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Reducing human reliance on energy-inefficient cooling methods such as air conditioning would have a large impact on the global energy landscape. By a process of complete delignification and densification of wood, we developed a structural material with a mechanical strength of 404.3 megapascals, more than eight times that of natural wood. The cellulose nanofibers in our engineered material backscatter solar radiation and emit strongly in mid-infrared wavelengths, resulting in continuous subambient cooling during both day and night. We model the potential impact of our cooling wood and find energy savings between 20 and 60%, which is most pronounced in hot and dry climates.

We present axial plane optical microscopy (APOM) that can, in contrast to conventional microscopy, directly image a sample's cross-section parallel to the optical axis of an objective lens without scanning. APOM combined with conventional microscopy simultaneously provides two orthogonal images of a 3D sample. More importantly, APOM uses only a single lens near the sample to achieve selective-plane illumination microscopy, as we demonstrated by three-dimensional (3D) imaging of fluorescent pollens and brain slices. This technique allows fast, high-contrast, and convenient 3D imaging of structures that are hundreds of microns beneath the surfaces of large biological tissues.

Three-dimensional (3D) imaging at the nanoscale is a key to understanding of nanomaterials and complex systems. While scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has been the workhorse of nanoscale metrology, its slow scanning speed by a single probe tip can limit the application of SPM to wide-field imaging of 3D complex nanostructures. Both electron microscopy and optical tomography allow 3D imaging, but are limited to the use in vacuum environment due to electron scattering and to optical resolution in micron scales, respectively. Here we demonstrate plasmonic Brownian microscopy (PBM) as a way to improve the imaging speed of SPM. Unlike photonic force microscopy where a single trapped particle is used for a serial scanning, PBM utilizes a massive number of plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) under Brownian diffusion in solution to scan in parallel around the unlabeled sample object. The motion of NPs under an evanescent field is three-dimensionally localized to reconstruct the super-resolution topology of 3D dielectric objects. Our method allows high throughput imaging of complex 3D structures over a large field of view, even with internal structures such as cavities that cannot be accessed by conventional mechanical tips in SPM.

Exosomal microRNA (miRNA) exerts potential roles in non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The current study elucidated the role of miR‐30b‐5p shuttled by bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs)‐derived exosomes in treating NSCLC. Bioinformatics analysis was performed with NSCLC‐related miRNA microarray GSE169587 and mRNA data GSE74706 obtained for collection of the differentially expressed miRNAs and mRNAs. The relationship between miR‐30b‐5p and EZH2 was predicted and confirmed. Exosomes were isolated from BMSCs and identified. BMSCs‐derived exosomes overexpressing miR‐30b‐5p were used to establish subcutaneous tumorigenesis models to study the effects of miR‐30b‐5p, EZH2 and PI3K/AKT signalling pathway on tumour growth. A total of 86 BMSC‐exo‐miRNAs were differentially expressed in NSCLC. Bioinfomatics analysis found that BMSC‐exo‐miR‐30b‐5p could regulate NSCLC progression by targeting EZH2, which was verified by in vitro cell experiments. Besides, the target genes of miR‐30b‐5p were enriched in PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. Animal experiments validated that BMSC‐exo‐miR‐30b‐5p promoted NSCLC cell apoptosis and prevented tumorigenesis in nude mice via EZH2/PI3K/AKT axis. Collectively, the inhibitory role of BMSC‐derived exosomes‐loaded miR‐30b‐5p in NSCLC was achieved through blocking the EZH2/PI3K/AKT axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical spin-Hall effect (OSHE) is a spin-dependent transportation phenomenon of light as an analogy to its counterpart in condensed matter physics. Although being predicted and observed for decades, this effect has recently attracted enormous interests due to the development of metamaterials and metasurfaces, which can provide us tailor-made control of the light-matter interaction and spin-orbit interaction. In parallel to the developments of OSHE, metasurface gives us opportunities to manipulate OSHE in achieving a stronger response, a higher efficiency, a higher resolution, or more degrees of freedom in controlling the wave front. Here, we give an overview of the OSHE based on metasurface-enabled geometric phases in different kinds of configurational spaces and their applications on spin-dependent beam steering, focusing, holograms, structured light generation, and detection. These developments mark the beginning of a new era of spin-enabled optics for future optical components.

Conversion of solar energy into chemical energy through natural photosynthesis plays a crucial role in sustainable energy transformation, bioresource production, and CO2 biofixation. Nevertheless, the overall solar energy to chemical energy (biomass) conversion efficiency in the photosynthetic organisms is still unsatisfactory because of their inefficient utilization of solar light. Here, a photonic method to improve photosynthesis of a unicellular green microalga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a photosynthetic organism model is reported. For this purpose, an easy‐to‐fabricate microphotonic film is developed to improve the spectral quality of solar light reaching the microalgae through photon management (i.e., simultaneous solar spectral conversion and directional fluorescent emission). This study demonstrates that the short‐term oxygen evolution rate and the long‐duration biomass production of microalgae in 200‐mL laboratory photobioreactors are enhanced by a factor of 38% and 54%, respectively. In 5000‐mL scaled‐up bubble column photobioreactors placed outdoor under natural sunlight and weather conditions, the biomass yield is improved by more than 20% when compared to the control experiments conducted in parallel in an optically clear bubble column photobioreactor. Based on such experimental observations, the work here demonstrates the potential of photon management for promoting the solar energy‐to‐biomass conversion process of microalgae and other photosynthetic organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an in-depth study and analysis of information security protocols for industrial Ethernet using wireless sensor networks. The optimal number of cluster heads for nonuniform subclustering is derived based on the sensor energy consumption model, and then, the EEUC contention radius formula is optimized to select candidate cluster heads with random values and energy as weights. A multihop approach based on the shortest offset is also proposed for intercluster information transmission. Experimental results show that the EEUC-based improved cluster routing protocol proposed in this paper balances the node energy consumption and extends the network lifetime. In response to the problem that the coarsened hop value and average hop distance of the DV-Hop localization algorithm cannot reflect the network topology, the improved DV-Hop algorithm based on multicommunication radius and hop distance correction is proposed. Simulation experiments show that the improved algorithm based on multiple communication radius and hop count correction can significantly reduce the localization error and improve the accuracy of the algorithm. Aiming at the shortcomings of MRP with excessive risk concentration and transmission medium limitation, this paper proposes a fast self-healing mechanism of industrial Ethernet with a multiexpert strategy. The PCP-AP common platform architecture for openSAFETY sites is designed on the base sleeve of the implementation of the industrial Ethernet protocol Ethernet POWERLINK; the main communication part of POWERLINK is implemented through an FPGA hardware solution, and the openSAFETY site is implemented using AM335X high-performance processor to implement openSAFETY security application functions. Finally, the article conducts field tests on the wireless signal information transmission, WSN data transmission, network connection, and power supply system in the system and compares and analyzes the data collected by the system with the monitoring data of the national control site. The data obtained by the system has real reliability. The communication module used is inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to operate. It can realize the collection of multiple pollution sources, and compared with traditional monitoring equipment, it avoids the difficulties of complicated wiring, difficult positioning of pollution sources, and restricted monitoring areas and largely reduces the investment in human and material resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoacoustic imaging, an acoustic imaging modality with potentially optical resolution in an optical turbid medium, has attracted great attention. However, the convergence of wavefront optimization and raster scanning in computational photoacoustic imaging leads to the challenge of fast mapping, especially for a spatial resolution approaching the acoustic deep-subwavelength regime. As a sparse sampling paradigm, compressive sensing has been applied in numerous fields to accelerate data acquisition without significant quality losses. In this work, we propose a dual-compressed approach for photoacoustic surface tomography that enables high-efficiency imaging with 3D spatial resolution unlimited by the acoustics in a turbid environment. The dual-compressed photoacoustic imaging with single-pixel detection, enabled by spatially optical modulation with synchronized temporally photoacoustic coding, allows decoding of the fine optical information from the modulated acoustic signal even when the variance of original photoacoustic signals is weak. We perform a proof-of-principle numerical demonstration of dual-compressed photoacoustic imaging, that resolves acoustic sub-acoustic-wavelength details with a significantly reduced number of measurements, revealing the potential for dynamic imaging. The dual-compressed concept, which transforms unobtrusive spatial difference into spatio-temporal detectable information, can be generalized to other imaging modalities to realize efficient, high-spatial-resolution imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]