One step from nanofiber to functional hybrid structure: Pd doped ZnO/SnO2 heterojunction nanofibers with hexagonal ZnO columns for enhanced low-temperature hydrogen gas sensing

In this paper, a novel hybrid structure of Pd doped ZnO/SnO₂ heterojunction nanofibers with hexagonal ZnO columns was one step synthesized from electrospun precursor nanofibers. Due to the synergistic effect of hexagonal ZnO, SnO₂ and Pd, the structure exhibited excellent hydrogen (H₂) gas sensing properties. At low-temperature of 120 °C, the response (R_a/R_g) to 100 ppm H₂ gas exceeded 160, the response/recovery time was only 20 s and 6 s respectively and the limit of detection was only 0.5 ppm. Meanwhile, it also had good selectivity for H₂ gas and excellent linearity. In addition, the materials were characterized by XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, XPS, and the synthesis mechanism and gas sensing mechanism were proposed.     

Changes in the content and antioxidative activity of β-carotene and its metabolite vitamin A during gastrointestinal digestion and absorption and optimisation of HPLC-based detection

The β-Carotene (BC), an important precursor of vitamin A (VA), possesses antioxidant activity but is fat-soluble and has low bioavailability. In previous in-vitro assays evaluating antioxidant and 2,2′-azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) free radical scavenging, both BC and VA showed a strong ability to scavenge radicals and protected cells from oxidative stress. Here, we used artificially simulated gastrointestinal digestion and Caco-2 cell absorption models to evaluate the bioavailability of the BC during gastrointestinal digestion and absorption using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. We observed high absorptive and transfer rates of BC and detected retinol metabolites (Vitamin A). Therefore, BC can be detected in the acidic gastrointestinal environment using HPLC. Optimised method provided better separation of BC and VA in the column, improving the accuracy of the test results.     

Finite-time adaptive fuzzy control for a class of output constrained nonlinear systems with dead-zone

The article investigates the finite-time adaptive fuzzy control for a class of nonlinear systems with output constraint and input dead-zone. First, by skillfully combining the barrier Lyapunov function, backstepping design method, and finite-time control theory, a novel adaptive state-feedback tracking controller is constructed, and the output constraint of the nonlinear system is not violated. Second, the fuzzy logic system is used to approximate unknown function in the nonlinear system. Third, the finite-time command filter is introduced to avoid the problem of “complexity explosion” caused by repeated differentiations of the virtual control signal in conventional backstepping control schemes. Meanwhile, a new saturation function is added in the compensating signal for filter error to improve control accuracy. Finally, based on Lyapunov stability analysis, all the signals of the closed-loop are proved to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood region of the origin in a finite time. A simulation example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness for the proposed control scheme.     

Theoretical investigation of intrinsic point defects and the oxygen migration behavior in rare earth hafnates

In this work, the composition-dependent point defect types and formation energies of RE₂Hf₂O₇ (RE = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu and Gd) as well as the oxygen diffusion behavior are systematically investigated by first-principles calculations. The possible defect reactions and dominant defect complexes under stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric conditions are revealed. It is found that O Frenkel pairs are the predominant defect in stoichiometric pyrochlore hafnates. Hf-RE cation anti-site defects, accompanied by RE vacancies and/or oxygen interstitials, are stable in the non-stoichiometric case of HfO₂ excess. On the other hand, RE-Hf anti-site defects together with oxygen vacancies and/or RE interstitials are preferable in the case of RE₂O₃ excess. The energy barriers for the migration along the V_O48f - V_O48f pathway of pyrochlore hafnates were calculated to be between 0.81 eV and 0.89 eV. Based on these results, a defect engineering strategy is proposed and the pyrochlore hafnates investigated here are predicted to exhibit potential oxygen ionic conductivity.     

Facial-sketch Synthesis: A New Challenge

Machine Intelligence Research - This paper aims to conduct a comprehensive study on facial-sketch synthesis (FSS). However, due to the high cost of obtaining hand-drawn sketch datasets, there is a...     

电信运营商云网规划数字化研究和实现

基于电信运营商数字化转型，系统性地提出了数据驱动的云网发展规划体系，以及六大关键数字化能力构建，设计和实现了一种云网规划数字化平台，该平台可用于实现目标网络精细规划、边缘计算精准预测等场景，并探讨了数字孪生在规划领域的应用前景，对运营商推进云网融合战略、推进高质量发展具有指导和参考意义。