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Design of metal-semiconductor interfaces and heterostructures is of strong interest for various catalytic applications including photocatalysis. In this work, a series of hollow Au nanosphere (HGN)-Cu2O core-shell nanostructures with varying core surface rugosities are synthesized and investigated for possible photocatalytic applications. HGN surface rugosity is tuned by pH modification during galvanic exchange, and carboxyl groups are utilized as coordination sites to deposit uniform Cu2O shells onto the gold surfaces. Final core-shell structures are verified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Information regarding chemical state and electronic band structure is acquired by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). Ultrafast transient absorption (TA) reveals that charge separation in bumpy HGN (bHGN)-Cu2O may effectively provide longer-lived photoexcited carriers, offering great potential for utilization in advanced photocatalytic processes.

Machining surface topography is a key factor affecting the properties of optical materials.It is generally accepted that the fracture mode tends to dominate practical concerns onmachined parts and the elastic recovery area decreases with the increase of normal load.However, material removal rate is low for ductile zone processing of brittle materials. In thiscase, pile-up and elastic recovery are key factors for surface quality. In this study, an accuratescratching and ploughing hardness model with consideration of both pile-up and elasticrecovery was established based on a series of continuous and constant nanoscratch tests.The hardness evolution mechanism under different nanoscratch deformation modes wasthen investigated. It was found that, in different modes, hardness values exhibited differentcharacteristics due to the change of elastic recovery rate and the intersection of elastic andplastic states. Further, the mapping relationship between hardness dispersion and surfacemorphology characteristics was also investigated. The results indicated that high degree ofhardness dispersion usually corresponded to modes I and II while stable hardness valuerepresented a steady plastic stage. Based on the intrinsic relationship between evolution ofhardness and deformation modes, predicting hardness distribution by in-situ testing dataand then adjusting deformation mode in real time would be helpful in optimizing surfacequality.

We developed a microreactor with porous copper fibers for synthesizing nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) with a high stability and photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY). By optimizing synthesis conditions, including the reaction temperature, flow rate, ethylenediamine dosage, and porosity of copper fibers, the N-CDs with a high PL QY of 73% were achieved. The PL QY of N-CDs was two times higher with copper fibers than without. The interrelations between the copper fibers with different porosities and the N-CDs were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results demonstrate that the elemental contents and surface functional groups of N-CDs are significantly influenced by the porosity of copper fibers. The N-CDs can be used to effectively and selectively detect Hg2+ ions with a good linear response in the 0~50 μM Hg2+ ions concentration range, and the lowest limit of detection (LOD) is 2.54 nM, suggesting that the N-CDs have great potential for applications in the fields of environmental and hazard detection. Further studies reveal that the different d orbital energy levels of Hg2+ compared to those of other metal ions can affect the efficiency of electron transfer and thereby result in their different response in fluorescence quenching towards N-CDs.

In principle, the diameter and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) frequency of hollow metal nanostructures can be independently adjusted, allowing the formation of targeted photoactivated structures of specific size and optical functionality. Although tunable SPRs have been reported for various systems, the shift in SPR is usually concomitant with a change in particle size. As such, more advanced tunability, including constant diameter with varying SPR or constant SPR with varying diameter, has not been properly achieved experimentally. Herein, we demonstrate this advanced tunability with hollow gold nanospheres (HGNs). HGNs were synthesized through galvanic exchange using cobalt-based nanoparticles (NPs) as sacrificial scaffolds. Co2B NP scaffolds were prepared by sodium borohydride nucleation of aqueous cobalt chloride and characterized using UV-vis, dynamic light scattering, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Careful control over the size of the Co2B scaffold and its galvanic conversion is essential to realize fine control of the resultant HGN diameter and shell thickness. In pursuit of size control, we introduce B(OH)4- (the final product of NaBH4 hydrolysis) as a growth agent to obtain hydrodynamic diameters ranging from ∼17-85 nm with relative standard deviation

In this paper, an effective equivalent modeling technique has been proposed to describe small-signal characteristics of InP-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) after proton radiation, which is composed of an artificial neural network and equivalent-circuit models. Small-signal intrinsic parameters of InP-based HEMTs are extracted from S-parameters before and after 2 MeV proton radiation as modeling objects. The deep learning model of a generative adversarial network has been explored to expand the measured finite data samples. Four feedforward neural networks are incorporated to equivalent-circuit topology to form the equivalent model, which are trained to accurately predict the radiation-induced variations of Cgs, Cgd, Rds, and gm, respectively. The prediction accuracy of the developed equivalent model has been well verified in terms of the broad-band S-parameters under radiation fluence of 1 × 1014 and 5 × 1013 H+/cm2. This equivalent modeling method with characterization of radiation damage effects could provide significant guidance for the aerospace monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In toroidal magnetic fusion devices, fast-ion D-alpha diagnostic (FIDA) is a powerful method to study the fast-ion feature. The fast-ion characteristics can be inferred from the Doppler shifted spectrum of Dα light according to charge exchange recombination process between fast ions and probe beam. Since conceptual design presented in the last HTPD conference, significant progress has been made to apply FIDA systems on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). Both co-current and counter-current neutral beam injectors are available, and each can deliver 2-4 MW beam power with 50-80 keV beam energy. Presently, two sets of high throughput spectrometer systems have been installed on EAST, allowing to capture passing and trapped fast-ion characteristics simultaneously, using Kaiser HoloSpec transmission grating spectrometer and Bunkoukeiki FLP-200 volume phase holographic spectrometer coupled with Princeton Instruments ProEM 1024B eXcelon and Andor DU-888 iXon3 1024 CCD camera, respectively. This paper will present the details of the hardware descriptions and experimental spectrum.

To investigate the fast ion behavior, a fast ion D-alpha (FIDA) diagnostic system has been installed on EAST. Fast ion features can be inferred from the Doppler shifted spectrum of Balmer-alpha light from energetic hydrogenic atoms. This paper will focus on the validation of FIDA measurements performed using MHD-quiescent discharges in 2015 campaign. Two codes have been applied to calculate the Dα spectrum: one is a Monte Carlo code, Fortran 90 version FIDASIM, and the other is an analytical code, Simulation of Spectra (SOS). The predicted SOS fast-ion spectrum agrees well with the measurement; however, the level of fast-ion part from FIDASIM is lower. The discrepancy is possibly due to the difference between FIDASIM and SOS velocity distribution function. The details will be presented in the paper to primarily address comparisons of predicted and observed spectrum shapes/amplitudes.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of total glucosides of paeony (TGP) in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 236 patients with pSS, including 118 TGP users and 118 non-users. Propensity score matching and Binary logistic regression analyses were used to minimize confounding factors and determine the association between TGP treatment and clinical variables. RESULTS: The baseline indexes of TGP users and non-users were basically the same. The median time of follow-up in the two groups was also similar (p < 0.05). Compared with non-users, TGP users showed higher rates of improvement in dry mouth and eyes and musculoskeletal involvement, as well as more significant reductions in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and direct bilirubin (DBIL) levels after treatment. Logistic regression confirmed that the use of TGP was negatively correlated with the increase of ALT and DBIL in pSS patients, and the reduction in these variables was more pronounced after 2 years of treatment. The incidence of adverse reactions in the TGP users was 11.9%, which was compatible with those in non-users. CONCLUSIONS: TGP is often a safe option for treating pSS patients with musculoskeletal features and abnormal ALT levels. Besides, it can help improve dry mouth and dry eyes and decrease DBIL levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly stable and photoluminescent methylammonium lead halide perovskite quantum dots (MAPbBr3 PQDs) have been synthesized and applied for the fluorescence quenching detection of clothianidin in fruit and vegetable samples. Characterizations using different techniques, including photoluminescence (PL), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and time-resolved PL (TRPL), show that static quenching is the dominant fluorescence quenching mechanism of MAPbBr3 PQDs with clothianidin. Hydrogen bonds or van der Waals forces play major roles in the MAPbBr3 PQDs–clothianidin interaction. Under optimized conditions, the relative PL intensity of MAPbBr3 PQDs is linear to the concentration of clothianidin in the 0.0 and 20.0 mg/L range with a detection limit of 0.17 μg/kg. Excellent recoveries of 79.5–115.4% were acquired for radish and banana samples with a relative standard deviation below 9.4%. These results indicate that PQDs can be used for qualitative and quantitative identification of clothianidin, providing an effective detection method for risk prevention and control of neonicotinoid pesticide residues in agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical stage and the ability to achieve comprehensive treatment were the prognostic features of thymoma. In the present study, we aimed to analyze the efficacy of different types of therapy in patients with Masaoka-Koga stage III thymoma. Materials and Methods: From 2001 to 2018, patients newly diagnosed with thymoma was retrospectively analyzed. The c2test was used to evaluate patient characteristics, the Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate overall survival (OS), log-rank method was applied to examine the difference between groups, and Cox regression was used to analysis the potential prognostic factors of OS. Results: The median follow-up time was 50 months (range: 3-221 months), and median OS was 51 (range: 3-221) months. The radical surgery group had a significantly better OS than the palliative surgery group. The 5-year, 10-year OS were 88.2%, 74.4% in the radical surgery group, whereas the 5-year, 10-year OS were 51.8% and 32.4% in the palliative group. The 5-year OS in surgery followed by adjuvant radiotherapy group was higher than that of surgery alone group (82.8% vs 55.8%, P=0.033); similarly, the 10-year OS of the two groups were 64.2% and, 50.2%, respectively (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that age < 50 years (HR [hazard ratio]: 0.264), radical resection (HR:0.134, P=0.000), and surgery combined with radiotherapy (HR:2.778, P=0.009) were independently associated with better OS. Conclusion: In Masaoka-Koga stage III thymoma, patients treated with radical surgery was capable of achieving better OS than patients treated with palliative surgery. Moreover, radical surgery was an independent factor of prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CH3 NH3 PbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) of different sizes (ca. 2.5-100 nm) with high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY; ca. 15-55 %) and product yield have been synthesized using the branched molecules, APTES and NH2 -POSS, as capping ligands. These ligands are sterically hindered, resulting in a uniform size of PNCs. The different capping effects resulting from branched versus straight-chain capping ligands were compared and a possible mechanism proposed to explain the dissolution-precipitation process, which affects the growth and aggregation of PNCs, and thereby their overall stability. Unlike conventional PNCs capped with straight-chain ligands, APTES-capped PNCs show high stability in protic solvents as a result of the strong steric hindrance and propensity for hydrolysis of APTES, which prevent such molecules from reaching and reacting with the core of PNCs.