Economic growth,CO2 emissions,and energy consumption in the five ASEAN countries

This paper investigates the relationship between economic growth, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and energy consumption with an aim to test the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in five ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) by applying the panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model as a new econometric technique. The PSTR model is more flexible and appropriate for describing cross-country heterogeneity and time instability. Our empirical results strongly rejected the null hypothesis of linearity, and the test for no remaining nonlinearity indicated a model with one transition function and two threshold parameters. The first regime (levels of GDP per capita below 4686 USD) showed that environmental degradation increases with economic growth while the trend was reversed in the second regime (GDP per capita above 4686 USD). The results also showed that energy consumption with either the first or the second regime lead to increase CO₂. The overall results support the validity of the EKC hypothesis in the ASEAN countries.     

All-printed and highly stable organic resistive switching device based on graphene quantum dots and polyvinylpyrrolidone composite

We propose all printed and highly stable organic resistive switching device (ORSD) based on graphene quantum dots (G-QDs) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) composite for non-volatile memory applications. It is fabricated by sandwiching G-QDs/PVP composite between top and bottom silver (Ag) electrodes on a flexible substrate polyethylene terephthalate (PET) at ambient conditions through a cost effective and eco-friendly electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) technique. Thickness of the active layer is measured around 97 nm. The proposed ORSD is fabricated in a 3 × 3 crossbar array. It operates switching between high resistance state (HRS) and low resistance state (LRS) with OFF/ON ratio ∼14 for more than 500 endurance cycles, and retention time for more than 30 days. The switching voltage for set/reset of the devices is ±1.8 V and the bendability down to 8 mm diameter for 1000 cycles are tested. The elemental composition and surface morphology are characterized by XPS, FE-SEM, and microscope.     

Controllability and observability of multi-agent systems with heterogeneous and switching topologies

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on controllability and observability of multi-agent systems with heterogeneous and switching topologies, where the first- and the second-order information interaction topologies are different and switching. First, based on the controllable state set, a controllability criterion is obtained in terms of the controllability matrix corresponding to the switching sequence. Next, by virtue of the subspace sequence, two necessary and sufficient algebraic conditions are established for controllability in terms of the system matrices corresponding to all the possible topologies. Furthermore, controllability is considered from the graphic perspective. It is proved that the system is controllable if the union graph of all the possible topologies is controllable. With respect to observability, two sufficient and necessary conditions are derived by taking advantage of the system matrices and the corresponding invariant subspace, respectively. Finally, some simulation examples are worked out to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Influence of domain switching process on the electrical fatigue behavior of ferroelectrics

We report an experimental approach, designed based on the recent findings that domain switching in ferroelectric ceramics can be separated into three regimes during antiparallel electric field loading, to investigate the influence of domain switching process on the electrical fatigue behavior of ferroelectrics. Uniaxial compressive stress (−2 MPã -100 MPa) and thermal loading (20 °C–150 °C) were used to tune the domain switching process. Under the same loading condition, the bipolar electrical fatigue behavior of soft lead zirconate titanate ceramics was systematically characterized. The amplitude and frequency of the applied electric field are 2 kV/mm and 10 Hz, respectively. By analyzing the evolution of the domain switching process, combined with the measured polarization and strain response, as well as the cracks observed on the surface of the specimen, it is found that the fatigue of ferroelectric ceramics was mainly related to the domain switching process near the coercive electric field: the regime 2 defined in this paper. The underlying mechanism was further discussed by considering the interplay between the domain switching process with the main factors affecting the electrical fatigue of ferroelectrics, namely defect redistribution, charge carrier injection, and crack initiation.     

A charge sharing–based switching scheme for SAR ADCs

This paper presents an energy-efficient switching scheme for successive approximation register (SAR) analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). The proposed scheme employs charge recycling method to keep the capacitor arrays free of transitional energy between bit generations except reset phase. In comparison with the conventional switching scheme, the proposed one achieves 100% transitional energy saving without considering reset phase. In addition, configuration of a 10-bit SAR ADC shows that the proposed switching scheme reduces the capacitor area by 25% compared with the conventional switching scheme.     

Supramolecular Assembly of Aminoethylene‐Lipopeptide PMO Conjugates into RNA Splice‐Switching Nanomicelles

Phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) are oligonucleotide analogs that can be used for therapeutic modulation of pre‐mRNA splicing. Similar to other classes of nucleic acid‐based therapeutics, PMOs require delivery systems for efficient transport to the intracellular target sites. Here, artificial peptides based on the oligo(ethylenamino) acid succinyl‐tetraethylenpentamine (Stp), hydrophobic modifications, and an azide group are presented, which are used for strain‐promoted azide‐alkyne cycloaddition conjugation with splice‐switching PMOs. By systematically varying the lead structure and formulation, it is determined that the type of contained fatty acid and supramolecular assembly have a critical impact on the delivery efficacy. A compound containing linolenic acid with three cis double bonds exhibits the highest splice‐switching activity and significantly increases functional protein expression in pLuc/705 reporter cells in vitro and after local administration in vivo. Structural and mechanistic studies reveal that the lipopeptide PMO conjugates form nanoparticles, which accelerate cellular uptake and that the content of unsaturated fatty acids enhances endosomal escape. In an in vitro Duchenne muscular dystrophy exon skipping model using H2K‐mdx52 dystrophic skeletal myotubes, the highly potent PMO conjugates mediate significant splice‐switching at very low nanomolar concentrations. The presented aminoethylene‐lipopeptides are thus a promising platform for the generation of PMO‐therapeutics with a favorable activity/toxicity profile.     

计量用脉冲Nd：YAG倍频激光器及其电源

介绍了脉冲Nd:YAG倍频激光器双波长（1064／532nm）3种输出的激光光路。1064nm输出的动静比可达0.40；KTP晶体外腔倍频效率可达0.50。介绍了稳定可靠的调Q电路、逻辑控制电路和开关电源的主电路及其参数计算。     

A Lattice Approach to Image Segmentation

After a formal definition of segmentation as the largest partition of the space according to a criterion σ and a function f, the notion of a morphological connection is reminded. It is used as an input to a central theorem of the paper (Theorem 8), that identifies segmentation with the connections that are based on connective criteria. Just as connections, the segmentations can then be regrouped by suprema and infima. The generality of the theorem makes it valid for functions from any space to any other one. Two propositions make precise the AND and OR combinations of connective criteria. The soundness of the approach is demonstrated by listing a series of segmentation techniques. One considers first the cases when the segmentation under study does not involve initial seeds. Various modes of regularity are discussed, which all derive from Lipschitz functions. A second category of examples involves the presence of seeds around which the partition of the space is organized. An overall proposition shows that these examples are a matter for the central theorem. Watershed and jump connection based segmentations illustrate this type of situation. The third and last category of examples deals with cases when the segmentation occurs in an indirect space, such as an histogram, and is then projected back on the actual space under study. The relationships between filtering and segmentation are then investigated. A theoretical chapter introduces and studies the two notions of a pulse opening and of a connected operator. The conditions under which a family of pulse openings can yield a connected filter are clarified. The ability of segmentations to generate pyramids, or hierarchies, is analyzed. A distinction is made between weak hierarchies where the partitions increase when going up in the pyramid, and the strong hierarchies where the various levels are structured as semi-groups, and particularly as granulometric semi-groups. The last section is based on one example, and goes back over the controversy about “lattice” versus “functional” optimization. The problem is now tackled via a case of colour segmentation, where the saturation serves as a cursor between luminance and hue. The emphasis is put on the difficulty of grouping the various necessary optimizations into a single one.