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In this paper, the content service provision of information-centric vehicular networks (ICVNs) is investigated from the aspect of mobile edge caching, considering the dynamic driving-related context information. To provide up-to-date information with low latency, two schemes are designed for cache update and content delivery at the roadside units (RSUs). The roadside unit centric (RSUC) scheme decouples cache update and content delivery through bandwidth splitting, where the cached content items are updated regularly in a round-robin manner. The request adaptive (ReA) scheme updates the cached content items upon user requests with certain probabilities. The performance of both proposed schemes are analyzed, whereby the average age of information (AoI) and service latency are derived in closed forms. Surprisingly, the AoI-latency trade-off does not always exist, and frequent cache update can degrade both performances. Thus, the RSUC and ReA schemes are further optimized to balance the AoI and latency. Extensive simulations are conducted on SUMO and OMNeT++ simulators, and the results show that the proposed schemes can reduce service latency by up to 80% while guaranteeing content freshness in heavily loaded ICVNs.

Ferroelectric vertical gate-all-around field-effect-transistor (Fe-VGAAFET) suits a memory cell with a 5 nm technology node and beyond since it is less constrained by gate length, thereby providing sufficient space for the ferroelectric film compared with ferroelectric FinFET (Fe-FinFET) and ferroelectric lateral gate-all-around field-effect-transistors (Fe-LGAAFET). Also, Fe-VGAAFET achieves multilayer vertical stacking, which further increases the integrated density of devices. Here, we develop ferroelectric vertical sandwich gate-all-around field-effect-transistors (Fe-VSAFETs) with large memory windows (the maximum 2.3 V), high program/erase speeds (100 ns), and excellent retention properties using a self-aligned high-k metal gate process. Furthermore, vertical nanosheet devices with two channel thicknesses of approximately 16 and 42 nm and nanowire devices with a channel diameter of 30 nm were successfully fabricated, and excellent device characteristics were obtained.

Background: The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) seems to play an important role in behavioral deficits and executive dysfunctions in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), while its specific and independent contribution requires clarification. Objective: To identify whether ACC abnormalities in gray matter (GM) volume and standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) images are associated with disease severity of bvFTD, by analyzing hybrid T1 and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET). Methods: We enrolled 21 bvFTD patients and 21 healthy controls in the study. Each subject underwent a hybrid PET/MRI study and a standardized neuropsychologic assessment battery. GM volume and SUVR are voxel-wise calculated and compared. Then we estimate the mean value inside ACC for further partial Pearson’s correlation to explore the association between GM volume/SUVR of the ACC and severity of behavioral deficit as well as executive dysfunction. Results: ACC was shown to be involved in both atrophy and hypometabolism patterns. The partial Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that the SUVR of the ACC was strongly correlated with frontal behavior inventory total score (left r = –0.85, right r = –0.85, p

In a wide range of applications such as healthcare treatment, environmental monitoring, food processing and storage, and semiconductor chip manufacturing, relative humidity (RH) sensing is required. However, traditional fiber-optic humidity sensors face the challenges of miniaturization and indirectly obtaining humidity values. Here, we propose and demonstrate an optical barcode technique by cooperating with RH meta-tip, which can predict the humidity values directly. Such RH meta-tip is composed of fiber-optic sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect and graphene oxide film as humidity sensitizer. While SPR sensor is composed of multimode fiber (MMF) integrated with metallic metasurface. Dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm is used to obtain the warp path distance (WPD) sequence between the measured reflection spectrum and the spectra of the precalibrated database. The distance sequence is transformed into a pseudo-color barcode, and the humidity value is corresponded to the lowest distance, which can be read by human eyes. The RH measurement depends on the collective changes of the reflection spectrum rather than tracking a single specific resonance peak/dip. This work can open up new doors to the development of a humidity sensor with direct RH recognition by human eyes.

Global warming effect caused by excessive emission of greenhouse gases, such as CO2 from modern industries, are emerging as serious environmental problem nowadays. Many strategies have been developed to address this issue, including solar energy utilization, green plants cultivation and coal desulfurization. These existing strategies always need sophisticated equipment and harsh reaction conditions, and are usually with limited efficiency. With the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology, it is becoming an effective strategy to directly capture and convert CO2 with nanomaterials into valuable chemicals under gentle conditions. Herein, we summarize recent progress on nanomaterials for adsorption and conversion of CO2 under gentle conditions, including various physical and chemical processes, and artificial photosynthesis. Future perspective and research direction of nanomaterials for CO2 adsorption and conversion have been put forward on the basis of existing research works and our experimental experience.

ObjectiveElucidate the core clinical and genetic characteristics and identify the phenotypic variation between different regions and genotypes of fatal familial insomnia (FFI).MethodsA worldwide large sample of FFI patients from our case series and literature review diagnosed by genetic testing were collected. The prevalence of clinical symptoms and genetic profile were obtained, and then the phenotypic comparison between Asians versus non-Asians and 129Met/Met versus 129Met/Val were conducted.ResultsIn total, 131 cases were identified. The age of onset was 47.51±12.53 (range 17–76) years, 106 patients died and disease duration was 13.20±9.04 (range 2–48) months. Insomnia (87.0%) and rapidly progressive dementia (RPD; 83.2%) occurred with the highest frequency. Hypertension (33.6%) was considered to be an objective indicator of autonomic dysfunction. Genotype frequency at codon 129 was Met/Met (84.7%) and Met/Val (15.3%), and allele frequency was Met (92.4%) and Val (7.6%).129 Met was a risk factor (OR: 3.728, 95% CI: 2.194 to 6.333, p=0.000) for FFI in the non-Asian population. Comparison of Asians and non-Asians revealed clinical symptoms and genetic background to show some differences (pConclusionsInsomnia, RPD and hypertension are representative key clinical presentations of FFI. Phenotypic variations in genotypes and geographic regions were documented. Prion protein gene 129 Met was considered to be a risk factor for FFI in the non-Asian population, and 129 polymorphisms could modify survival duration.

A white light-emitting diode (WLED) with chip-scale packaging (CSP) has wide applications due to its high power density, small size, and high process integration. The phosphor converter of the CSP WLED needs to endure huge heat shock from LED chips and phosphor conversion. In this work, we proposed a phosphor-in-glass (PiG)-based CSP for high-power WLEDs. A wafer PiG was prepared by printing and sintering a phosphor glass film on a glass plate and then cut into a chip-scale PiG for the fabrication of PiG-CSP WLEDs. The optical performances of PiG-CSP WLEDs were optimized by adjusting the film thickness of PiG. Consequently, the PiG-CSP WLED emits a cool white light with optimal light performances at a film thickness of 88 $\mu \text{m}$ . The related luminous efficiency (LE), correlated color temperature (CCT), and chromaticity coordinate are 108.8 lm/W, 5796 K, and (0.3256 and 0.3467), respectively. The down-PiG-CSP structure achieves higher LE and lower CCT than the up-PiG-CSP structure. Compared with the traditional phosphor-in-silicone (PiS)-CSP WLED, the PiG-CSP WLED avoids the carbonization of the converter and displays excellent thermal stability under high input current. The results determine that the PiG-CSP is a reliable and efficient packaging technology for high-power WLEDs.

The development of new infrared (IR) nonlinear optical (NLO) materials with strong second-harmonic generation (SHG) responses and high laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) is urgent but challenging. Herein, the defective diamond-like chalcogenide Hg3P2S8 (HPS) was rationally designed and fabricated by a flexible and rigid tetrahedral motif combined strategy. HPS exhibits a phase-matching SHG response of similar to 3.6 x AGS (the largest one in the reported ternary sulfides), high LIDT (similar to 3 x AGS), wide IR transparent region (0.43-16.3 mu m), moderate birefringence (0.043 at 1064 nm), and good physicochemical stability and crystal growth habits. Theoretical analyses confirm that the large SHG effect originates from the synergistic effects between distorted HgS4, PS4, and vacancy-induced nonbonding electrons. The results indicate that HPS is a promising NLO candidate for high-power, high-efficiency laser output in the mid-IR region, which provides an insight into the exploration of new IR NLO materials.

This article focuses on how to improve the negative capacitance (NC) properties of NMOSFET in the gate-last process flow. The impacts of the HfZrO ferroelectric film thickness, metal gates with different work functions, stress of filled metal gate, the thickness of seed layer underneath HfZrO etc. on NC effect are investigated, and the corresponding possible mechanisms are discussed. These techniques have been successfully applied to the fabrication of NC-NMOSFETs with physical thickness 1.5-nm HfZrO, and underneath with 1.0-nm ZrO2 seed layer. The NC-NMOSFETs with much improved subthreshold swing (SS) of 38.6 mV/decade and nearly hysteresis free are developed with a gate length of 900 nm, and the SS is over 40 mV/decade smaller than that of the control-2 NMOSFETs with 2.5-nm HfO2 gate dielectric only.

Type specimens are valuable resources for investigating and exploring biodiversity on Earth, which has high academic and conservation value. Hemipteran insects are one of the most important and diverse groups in Insecta, and their type specimens have important reference value for many research fields. So far, the data on the type specimens of the Hemiptera in China have not been fully collated.Through extensive literature review, we have constructed a dataset of type specimens for the new species of hemipteran insects in China published from 1950 to 2017, which includes the data such as collection time, species author, specimen gender, preservation institution and geographical distribution. A total of 6583 type specimen records were collected, covering 3783 new species belonging to 1299 genera and 88 families. This dataset can provide help to the international community for conducting researches on taxonomy, biodiversity patterns, biota evolution, and pest management.

The frequently moving subway trains often cause large vibration of the rack buildings especially tall buildings and noise problem, which lead to the discomfort of the occupants. Therefore, it is highly necessary to adopt measures to decrease the vibrations. The finite element model of vehicle-rail-foundation was established by using ABAQUS program, and vibration mitigation ability by using ballast mats was investigated. The results showed that the ballast mat has ability to mitigate train-induced environmental vibrations. The acceleration level can be highly reduced within 30 m from the track centerline on the ground. Increasing the thickness of the ballast mat and increasing the static foundation modulus can enhance the vibration mitigation effect. The research results can provide references for the train-induced environmental vibration mitigation design.

Probiotics were used for liver transplantation (LT) patients to reduce postoperative infection, but clinical trials examining the combined use of prebiotics and probiotics are limited. This meta-analysis aimed to compare the safety and efficacy of combined use of prebiotics and probiotics in patients undergoing LT. PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases were reviewed for the combined use of prebiotics and probiotics in patients undergoing LT. The weighted mean difference (WMD), risk ratio (RR), and 95% CI were calculated. A total of 6 related studies comprising 345 patients were included. Most prebiotics and probiotics were given for 7.14 days. The overall infection rate (RR = 0.29; 95% CI, 0.14.0.60; P value for heterogeneity [PH ] = .066; test for heterogeneity [I2 ] = 51.7%) and the incidence of urinary tract infection (RR = 0.14; 95% CI, 0.04-0.47, PH = .724; I2 = 0%) were lower in the probiotics group when compared with those in the control group. Furthermore, probiotics significantly reduced the hospital length of stay (WMD = -1.37; 95% CI, -1.92 to 0.82; PH = .506; I2 = 0%) and the duration of antimicrobial therapy (WMD = -4.31; 95% CI, -5.41 to 3.22; PH = .019; I2 = 69.8%) in patients undergoing LT. These findings suggested that the combined use of prebiotics and probiotics (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) was effective in lowering the incidence of bacterial infections and shortening the hospital length of stay and duration of antibiotic therapy in patients undergoing LT, when compared with conventional nutrition.

A charge‐trapping memory (CTM) field effect transistor (FET) featured with an Hf1.5Gd2O6 charge trapping layer and thin MoS2 channel are fabricated. Benefit from high defect densities of the Hf1.5Gd2O6 film, large memory windows are achieved under low operating voltages (2.3 V@4 V, 3.1 V@5 V and 3.6 V@6 V), which distinctly outperform previously reported CTMs. In addition, high programming/erase (P/E) speeds, good data retention and endurance characteristics are experimentally demonstrated. The results demonstrate a feasibility of CTM FET with an HfGdO charge trapping layer and thin MoS2 channel for ultra‐low power memory devices application.

Junjie Li,* Lijia Peng,* Wenya Bai, Peihua Peng, Wendong Chen, Wei Yang, Jianlin Shao Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University, Kunming City, 650032, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jianlin ShaoDepartment of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, 295 Xichang Road, Wuhua, Kunming, Yunnan, 650000, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-871-6532488-2755Email cmushaojlmz@163.comBackground: We have previously demonstrated that biliverdin has neuroprotective effects that ameliorate cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats. However, the underlying mechanism is unknown. This study aimed at elucidating on the modulatory role of miR-27a-3p on Rgs1 as a mechanism by which biliverdin affects cerebral I/R injury.Methods: Middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) was used to establish I/R rat models while oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) was used to induce hippocampal neurons to establish I/R models in vitro. Infarct volume was assessed by TTC staining. Apoptotic analyses of ischemic cortical neurons and cells were performed by TUNEL staining and flow cytometry, respectively. Cell viability was assessed by the CCK-8 assay while the target of miR-27a-3p was determined by double luciferase reporter assay. Relative expression levels of miR-27a-3p and Rgs1 (in vivo and in vitro) as well as markers of inflammation and apoptosis (in vitro) were detected by RT-qPCR. Then, Elisa and western blot were used to assess protein expression levels of inflammatory and apoptotic markers in vitro.Results: Biliverdin suppressed inflammation and apoptosis in hippocampal neurons upon OGD/R, and reduced cerebral infarction volume as well as apoptosis in the MCAO/R rat model. Furthermore, biliverdin upregulated miR-27a-3p and downregulated hippocampal neuron Rgs1 after OGD/R as well as in rat brain tissues after cerebral I/R. Bioinformatic analysis revealed an miR-27a-3p docking site in the 3ʹ-UTR region of Rgs1. Luciferase reporter assays showed that Rgs1 is an miR-27a-3p target. Moreover, miR-27a-3p upregulation inhibited OGD/R-triggered inflammation and suppressed neuronal apoptosis. Rgs1 knockdown suppressed OGD/R-triggered inflammation and decreased neuronal apoptosis while miR-27a-3p downregulation reversed the protective effect of Rgs1 knockdown. Moreover, miR-27a-3p overexpression and Rgs1 silencing suppressed NF-κB (p65) expression.Conclusion: Biliverdin protects against cerebral I/R injury by regulating the miR-27a-3p/Rgs1 axis, thereby inhibiting inflammation and apoptosis.Keywords: cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, biliverdin, miR-27a-3p, Rgs1, inflammation, apoptosis

The multi-principal-component concept of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) generates numerous new alloys. Among them, nanoscale precipitated HEAs have achieved superior mechanical properties and shown the potentials for structural applications. However, it is still a great challenge to find the optimal alloy within the numerous candidates. Up to now, the reported nanoprecipitated HEAs are mainly designed by a trial-and-error approach with the aid of phase diagram calculations, limiting the development of structural HEAs. In the current work, a novel method is proposed to accelerate the development of ultra-strong nanoprecipitated HEAs. With the guidance of physical metallurgy, the volume fraction of the required nanoprecipitates is designed from a machine learning of big data with thermodynamic foundation while the morphology of precipitates is kinetically tailored by prestrain aging. As a proof-of-principle study, an HEA with superior strength and ductility has been designed and systematically investigated. The newly developed γ′-strengthened HEA exhibits 1.31 GPa yield strength, 1.65 GPa ultimate tensile strength, and 15% tensile elongation. Atom probe tomography and transmission electron microscope characterizations reveal the well-controlled high γ′ volume fraction (52%) and refined precipitate size (19 nm). The refinement of nanoprecipitates originates from the accelerated nucleation of the γ′ phase by prestrain aging. A deeper understanding of the excellent mechanical properties is illustrated from the aspect of strengthening mechanisms. Finally, the versatility of the current design strategy to other precipitation-hardened alloys is discussed.

Black phosphorus has been reported as a remarkable 2D material due to its unique electrical, optical, and thermal properties, leading to promising device applications in optics, thermoelectricity, ...

Since the performance of electronic circuits is becoming rather limited in face of intensively increasing of amount of information and related operations, all‐optical processing offers a promising strategy for future information system. It would benefit a great deal if the all‐optical processing could be implemented within the developed electronic chips of nanoscale structures. In that it is highly desirable to break the diffraction limit of light for achieving effective light manipulations with deep subwavelength structures compatible with the state‐of‐the‐art nanofabrication processes. It is of fundamental importance to get subwavelength optical localization, that is, squeeze light wave into subwavelength space for achieving freely manipulating of light fields. This review summarizes the development in realizing subwavelength optical localization by exciting toroidal mode in photonic metamaterials. The toroidal excitations in plasmonic metamaterials and Mie resonant metamaterials, in 3D structures and planar metamaterials, with single or few layers in spectral regime from microwave to optical frequencies are surveyed. Based on the discussion on the configurations of toroidal excitations, the recent development on toroidal‐related optical scattering control actively manipulates the toroidal excitations, and promising applications are further investigated and highlighted.

As an inherent characteristic of light, polarization plays important roles in information storage, display and even encryption. Metasurfaces, composed of specifically designed subwavelength units in a two-dimensional plane, offer a great convenience for polarization manipulation, yet improving their integrability and broadband fidelity remain significant challenges. Here, based on the combination of various subwavelength cross-nanofins (CNs), a new type of metasurface for multichannel hybrid polarization distribution in near-field is proposed. Sub-wavelength CN units with various waveplate (WP) functionalities, such as frequency-division multiplexing WP, half-WP and quarter-WP are implemented with high efficiency in broadband. High-resolution grayscale image encryption, multi-image storage and rapid polarization detection are demonstrated by encoding the WP pixels into single, double and four channels, respectively. All these applications possess good fidelity in an ultrabroad wavelength band from 1.2 to 1.9 µm, and the high degree of integrability, easy fabrication and multifunction make the CN-shaped WP pixels a promising candidate in optical device miniaturization, quantum applications and imaging technologies.

Recently, multidimensional metasurfaces, which can modulate multiple optical parameters of input and output lights simultaneously, have aroused intensive interest. Here, we demonstrate multidimensional switchable images and 3D integrated beam splitters based on hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs). On one hand, a switchable image controlled by output helicity and input wavelengths is achieved by arranging HMMs with different polarization conversion performance. On the other hand, polarization-multiplexed broadband beam splitter is generated by spatially engineering the subunit with broadband half-plate performance. By integrating the multiplexed beam splitter with a filter metamaterial, this multidimensional beam splitter can further realize the separation of output light by space and wavelength. This cascaded multilayer metamaterial achieves a brand new optical functionality and offers more inspiring possibilities for the design of multifunctional optical devices in the future.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are considered a promising alternative to conventional vehicles (CVs) to alleviate the oil crisis and reduce urban air pollution and carbon emissions. Consumers usually focus on the tangible cost when choosing an EV or CV but overlook the time cost for restricting purchase or driving and the environmental cost from gas emissions, falling to have a comprehensive understanding of the economic competitiveness of CVs and EVs. In this study, a life cycle cost model for vehicles is conducted to express traffic and environmental policies in monetary terms, which are called intangible cost and external cost, respectively. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), and CVs are compared in four first-tier, four new first-tier, and 4 s-tier and below cities in China. The comparison shows that BEVs and FCEVs in most cities are incomparable with CVs in terms of tangible cost. However, the prominent traffic and environmental policies in first-tier cities, especially in Beijing and Shanghai, greatly increase the intangible and external costs of CVs, making consumers more inclined to purchase BEVs and FCEVs. The main policy benefits of BEVs and FCEVs come from three aspects: government subsidies, purchase and driving restrictions, and environmental taxes. With the predictable reduction in government subsidies, traffic and environmental policies present important factors influencing the competitiveness of BEVs and FCEVs. In first-tier cities, BEVs and FCEVs already have a competitive foundation for large-scale promotion. In new first-tier and second-tier and below cities, stricter traffic and environmental policies need to be formulated to offset the negative impact of the reduction in government subsidies on the competitiveness of BEVs and FCEVs. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis reveals that increasing the mileage and reducing fuel prices can significantly improve the competitiveness of BEVs and FCEVs, respectively.

Kirigami, with facile and automated fashion of three-dimensional (3D) transformations, offers an unconventional approach for realizing cutting-edge optical nano-electromechanical systems. Here, we demonstrate an on-chip and electromechanically reconfigurable nano-kirigami with optical functionalities. The nano-electromechanical system is built on an Au/SiO2/Si substrate and operated via attractive electrostatic forces between the top gold nanostructure and bottom silicon substrate. Large-range nano-kirigami like 3D deformations are clearly observed and reversibly engineered, with scalable pitch size down to 0.975 μm. Broadband nonresonant and narrowband resonant optical reconfigurations are achieved at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, respectively, with a high modulation contrast up to 494%. On-chip modulation of optical helicity is further demonstrated in submicron nano-kirigami at near-infrared wavelengths. Such small-size and high-contrast reconfigurable optical nano-kirigami provides advanced methodologies and platforms for versatile on-chip manipulation of light at nanoscale., The authors present on-chip and electromechanically reconfigurable nanokirigami with optical functionalities. 3D deformations are achieved via attractive electrostatic forces between a gold nanostructure layer and silicon substrate, resulting in optical reconfigurations with high modulation contrast and small unit size.

In this article, a p-type high- ${k}$ /metal gate (HKMG) FinFET with a special diamond-shaped channel on a bulk Si substrate for the formation of gate-induced quantum dot (QD) is reported. The electrical characteristics of the device at various temperatures and bias voltages for QD formation are extensively investigated. Remarkable oscillations in the drain current are observed for the 30-nm gate length ( ${L}_{g}$ ) transistor at ${T} =20$ K. By analyzing the experimental results as well as the simulation data obtained by TCAD, it is found that the carriers are strongly localized at the small sharp tip of the channel and the thick spacers contribute to a large confinement potential for forming QD with a large charging energy of 30 meV. This provides a promising approach for large-scale QD fabrication and integration using the mainstream bulk complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process.

Herein, a new IR window material CdPbOCl2 is rationally designed and fabricated by a heavy-metal oxide and halide combined strategy. The millimeter-scale CdPbOCl2 single crystal exhibits a wide IR transparent region (1.4–18.0 μm) and excellent comprehensive properties. The results provide an insight into the exploration of broad-band IR window materials.

High-resolution satellite images contain valuable road semantic information, but the occlusion of vegetation and buildings and the sparse distribution and heterogeneous appearance of roads limit the accuracy of road extraction models. In this article, we propose a novel method for extracting roads using an ensemble learning model with a postprocessing stage. The network weights and biases of our proposed deep learning model are transmitted through the random combination of layers of different submodels during forward and backward propagation. In the gradient descent process, a superior loss function is designed to solve the problem of class imbalance caused by road sparseness, and more attention is given to hard classification samples to extract narrow and covered roads. In addition, we solve road disconnection issues in the results obtained with the neural network by extracting and analyzing the geometric structures and feature points of the roads. Experiments on two challenging datasets of remote sensing imagery show that the proposed method performs better than other models and can extract road information from complex scenes.

The key to achieving high efficiencies, high performance, and low costs of adsorption heat pumps/chillers (AHPs/ACs) is to choose a suitable adsorbent. A computational screening of 6013 computation-ready experimental metal–organic frameworks (CoRE-MOFs) is performed for methanol–MOF pairs in AHPs/ACs, and 137 953 hypothetical MOFs (hMOFs) are further directionally screened based on the range of optimal CoRE-MOF descriptors. Compared with the blind screening of CoRE-MOFs (∼13%), ∼80% of hMOFs obtained by the directional screening exhibited high performance in AHPs/ACs, proving the effectiveness of directional screening. Then, the techno-economic analysis (Ctotal) of AHPs/ACs for each MOF was performed based on the equipment cost (Cequipment), cycle cost (Ccycle), and material cost (CMOF). Cequipment accounted for the greatest proportion of Ctotal, but the proportion of Cequipment decreased and the proportion of Ccycle gradually increased as the MOF data set tended to be the materials with better performance. This confirmed the reduction of Ctotal by an effective enhancement of the Ccycle proportion, and that the high manufacturing cost of MOFs would not restrict their widespread use in AHPs/ACs. Among 6 machine learning (ML) algorithms, the random forest could yield the best prediction effect with little effect by the metal type of MOFs, whereas the heat of adsorption and MOF density were two key descriptors to determine Ctotal. 12 lowest-cost CoRE-MOFs and hMOFs were identified for each application, and their average costs in state 2 were only ∼1 USD kJ−1 in AHPs/ACs. Finally, a variant of the well-known MOF (Cu3BTC2) was predicted to possess superior techno-economy, which was confirmed by a parallel methanol adsorption experiment. These comprehensive insights from directional computational screening, ML algorithms to experiment can guide the development of low-cost and high-performance MOFs for AHPs/ACs in a variety of energy conservation and industrial applications.

In this work, a selective wet etching process of Si to Si0.7Ge0.3 with TMAH solution to fabricate SiGe nanowires is systematically investigated. Initially, the 2.3% TMAH solution at 20 °C is applied for the as grown Si0.7Ge0.3/Si multilayers stack and a “rectangular” profile is achieved at the Si0.7Ge0.3 extremity due to its high selectivity. However, the reduction of Ge concentration due to the Ge interdiffusion caused by the high temperature anneal treatment will attain a reduced selectivity of Si to Si0.7Ge0.3 and a “rounding” Si0.7Ge0.3 extremity profile. Moreover, the profile of the upper Si0.7Ge0.3 extremity is clearly worse than the bottom one. This is because the Ge concentration of upper Si0.7Ge0.3 is 1.5% lower and the Ge interdiffusion of the upper Si0.7Ge0.3 is slightly worse. After increasing the TMAH concentration to 25%, both the upper and bottom Si0.7Ge0.3 extremity can achieve a “rectangular” extremity profile with an almost the same Si0.7Ge0.3 loss ~ 1.5 nm per side. Compared with 2.3% TMAH concentration, the Ge concentration of the etching off SiGe film can be reduced from lower than 29% to lower than 24% using the 25% TMAH solution at 20 °C. Therefore, the 25% TMAH solution at 20 °C is chosen as the optimal selective etching condition for the thermal treated Si0.7Ge0.3/Si multilayers stack samples. Finally, a vertical stacked double SiGe nanowire structure is successfully prepared by utilizing this optimal process condition. This indicates that it is a practicable technique for the selective wet etching of Si in fabricating SiGe nanowires.

OBJECTIVES: Three-dimensional (3-D) H-scan is a new ultrasound (US) technique that images the relative size of acoustic scatterers. The goal of this research was to evaluate use of 3-D H-scan ultrasound imaging for monitoring early breast cancer response to neoadjuvant therapy using a preclinical murine model of breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Preclinical studies were conducted using luciferase-positive breast cancer-bearing mice (N = 40). Anesthetized animals underwent ultrasound imaging at baseline before administration with an apoptosis-inducing drug or a saline control. Image data was acquired using an ultrasound scanner equipped with a volumetric transducer following either a shorter or longer term protocol. The later included bioluminescent imaging to quantify tumor cell viability. At termination, tumors were excised for ex vivo analysis. RESULTS: In vivo results showed that 3-D H-scan ultrasound imaging is considerably more sensitive to tumor changes after apoptosis-inducing drug therapy as compared to traditional B-scan ultrasound. While there was no difference at baseline (P > 0.99), H-scan ultrasound results from treated tumors exhibited progressive decreases in image intensity (up to 62.2% by day 3) that had a significant linear correlation with cancer cell nuclear size (R(2) > 0.51, P < 0.001). Results were validated by histological data and a secondary longitudinal study with survival as the primary endpoint. DISCUSSION: Experimental results demonstrate that noninvasive 3-D H-scan ultrasound imaging can detect an early breast tumor response to apoptosis-inducing drug therapy. Local in vivo H-scan ultrasound image intensity correlated with cancer cell nuclear size, which is one of the first observable changes of a cancer cell undergoing apoptosis and confirmed using histological techniques. Early imaging results appear to provide prognostic insight on longer-term tumor response. Overall, 3-D H-scan ultrasound imaging is a promising technique that visualizes the entire tumor and detects breast cancer response at an early stage of therapy.

In the robotic polishing system for the wheel hubs, initial point alignment is a very important procedure before the robot starts to polish. Since the surface shapes of the wheel hubs are complex, traditional contact sensors are not suitable for the initial point alignment. Therefore, this paper presents a vision-based initial point alignment control method due to the merits of non-contact and high precision of the vision sensor. The main procedures of the new proposed initial point alignment methods are as follows. Firstly, the center point of the wheel hub is computed based on the growth of sampled points (GSP) method. Secondly, the center lines of the spokes of the wheel hub are extracted based on the edges of the spokes. Based on the center point and the center lines of the spokes, the needed rotation angle of the wheel hub denoting the current and target initial points can be computed. Thirdly, an alignment controller is designed to align the current initial point with the target one. Finally, experiments are well conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed initial point alignment control method for the wheel hubs.

Traditional hydrogen production is primarily based on coal gasification in China, and it faces severe challenges relating to its high energy consumption and carbon emissions. Coke oven gas-based hydrogen (COGH) promises to be a potential alternative route for producing coal gasification-based hydrogen (CGH) due to the large-scale coking industry in China. Therefore, it is imperative to understand which route is better. In this study, a life cycle model is developed to compare the energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic cost of the two routes. The model boundary covers all processes from raw material extraction to hydrogen production. Four allocation scenarios (viz. market value allocation, mass allocation, energy allocation and no allocation) are considered to address the burden allocation between various products involved in the coal coking process. Furthermore, the effects of variations in several key parameters on the performance of the two routes are investigated through a sensitivity analysis. The results show that COGH has better technical, environmental and economic performance than CGH. The energy consumption, carbon emissions, capital expenditure and operating expenditure of COGH are 34.6%, 36.7%, 27.4% and 8.7% lower than those of CGH, while the profit and internal rate of return of COGH are 1.35 and 2.33 times those of CGH. Aside from no allocation, market value allocation is most favourable for COGH in view of its reduced energy consumption and carbon emissions. Compared with CGH, COGH has much stronger economic competitiveness in the face of raw material price fluctuations. This alternative route has broad development prospects because of its excellent comprehensive performance and large-scale industrial base, while efficiency improvements and energy savings should always be considered. The results provide a comprehensive and valuable basis for comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the two routes and to help policymakers take measures to promote the development of the hydrogen production industry.

This paper aims to discuss an environmental, social, and economic analysis of energy utilization of crop residues from life cycle perspectives in China. The methodologies employed to achieve this objective are environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA), life cycle cost (LCC), and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA). Five scenarios are developed based on the conversion technologies and final bioenergy products. The system boundaries include crop residue collection, transportation, pre-treatment, and conversion process. The replaced amounts of energy are also taken into account in the E-LCA analysis. The functional unit is defined as 1 MJ of energy produced. Eight impact categories are considered besides climate change in E-LCA. The investment capital cost and salary cost are collected and compared in the life cycle of the scenarios. Three stakeholders and several subcategories are considered in the S-LCA analysis defined by UNEP/ SETAS guidelines. The results show that the energy utilization of crop residue has carbon emission factors of 0.09–0.18 kg (CO2 eq per 1 MJ), and presents a net carbon emissions reduction of 0.03–0.15 kg (CO2 eq per 1 MJ) compared with the convectional electricity or petrol, but the other impacts should be paid attention to in the biomass energy scenarios. The energy utilization of crop residues can bring economic benefit to local communities and the society, but the working conditions of local workers need to be improved in future biomass energy development.

PurposeThis study aims to explore the innovative capabilities of building information modeling (BIM) in construction projects. The objectives are to construct an inclusive conceptual framework of BIM-enabled construction innovation, identify the status and trends of innovation-related research in BIM publications, synthesize research pertaining to BIM-enabled construction innovation and discover core research requirements in the related body of knowledge.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposes a comprehensive theoretical framework, named innovation pyramid, comprising context, actor, artifact, process, structure and innovative task for exploring and analyzing the innovative capability of BIM in construction projects. Accordingly, mixed methods were used to perform a systematic review of research on the topic of BIM-enabled construction innovation.FindingsThe findings reveal that BIM innovation-related articles have predominantly considered BIM as an innovation from a technological standpoint, while the innovative capabilities of BIM have remained under-researched with a fragmented research focus. Fertile grounds for research have emerged and call for research pertaining to entities of “structure” and “innovative task” as well as interaction, interrelations and mutually adjusting effect among the entities.Practical implicationsThe framework proposed may be useful for subsequent research design and for assisting project management practitioners in the use of BIM to achieve innovation more efficiently.Originality/valueThis research provides an insight into the innovative capabilities of BIM based on the BIM–collaboration–construction innovation logic chain. It contributes to the body of knowledge by devising an inclusive conceptual framework of BIM-enabled construction innovation, synthesizing the state of the art and exposing the research needs in this area.

The interactions of photonic spin angular momentum and orbital angular momentum, i.e., the spin-orbit coupling in focused beams, evanescent waves or artificial photonic structures, have attracted intensive investigations for the unusual fundamental phenomena in physics and potential applications in optical and quantum systems. It is of fundamental importance to enhance performance of spin-orbit coupling in optics. Here, we demonstrate a titanium dioxide (TiO2)–based all-dielectric metasurface exhibiting a high efficient control of photonic spin Hall effect (PSHE) in a transmissive configuration. This metasurface can achieve high-efficiency symmetric spin-dependent trajectory propagation due to the spin-dependent Pancharatnam-Berry phase. The as-formed metadevices with high-aspect-ratio TiO2 nanofins are able to realize (86%, measured at 514 nm) and broadband PSHEs in visible regime. Our results provide useful insights on high-efficiency metasurfaces with versatile functionalities in visible regime.

In this work, magneto-Raman mapping was performed on monolayer MoS2 at 4 K, which exhibited a prominent magnetic field-induced modulation of phonon intensity. Interestingly, structural microinhomog...

PURPOSE Standard adjuvant chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) includes a taxane and an anthracycline. Concomitant capecitabine may be beneficial, but robust data to support this are lacking. The efficacy and safety of the addition of capecitabine into the TNBC adjuvant treatment regimen was evaluated. PATIENTS AND METHODS This randomized, open-label, phase III trial was conducted in China. Eligible female patients with early TNBC after definitive surgery were randomly assigned (1:1) to either capecitabine (3 cycles of capecitabine and docetaxel followed by 3 cycles of capecitabine, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide) or control treatment (3 cycles of docetaxel followed by 3 cycles of fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide). Randomization was centralized without stratification. The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS). RESULTS Between June 2012 and December 2013, 636 patients with TNBC were screened, and 585 were randomly assigned to treatment (control, 288; capecitabine, 297). Median follow-up was 67 months. The 5-year DFS rate was higher for capecitabine than for control treatment (86.3% v 80.4%; hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.99; P = .044). Five-year overall survival rates were numerically higher but not significantly improved (capecitabine, 93.3%; control, 90.7%). Overall, 39.1% of patients had capecitabine dose reductions, and 8.4% reported grade ≥ 3 hand-foot syndrome. The most common grade ≥ 3 hematologic toxicities were neutropenia (capecitabine, 136 [45.8%]; control, 118 [41.0%]) and febrile neutropenia (capecitabine, 50 [16.8%]; control, 46 [16.0%]). Safety data were similar to the known capecitabine safety profile and generally comparable between arms. CONCLUSION Capecitabine when added to 3 cycles of docetaxel followed by 3 cycles of a 3-drug anthracycline combination containing capecitabine instead of fluorouracil significantly improved DFS in TNBC without new safety concerns.

Cd-containing polycrystalline Bi0.46Sb1.54Te3 samples with precisely controlled phase composition were synthesized by conventional melting-quenching-annealing technique and a melt-spinning method. ...

Strain engineering provides an important strategy to modulate the optical and electrical properties of semiconductors for improving devices performance with mechanical force or thermal expansion difference. Here, we present the investigation of the local strain distribution over few-layer MoS2 bubbles, by using scanning photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopies. We observe the obvious direct bandgap emissions with strain in the few-layer MoS2 bubble and the strain-induced continuous energy shifts of both resonant excitons and vibrational modes from the edge of the MoS2 bubble to the center (10 µm scale), associated with the oscillations resulted from the optical interference-induced temperature distribution. To understand these results, we perform ab initio simulations to calculate the electronic and vibrational properties of few-layer MoS2 with biaxial tensile strain, based on density functional theory, finding good agreement with the experimental results. Our study suggests that local strain offers a convenient way to continuously tune the physical properties of a few-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) semiconductor, and opens up new possibilities for band engineering within the 2D plane.

The exploration of novel infrared nonlinear optical (IR NLO) materials with large second-harmonic generation (SHG) responses and wide band gaps has become very imperative recently. Herein we report...

China’s fossil energy is characterized by an abundance of coal and a relative lack of oil and natural gas. Developing a strategy in which coal can replace oil and natural gas is, therefore, a necessary and practical approach to easing the excessive external dependence on oil and natural gas. Based on the perspective of energy security, this paper proposes a technical framework for defining the substitution of oil and natural gas with coal in China. In this framework, three substitution classifications and 11 industrialized technical routes are reviewed. Then, three scenarios (namely, the cautious scenario, baseline scenario, and positive scenario) are developed to estimate the potential of this strategy for 2020 and 2030. The results indicate that oil and natural gas replaced by coal will reach 67 to 81 Mt and 8.7 to 14.3 Gm3 in 2020 and reach 93 to 138 Mt and 32.3 to 47.3 Gm3 in 2030, respectively. By implementing this strategy, China’s external dependence on oil, natural gas, and primary energy is expected to be curbed at approximately 70%, 40%, and 20% by 2030, respectively. This paper also demonstrates how coal, as a substitute for oil and natural gas, can contribute to carbon and pollution reduction and economic cost savings. It suggests a new direction for the development of the global coal industry and provides a crucial reference for energy transformation in China and other countries with similar energy situations.

Purpose Complete high ulnar nerve injury can cause serious sequelae, including residual sensation and loss of movement and especially dysfunction of the intrinsic muscles of the hand. As a solution to treat complete high ulnar nerve injury, we proposed a new repair method for ulnar nerve injury based on nerve-magnified regeneration. Methods Twenty-two patients with complete division of the ulnar nerve at a high level who were treated from May 2013 to December 2016 were divided into two groups. The proposed repair method for complete high ulnar nerve injury was performed in group I (11 patients), while the traditional repair method, ie, repair of the original injury site of the ulnar nerve, was used in group II (11 patients). Results The results showed no significant difference in the mean sensory scores assigned by the Highet-Zachary scheme (the Highet Scale) between the two groups. The mean Highet Scale score of muscle strength for the first dorsal interosseus muscle was significantly better in group I than that in group II (p=0.010). In group I, 10 of 11 patients were graded as M4 or M5. Grip strength, pinch strength, and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) score were significantly better in group I than those in group II (p Conclusion Therefore, this method for complete high ulnar nerve injury based on nerve-magnified regeneration can shorten the path of motor nerve regeneration, effectively reduce atrophy of the intrinsic muscles of the hand, and provide better hand function.

Background: Standard adjuvant chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) comprises a taxane and an anthracycline. Concomitant capecitabine may add efficacy benefits, but robust data are lacking. The efficacy and safety of capecitabine integration into the TNBC adjuvant treatment regimen was evaluated. Methods: This was a randomised, open-label, phase 3 trial conducted in China (ClinicalTrials.gov identification NCT01642771). Post-resection, eligible female patients with early TNBC were randomly assigned (1:1) to either capecitabine treatment (3 cycles of capecitabine and docetaxel followed by 3 cycles of cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, and capecitabine [TX-XEC]), or control treatment (3 cycles of docetaxel followed by 3 cycles of cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, and fluorouracil [T-FEC]). Randomisation was centralised without stratification. The primary endpoint was 5-year disease-free survival (DFS). Findings: Between June 2012 and November 2013, 585 patients were randomized to treatment (capecitabine, n=297; control, n=288), of whom 561 were treated per protocol (n=288 and n=273, respectively). Median follow-up was 67 months. The 5-year DFS rate was longer with capecitabine than with control treatment (86·26% vs. 80·23%, hazard ratio 0·66, 95% confidence intervals 0·44-0·98; p=0·038). The 5-year overall survival rates were similar (93·27% vs. 90·55%, respectively). Overall, 38·89% patients had capecitabine dose reductions and 8·42% reported grade 3/4 hand-foot syndrome. The most common grade 3/4 hematologic toxicities were neutropenia (capecitabine 136 [45·79%] patients vs. control 119 [41·32%] patients) and febrile neutropenia (49 [16·5%] vs. 46 [15·97%] patients). Safety data were in line with the known capecitabine safety profile and generally comparable between arms. Interpretation: Capecitabine, when administered concomitantly with standard adjuvant taxane/anthracycline chemotherapy, significantly improved DFS rates in TNBC, with no new safety concerns. Table 1: Baseline patient demographics and clinical characteristics (PPS population; n=561)T-FEC (n=273)TX-XEC (n=288)pAge (years), mean ± SD48.30 ± 8.7649.07 ± 10.440·3501BSA (m2), mean ± SD1.60 ± 0.111.60 ± 0.110·4209Menstruation0·2946Premenopausal61·5757·09Postmenopausal38·4342·91Family History26·3726·830·9029Operation TypeBreast conserving21·8525·090·3683Mastectomy78·1574·91SLNB28·5226·130·5275Axillary dissection71·4873·87Node Stage0·5967N065·0665·97N123·7925·35N26·323·82N34·834·86T Stage0·2938T1a,b4·172·33T1c42·5041·25T250·4255·25T32·921·17Histology0·7190IDC89·6390·24ILC0·741·39Other9·638·36Grade0·2322I3·832·94II47·6640·76III48·5156·30Ki67 ≥30%+87·2185·770·6245LVI +14·8110·100·1363Surgery-to-chemo time (days), mean ± SD16·94 ± 7·7717·99 ± 9·240·1581Data are % except where specified.BSA=body surface area; IDC=invasive ductal carcinoma; ILC=invasive lobular carcinoma; LVI=lymphovascular invasion; PPS=per protocol set; SD=standard deviation;Table 2: Number of events (PPS population; n=561)T-FECTX-XEC(n=273)(n=288)Any event57 (20·88)41 (14·24)Second primary4 (1·47)5 (1·74)Contralateral breast5 (1·83)6 (2·08)Local recurrence18 (6·59)7 (2·43)Ipsilateral breast/Chest135Regional lymph nodes83Distant recurrence37 (13·55)29 (10·07)Liver37Lung1714Bone67Other2714Death26 (9·52)19 (6·60) Citation Format: Junjie Li, Keda Yu, Da Pang, Changqin Wang, Jun Jiang, Suisheng Yang, Yunjiang Liu, Peifen Fu, Yuan Sheng, Guojun Zhang, Yali Cao, Qi He, Shude Cui, Xijing Wang, Guosheng Ren, Xinzheng Li, Shiyou Yu, Pengxi Liu, Jinhai Tang, Ouchen Wang, Zhimin Fan, Guoqin Jiang, Jin Zhang, Zhimin Shao, Chinese Breast Cancer Study Group (CBCSG) 010. Adjuvant capecitabine in combination with docetaxel and cyclophosphamide plus epirubicin for triple-negative breast cancer (cbcsg010): An open-label, randomised, multicentre, phase 3 trial [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr GS1-08.

Focus on the field of dynamic gesture recognition, there is a problem of the action, is difficult to recognise when multiple fingertips move in a small range (rotation, grabbing), the authors proposed a method to get the recognition results with high robustness in real-time. Firstly, they proposed the concavity kernel accumulation algorithm (CKA) to cluster corners in an image. Secondly, they deem CKA as a region proposal generator and combined it with convolutional neural network to detect fingertips. Thirdly, they proposed the global nearest neighbour point matching algorithm to match fingertips from two frames. Finally, the long short-term memory is used in multi-trajectory recognition to get the results of gesture recognition. Experiments show that their method could recognise multi-trajectory gestures accurately, furthermore, it can run in real time (20 FPS) without graphics processing unit (GPU).

Trimming inserts with complicated geometric features are widely used in the manufacture of automotive panels. The number of trimming inserts for a typical automotive panel is usually more than 20, even up to 100. The design of trimming inserts is a complex and time-consuming process, which significantly affects the development period and quality of automotive panels. However, the design of trimming insert needs to handle a lot of complex geometrical problems, such as 3D curve offset problems. The current commercial CAD software cannot provide a complete and effective solution to the problem, where a lot of tedious human-intersections are needed. This paper presents a systematic methodology which includes the automation of trimming lines division and trimming inserts design. An automatic-decomposition algorithm is presented to divide the trimming lines into short segments. Then the trimming insert is designed for each divided trimming segment. In order to automate the design of trimming insert, a bulking-fairing algorithm is introduced to fair planar curves to meet physical constraints, and a robust 3D curve offset method is proposed to generating 3D offset curves to overcome the main limitation of existing methods. Lastly, the path-interference-check algorithm is presented to check if the interference occurs during the trimming process. This system is implemented and has applications in industry. Case studies and industrial applications have demonstrated the system’s powerful ability in design trimming inserts of automotive panel, and the efficiency for insert design could be improved by 80% at least.

Recently, flexible and wearable electronics have gained considerable research interest due to their potential applications in wearable devices, energy storage materials, electronic skins, sensors, etc. Compared to elastomers, hydrogels demonstrate more potential for flexible electronics because of their biomimetic structures, suitable mechanical properties and excellent biocompatibility. Among all the designs, nanocomposite hydrogel-based strain and pressure sensors which can transmit external stimulus to electrical signals have been intensely investigated due to their high mechanical strength, considerable conductivity and outstanding sensitivity. Numerous reports have been dedicated to the designs, preparations and applications of nanocomposite hydrogels. This review provides an up-to-date and comprehensive summary of research progresses of nanocomposite hydrogel-based strain and pressure sensors including designing strategies, preparing methods and applications of the five nanofiller based hydrogel sensors including carbon nanotube based, graphene oxide based, MXene based, polymer nanofiller based and other nanofiller based sensors. Representative cases are carefully selected and discussed regarding the fabrication, merits and demerits, respectively. Finally, perspectives and challenges are presented for the designs of future nanocomposite hydrogel-based strain and pressure sensors.

Eutectics in high entropy alloys (HEAs) have shown excellent properties and promising applications. With empirical rules, various of eutectic high entropy alloys (EHEAs) have been proposed. The current design strategies shed light on the formation of eutectics in HEAs, but they are incapable of confirming multiple variables quantitatively in the selection of a specific system. In the present study, the eutectic formation in the multi-principal element systems is uncovered via data mining with machine learning (ML), where the critical elements and strongly associated elements were discovered. Taking the Al–Co–Cr–Fe–Ni system as an example, Al is confirmed to be the critical element for the eutectic formation and Cr is the strongly associated element with Al, Ni, Co, Fe and minor additions with comparably large solid solubility can be considered overall. With these understandings, a three-step approach can be summarized for designing EHEAs in a given system. Within the designed EHEAs, properties can be tested for optimization of application orientated design. The findings can not only accelerate the exploitation of EHEAs with better performance but also provide new ideas for designing compositionally complex alloys.

The aim of the present study was to determine the expression of MCP-1 in injured cartilage tissues, peripheral blood and synovial fluid from patients with cartilage injury of elbow joint of upper limbs, and try to understand its relationship with microRNA (miRNA or miR)-421. Twenty-eight patients and 26 healthy subjects were included. Injured cartilage tissues and peripheral blood were collected from all 28 patients. Synovial fluid was collected from 12 patients with elbow effusion. The expression of mRNA and miR-421 was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR); the expression of MCP-1 protein in tissues, by western blotting; MCP-1 in serum or synovial fluid, by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Dual luciferase reporter assay was used to identify direct interaction between miR-421 and MCP-1. The migration of THP-1 cells was determined by transwell assay. The results showed that MCP-1 was elevated in patients with cartilage injury of elbow joint of upper limbs. By contrast, miR-421 was decreased. miR-421 could bind with the 3′-UTR seed region of MCP-1 mRNA to regulate its expression. Overexpression of miR-421 inhibited the expression of MCP-1 in HC-a cells, and the chemotaxis of THP-1 monocytes. This study demonstrates that the up-regulation of MCP-1 in injured cartilage tissues, serum and synovial fluid from patients with cartilage injury of elbow joint of upper limbs was related to the down-regulation of miR-421. In addition, miR-421 may affect the chemotaxis of monocytes via MCP-1, and regulate the local immune responses in injured cartilage site of elbow joint of upper limbs.

A metasurface is one of the most effectual platforms for the manipulation of complex optical fields. One of the current challenges in the field is to develop active or reconfigurable functionalities to extend its operation band which is limited by its intrinsic resonant nature. Here we demonstrate a kind of active Fano-resonant asymmetric metasurface in the near-infrared (NIR) region with heterostructures made of a layer of asymmetric split-ring resonators and a thin layer of phase-change material (PCM). In the asymmetric metasurface, significant tunability in the frequency, Q-factor and strength of the Fano resonance are all achieved by precisely controlling the phase transition of the contained PCM Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST), together with changing the geometric asymmetry of the split-ring resonators. Moreover, we provide a complete transition process of the optical properties for GST and an optimized modulation on the active Fano-resonant metasurface. Our approach to dynamically control a Fano-resonant metasurface paves the way to realizing various active photonic meta-devices involving PCM.