Search

Magneto‐optical activity is a significant way to achieve asymmetric transmission for spin photons. However, it is severely limited by the weak light‐matter interaction in the terahertz (THz) region. In this work, a magnetic Moiré grating (MMG) is constructed by sandwiching an Yttrium iron garnet (YIG) single crystal in a pair of twisted 2D subwavelength gratings. The twisted angle between two gratings introduces a strong geometric Moiré chirality related to the Moiré pattern. When an external magnetic field is applied to the YIG layer, three different symmetries of spacial mirror image, time reversal, and spin conjugation are broken simultaneously under the chiral coupling between magneto‐optical activity and Moiré chirality, leading to both the enhanced magneto‐optical chiral transmission and the nonreciprocal spin isolation. Under the magnetic field varying from −0.26 to +0.26 T in the experiment, the MMG achieves an active modulation of circular dichroism from 39 to −37.5 dB and optical activity from −35° to 30°. Moreover, the maximum spin isolation over 32.6 dB is also obtained near 0.5 THz. This mechanism provide a new way to realize independent manipulation and active modulation of THz spin photons more flexibly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vortex‐vector beam generators can effectively improve the channel capacity and communication accuracy, but they face the problems of narrow operating frequency band, low efficiency, and fixed function. Here, a terahertz liquid crystal cascaded metadevice is demonstrated, including a liquid crystal layer, an asymmetric metasurface layer, and a helical phase metasurface layer. The combination of liquid crystal's anisotropy and structural anisotropy from the asymmetric metasurface realizes the dynamic chirality construction. Then, the tunable chiral fields are effectively coupled with the helical geometric phase of the last metasurface layer to realize an active control between symmetric and asymmetric spin‐orbit angular momentum coupling, leading to the two types of beam generation and conversion: 1) spin‐dependent conversion and energy distribution between the vortex beams with ±2 topological charges; 2) the conversions between the 2‐order vortex beam and the cylindrical vector beam. The experimental results show that the excitation efficiency of vortex beams can reach over 92.1%, and the intensity modulation depth between different types of beams is more than 72.4%. This THz beam dynamic conversion mechanism and device scheme increase the degree of freedom of the device and have potential applications in terahertz multi‐channel wireless communication, polarization multiplexing imaging, and chiral spectrum detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving highly efficient broadband absorption is an important research area in nanophotonics. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to design broadband near-perfect absorbers, consisting of a four-layer hemispherical concentric nanoshell array. The proposed nanostructure supports absorptivity exceeding 95% in the entire visible region, and the absorption bandwidth is determined by the interaction or 'hybridization' of the plasmons of the inner and outer metal-based nanoshells. Moreover, the designed absorber has wide-angle capability and is insensitive to polarization. The simple structure, as well as the stable absorption properties, suggests that such core–shell nanostructures can serve as a potential candidate for many applications such as solar energy harvesting, photo-detection, and emissivity control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diquat (DQ), paraquat (PQ), glufosinate (GLU), and glyphosate (GLYP) are commonly used herbicides that have been confirmed to be toxic to humans. Rapid and accurate measurements of these toxicants in clinical practice are beneficial for the correct diagnosis and timely treatment of herbicide-poisoned patients. The present study aimed to establish an efficient, convenient, and reliable method to achieve the simultaneous quantification of DQ, PQ, GLU, and GLYP in human plasma using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) without using derivatization or ion-pairing reagents. DQ, PQ, GLU, and GLYP were extracted by the rapid protein precipitation and liquid-liquid extraction method and then separated and detected by LC-MS/MS. Subsequently, linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), precision, accuracy, extraction recovery, matrix effect, dilution integrity, and stability were evaluated to validate the method based on the FDA criteria. Finally, the validated method was applied to real plasma samples collected from 166 Chinese patients with herbicide poisoning. The results showed satisfactory linearity with low LOD (1 ng/mL for DQ and PQ, 5 ng/mL for GLU, and 10 ng/mL for GLYP, respectively) and low LOQ (5 ng/mL for DQ and PQ, 25 ng/mL for GLU and GLYP, respectively). In addition, the precision, accuracy, extraction recovery, and stability of the method were acceptable. The matrix effect was not observed in the analyzed samples. Moreover, the developed method was successfully applied to determine the target compounds in real plasma samples. These data provided reliable evidence for the application of this LC-MS/MS method for clinical poisoning detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, coastal sandy soils face issues such as insufficient foundation strength, which has become one of the crucial factors constraining urban development. Geotechnical engineering, as a traditional discipline, breaks down disciplinary barriers, promotes interdisciplinary integration, and realizes the green ecological and low-carbon development of geotechnical engineering, which is highly important. Based on the "dual carbon" concept advocating a green and environmentally friendly lifestyle, Bacillus spores were utilized to induce calcium carbonate precipitation technology (MICP) to solidify coastal sandy soils, leveraging the rough-surface and low-permeability characteristics of silty soil. The mechanical-strength variations in the samples were explored through experiments, such as calcium carbonate generation rate tests, non-consolidated undrained triaxial shear tests, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) experiments, to investigate the MICP solidification mechanism. The results indicate that by incorporating silty soil into sandy soil for MICP solidification, the calcium carbonate generation rates of the samples were significantly increased. With the increase in the silty-soil content, the enhancement range was 0.58–3.62%, with the maximum calcium carbonate generation rate occurring at a 5% content level. As the silty-soil content gradually increased from 1% to 5%, the peak deviator stress increased by 4.2–43.2%, enhancing the sample shear strength. Furthermore, the relationship between the internal-friction angle, cohesion, and shear strength further validates the enhancement of the shear strength. Silty soil plays roles in adsorption and physical filling during the MICP solidification process, reducing the inter-particle pores in sandy soil, increasing the compactness, providing adsorption sites, and enhancing the calcium carbonate generation rate, thereby improving the shear strength. The research findings can provide guidance for reinforcing poor coastal sandy-soil foundations in various regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone age assessment (BAA) is a crucial task in clinical, forensic, and athletic fields. Since traditional age estimation methods are suffered from potential radiation damage, this study aimed to develop and evaluate a deep learning radiomics method based on multiparametric knee MRI for noninvasive and automatic BAA. This retrospective study enrolled 598 patients (age range,10.00–29.99 years) who underwent MR examinations of the knee joint (T1/T2*/PD-weighted imaging). Three-dimensional convolutional neural networks (3D CNNs) were trained to extract and fuse multimodal and multiscale MRI radiomic features for age estimation and compared to traditional machine learning models based on hand-crafted features. The age estimation error was greater in individuals aged 25–30 years; thus, this method may not be suitable for individuals over 25 years old. In the test set aged 10–25 years (n = 95), the 3D CNN (a fusion of T1WI, T2*WI, and PDWI) demonstrated the lowest mean absolute error of 1.32 ± 1.01 years, which is higher than that of other MRI modalities and the hand-crafted models. In the classification for 12-, 14-, 16-, and 18- year thresholds, accuracies and the areas under the ROC curves were all over 0.91 and 0.96, which is similar to the manual methods. Visualization of important features showed that 3D CNN estimated age by focusing on the epiphyseal plates. The deep learning radiomics method enables non-invasive and automated BAA from multimodal knee MR images. The use of 3D CNN and MRI-based radiomics has the potential to assist radiologists or medicolegists in age estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer memristors represent a highly promising avenue for the advancement of next‐generation computing systems. However, the intrinsic structural heterogeneity characteristic of most polymers often results in organic polymer memristors displaying erratic resistive switching phenomena, which in turn lead to diminished production yields and compromised reliability. In this study, a 2D conjugated polymer, named PBDTT‐BPQTPA, is synthesized by integrating the coplanar bis(thiophene)‐4,8‐dihydrobenzo[1,2‐b:4,5‐b]dithiophene (BDTT) as an electron‐donating unit with a quinoxaline derivative serving as an electron‐accepting unit. The incorporation of triphenylamine groups at the quinoxaline termini significantly enhances the polymer's conjugation and planarity, thereby facilitating more efficient charge transport. The fabricated polymer memristor with the structure of Al/PBDTT‐BPQTPA/ITO exhibits typical non‐volatile resistive switching behavior under high voltage conditions, along with history‐dependent memristive properties at lower voltages. The unique memristive behavior of the device enables the simulation of synaptic enhancement/inhibition, learning algorithms, and memory operations. Additionally, the memristor demonstrates its capability for executing logical operations and handling decimal calculations. This study offers a promising and innovative approach for the development of artificial neuromorphic computing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A kind of all‐dielectric circularly polarised (CP) loop antenna made of high‐permittivity material is proposed. The leaky‐wave radiation from a high‐permittivity dielectric waveguide is utilised here to support the operation of the proposed antenna. A non‐closed dielectric loop covering a three‐quarter circle is adopted to generate CP radiation and it is connected with the dielectric ground via one of bending ends to form an all‐in‐one structure of the antenna. The other end is also bent and vertical to the ground, but hanging in the air for probe feed. As two kinds of typical high‐permittivity dielectric materials, zirconia ceramic and pure water are used to implement the proposed design respectively. On one hand, an all‐ceramic CP loop antenna made of zirconia is proposed. And benefiting from the low loss and high melting point of zirconia, the proposed ceramic antenna has superiority in radiation efficiency and could adapt to a harsh environment. On the other hand, by using pure water and transparent container, a fully‐transparent CP water loop antenna can be obtained. Finally, a 3‐D printing technology is adopted in the manufacturing of ceramic structure and resin container. Measured results of both antennas demonstrate the validity of the proposed design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic Weyl semimetal shows intriguing properties in both fundamental physics and potential applications. However, the complex relationship between nonreciprocal transmission and magnetic field manipulation in magnetic Weyl semimetal systems has not been generally clarified and fully utilized. Here, a universal Chirality–Wavevector–Magnetic field (C‐K‐B) relation is established in the magnetic Weyl semimetal system, which completely describes the spin topological band and its intrinsic polarization output in full space orientation under an arbitrary magnetic vector. This relation can provide complete guidance for the device design of nonreciprocal spin manipulation. Coupling this nonreciprocal mechanism with the photonic spin Hall effect of the geometric phased metasurface, a magnetic Weyl semimetal metasurface is constructed in the terahertz (THz) range, The experiments demonstrate the flexible THz beam steerings in a broad spatial dispersion range of ±25–±55° with four different working modes by only altering the biased magnetic vectors. Moreover, all these beam steering processes are accompanied by nonreciprocal isolating transmission with the isolation ratio reaching 27 dB. This C‐K‐B relation and active nonreciprocal beam steering devices are expected to prompt magneto‐optical devices and systems combined with echo isolation function in beam scanning, wavelength division multiplexing, and spin multiplexing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonreciprocal materials and devices play an irreplaceable role in isolating, routing, and multiplexing. However, in the terahertz (THz) band, their active control mechanisms are still limited. Herein, a THz nonreciprocal photonic spin transmission is demonstrated in the undoped InSb actively manipulated by a light‐magneto‐joint modulation method, in which THz cyclotron resonance of the photoinduced carriers is conjunctively excited by both pump laser and external magnetic field. Moreover, a diffusion model of photoinduced non‐equilibrium carriers and its nonreciprocal dispersion model of magnetized plasma are established to interpret the experimental observation. The results indicate that the light‐magneto‐joint modulation achieves a broadband amplitude‐phase modulation with a higher modulation depth (>2π rad phase shift), as well as an active nonreciprocal spin transmission with magnetic circular dichroism (>20dB) and the Faraday rotation effect (>90°) in InSb, which is more efficient and faster than the traditional thermal excitation. Furthermore, the demonstration in a single‐frequency THz transmission system shows that this light‐magneto‐joint modulation mechanism in InSb can be multifunctionally applied in active control, isolation, and polarization conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

POLD4 plays a crucial part in the complex machinery of DNA replication and repair as a vital component of the DNA polymerase delta complex. In this research, we obtained original information from various publicly available databases. Using a blend of R programming and internet resources, we initiated an extensive examination into the correlation between POLD4 expression and the various elements of cancers. In addition, we performed knockdown experiments in glioma cell lines to authenticate its significant impact. We discovered that POLD4 is upregulated in various malignant tumors, demonstrating a significant correlation with poor patient survival prognosis. Using function analysis, it was uncovered that POLD4 exhibited intricate associations with signaling pathways spanning multiple tumor types. Subsequent investigations unveiled the close association of POLD4 with the immune microenvironment and the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Drugs like trametinib, saracatinib, and dasatinib may be used in patients with high POLD4. Using experimental analysis, we further confirmed the overexpression of POLD4 in gliomas, as well as its correlation with glioma recurrence, proliferation, and the suppressive immune microenvironment. Our research findings indicate that the expression pattern of POLD4 not only serves as a robust indicator of prognosis in cancer patients but also holds promising potential as a new focus for treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiology plays a crucial role in forensic anthropology for age estimation. However, most studies rely on morphological methods. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using pubic bone mineral density (BMD) as a new age estimation method in the Chinese population. 468 pubic bone CT scans from living individuals in a Chinese hospital aged 18 to 87 years old were used to measure pubic BMD. The BMD of the bilateral pubic bone was measured using the Mimics software on cross-sectional CT images and the mean BMD of the bilateral pubic bone was also calculated. Regression analysis was performed to assess the correlation between pubic BMD and chronological age and to develop mathematical models for age estimation. We evaluated the accuracy of the best regression model using an independent validation sample by calculating the mean absolute error (MAE). Among all established models, the cubic regression model had the highest R2 value in both genders, with R2 = 0.550 for males and R2 = 0.634 for females. The results of the best model test showed that the MAE for predicting age using pubic BMD was 8.66 years in males and 7.69 years in females. This study highlights the potential of pubic BMD as a useful objective indicator for adult age estimation and could be used as an alternative in forensic practice when other better indicators are lacking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patent transfer-in is a crucial approach and source for regions to reduce R&D costs and develop innovative technologies. Referring to patent transfer records from the China National Intellectual Property Administration as the data source, this paper explores the drivers of patent transfer-in in Chinese cities using geographically and temporally weighted regression and geographical detectors. Results show that: (1) from 2013 to 2019, the quantity of urban patent transfer-in increased obviously and distributed heterogeneously. The Gini coefficient remained above 0.7, while the overall difference in patent transfer-in significantly declined. (2) The contribution of each influencing factor showed spatial heterogeneity. Foreign direct investment had a negative impact on the acquisition of patented technologies from other domestic cities in most cities. In addition, most cities within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region had not benefited from the accumulation of urban human capital for patent transfer-in. (3) Regional economic development and R&D investment gradually became the dominant influencing factors of patent transfer-in at the city level. In 2019, the influencing factors showed relatively-balanced interactions, but the interactions between human capital and industrial scale remained high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZrO2/Na-β and ZrO2/H-β catalysts are prepared by the reflux impregnation method and are applied to the Meerwein– Ponndorf–Verley reduction of cyclohexanone and isopropanol. The catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectrum, temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia, N2 isothermal adsorption and desorption, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The products are identified by gas chromatography‒mass spectrometry and analyzed by gas chromatography. The experimental results showed that ZrO2/H-β exhibits higher catalytic activity for the above Meerwein–Ponndorf–Verley reduction because ZrO2/H-β has both Zr4+ and Al3+ ion acid centers, which provide the moderately strong acid needed for the reaction. Under optimized conditions, ZrO2/H-β(6) is used as the catalyst, and the conversion rate of cyclohexanone was 92.0% as determined by the area-normalized calculation based on cyclohexanone. The catalyst can be regenerated by programmed heating calcination. The conversion rate of cyclohexanone decreased to 79.4% after five recycling cycles, and its service life needs further study to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To compare the demographic and clinical features, laboratory and imaging findings in mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) children with non‐MPP (NMPP) children and general MPP (GMPP) children with refractory MPP (RMPP) children and analysis the relationship with the severity of disease. Methods: The study included 265 children with MPP and 230 children with NMPP in the Affiliated Changzhou No. 2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2020 to 2021. The children with MPP included RMPP (n = 85) and GMPP (n = 180). Demographic and clinical characteristics, laboratory and imaging findings of all children were measured as baseline data within 24 h after admission and the differences between MPP and NMPP, RMPP and GMPP patients were compared. ROC curves were used to evaluate the diagnostic and predictive value of different indicators for RMPP. Results: Fever duration and hospital stay in children with MPP were longer than those with NMPP. The number of patients with imaging features of pleural effusion, lung consolidation and bronchopneumonia in MPP group was significantly higher than that in NMPP group. Compared with NMPP group, the levels of C‐reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), serum amyloid A (SAA), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen (FIB) and D‐dimer and inflammatory cytokines (interleukin [IL]‐6, IL‐8, IL‐10 and IL‐1β) in MPP group were significantly higher (P < 0.05). The clinical symptoms and pulmonary imaging findings were more severe in RMPP group. The levels of white blood cell (WBC), CRP, PCT, SAA, ESR, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), LDH, ferritin, PT, FIB, D‐dimer and inflammatory cytokines in RMPP group were higher than those in GMPP group. There was no significant difference in the level of lymphocyte subsets between the RMPP and GMPP group. IL‐6, IL‐10, LDH, PT, D‐dimer and lung consolidation were independent risk factors for RMPP. IL‐6 levels and LDH activity were good predictors of RMPP. Conclusion: In conclusion, there were differences in clinical characteristics and serum inflammatory markers between MPP group and NMPP group, RMPP group and GMPP group. IL‐6, IL‐10, LDH, PT and D‐dimer can be used as predictive indicators for RMPP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Celebrity endorsement is a commonly used advertising strategy in China. The entertainment and sports industries frequently employ celebrities to do promotions. The development of new media has led to the emergence of self-made micro-celebrities, termed 'online influencers'. However, most studies analyze the advertising persuasiveness of either celebrities or online influencers separately. Only a limited number of studies compare celebrity endorsement from the perspective of both celebrities and online influencers, and none of them analyze advertising persuasiveness from a relational approach. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 435 respondents in China. Results indicated that respondents' perception of celebrities was more positive than online influencers. Furthermore, the motivation driving the relationship was different between celebrity endorsers and online influencers. Insights for strategic marketing engagement were drawn from the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct ink writing (DIW) process is a facile additive manufacturing technology to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) objects with various materials. Its versatility has attracted considerable interest in academia and industry in recent years. As such, upsurging endeavors are invested in advancing the ink flow behaviors in order to optimize the process resolution and the printing quality. However, so far, the physical phenomena during the DIW process are not revealed in detail, leaving a research gap between the physical experiments and its underlying theories. Here, we present a comprehensive analytical study of non-Newtonian ink flow behavior during the DIW process. Different syringe-nozzle geometries are modeled for the comparative case studies. By using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation method, we reveal the shear-thinning property during the ink extrusion process. Besides, we study the viscosity, shear stress, and velocity fields, and analyze the advantages and drawbacks of each syringe-nozzle model. On the basis of these investigations and analyses, we propose an improved syringe-nozzle geometry for stable extrusion and high printing quality. A set of DIW printing experiments and rheological characterizations are carried out to verify the simulation studies. The results developed in this work offer an in-depth understanding of the ink flow behavior in the DIW process, providing valuable guidelines for optimizing the physical DIW configuration toward high-resolution printing and, consequently, improving the performance of DIW-printed objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active beam manipulation has significant potential in terahertz (THz) applications such as radar, wireless communication, and imaging, but they are still suffering from low efficiency and tunability. Here, by combining the gyroelectric semiconductor InSb with the anisotropic phase‐gradient metasurface, a nonreciprocal beam manipulation device actively controlled by the magnetic field is demonstrated experimentally. Due to the diffractive angle‐frequency dependence, the deflection waves are dispersed ranging from 35° to 22.5° in space corresponding to the frequencies of 0.7–1.1 THz. Importantly, two main functions of this device are developed for different polarization conversion and nonreciprocal transmission mechanisms. For the linear polarization (LP) to circular polarization output, this device modulates the diffraction efficiency from 2% to 70% by tuning the magnetic fields. For the LP to LP output, this device can separate the two orthogonal LPs in space, i.e., x‐ and y‐LP, and switch them between 25° and 35° with different magnetic fields. Moreover, the metadevice achieves the nonreciprocal one‐way transmission. This nonreciprocal beam manipulation mechanism and the related magneto‐optical metadevice provide a new scheme for multifunctions combining beam steering, one‐way transmission, polarization conversion, and magneto‐optical modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teeth-based age and sex estimation is an important task in mass disasters, criminal scenes, and archeology. Although various methods have been proposed, most of them are subjective and influenced by observers' experiences. In this study, we aimed to develop a deep learning model for automatic dental age and sex estimation from orthopantomograms (OPGs) and compare to manual methods. A large dataset of 15,195 OPGs (age range, 16 ~ 50 years; mean age, 29.65 years ± 9.36 [SD]; 10,218 females) was used to train and test a hybrid deep learning model which is a combination of convolutional neural network and transformer model. The final performance of this model was evaluated on additional independent 100 OPGs and compared to the manual method for external validation. In the test of 1413 OPGs, the mean absolute error (MAE) of age estimation was 2.61 years by this model. The accuracy and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of sex estimation were 95.54% and 0.984. The heatmap indicated that the crown and pulp chamber of premolars and molars contain the most age-related information. In the additional independent 100 OPGs, this model achieved an MAE of 3.28 years for males and 3.79 years for females. The accuracy of this model was much higher than that of the manual models. Therefore, this model has the potential to assist radiologists in automated age and sex estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the improved Tapio decoupling model and geographic information system spatial analysis technology, this paper studied the spatial and temporal pattern evolution law of the decoupling relationship between innovation capability and resource consumption in 283 cities in China. The non-residual complete decomposition model was used to decompose the rebound effect of resource consumption in China's urban innovation development. We found (1) during the study period, innovation capability and resource consumption in Chinese cities showed a weak decoupling state. (2) Regions with significant decoupling showed a trend of spatial agglomeration, and the gap in the degree of urban decoupling gradually narrowed. (3) The increase in urban population growth and innovation intensity in China have a positive pull effect on resource consumption. The improvement in resource efficiency has an inhibitory effect on resource consumption, but this inhibition is less than the effect of population scale and innovation intensity on resource consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the gyrotropic semiconductor InSb into the twisted bilayer metasurface to form a magneto‐optical moiré metasurface is introduced. Through the theoretical analysis, the "moiré angle" is developed in which case the nonreciprocity and chirality with the spin‐conjugate asymmetric transmission are obtained due to the simultaneous breaking of both time‐reversal symmetry and spatial mirror symmetry. The experiments confirm that the chirality can be actively manipulated by rotating the twisted angle and the external magnetic field, realizing spin‐conjugate asymmetric transmission. Meanwhile, the two spin states also realize the nonreciprocal one‐way transmission, and their isolation spectra are also spin‐conjugate asymmetric: one is enhanced up to 48 dB, and the other's bandwidth is widened to over 730 GHz. This spin‐conjugate symmetry‐breaking effect in the MOMM brings a combination of time‐space asymmetric transmission, and it also provides a new scheme for the implementation of high‐performance THz chirality controllers and isolators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terahertz (THz) isolators are crucial to one‐way transmission in THz application systems. However, it is still challenging to implement THz isolators with integrated structure and tunable characteristics. Herein, a THz isolator based on a magneto‐plasmonic waveguide (MPWG) has been demonstrated. In this InSb‐air‐metal asymmetric waveguide, the plasmonic band gap is excited and thermally tuned by surface plasmons. Moreover, under weak external magnetic fields (EMFs), magneto‐plasmons excite nonreciprocal transverse edge spin states, which break the time‐reversal symmetry of the MPWG and lead to a pair of isolation bandgaps that only allow one‐way transmission. The experimental results of both broadband time‐domain spectrum system and single‐frequency system confirm this isolator can achieve more than 20 dB isolation and only 4 dB insertion loss. More importantly, its isolation can be actively modulated by EMFs from 0 to 0.23 T, and also realize broadband tuning of over 1 THz frequency range by controlling the temperature from 80 to 280 K. This topological edge band structure of transverse spin states and its active manipulation mechanism are helpful to deepen the understanding of nonreciprocal plasmon propagation, and this broadband tunable THz on‐chip isolator is significant to urgently apply in strong THz sources and ultra‐sensitive detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The best solar conversion efficiencies have been reached thanks to multijunction solar based on III-V semiconductors on GaAs or Ge substrates. While displaying high conversion efficiencies, these solar cells suffer from the high cost of such substrates. To benefit from both the low cost and technological maturity of silicon cells, III-V tandem cells on silicon seem a good compromise to overpass the theoretical efficiency limit of the Si single cells. To study the GaP/Si interface effect on the solar cell characteristic, a GaP n-i-p solar cell has been grown on silicon substrate. Two types of electrical contacts configurations have been processed: a top-top configuration in which the current does not see the GaP/Si interface and the top-bottom configuration where the electric current crosses the interface. A comparison of dark I-V, I-V under solar illumination, and EQE measurements on both configurations is performed. The top-bottom contacts configuration shows an EQE a little bit lower than the top-top contact one, likely due to lower carrier diffusion length or recombination at the lower interface. However, the result on the EQE of the top-bottom configuration is encouraging for the future development of the GaP-based/Si tandem solar cells, and any other tandem cell on silicon using GaP as an intermediate selective contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the potential of computed tomography (CT) images of median palatine suture (MP) for adult age estimation in the Northern and Southwestern Chinese populations. A total of 1110 cranial CT scans from individuals aged 10–79 years, including 557 northern Chinese and 553 southwestern Chinese, were collected for analysis. After volume reformation and multiplanar reconstruction, a total of 20 slices of median palatine suture were selected from each individual. The closure of sutures was analyzed into four stages, and the cumulative scores of 20 slices were recorded as the suture closure score (SCS). The correlations between SCS and age were compared among the two Chinese populations residing in diverse geographic regions. Regression models were established for age estimation. The estimation accuracy was evaluated based on the test set. The mean absolute error (MAE) and the correlation between predicted age and chronological age were calculated to evaluate estimation accuracy. The SCS of MP exhibited a significant correlation with age (0.613, northern male; 0.678, southwestern male; 0.730, northern female; 0.704, Southwestern female; 0.662, total). Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences in SCS among different regions and sex groups (p < 0.001). The cubic regression model had the highest R2 value in all subjects, especially among Northern females and Southwestern males, while the power and quadratic regression models showed the highest R2 value in Northern males and Southwestern females, respectively. In the test set, the Northern cohort demonstrated a lower MAE (9.06 ± 7.32 years, males; 9.17 ± 5.28 years, females) compared to the Southwestern cohort (9.19 ± 7.49 years, male; 10.61 ± 6.83 years, female). Additionally, it was observed that males exhibited a lower MAE than females in both regional groups. This study demonstrated the potential utility of CT images of the MP for age estimation in Chinese populations, emphasizing the significance of incorporating regional and sex factors within this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the flow of innovation elements breaks through geographical boundaries, patent transfer has become an important way for cities to enhance their competitive advantages. This study crawls technology transfer data through Big Data mining and uses social network analysis to construct an intercity technology transfer network among 286 Chinese cites at the prefecture-level and above, between 2000–2020. The study explores the influence of technology transfer networks on urban innovation capacity. The results indicate that: (1) Embeddedness of cities in technology transfer networks is conducive to cities acquiring more information and resources through external interactions, thereby promoting urban innovation capability. (2) External knowledge acquisition and knowledge absorption capacity positively moderate the effect of technology transfer networks on urban innovation capacity. (3) A significant spatial correlation exists between technology transfer and innovation activities, and technology transfer networks promote innovation in cities with similar spatial characteristics through spatial knowledge spillover effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • We review the molecular mechanism of resistance to lenvatinib in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. • We summarize the use of combination therapy to overcome lenvatinib resistance. • We discuss future directions for overcoming resistance to lenvatinib in hepatocellular carcinoma. Lenvatinib is a multikinase inhibitor that suppresses vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRα), as well as the proto-oncogenes RET and KIT. Lenvatinib has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first-line treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to its superior efficacy when compared to sorafenib. Unfortunately, the development of drug resistance to lenvatinib is becoming increasingly common. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify the factors that lead to drug resistance and ways to mitigate it. We summarize the molecular mechanisms that lead to lenvatinib resistance (LR) in HCC, which involve programmed cell death (PCD), translocation processes, and changes in the tumor microenvironment (TME), and provide strategies to reverse resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is one of the most active innovation areas in China, but the complex institutional and cultural environment makes innovation cooperation among the cities challenging. Based on 2001–2019 data, this study analyses the spatial pattern and externalities of GBA's knowledge innovation network using a social network method and spatial econometric model. Results show that Guangzhou and Hong Kong have always been the cores of knowledge innovation in network. Shenzhen emerged as an innovation centre after 2012, and other cities have become peripheral areas in the network. Small- and medium-sized cities do not benefit from the innovative development of core cities but are trapped in their agglomeration shadow. Institutional and cultural differences are the main obstacles hindering innovation cooperation between cities. In comparison, distance has fewer limitations on innovation cooperation. The negative externality of knowledge innovation network indicates that this region should narrow the gap of spatial differences, optimise the innovation network pattern to improve the network externalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shifting political interests of government officials stemming from the Provincial Party Congress (PPC) affects the efficiency of urban innovation. In this paper, intra-city collaborative innovation efficiency (CIE) and inter-city CIE were both analyzed. The intra-city CIE among 285 Chinese cities from 2004 to 2018 was estimated using network data envelopment analysis model, with a gravity model utilized to measure inter-city CIE. Based on a fixed-effect model, the relationship between estimated change in CIE and political cycle is revealed from the perspective of PPC. The study finds that across all cities, (1) cyclical fluctuations in CIE synchronize with the timing of PPC. The inter-city CIE is more sensitive to political cycles than that of intra-city. (2) The turnover effect of PPC cannot be equated with leadership transition alone at non-PPC years. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis identified differential effects of features of government officials and cities on political cycles of urban CIE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition‐metal sulfides have gained considerable attention for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in rechargeable Zn‐air batteries owing to their natural abundance, chemical stability, and efficient activity. Here, cobalt sulfide nanocrystalline supported on the 3D hierarchically flower‐like porous nanocarbon (mC‐CoSx‐50) electrocatalysts have been synthesized through a combination of metal‐organic complexation and porous silica templates for efficient bifunctional oxygen catalysis. With the high specific surface area, high nitrogen content and heteroatom doping, the as‐synthesized mC‐CoSx‐50 exhibits an excellent bifunctional oxygen catalytic performance. Remarkably, the rechargeable Zn‐air batteries assembled with the cobalt sulfide‐based hierarchically porous electrocatalysts reveal a high peak power density and excellent cycling stability in comparison with Pt/C+RuO2 owing to the synergistic effects between cobalt sulfide nanocrystallines and hierarchically porous carbon. We envision that this work not only offers high‐performance metal sulfide for future clean energy conversion but also provides a facial strategy for constructing hierarchically porous carbon‐supported catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selective detection of biochemical substances with high sensitivity in the terahertz (THz) band has emerged as a prominent research area, attracting significant attention. Waveguide-on-chip detection of biochemical substances can effectively enhance the interaction between samples and waves, but there is a lack of reports in the THz band. In this work, a dual-channel metallic parallel-plate waveguide (PPWG) is applied to creatively construct a THz Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of reducing drug on a chip. This sensor exhibits a strong numerical response of 0.75 THz/RIU, allowing for dynamic sensitivity adjustment through mechanically tuning structural parameters, and it is modified through in-situ growth of Prussian blue (PB) to achieve the selective detection of reducing drug. The experiments confirm that the designed sensor-on-chip possesses exceptional detection sensitivity for cysteamine, reaching an impressive maximum sensitivity of 0.09 GHz/nmol and a low limit of detection of 88 nmol. The modified chip exhibits selective detection of cysteamine, demonstrating a maximum response difference of 4.2 times compared to other configurations. Collectively, a pioneer validates the feasibility of the highly sensitive MZI chip in the THz regime and opens up new possibilities for advancing THz biochemical sensing. [Display omitted] • The Mach-Zehnder interferometer sensor is creatively constructed in the THz regime. • The THz Mach-Zehnder interferometer sensor possesses high sensitivity and selectiveness. • The sensitivity allows for flexible control by mechanical adjustment of structural parameters. • The functional modification of the sensor is carried out using Prussian blue in-situ growth. • Selective recognition of reducing drugs can be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquid crystal (LC) materials are a good candidate for active phase and polarization devices. However, they also encounter significant challenges in the lack of transparent electrodes and the difficulty of LC alignment due to the thick LC cell for sub-mm wavelength in the terahertz (THz) regime. Here, we presented a strategy to overcome these difficulties, that is, using a super-aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) film with dual functions for both transparent electrodes and the aligning layer for THz LC cell. The LC molecules are uniformly aligned along the orientation direction of the CNT film because of its surface anchoring effect. The experiment results show that the active THz polarization conversions are controlled by the bias voltage tuning from 0 to 30 V between the upper and lower CNT films, and the output polarization state is converted between linear polarization and circular polarization. This work may pave a simple and flexible path toward the development of various active THz liquid crystal devices for spatial light modulation, dynamic imaging, and wavefront control. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To explore and analyze the efficacy of methylprednisolone combined with azithromycin in the treatment of refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (RMPP) and its effect on the changes of T lymphocyte subsets. Methods. A total of 120 children with RMPP admitted to our hospital from September 2016 to September 2020 were randomized at a ratio of 1 : 1 into the control group (conventional treatment) and the observation group (methylprednisolone plus conventional treatment). Outcome measures included clinical efficacy, symptoms mitigation, changes in inflammatory factors, T lymphocyte subsets, and adverse reactions. Results. Compared with the control group, the total clinical effective rate of the observation group was higher (P < 0.05). The disappearance time of cough, wheezing, pulmonary rales, and X-ray lung shadows in the observation group was significantly shorter than that in the control group after treatment (P < 0.05). The serum C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin (IL)-8 levels of the observation group after treatment were significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the observation group had a higher CD4+ value, lower CD8+ value, and higher CD4+/CD8+ value after treatment (all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in adverse reactions between the two groups during treatment (P > 0.05). Conclusion. Methylprednisolone plus azithromycin might serve as an alternative in the treatment of RMPP. It facilitates the mitigation of clinical symptoms and signs and regulates the level of inflammatory factors and cellular immune dysfunction, with good effectiveness and a high safety profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the Nanoengineered on-demand drug delivery system improves efficacy of pharmacotherapy for epilepsy. Topics discussed include Long-term pharmacotherapy, serving as the main therapeutic approach for epilepsy prophylaxis, has suffered from limited efficacy and potential side effects; and reported a nanoengineered drug delivery system for synergistic brain-targeting delivery and on-demand drug release of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).

Background: The Jingxin Zhidong formula (JXZDF), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used to treat tic disorder (TD) in China. However, its efficacy has not yet been evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. We aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of JXZDF and aripiprazole in patients with TD. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel controlled trial, 120 patients with TD, aged 6– 16 years were randomly assigned to receive either JXZDF (n = 60, 17.6 g/day) or aripiprazole (n = 60, 10 mg/day) for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was measured using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS). Adverse events were assessed using the Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale. Results: JXZDF produced greater improvements than aripiprazole in the following YGTSS subscale scores at the endpoint: total tic scores (P = 0.004, 95% CI: 1.085– 3.494) and total motor scores (P = 0.004, 95% CI: 0.313– 1.739). The difference in rate between the groups was no significant (χ2 = 0.702, degrees of freedom = 1, P = 0.402). The overall incidence of adverse events was significantly lower in the JXZDF group than in the aripiprazole group (0% vs 6.67%, P < 0.001). Conclusion: JXZDF had a better safety profile than aripiprazole, and it was not inferior in terms of clinical efficacy. JXZDF warrants consideration as a potential treatment option for TD. Trial Registration: CHiCTR, ChiCTR2000039601 (Registered November 2, 2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active manipulation of photonic spin state and optical chirality leads to some key applications, such as in multichannel communication, polarization‐sensitive imaging, chiral spectroscopy, and chiral sensing. Magneto‐optical materials have unique advantages in the intrinsic transmission and magnetic control of photonic chiral spin states. Here, a scheme for dynamic terahertz (THz) anisotropy and chirality manipulations in the transversely magnetized InSb and its hybrid magneto‐optical metasurface structure is presented. A special transverse photonic spin state in the InSb and a transverse−longitudinal spin coupling effect in the hybrid magneto‐optical metasurface are revealed by the eigenmode analysis and numerical simulations. The strong magnetic birefringence effect induced by this spin mode is demonstrated in the experiment. Moreover, the symmetry‐breaking mechanism in this magneto‐optical structure leads to strong intrinsic chirality and polarization conversion. The experimental results confirm the magnetically active manipulation of spin states and their asymmetric transmission in this hybrid magneto‐optical metasurface, which achieve a polarization conversion rate of near 100% and an induced intrinsic chirality of over 15 dB. This work opens a new development for active THz polarization control and chiral manipulation in the magneto‐optical microstructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haematococcus pluvialis is the prime source of natural astaxanthin for commercial exploitation. The large-scale cultivation of H. pluvialis is one of the key technologies for the development of natural astaxanthin industry. So far, horizontal tubular photobioreactor (HTPBR) circulated by a centrifugal pump has been the main PBR for the large-scale cultivation of H. pluvialis. Shear stress is a negative factor in microalgal cultivation at different scales, particularly for large-scale cultivation. To reduce the adverse impact of shear stress, the tolerance of H. pluvialis to the shear stress during the induction stage was first investigated in this study. H. pluvialis aplanospore was not sensitive to stresses between 19.18 and 27.32 Pa, but was resulted in about 30% cell death under shear stress between 27.32 and 63.84 Pa. Accordingly, two centrifugal pumps with different impellers was selected in 400 L HTPBRs to study the outdoor photoinduction for astaxanthin accumulation. The highest astaxanthin productivity and astaxanthin concentration were obtained in HTPBRs using a centrifugal pump equipped with three unshrouded backward-bladed impellers. The HTPBR was then successfully scaled up to 800 L with a similar performance, showing good scalability. • The critical shear stress of H. pluvialis cells was determined. • Adequate shear stress enhanced astaxanthin synthesis. • The designed HTPBR was quite flexible for upscaling without any adverse fluid dynamics effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore tooth growth variation by regions and ethnicity in China, and to validate the modified Tibetan so as to assist in proposing a better approach. A total of 1320 orthopantomograms of Han children aged 4–14.99 were retrospectively collected from eastern and western regions of China. The Demirjian method and modified Tibetan method were applied. Results showed that dental maturity scores (DMS) in eastern children were significantly greater than western children. Age was overestimated by both methods in eastern children. MAE was 0.88 and 1.3 years by Demirjian method, 1.01 and 1.21 years by modified Tibetan method in eastern girls and boys respectively. In western children, age was significantly underestimated in girls and slightly overestimated by Demirjian method; by modified method, age was generally overestimated. MAE was 0.79 and 0.84 years by Demirjian method, 0.51 and 0.69 years by modified Tibetan method in girls and boys respectively. The current study reveals that tooth growth was significantly advanced in Eastern Han children compared with Western Han children. Ethnic variation between Eastern Han and Tibetan Chinese was substantial. Neither method was sufficiently accurate in Eastern Han children. The modified Tibetan method was reliable in Western Han children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the arrival of the 5G era, the working frequencies of wireless devices are being transferred to a higher spectrum with a wider available bandwidth. However, conventional metal wire antennas used in 5G communication systems are often limited by their resonant structure, which inevitably leads to narrow operating bands and fixed sizes at integral multiples of λ/2 or λ/4. In this Letter, a ceramic inverted-L antenna with a non-resonant architecture is proposed to achieve a wide bandwidth and flexible size. Its leaky-wave radiation is based on the cutoff region of dielectric waveguides, which verifies that the working frequencies of the proposed antenna are related to the cross section rather than the length. Ceramic 3D printing technology is adopted for precise manufacturing of the proposed antenna, which covers the frequency range of 3.28–5.28 GHz, including the bands n77/n78/n79 of the sub-6 GHz spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By monitoring the online common-mode (CM) impedance of an inverter-fed induction motor (IM) through an inductive coupling technique at a specific frequency of interest (FOI), the stator interturn short-circuit (ITSC) faults of the IM can be detected with good confidence. The inductive coupling technique is adopted because it monitors the CM impedance of the IM without a physical electrical connection, which eliminates electrical safety hazards and facilitates ease of implementation. Using a 1/2-hp squirrel-cage IM as a test case, it has been demonstrated that the proposed method is sensitive to the stator ITSC faults but invariant to motor load and speed variations, as well as bearing and rotor faults, making it highly reliable and robust for stator ITSC fault detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of low‐loss and high‐efficiency nonreciprocal isolators has become one of the limitations in the development of terahertz (THz) application systems. This work demonstrates that the longitudinally magnetized InSb can achieve one‐way transmission for one photonic spin state but not for linear polarization (LP) state due to the chiral mirror‐symmetry of the two spin states. To solve this issue, a silicon microstructure is fabricated on the InSb substrate to form a magnetoplasmon/dielectric metasurface, where both the time‐reversal and mirror‐reversal symmetric transmission of the two spin states can be broken. In this device, the forward LP state is efficiently transformed into one of the spin states and output with low loss, but the backward wave is forbidden, which achieves the one‐way transmission for the LP incidence with over 30 dB isolation and only 1.7 dB insertion loss. When a THz polarizer is added behind the device to obtain the LP output, the isolation can reach 40 dB, significantly better than the previous reports. This study is significant to understand the nonreciprocal transmission and manipulation mechanism of THz spin states in the magnetized semiconductor and promotes the development of high‐performance THz isolators under the weak magnetic field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrothermal-assisted transient jet fusion (HTJF) is a powder-based additive manufacturing (AM) method of ceramics, which utilizes a water-mediated hydrothermal mechanism to fuse particles together, eliminating the use of organic binders in forming green bodies and thereby contributing to high green-density parts (>90%) advantageous for fabricating functional materials with high performance. In the HTJF process, a transient solution such as water is selectively deposited into a powder bed in a layer-by-layer fashion followed by a hydrothermal fusion process. Upon the ejection and deposition of a droplet of the transient solution on the surface of the powder bed, the diffusion behavior of the liquid significantly influences the particle fusion and the fabrication accuracy of the HTJF process. Precise control of the liquid diffusion in the powder bed is critical for the fabrication of ceramic structures with both high density and accuracy. In this paper, the dependence of transient solution diffusion on different process parameters (i.e., powder packing density, droplet size, pressure, etc.) in the HTJF process were studied. Both numerical modeling and experimental methods were used to quantify the relationships between processing parameters and diffusion profiles of transient solution droplets (e.g., diffusion width/depth). Optimum processing conditions were identified to mitigate the undesired diffusion of transient solution droplets in the powder bed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parallel to the expansion in numbers of Chinese students studying abroad, an increasing number of international degree holders are attracted to develop their careers in Chinese universities. This study examines the recruitment policies of a Double First-Class Initiative Institution and their impact on overseas graduates who become early-career researchers. By employing critical discourse analysis (CDA), this research focuses on the linguistic structure and contextual strategies shown in these recruitment policies, informed by McDonnell and Elmore's policy instruments framework. It reveals that these policies display instrumental features of mandates, inducements, system-changing, and hortatory efforts. The policies also indicate the behavior expected from the applicants and recruitment and evaluation organizers, suggesting a trend of resource reallocation within the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrothermal-assisted transient jet fusion (HTJF) is a powder-based additive manufacturing (AM) method of ceramics, which utilizes a water-mediated hydrothermal mechanism to fuse particles together, eliminating the use of organic binders in forming green bodies and thereby contributing to high green-density parts (>90%) advantageous for fabricating functional materials with high performance. In the HTJF process, a transient solution such as water is selectively deposited into a powder bed in a layer-by-layer fashion followed by a hydrothermal fusion process. Upon the ejection and deposition of a droplet of the transient solution on the surface of the powder bed, the diffusion behavior of the liquid significantly influences the particle fusion and the fabrication accuracy of the HTJF process. Precise control of the liquid diffusion in the powder bed is critical for the fabrication of ceramic structures with both high density and accuracy. In this paper, the dependence of transient solution diffusion on different process parameters (i.e., powder packing density, droplet size, pressure, etc.) in the HTJF process were studied. Both numerical modeling and experimental methods were used to quantify the relationships between processing parameters and diffusion profiles of transient solution droplets (e.g., diffusion width/depth). Optimum processing conditions were identified to mitigate the undesired diffusion of transient solution droplets in the powder bed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proposed a systematic testing method assessing the entire substation control system. • Developed a simplified yet precise simulation scheme for substation IEMI estimation. • Formulated protective measures to mitigate IEMI risks. This paper introduces a comprehensive suite of testing, simulation, and mitigation strategies aimed at evaluating and countering intentional electromagnetic interference (IEMI) risks in medium-voltage (MV) substations. Diverging from conventional IEMI testing methods, the proposed testing approach assesses the entire substation control system, offering a more precise understanding of its IEMI vulnerabilities. Additionally, a novel simulation method coupling the transmitting antenna model and the full-wave substation model is presented for IEMI estimation, which simplifies the simulation process while maintaining good accuracy. Moreover, to further fortify substations against IEMI risks, a quantitative analysis is established to determine the necessary distance between the substation building and the fencing boundary. This analysis enables the integration of protective measures during the design and construction phase of the substation, substantially mitigating IEMI risks. Through a case study using a typical MV substation, the efficacy and capability of the proposed methods are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light response of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, light attenuation model, DPM model, and MATLAB were used to calculate the proportion of microalgae cells' residence time in the four light regions and the number of times microalgae cells passed through the four light regions, then the artificial neural networks model was established. Dynamic light experiments were used to verify the reliability of the ANN model. [Display omitted] • The four light regions were determined by light response study. • The four light proportion regions were calculated by using MATLAB. • The biomass production was predicted and optimized by the ANN model. • The R2 of the ANN model for predicting microalgae growth was 0.98. • Dynamic adjusting light intensity experiments verify the accuracy of the ANN model. Light is crucial in microalgae growth. However, dividing the microalgae growth region into light and dark regions has limitations. In this study, the light response of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was investigated to define four light regions (FLRs): light compensation region, light limitation region, light saturation region, and photoinhibition region. The proportions of cells' residence time in the FLRs and the number of times cells (NTC) passed through the FLRs in photobioreactors were calculated by using MATLAB. Based on the FLRs and NTC passed through the FLRs, a growth model was established by using artificial neural network (ANN). The ANN model had a validation R2 value of 0.97, which was 76.36% higher than the model based on light-dark regions. The high accuracy of the ANN model was further verified through dynamic adjustment of light intensity experiments. This study confirmed the importance of the FLRs for studying microalgae growth dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic odontology is regarded as an important branch of forensics dealing with human identification based on dental identification. This paper proposes a novel method that uses deep convolution neural networks to assist in human identification by automatically and accurately matching 2-D panoramic dental X-ray images. Designed as a top-down architecture, the network incorporates an improved channel attention module and a learnable connected module to better extract features for matching. By integrating associated features among all channel maps, the channel attention module can selectively emphasize interdependent channel information, which contributes to more precise recognition results. The learnable connected module not only connects different layers in a feed-forward fashion but also searches the optimal connections for each connected layer, resulting in automatically and adaptively learning the connections among layers. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method can achieve new state-of-the-art performance in human identification using dental images. Specifically, the method is tested on a dataset including 1,168 dental panoramic images of 503 different subjects, and its dental image recognition accuracy for human identification reaches 87.21% rank-1 accuracy and 95.34% rank-5 accuracy. Code has been released on Github. (https://github.com/cclaiyc/TIdentify) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A ferroelectric charged domain wall (CDW) carries bound charges, originating from the variation of the normal components of polarization across the domain boundary, leading to a possible two-dimensional conductive interface in insulating materials. The ferroelectric CDW can be precisely created, erased, and manipulated, therefore offering an intriguing pathway toward the design of nano-devices. However, due to rather large energy costs, the size of the CDW is usually on the nanoscale. Here, taking flux-grown ferroelectric hexagonal manganites (h-RMnO3) as an example, we creatively adopted an accessible inclined polishing process to reveal the domain evolution of stripe, loop, and vortex domain patterns by depth profiling. Interestingly, we observed an unexpected large-scale straight CDW in as-grown LuMnO3 with length up to a millimeter size, which may result from the "polar catastrophe" during the flux growth. The large-scale CDW has a residual influence on the formation of the loop domain when the crystal anneals below the ferroelectric transition temperature, but completely disappears as the topological vortices emerge. The observed large-scale CDWs make h-RMnO3 a potential candidate for advanced electronic devices, leading to a panoply of desired properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The patent transfer (PT) has been an essential means of technological catch-up and control for countries and regions. The development and diffusion of PT is influenced by space and network. Analyzing China’s patent transfer network (PTN) from 2001 to 2020 through spatial and complex network analysis, we found that the PTN became denser with significant Matthew effect, hierarchical and small-world properties. Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen remained as national hubs, while new hubs like Suzhou, Guangzhou, Foshan, and Hangzhou, acting as intermediates, emerged. Network communities become more homogenised and geographically clustered due to the resonance effect. There was a shift from disperse hubs to spatial agglomerations, with the construction of long-distance shortcuts breaking spatial constraints on intercity patent transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inverter-driven induction machines often suffer from premature bearing failure due to high-frequency common-mode (CM) voltage and induced CM current. One effective remedy is adding a CM filter to suppress the CM current. Optimal CM filter design requires prior knowledge of both noise source and termination impedances. With an improved in-circuit impedance measurement setup, the CM noise source impedance of a high-power inverter-driven motor system with strong background noise can be extracted. The setup also protects the measurement instruments from surges and transients from the harsh operating environment. The extracted noise source impedance allows a CM filter to be designed systematically without overdesigning. In the evaluation of the first-order single-inductor and second-order LC filters, it is found that the second-order CM filter is prone to differential-mode to common-mode (DM-to-CM) conversion, especially at the resonant frequency caused by the leakage inductance of the CM choke and the equivalent DM capacitance of the line-to-ground capacitors. Therefore, an additional DM inductor is necessary to curb the mode conversion, which may not necessarily result in final size reduction as compared to that of first-order single-inductor filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses China's provincial panel data for 2003–2016 to estimate the turning point of technology spillovers promoting economic growth in the coastal and inland areas. The results show that the turning point in coastal areas is significantly higher than that in inland areas. However, improved absorptive capacity as a result of regional disparity increases the threshold of technology spillovers from promotion to suppression in inland areas but decreases it in coastal areas. Then, this study further tests the threshold characteristics of absorptive capacity factors influencing international technology spillovers using a double-threshold regression model and estimates the threshold values of both forward and reverse spillovers from the viewpoint of knowledge context, economic development, opening degree and human resources infrastructure. In conclusion, the effect of absorptive capacity factors on international spillovers is nonlinear, that is, when absorptive capacity factors are between the two threshold values, technology spillovers are maximised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]