All thermal-evaporated surface plasmon enhanced organic solar cells by Au nanoparticles

Au nanoparticles (NPs) are fabricated on indium-tin-oxide substrates by a thermal evaporation method and incorporated to an efficient small molecule organic solar cell (OSC). This renders an all thermal evaporated surface plasmon enhanced OSC. The optimized device shows a power conversion efficiency of 3.40%, which is 14% higher than that of the reference device without Au NPs. The improvement is mainly contributed to the increased short-circuit current which resulted from the enhanced light harvesting due to localized surface plasmon resonance of Au NPs and the increased conductivity of the device.     

Synthesis and characterization of a titanium phosphate-tellurite glass for Faraday rotators

This work is focused on investigation of thermal, structural, optical, magnetic, and magneto-optical properties of novel titanium phosphate-tellurite glass applied as Faraday rotators. The glass belonging to the system 35Li₂O–10Al₂O₃–5TiO₂–45P₂O₅–5TeO₂ was prepared by a nonconventional wet route of raw materials processing, followed by melting-quenching-annealing steps. Some important physical properties of the investigated glass have been measured and calculated, providing knowledge related to glass compactness, electronic structure, glass forming capability, etc. XRD analysis evidenced an amorphous network structure of the investigated glass. The optical absorption in the Vis domain is mainly due to Ti³⁺ ions and Te₂ clusters formed during the glass melting process. A relatively low optical absorption is noticed over 600 nm that activates a significant Faraday magneto-optical effect. Photoluminescence bands in the blue, red, and infrared domains are observed, caused by Te₂ clusters formed during the glass melting process. The magnetization in dependency on applied magnetic field reveals a complex behavior of the glass, depending on temperature. Thus, it is found a ferromagnetic behavior up to 2000 Oe, a paramagnetic component up to 40 000 Oe, followed by a diamagnetic one over 40 000 Oe. Faraday rotation angle and Verdet constant values in the visible domain are correlated with the reduced TeO₂ content of the glass.     

Detailed Insight into the Interaction of Bicyclic Somatostatin Analogue with Cu(II) Ions

Somatostatin analogues are useful pharmaceuticals in peptide receptor radionuclide therapy. In previous studies, we analyzed a new bicyclic somatostatin analogue (BCS) in connection with Cu(II) ions. Two characteristic sites were present in the peptide chain: the receptor- and the metal-binding site. We have already shown that this ligand can form very stable imidazole complexes with the metal ion. In this work, our aim was to characterize the intramolecular interaction that occurs in the peptide molecule. Therefore, we analyzed the coordination abilities of two cyclic ligands, i.e., P1 only with the metal binding site and P2 with both sites, but without the disulfide bond. Furthermore, we used magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy to better understand the coordination process. We applied this method to analyze spectra of P1, P2, and BCS, which we have described previously. Additionally, we analyzed the MCD spectra of P3 ligand, which has only the receptor binding site in its structure. We have unequivocally shown that the presence of the Phe-Trp-Lys-Thr motif and the disulfide bond significantly increases the metal binding efficiency.     

大规模光伏并网系统谐振机理及稳定性分析

在弱电网下或者装机容量增加时,大规模光伏并网系统易引发谐波谐振,危及光伏电站的正常稳定运行。针对上述问题,以大规模光伏并网系统为研究对象,分别从系统阻尼、闭环控制等角度揭示了大型光伏电站和电网之间的谐振机理。研究结果表明:LCL滤波器自身的有源阻尼策略并不会导致大规模光伏并网系统引发谐振,引发谐振的关键因素在于并网逆变器自身的稳定裕度。电网阻抗、装机容量、系统参数设计、控制策略等因素的综合效应可以使并网逆变器在某一特定条件下运行到临界稳定状态附近而引发谐振,谐振将导致入网电流在相应谐振频段产生大量谐波。如果稳定裕度进一步减小,系统将逐步由谐振状态过渡到振荡、发散等不稳定状态。仿真与实验结果验证了理论分析的正确性。     

Characterisation and in vitro cytotoxicity of toxic and degradation compounds in bamboo shoots (Dendrocalamus Sinicus) during traditional fermentation

Fermentation has been historically applied to reduce bamboo shoot (BS) toxicity. However, the underlying degradation pathway of the toxic compounds remains unknown. In this work, the cytotoxicity of BS against the BRL-3A cells was evaluated, and the changes in chemical constituents were determined to reveal the influence of fermentation on BS. The in vitro toxic evaluation revealed fermentation time was crucial in decreasing the toxicity. The main compounds in fresh and fermented were qualitatively and quantitatively determined and were further targeted isolated and identified. A mathematical model to describe the change rate as a function of fermentation time was formulated. Dynamic profiling revealed that taxiphyllin 1 , p-hydroxybenzaldehyde 2 and methyl-p-hydroxybenzoate 3 decreased and transformed into intermediate compounds (p-hydroxybenzoic acid 4 and p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol 5 ), finally converting into p-hydroxytoluene 6 during fermentation. The results provided basis on the chemical components for practical fermentation and the quality control of BS products.     

Effect of Axial Slit on Metallic Tube for Wireless Power Transfer via Magnetic Resonance Coupling

Wireless power transfer using a metallic tube with an axial slit was attempted to demonstrate the wireless power transfer using magnetic resonance coupling to the diagnostics infrastructure. The transmission efficiency with variable distance was measured using the transmission and receiver resonators in the tube. Besides, the transmission and receiver resonators were, respectively, set outside and inside the tube. These experiments are carried out in the computational study using FDTD method.     

Predicting the Life Span of Dies Used for Soft Magnetic Core Motors

This paper describes a method of predicting the life span of the dies used in motor manufacture from soft magnetic composites (SMCs). In the present study, a clawtooth motor was used. The method involves performing a stress analysis of a die followed by fatigue testing of test pieces. In the analysis, the SMC was assumed to be in powder form and its yield function was derived by a simple method. In addition to the analysis, we describe a simpler and more effective method in which the properties of the SMC are treated as boundary conditions. In the fatigue tests, we used test pieces that simulated the shape and construction material of the die. To predict the life span of the die, we evaluate the SN diagram, which represents the relationship between the maximum stress and fatigue life with respect to the stress generated in the die. The life expectancy of a new die, which is about 100 cycles of use, is found to agree substantially with its actual life. Furthermore, we explain how to extend the life span of a die to the targeted life span, namely, more than 200,000 cycles of use, by changing its shape to reduce stress.     

Surface decoration of magnetic nanoparticles with folate-conjugated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-itaconic acid): A facial synthesis of dual-responsive nanocarrier for targeted delivery of doxorubicin

The aim of study was to develop a novel drug nanocarrier via facile coating of a folate-conjugated dual-responsive copolymer with carboxylic functional groups on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles for the efficient loading and cell-specific targeting of a positively charged anticancer agent. The nanocarrier exhibited many favorable capabilities such as narrow distributed nano-ranged size (～30 nm), high drug loading capacity (～65%), and stimuli-responsive drug release. The results of various cell cytotoxicity studies such as MTT assay, DAPI staining, and flow cytometry concluded that the developed smart nanocarrier paves a way for efficient cancer therapy by the multiple targeting strategies.     

Magnetic refrigeration: a promising new technology for energy saving

Magnetic refrigeration is an emerging, environment-friendly technology based on a magnetic solid that acts as a refrigerant by magnetocaloric effect. The reference cycle for magnetic refrigeration is AMR (Active Magnetic Regenerative refrigeration). In this paper, attention is directed towards the near-room-temperature range. We compare the energetic performance of a commercial R134a refrigeration plant to that of a magnetic refrigerator working with an AMR cycle. The comparison is carried out by means of a mathematical model. In these simulations, we consider different solid magnetic refrigerants, namely, Gd, Gd_0.95Dy_0.05, Gd_0.9Tb_0.1,Gd₅Si₂Ge₂, MnAs_0.9Sb_0.1, and MnAs_0.95Sb_0.05. We compared two different geometries of the regenerator: a porous medium and a flat plate. In the former, the Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the AMR cycle is better than that of the vapour compression plant only in the low mass flow-rate range. Whereas in a flat plate regenerator, the COP of the AMR cycle is better than that of the vapour compression plant only in the high mass flow-rate range.