Small Changes,Big Impact: Tungsten Bronzes with Extremely Large Second Harmonic Generation Achieved by the Transition Metal Doping on the B-Site

Two novel transition metal-doped tungsten bronze oxides, Pb_2.15Li_0.85Nb_4.85Ti_0.15O₁₅ (PLNT) and Pb_2.15Li_0.55Nb_4.85W_0.15O₁₅ (PLNW), are synthesized by high-temperature solid-state reactions. The Rietveld method using the high-resolution synchrotron radiation indicates that PLNT and PLNW crystallize in the orthorhombic polar noncentrosymmetric space group, Pmn2₁ (no. 31). As a class of tungsten bronze oxide, PLNT and PLNW retain a unique rigid framework composed of d⁰ transition metal cation (Ti⁴⁺ or W⁶⁺)-doped highly distorted NbO₆ octahedra along with the subsequently generated Pb/LiO₁₂ and PbO₁₅ polyhedra. Interestingly, the d⁰ transition metal-doped tungsten bronzes, PLNT and PLNW, exhibit extremely large second-harmonic generation (SHG) responses of 56 and 67 × KH₂PO₄, respectively. The observed immeasurably strong SHG is mainly attributed to a net polarization originating from the alignment of highly distorted NbO₆ octahedra with doped transition metals in the frameworks. It is believed that doping transition metal cations at the B-site of the tungsten bronze structures should be an innovative strategy to develop novel high-performance nonlinear optical materials.     

A quantized set-membership estimation-based heading control method of unmanned surface vessels under unknown-but-bounded wave-induced disturbances

This paper is concerned with the heading tracking control problem for a network-based unmanned surface vessel (USV) under wave-induced disturbances. Considering the characteristics of the wave-induced disturbances, the unknown-but-bounded (UBB) noise model is adopted. Meanwhile, signal quantization is taken into account due to the limited capacity of the communication channel. Based on these considerations, a novel set-membership based control scheme is proposed, which consists of a set-membership filter (SMF) and a set-membership controller (SMC). In the proposed control scheme, the SMF is designed for providing an ellipsoidal estimation set for the USV at each sampling step, and then the SMC uses the estimation set for producing control input for the USV in order to track the reference. Sufficient conditions are derived for the considered USV system to be asymptotically stable and satisfy the modified set-membership performance constraint. Simulation results verifies the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.     

Designing Metallic and Insulating Nanocrystal Heterostructures to Fabricate Highly Sensitive and Solution Processed Strain Gauges for Wearable Sensors

All‐solution processed, high‐performance wearable strain sensors are demonstrated using heterostructure nanocrystal (NC) solids. By incorporating insulating artificial atoms of CdSe quantum dot NCs into metallic artificial atoms of Au NC thin film matrix, metal–insulator heterostructures are designed. This hybrid structure results in a shift close to the percolation threshold, modifying the charge transport mechanism and enhancing sensitivity in accordance with the site percolation theory. The number of electrical pathways is also manipulated by creating nanocracks to further increase its sensitivity, inspired from the bond percolation theory. The combination of the two strategies achieves gauge factor up to 5045, the highest sensitivity recorded among NC‐based strain gauges. These strain sensors show high reliability, durability, frequency stability, and negligible hysteresis. The fundamental charge transport behavior of these NC solids is investigated and the combined site and bond percolation theory is developed to illuminate the origin of their enhanced sensitivity. Finally, all NC‐based and solution‐processed strain gauge sensor arrays are fabricated, which effectively measure the motion of each finger joint, the pulse of heart rate, and the movement of vocal cords of human. This work provides a pathway for designing low‐cost and high‐performance electronic skin or wearable devices.     

Prediction of NSCLC recurrence from microarray data with GEP

Lung cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in the world. Non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common and dangerous type of lung cancer. Despite the fact that NSCLC is preventable and curable for some cases if diagnosed at early stages, the vast majority of patients are diagnosed very late. Furthermore, NSCLC usually recurs sometime after treatment. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to predict NSCLC recurrence, so that specific and suitable treatments can be sought. Nonetheless, conventional methods of predicting cancer recurrence rely solely on histopathology data and predictions are not reliable in many cases. The microarray gene expression (GE) technology provides a promising and reliable way to predict NSCLC recurrence by analysing the GE of sample cells. This study proposes a new model from GE programming to use microarray datasets for NSCLC recurrence prediction. To this end, the authors also propose a hybrid method to rank and select relevant prognostic genes that are related to NSCLC recurrence prediction. The proposed model was evaluated on real NSCLC microarray datasets and compared with other representational models. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed model.Inspec keywords: lung, cancer, lab‐on‐a‐chip, genetics, patient diagnosisOther keywords: NSCLC recurrence prediction, microarray data, GE programming, nonsmall cell lung cancer, cancer recurrence, histopathology data, microarray gene expression, prognostic genes     

热处理非晶态Ni-P合金镀层的晶化过程

运用电沉积的方法在45钢基体上制备Ni-P合金镀层,使用差示扫描量热法(DSC)和热重法(TG)分析非晶态NiP合金镀层在20℃/min加热速率下的热效应和质量变化。在300℃和400℃分别对镀层进行0,15,30,45,60,75min的热处理,采用扫描电镜(SEM)、能谱仪(EDS)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)、显微硬度计对镀层进行表征。结果表明:Ni-P合金镀层在加热过程中的放热峰出现在284.8℃处,镀层的质量和元素组成稳定;晶化过程经历了非晶态、亚稳态NiP和Ni5P2、稳定态Ni3P的转变;经过热处理后,镀层的显微硬度显著提高,最大值达1036.56HV,约为镀态的2倍;热处理态镀层的耐NaCl溶液腐蚀性能比镀态有所下降,但两者都比45钢基体好。     

The interlaminar shear failure characteristics of asphalt pavement coupled heating cables

Nowadays, heating cables are used as heat sources for heating pavements in practical engineering. However, there is a contradiction between the snow melting function and the interlaminar stability of heating pavement. In order to solve the contradiction, the interlaminar failure behavior of asphalt mixture coupled heating cables specimen (AMCS) was researched, through experiments and the finite element method. Under the different conditions of heating cables and rolling times, a series of direct shear tests was performed at the interface of AMCS, to compare the interlaminar stability of three different AMCS. Meanwhile, based on the bilinear cohesive zone model and coulomb friction model a 2D finite element model was established, to simulate this shear failure processes and make up for the limitations of the experiment. According to above test and simulation results, the failure mechanism and the weakest interface in AMCS were found, and the influence of the heating cable’s diameter and embedded spacing on the interlaminar shear strength were found. Then, a modified coulomb theorem model was proposed to predict the shear strength of the AMCS. This research enriches the design theory of the heating pavement and it has great significance for its structural design of heating asphalt pavement.     

Electrochemical corrosion behavior of 2A02 Al alloy under an accelerated simulation marine atmospheric environment

The corrosion behavior of 2A02 Al alloy under simulated marine atmospheric environment has been studied using mass-gain, scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), laser scanning confocal microscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and localized electrochemical methods. The results demonstrate that the relationship between the corrosion induced mass-gain and the corrosion time is in accordance with the power rule. The mass-gain increases gradually during the corrosion time, while the corrosion rate decreases. With ongoing of the corrosion, corrosion products film changed from a porous to a compact structure. The various spectroscopic data show that the corrosion products films composed mainly of Al(OH)₃, Al₂O₃ and AlCl₃. The electrochemical corrosion behavior of the 2A02 Al alloy was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).     

Aggregation-induced emission luminogen-assisted stimulated emission depletion nanoscopy for super-resolution mitochondrial visualization in live cells

Nano Research - Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) are fluorescent agents that are ideal for bioimaging and have been widely used for organelle targeting, cellular mapping, and...     

Peptidyl Virus-Like Nanovesicles as Reconfigurable “Trojan Horse” for Targeted siRNA Delivery and Synergistic Inhibition of Cancer Cells

The self-assembly of peptidyl virus-like nanovesicles (pVLNs) composed of highly ordered peptide bilayer membranes that encapsulate the small interfering RNA (siRNA) is reported. The targeting and enzyme-responsive sequences on the bilayer's surface allow the pVLNs to enter cancer cells with high efficiency and control the release of genetic drugs in response to the subcellular environment. By transforming its structure in response to the highly expressed enzyme matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP-7) in cancer cells, it helps the siRNA escape from the lysosomes, resulting in a final silencing efficiency of 92%. Moreover, the pVLNs can serve as reconfigurable “Trojan horse” by transforming into membranes triggered by the MMP-7 and disrupting the cytoplasmic structure, thereby achieving synergistic anticancer effects and 96% cancer cell mortality with little damage to normal cells. The pVLNs benefit from their biocompatibility, targeting, and enzyme responsiveness, making them a promising platform for gene therapy and anticancer therapy.