Designing Stimuli-Responsive Upconversion Nanoparticles that Exploit the Tumor Microenvironment

Tailoring personalized cancer nanomedicines demands detailed understanding of the tumor microenvironment. In recent years, smart upconversion nanoparticles with the ability to exploit the unique characteristics of the tumor microenvironment for precise targeting have been designed. To activate upconversion nanoparticles, various bio-physicochemical characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, namely, acidic pH, redox reactants, and hypoxia, are exploited. Stimuli-responsive upconversion nanoparticles also utilize the excessive presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), riboflavin, and Zn²⁺ in tumors. An overview of the design of stimulus-responsive upconversion nanoparticles that precisely target and respond to tumors via targeting the tumor microenvironment and intracellular signals is provided. Detailed understanding of the tumor microenvironment and the personalized design of upconversion nanoparticles will result in more effective clinical translation.     

Reliability-based fault analysis models with industrial applications: A systematic literature review

Effective and early fault detection and diagnosis techniques have tremendously enhanced over the years to ensure continuous operations of contemporary complex systems, control cost, and enhance safety in assets-intensive industries, including oil and gas, process, and power generation. The objective of this work is to understand the development of different fault detection and diagnosis methods, their applications, and benefits to the industry. This paper presents a contemporary state-of-the-art systematic literature survey focusing on a comprehensive review of the models for fault detection and their industrial applications. This study uses advanced tools from bibliometric analysis to systematically analyze over 500 peer-reviewed articles on focus areas published since 2010. We first present an exploratory analysis and identify the influential contributions to the field, authors, and countries, among other key indicators.  A network analysis is presented to unveil and visualize the clusters of the distinguishable areas using a co-citation network analysis. Later, a detailed content analysis of the top-100 most-cited papers is carried out to understand the progression of fault detection and artificial intelligence–based algorithms in different industrial applications. The findings of this paper allow us to comprehend the development of reliability-based fault analysis techniques over time, and the use of smart algorithms and their success. This work helps to make a unique contribution toward revealing the future avenues and setting up a prospective research road map for asset-intensive industry, researchers, and policymakers.     

Ferroelectric,dielectric, magnetic,structural and photocatalytic properties of Co and Fe doped LaCrO3 perovskite synthesized via micro-emulsion route

In the present investigation, La_1-xCo_xCr_1-yFe_yO₃ (x,y = 0.0, 0.12, 0.36, 0.60) perovskite was fabricated via a facile micro-emulsion route. The synthesized perovskites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) techniques to examine the effect of Co and Fe ions on the physico-chemical properties. The ferroelectric, dielectric, and magnetic properties of La_1-xCo_xCr_1-yFe_yO₃ were changed significantly as a function of dopants contents (Co and Fe ions). Outcomes revealed that the dielectric, ferroelectric and magnetic properties of LaCrO₃ perovskite can be tuned significantly via Co and Fe doping and La_0.40Co_0.60Cr_0.40Fe_0.60O₃ have potential for photocatalytic dye removal under (visible) light expoure. The photocatalytic activity (PCA) of the pristine LaCrO₃ and La_0.40Co_0.60Cr_0.40Fe_0.60O₃ photocatalyst was evaluated under (visible) light irradiation for crystal violet (CV) dye. Experimental results revealed that La_0.40Co_0.60Cr_0.40Fe_0.60O₃ photocatalyst degrdae almost 77.21% CV dye with the rate constant value of 0.01475 min^?1. In the presence of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) scavenger, the PCA of the La_0.40Co_0.60Cr_0.40Fe_0.60O₃ photocatalyst and rate constant value of the photocatalytic reaction decreased to 32.5% and 0.00491 min^?1, suggesting the superoxide as main active specie. Results revealed that Co and Fe doping doped material is efficient for photocatalytic presentations under solar light expoure.     

NS-2 based simulation framework for cognitive radio sensor networks

In this paper, we propose a simulation model for cognitive radio sensor networks (CRSNs) which is an attempt to combine the useful properties of wireless sensor networks and cognitive radio networks. The existing simulation models for cognitive radios cannot be extended for this purpose as they do not consider the strict energy constraint in wireless sensor networks. Our proposed model considers the limited energy available for wireless sensor nodes that constrain the spectrum sensing process—an unavoidable operation in cognitive radios. Our model has been thoroughly tested by performing experiments in different scenarios of CRSNs. The results generated by the model have been found accurate which can be considered for realization of CRSNs.     

Assisting software engineering students in analyzing their performance in software development

Collecting product and process measures in software development projects, particularly in education and training environments, is important as a basis for assessing current performance and opportunities for improvement. However, analyzing the collected data manually is challenging because of the expertise required, the lack of benchmarks for comparison, the amount of data to analyze, and the time required to do the analysis. ProcessPAIR is a novel tool for automated performance analysis and improvement recommendation; based on a performance model calibrated from the performance data of many developers, it automatically identifies and ranks potential performance problems and root causes of individual developers. In education and training environments, it increases students’ autonomy and reduces instructors’ effort in grading and feedback. In this article, we present the results of a controlled experiment involving 61 software engineering master students, half of whom used ProcessPAIR in a Personal Software Process (PSP) performance analysis assignment, and the other half used a traditional PSP support tool (Process Dashboard) for performing the same assignment. The results show significant benefits in terms of students’ satisfaction (average score of 4.78 in a 1–5 scale for ProcessPAIR users, against 3.81 for Process Dashboard users), quality of the analysis outcomes (average grades achieved of 88.1 in a 0–100 scale for ProcessPAIR users, against 82.5 for Process Dashboard users), and time required to do the analysis (average of 252 min for ProcessPAIR users, against 262 min for Process Dashboard users, but with much room for improvement).

     

Industrial wireless sensor and actuator networks in industry 4.0: Exploring requirements,protocols, and challenges—A MAC survey

The vision to connect everyday physical objects to the Internet promises to create the Internet of Things (IoT), which is expected to integrate the diverse technologies such as sensors, actuators, radio frequency identification, communication technologies, and Internet protocols. Thus, IoT promises to transfer traditional industry to advance digital industry known as the Industry 4.0. At the core of the Industry 4.0 are the wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and wireless sensor and actuator networks (WSANs) that led to the development of industrial wireless sensor networks (IWSNs) and industrial wireless sensor and actuator networks (IWSANs). These networks play a central role of connecting machines, parts, products, and humans and create a diverse set of new applications to support intelligent and autonomous decision making. The IWSAN is a promising technology for numerous industrial applications because of their several potential benefits such as simple deployment, low cost, less complexity, and mobility support. However, despite such benefits, they impose several unique challenges at different layers of the protocol stack when deploying them for various monitoring and control applications in the Industry 4.0. In this article, we explore IWSAN, its applications, requirements, challenges, and solutions in the context of industrial control applications. Our main focus is on the medium access control (MAC) layer that can be exploited to satisfy such requirements. Our discussion presents extensive background study of the MAC schemes and it reviews the MAC protocols of the existing wireless standards and technologies. A number of application‐specific MAC protocols developed to support industrial applications, which are not part of these standards, are also elaborated. We rationalize to what extent the existing standards and protocols help in solving such requirements as laid down by the Industry 4.0. In the end, we emphasize on existing challenges and present important future directions.     

Covalent 0D–2D Heterostructuring of Co9S8–MoS2 for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution in All pH Electrolytes

Ultrasmall Co₉S₈ nanoparticles are introduced on the basal plane of MoS₂ to fabricate a covalent 0D–2D heterostructure that enhances the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of electrochemical water splitting. In the heterostructure, separate phases of Co₉S₈ and MoS₂ are formed, but they are connected by Co–S–Mo type covalent bonds. The charge redistribution from Co to Mo occurring at the interface enhances the electron‐doped characteristics of MoS₂ to generate electron‐rich Mo atoms. Besides, reductive annealing during the synthesis forms S defects that activates adjacent Mo atoms for further enhanced HER activity as elucidated by the density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Eventually, the covalent Co₉S₈–MoS₂ heterostructure shows amplified HER activity as well as stability in all pH electrolytes. The synergistic effect is pronounced when the heterostructure is coupled with a porous Ni foam (NF) support to form Co₉S₈–MoS₂/NF that displays superior performance to those of the state‐of‐the‐art non‐noble metal electrocatalysts, and even outperforms a commercial Pt/C catalyst in a practically meaningful, high current density region in alkaline (>170 mA cm^?2) and neutral (>60 mA cm^?2) media. The high HER performance and stability of Co₉S₈–MoS₂ heterostructure make it a promising pH universal alternative to expensive Pt‐based electrocatalysts for practical water electrolyzers.     

Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Catalysis in Alkaline Media by All‐in‐One MoS2 with Multifunctional Active Sites

MoS₂ becomes an efficient and durable nonprecious‐metal electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) when it contains multifunctional active sites for water splitting derived from 1T‐phase, defects, S vacancies, exposed Mo edges with expanded interlayer spacings. In contrast to previously reported MoS₂‐based catalysts targeting only a single or few of these characteristics, the all‐in‐one MoS₂ catalyst prepared herein features all of the above active site types. During synthesis, the intercalation of in situ generated NH₃ molecules into MoS₂ sheets affords ammoniated MoS₂ (A‐MoS₂) that predominantly comprises 1T‐MoS₂ and exhibits an expanded interlayer spacing. The subsequent reduction of A‐MoS₂ results in the removal of intercalated NH₃ and H₂S to form an all‐in‐one MoS₂ with multifunctional active sites mentioned above (R‐MoS₂) that exhibits electrocatalytic HER performance in alkaline media superior to those of all previously reported MoS₂‐based electrocatalysts. In particular, a hybrid MoS₂/nickel foam catalyst outperforms commercial Pt/C in the practically meaningful high‐current region (>25 mA cm^?2), demonstrating that R‐MoS₂‐based materials can potentially replace Pt catalysts in practical alkaline HER systems.