung damage in mice and discuss how the functional MAP4K4 defect CD4(+) T cells (conditional knockout of MAP4K4) presents its role in this process. In our study, MAP4K4 deletion in CD4(+) T cells (MAP4K4 cKO) could increase cell number of macrophages, lymphocytes and neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) exposed to oBC. MAP4K4 deletion in CD4(+) T cell also affected CD4(+) T cell differentiation in mediastinal lymph nodes after oBC stimulation. The number of CD4(+) IL17(+) T cell increased obviously. The levels of IL-6 mRNA of lung in MAP4K4 cKO mice was higher than that in wild type mice after exposed to oBC, while the level of IL-6 in BALF had the same trend. Histological examination showed that MAP4K4 deletion in CD4(+) T cells affected lung inflammation induced by oBC. Results indicated that MAP4K4 cKO in CD4(+) T cells upgraded the level of inflammation in lung when exposed to oBC, which may be connected to the CD4(+) T cell differentiation and JNK, ERK and P38 pathways.

In this paper, we use multimode GNSS instead of single GPS constellation to resolve the three exterior line elements of each image. The principles of differential GNSS positioning and GNSS-supported aerial triangulation (AT) are presented and an implementation case is demonstrated. With multi-constellation system, the number of visible satellites is significantly increased and the geometry distribution of the satellites is well improved. The positioning accuracy and robustness are therefore getting better compared to GPS positioning. Experimental results show that differential GNSS has remarkable increment on the integer rate of ambiguity solution when GPS has few number and low elevation angle of satellites. The combined AT adjustment of GNSS resolution and 10 ground control points (GCPs) achieve the horizontal accuracy of ±18 cm and vertical accuracy of ±23 cm for the check points, which are comparable with traditional bundle adjustment with dense GCPs and better than GPS-supported AT. The achie...

Seeking highly-efficient, low-cost and robust methods to remove metal ions from aqueous solutions is very much in demand. Here, we developed a novel magnetic composite bio-adsorbent, graphene oxide and magnetic chitosan-ionic liquids (GOMCS-ILs), for removing Pb(II) from water. This was the first time to combine ionic liquids and graphene oxide and magnetic chitosan, and apply to the adsorption of metal ions. The addition of ionic liquids can not only improve the dispersivity of the adsorbent, but also increase the adsorption sites. The characteristic result of FTIR, SEM, and XRD showed that GOMCS-ILs were prepared with large surface area and good magnetic responsiveness. The influence of various analytical parameters on the adsorption of Pb(II) such as pH, contact time, and initial ion concentration were studied in detail. The adsorption followed a pseudo second order kinetics. The equilibrium adsorption was well-described by the Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum adsorption capacity was to be 85mgg(-1). Moreover, the GOMCS-ILs could be repeatedly used by simple treatment without obvious structure and performance degradation. These results demonstrated the potential applications of GOMCS-ILs microspheres in efficient removal of Pb(II) from wastewater and deep-purification of polluted water.

A deterministic secure quantum communication and authentication protocol based on extended GHZ-W state and quantum one-time pad is proposed. In the protocol, state |φ −〉 is used as the carrier. One photon of |φ −〉 state is sent to Alice, and Alice obtains a random key by measuring photons with bases determined by ID. The information of bases is secret to others except Alice and Bob. Extended GHZ-W states are used as decoy photons, the positions of which in information sequence are encoded with identity string ID of the legal user, and the eavesdropping detection rate reaches 81%. The eavesdropping detection based on extended GHZ-W state combines with authentication and the secret ID ensures the security of the protocol.

A trace-level chemiluminescent (CL) sensor for the determination of phenacetin, utilising CdTe quantum dots@luminol (QDs@luminol) for signal amplification, based on a chitosan/magnetic graphene oxide-molecularly imprinted polymer (CsMG-MIP) as a biological recognition material was fabricated. CdTe QDs@luminol, which was used in the preparation process for the sensor, could amplify the signal of the CL sensor through chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) while reducing the consumption of luminol. The CsMG-MIP, taking full advantage of the abundant hydroxyl and amino groups in chitosan which provide a lot of sites for the formation of hydrogen bonds in SMIP, using graphene oxide to improve the adsorption capacity and Fe3O4 nanoparticles to make the preparation of the recognition unit simple and easy, was introduced into the CL sensor. Under the optimized conditions of the CL sensor, phenacetin could be assayed in the range of 3.0 × 10−9–3.0 × 10−7 mol L−1 with a detection limit of 8.2 × 10−10 mol L−1 (3δ). With the advantages of amplifying the CL signal through CRET and reducing the consumption of luminol simultaneously, the sensor was successfully applied to the determination of trace-level phenacetin in real samples with a high selectivity and with the reagent economized.

A sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) sensor based on chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET) in CdTe quantum dots@luminol (CdTe QDs@luminol) nanomaterials combined with chitosan/graphene oxide-magnetite-molecularly imprinted polymer (Cs/GM-MIP) for sensing chrysoidine was developed. CdTe QDs@luminol was designed to not only amplify the signal of CL but also reduce luminol consumption in the detection of chrysoidine. On the basis of the abundant hydroxy and amino, Cs and graphene oxide were introduced into the GM-MIP to improve the adsorption ability. The adsorption capacities of chrysoidine by both Cs/GM-MIP and non-imprinted polymer (Cs/GM-NIP) were investigated, and the CdTe QDs@luminol and Cs/GM-MIP were characterized by UV–vis, FTIR, SEM and TEM. The proposed sensor can detect chrysoidine within a linear range of 1.0 × 10− 7 - 1.0 × 10− 5 mol/L with a detection limit of 3.2 × 10− 8 mol/L (3δ) due to considerable chemiluminescence signal enhancement of the CdTe quantum dots@luminol detector and the high selectivity of the Cs/GM-MIP system. Under the optimal conditions of CL, the CdTe QDs@luminol-Cs/GM-MIP-CL sensor was used for chrysoidine determination in samples with satisfactory recoveries in the range of 90-107%.

Phospholipids are the main constituent of cell membranes and play multiple roles in cells, in forming the permeability barrier, supporting matrix, surfaces for many catalytic processes, and precursors of signal processing and macromolecular synthesis. Hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled with quadrupole time of flight (Q-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) was used to analyze the composition of phospholipids from Schizochytrium sp. S31. Phosphatidyl-cholines, -ethanolamines, -inositoles, and -glycerol, and phosphatidic acid were separated by using an acetonitrile/ammonium formate gradient mobile phase. The structures of 70 phospholipids were identified by LC-MS/MS measurements in negative ion mode. The main phospholipid in Schizochytrium sp. S31, phosphatidylcholine, accounted for 49.8% of the total phospholipids, and the major phospholipid fatty acids were C16 : 0 and DHA.

In this paper, a new chemiluminescence (CL) sensor possessing high selectivity and sensitivity was established for determination of lysozyme using magnetic graphene oxide–multi-walled carbon nanotube surface molecularly imprinted polymer (MGO–MWCNTs/SMIP). The MGO–MWCNTs/SMIP was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the maximum adsorption capacity of MGO–MWCNTs/SMIP to lysozyme was found to be 140 mg g−1. The MGO–MWCNTs/SMIP was fixed into a glass tube and was connected to a chemiluminescent analyzer. Then a MGO–MWCNTs/SMIP-flow injection chemiluminescence (MGO–MWCNTs/SMIP-CL) sensor based on a luminol–NaOH–H2O2 CL system was established for the determination of lysozyme. The proposed sensor with high selectivity and sensitivity responded linearly to the concentration of lysozyme over the range 5.04 × 10−9 to 4.27 × 10−7 g mL−1 and the detection limit was 1.90 × 10−9 g mL−1 (3δ). The recoveries ranged from 98% to 111% when determining lysozyme in eggs and the result was satisfactory. The advantageous properties of sensor hold the potential to be applied in protein analysis, analogizing to biological analysis.

Platelet PbBi4Ti4O15 (PBIT) microcrystals were fabricated by molten salt methods using different TiO2 crystal forms (anatase and rutile) as the reactants. The results showed that the pure PBIT phase can be obtained by using rutile as the reactant, while the PBIT and TiO2 phases coexisted when using anatase as the reactant. In comparison to anatase, the co-topping connection of rutile has better stability and accelerates the nucleation growth rate in a molten salt environment. Thus, PBIT microplatelets with the good crystallinity and plate-like morphology (aspect ratio of ~27) can be obtained when rutile is used as the reactant. Specifically, when using rutile as the reactant, a maximum d 33 ∗ of ~153 pm/V can be obtained, which may potentially allow the fabrication of anisotropic perovskite templates for textured ceramics.