Comparison of yield and metabolites according to the types of hilling materials utilized during Glehnia littoralis sprout vegetable cultivation

Food Science and Biotechnology - Various hilling materials (rice hulls, pine sawdust, and perlite) were compared to produce sprout vegetables using beach silvertop (Glehnia littoralis Fr. Schm. ex...     

Multiply Charged Conjugated Polyelectrolytes as a Multifunctional Interlayer for Efficient and Scalable Perovskite Solar Cells

A series of anionic conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) is synthesized based on poly(fluorene-co-phenylene) by varying the side-chain ionic density from two to six per repeat units (MPS2-TMA, MPS4-TMA, and MPS6-TMA). The effect of MPS2, 4, 6-TMA as interlayers on top of a hole-extraction layer of poly(bis(4-phenyl)-2,4,6-trimethylphenylamine (PTAA) is investigated in inverted perovskite solar cells (PeSCs). Owing to the improved wettability of perovskites on hydrophobic PTAA with the CPEs, the PeSCs with CPE interlayers demonstrate a significantly enhanced device performance, with negligible device-to-device dependence relative to the reference PeSC without CPEs. By increasing the ionic density in the MPS-TMA interlayers, the wetting, interfacial defect passivation, and crystal growth of the perovskites are significantly improved without increasing the series resistance of the PeSCs. In particular, the open-circuit voltage increases from 1.06 V for the PeSC with MPS2-TMA to 1.11 V for the PeSC with MPS6-TMA. The trap densities of the PeSCs with MPS2,4,6-TMA are further analyzed using frequency-dependent capacitance measurements. Finally, a large-area (1 cm²) PeSC is successfully fabricated with MPS6-TMA, showing a power conversion efficiency of 18.38% with negligible hysteresis and a stable power output under light soaking for 60 s.     

In vivo Kinetic Biodistribution of Nano‐Sized Outer Membrane Vesicles Derived from Bacteria

Evaluation of kinetic distribution and behaviors of nanoparticles in vivo provides crucial clues into their roles in living organisms. Extracellular vesicles are evolutionary conserved nanoparticles, known to play important biological functions in intercellular, inter‐species, and inter‐kingdom communication. In this study, the first kinetic analysis of the biodistribution of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs)—bacterial extracellular vesicles—with immune‐modulatory functions is performed. OMVs, injected intraperitoneally, spread to the whole mouse body and accumulate in the liver, lung, spleen, and kidney within 3 h of administration. As an early systemic inflammation response, increased levels of TNF‐α and IL‐6 are observed in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. In addition, the number of leukocytes and platelets in the blood is decreased. OMVs and cytokine concentrations, as well as body temperature are gradually decreased 6 h after OMV injection, in concomitance with the formation of eye exudates, and of an increase in ICAM‐1 levels in the lung. Following OMV elimination, most of the inflammatory signs are reverted, 12 h post‐injection. However, leukocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid are increased as a late reaction. Taken together, these results suggest that OMVs are effective mediators of long distance communication in vivo.     

Grazing incidence reflection absorption Fourier transform infrared (GIRA-FTIR) spectroscopic studies on the ferroelectric behavior of poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) ultrathin films

Grazing incidence reflection absorption Fourier transform infrared (GIRA-FTIR) spectroscopy was used to characterize the ferroelectric behavior of a thin poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) P(VDF–TrFE) copolymer. The lab-built GIRA-FTIR apparatus allowed the heating and corona poling process to be carried out whilst collecting the GIRA spectra of the thin polymer film. The Curie transition from the ferroelectric to paraelectric phase was confirmed from the abrupt change in intensity of the 849 cm⁻¹ band in the RA-FTIR spectrum. It was found that the Curie temperature dropped dramatically when the film thickness was lowered to below a certain critical value of approximately 100 nm. The switching of the CF₂ dipoles in the ferroelectric crystals after applying the external electric field could be determined by monitoring the change in the 849 cm⁻¹ band intensity. For the 600 nm thick P(VDF–TrFE) film, the switching of the dipoles appears to occur almost instantaneously, while the kinetics of dipole switching of the 75 nm thick film were significantly retarded. The repeated switchability of the CF₂ dipoles upon the application of a bipolar cyclic electric field was also confirmed. The bistability of the film due to remnant polarization was also confirmed from the absorbance of the 849 cm⁻¹ band after removing the applied voltage during corona poling.     

Blends of nylon 6 with an ethylene-based multifunctional polymer. I. Rheology–structure relationships

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the rheological behavior of a heterogeneous polymer blend system consisting of nylon 6 and an ethylene-based multifunctional polymer (CXA 3101, DuPont Co.). For comparison purposes, we also investigated the rheological behavior of two additional blend systems, namely blends of nylon 6 with a chemically modified polyolefin (Plexar 3, Chemplex Co.) and blends of nylon 6 with ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA). We have investigated the thermal and thermomechanical behavior of the blend systems, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Also, we have attempted to identify the chemical structure of the functional groups present in the CXA 3101 and Plexar 3 resins, using infrared (IR) spectroscopy. This information has enabled us to interpret the observed rheological behavior. Furthermore, we have used both optical and scanning electron microscopies to investigate the state of dispersion of the constituent components in each of the blend systems. We have concluded that, during melt blending, chemical reactions have taken place between carboxyl or anhydride groups present in the CXA 3101 resin and the amino end groups of the nylon 6, forming a graft copolymer which then acted as an “interfacial agent.”     

A practical SPICE model based on the physics and characteristics of realistic single-electron transistors

A practical model for a single-electron transistor (SET) was developed based on the physical phenomena in realistic Si SETs, and implemented into a conventional circuit simulator. In the proposed model, the SET current calculated by the analytic model is combined with the parasitic MOSFET characteristics, which have been observed in many recently reported SETs formed on Si nanostructures. The SPICE simulation results were compared with the measured characteristics of the Si SETs. In terms of the bias, temperature, and size dependence of the realistic SET characteristics, an extensive comparison leads to good agreement within a reasonable level of accuracy. This result is noticeable in that a single set of model parameters was used, while considering divergent physical phenomena such as the parasitic MOSFET, the Coulomb oscillation phase shift, and the tunneling resistance modulated by the gate bias. When compared to the measured data, the accuracy of the voltage transfer characteristics of a single-electron inverter obtained from the SPICE simulation was within 15%. This new SPICE model can be applied to estimating the realistic performance of a CMOS/SET hybrid circuit or various SET logic architectures.     

Effective Reduction of Horizontal Error in Laser Scanning Information by Strip‐Wise Least Squares Adjustments

Though the airborne laser scanning (ALS) technique is becoming more popular in many applications, horizontal accuracy of points scanned by the ALS is not yet satisfactory when compared with the accuracy achieved for vertical positions. One of the major reasons is the drift that occurs in the inertial measurement unit (IMU) during the scanning. This paper presents an algorithm that adjusts for the error that is introduced mainly by the drift of the IMU that renders systematic differences between strips on the same area. For this, we set up an observation equation for strip‐wise adjustments and completed it with tie point and control point coordinates derived from the scanned strips and information from aerial photos. To effectively capture the tie points, we developed a set of procedures that constructs a digital surface model (DSM) with breaklines and then performed feature‐based matching on strips resulting in a set of reliable tie points. Solving the observation equations by the least squares method produced a set of affine transformation equations with 6 parameters that we used to transform the strips for adjusting the horizontal error. Experimental results after evaluation of the accuracy showed a root mean squared error (RMSE) of the adjusted strip points of 0.27 m, which is significant considering the RMSE before adjustment was 0.77 m.     

A finite element analysis of damage propagation during metal forming process

In this paper damage propagation during metal forming process is investigated with the concept of continuum damage mechanics. An isotropic damage model based on the theory of materials of type N is adopted to describe the damage process of a ductile material with large elasto-viscoplastic deformation. To solve the finite elasto-viscoplasticity problem, a reasonable kinematic strain measure for largely deformed solids is used and the damage constitutive equations based on thermodynamical framework are developed. The stiffness degradation of the loaded material is chosen as a damage measure. An extended interior penalty method is used to impose the contact condition on the boundary. The highly nonlinear equilibrium equations are reduced to the incremental weak form and approximated by the total Lagrangian finite element method. The displacement control method along with the modified Riks' continuation technique based on displacement parameter is used to solve the incremental iterative equations. As numerical examples, upsetting, backward extrusion and punch problems are simulated and the results of damage propagation and J₂ stress contours with and without damage are presented. For punch problems, spring back and residual stresses are also presented.