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The increasing uses of rare-earth-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have obviously caused many concerns about their potential toxicology on live organisms. In addition, the UCNPs can be released into the environment, then transported into edible crop plants, and finally entered into food chain. Here, the soybean is chosen as a model plant to study the subchronic phytotoxicity, translocation, and biotransformation of NaYF4 UCNPs. The incubation with UCNPs at a relative low concentration of 10 mu g mL(-1) leads to growth promotion for the roots and stems, while concentration exceeding 50 mu g mL(-1) brings concentration-dependent inhibition. Upconversion luminescence imaging and scanning electron microscope characterization show that the UCNPs can be absorbed by roots and parts of the adsorbed UCNPs are then transported through vessels to stems and leaves. The near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectra reveal that the adsorbed NaYF4 nanoparticles are relatively stable during a 10 d incubation. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum further indicates that a small amount of NaYF4 is dissolved/digested and can transform into Y-phosphate clusters in roots.

NaYbF4:Tm@NaYF4:Yb/Er upconversion nanoparticles are synthesized and then integrated with light-sensitive nitric oxide (NO) donors (Roussin's black salt) to construct a novel near-infrared (NIR)-triggered on-demand NO delivery platform. This nanocompound can absorb 980 nm NIR photons, convert them into higher energy photons and then transfer the energy to the NO donors, resulting in an efficient release of NO. By manipulating the output power of the 980-nm NIR light, NO-concentration-dependent biological effects for cancer therapy can be fine-tuned, which is investigated and confirmed in vitro. High concentrations of NO can directly kill cancer cells and low concentrations of NO can act as a potent P-glycoprotein (P-gp) modulator to overcome multi-drug resistance (MDR) if combined with chemotherapy.

The ability to selectively destroy cancer cells while sparing normal tissue is highly desirable during the cancer therapy. Here, magnetic targeted photothermal therapy was demonstrated by the integration of MoS2 (MS) flakes and Fe3O4 (IO) nanoparticles (NPs), where MoS2 converted near-infrared (NIR) light into heat and Fe3O4 NPs served as target moiety directed by external magnetic field to tumor site. The MoS2/Fe3O4 composite (MSIOs) functionalized by biocompatible polyethylene glycol (PEG) were prepared by a simple two-step hydrothermal method. And the as-obtained MSIOs exhibit high stability in bio-fluids and low toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, the MSIOs can be applied as a dual-modal probe for T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) and photoacoustic tomography (PAT) imaging due to their superparamagnetic property and strong NIR absorption. Furthermore, we demonstrate an effective result for magnetically targeted photothermal ablation of cancer. All these results show a great potential for localized photothermal ablation of cancer spatially/timely guided by the magnetic field and indicated the promise of the multifunctional MSIOs for applications in cancer theranostics.

Strain discovered in hybrid perovskite films made by existing methods affects perovskite solar cells’ intrinsic stability., Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite (OIHP) solar cells have achieved comparable efficiencies to those of commercial solar cells, although their instability hinders their commercialization. Although encapsulation techniques have been developed to protect OIHP solar cells from external stimuli such as moisture, oxygen, and ultraviolet light, understanding of the origin of the intrinsic instability of perovskite films is needed to improve their stability. We show that the OIHP films fabricated by existing methods are strained and that strain is caused by mismatched thermal expansion of perovskite films and substrates during the thermal annealing process. The polycrystalline films have compressive strain in the out-of-plane direction and in-plane tensile strain. The strain accelerates degradation of perovskite films under illumination, which can be explained by increased ion migration in strained OIHP films. This study points out an avenue to enhance the intrinsic stability of perovskite films and solar cells by reducing residual strain in perovskite films.

This work introduces a novel surface registration method based on foliation. A foliation decomposes the surface into a family of closed loops, such that the decomposition has local tensor product structure. By projecting each loop to a point, the surface is collapsed into a graph. Two homeomorphic surfaces with consistent foliations can be registered by first matching their foliation graphs, then matching the corresponding leaves.,,This foliation based method is capable of handling surfaces with complicated topologies and large non-isometric deformations, rigorous with solid theoretic foundation, easy to implement, robust to compute. The result mapping is diffeomorphic. Our experimental results show the efficiency and efficacy of the proposed method.

The surface composition of perovskite films is very sensitive to film processing and can deviate from the optimal, which generates unfavorable defects and results in efficiency loss in solar cells and slow response speed in photodetectors. An argon plasma treatment is introduced to modify the surface composition by tuning the ratio of organic and inorganic components as well as defect type before deposition of the passivating layer. It can efficiently enhance the charge collection across the perovskite-electrode interface by suppressing charge recombination. Therefore, perovskite solar cells with argon plasma treatment yield enhanced efficiency to 20.4% and perovskite photodetectors can reach their fastest respond speed, which is solely limited by the carrier mobility.

The ionic defects at the surfaces and grain boundaries of organic–inorganic halide perovskite films are detrimental to both the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells. Here, we show that quaternary ammonium halides can effectively passivate ionic defects in several different types of hybrid perovskite with their negative- and positive-charged components. The efficient defect passivation reduces the charge trap density and elongates the carrier recombination lifetime, which is supported by density-function-theory calculation. The defect passivation reduces the open-circuit-voltage deficit of the p–i–n-structured device to 0.39 V, and boosts the efficiency to a certified value of 20.59 ± 0.45%. Moreover, the defect healing also significantly enhances the stability of films in ambient conditions. Our findings provide an avenue for defect passivation to further improve both the efficiency and stability of solar cells. Losses in solar cells can be caused by material defects in the bulk or at interfaces. Here, Zheng et al. use quaternary ammonium halides to passivate various perovskite absorbers and prepare solar cells with certified efficiency above 20%, suggesting that both anionic and cation defects are affected.

Integrating radiation therapy with high-depth photothermal therapy in the second near-infrared (NIR) window is highly required for efficient treatment of deep-seated tumor cells. Here, we constructed a multifunctional nano-theranostic with bimetallic chalcogenide nanocrystals (NCs) functionalized with amphiphilic d-α-tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS-Cu

Log data is a valuable resource for failure prediction and troubleshooting in large-scale systems. However, with the rapid growth of the system scale and the popularity of various applications in productional environments, the volume of logs emerged per day becomes huge, posing serious challenges for storage and analysis. To solve these problems, we propose an online log filtering mechanism to eliminate the redundant and noisy log records through event filtering and instance filtering, aiming to minimize the log size without losing important information required for the fault diagnosis. Our proposed log filtering is evaluated on a real log data derived from a productional cloud computing system, observing that over 76% of the storage space are saved without losing important information.

Hollow-structured nanomaterials with fluorescent properties are extremely attractive for image-guided cancer therapy. In this paper, sub-100 nm and hydrophilic NaYF4 upconversion (UC) hollow nanospheres (HNSs) with multicolor UC luminescence and drug-delivery properties were successfully prepared by a facile one-pot template-free hydrothermal route using polyetherimide (PEI) polymer as the stabilizing agent. XRD, SEM, TEM, and N2-adsorption/desorption were used to characterize the as-obtained products. The growth mechanism of the HNSs has been systematically investigated on the basis of the Ostwald ripening. Under 980 nm excitation, UC emissions of HNSs can be tuned by a simple change of the concentration or combination of various upconverters. As a result, the PEI-coated HNSs could be used as efficient probes for in vitro upconversion luminescence (UCL) cell imaging. Furthermore, a doxorubicin storage/release behavior and cancer-cell-killing ability investigation reveal that the product has the potential to be a drug carrier for cancer therapy.

The combined use nanotechnology and medical technologies holds great promise for the development and improvement of various theranostic media. Here, based on a facile hydrothermal method, polyethyleneimine (PEI) functionalized YbPO4: Er up-conversion porous nanospheres (UCPSs) were fabricated, which combined the capabilities of up-conversion luminescence (UCL)/X-ray computed tomography (CT) bimodal imaging and drug delivery. The resulting hydrophilic PEI functionalized YbPO4: Er UCPSs (PEI-UCPSs) showed uniform morphology and high crystallinity. Moreover, PEI-UCPSs possessed high drug loading capacity because of their large specific surface area, which was confirmed by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) experiment. Cellular experiments indicated that the PEI-UCPSs had low cytotoxicity and confirmed the performance of the pH-mediated cancer targeting of PEI-UCPSs@DOX. Importantly, because of the ideal UCL property and high CT contrast both in vitro and in vivo, YbPO4: Er PEI-UCPSs could be used as an optical probe and a contrast agent for optical and CT imaging, forming a promising platform for simultaneous bioimaging and drug delivery.

We have developed a simple and efficient strategy to fabricate WS2 nanosheets with low toxicity and good water solubility via a liquid exfoliation method by using H2SO4 intercalation and ultrasonication. The as-prepared WS2 nanosheets were employed not only as an NIR absorbing agent for photothermal therapy (PTT) but also as a photosensitizer (PS) carrier for photodynamic therapy (PDT) due to their sheet like structure that offers large surface area to load PS molecules. Moreover, singlet-oxygen generation of the PSs-WS2 complex could be finely controlled by NIR irradiation that could manipulate the PSs release behavior from WS2 nanosheets. The synergistic anti-tumor effect of WS2 nanosheets mediated PDT-PTT was also evaluated carefully and the results clearly showed that the efficacy of combined PDT-PTT treatment of cancer cells is significantly higher than those of PDT-only and PTT-only treatment, indicating enhanced efficiency of the combined therapeutic system. In addition, the WS2 could be used as a computed tomography (CT) contrast agent for bio-imaging since W atoms have strong X-ray attenuation ability, making them a multifunctional theranostic platform for simultaneous imaging-guided diagnosis and therapy.

Surface parameterization refers to the process of mapping a surface into a canonical domain. The goal of parameterization is to minimize geometric distortions, which can be classified as angle and area distortions. Unfortunately, in general it is impossible to achieve both angle-preserving and area-preserving parameterization. This work proposes a novel balanced parameterization method which could produce results with good balancing between the two distortions. This method is rigorous in theory and moderate in computation. Surface parameterization is a fundamental step of spline fitting. This work in further studies the spline fitting results which are respectively based on angle-preserving, area-preserving and different balanced parameterization. The experiment shows that by using balanced parameterization one could improve the spline fitting quality, and demonstrates the efficiency and efficacy of the proposed method.

The application of liquid-exfoliated 2D transition metal disulfides (TMDs) as the hole transport layers (HTLs) in nonfullerene-based organic solar cells is reported. It is shown that solution processing of few-layer WS2 or MoS2 suspensions directly onto transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes changes their work function without the need for any further treatment. HTLs comprising WS2 are found to exhibit higher uniformity on ITO than those of MoS2 and consistently yield solar cells with superior power conversion efficiency (PCE), improved fill factor (FF), enhanced short-circuit current (JSC ), and lower series resistance than devices based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) and MoS2 . Cells based on the ternary bulk-heterojunction PBDB-T-2F:Y6:PC71 BM with WS2 as the HTL exhibit the highest PCE of 17%, with an FF of 78%, open-circuit voltage of 0.84 V, and a JSC of 26 mA cm-2 . Analysis of the cells' optical and carrier recombination characteristics indicates that the enhanced performance is most likely attributed to a combination of favorable photonic structure and reduced bimolecular recombination losses in WS2 -based cells. The achieved PCE is the highest reported to date for organic solar cells comprised of 2D charge transport interlayers and highlights the potential of TMDs as inexpensive HTLs for high-efficiency organic photovoltaics.

In this paper, cadmium sulfide (CdS) and cadmium sulfide/cadmium selenide (CdS/CdSe) quantum dots (QDs) are assembled onto ZnO nanorod arrays by a solution ion exchange process for QD-sensitized solar cell application. The morphology, composition and absorption properties of different photoanodes were characterized with scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum and Raman spectrum in detail. It is shown that conformal and uniform CdS and CdS/CdSe shells can grow on ZnO nanorod cores. Quantum dot sensitized solar cells based on ZnO/CdS and ZnO/CdS/CdSe nanocable arrays were assembled with gold counter electrode and polysulfide electrolyte solution. The CdS/CdSe sensitization of ZnO can effectively extend the absorption spectrum up to 650 nm, which has a remarkable impact on the performance of a photovoltaic device by extending the absorption spectrum. Preliminary results show one fourth improvement in solar cell efficiency.

In many applications of near-infrared (NIR) light detection, a band-pass filter is needed to exclude the noise caused by visible light. Here, we demonstrate a filterless, visible-blind, narrow-band NIR photodetector with a full-width at half-maximum of50 nm for the response spectrum. These devices have a thick (4 μm) nanocomposite absorbing layers made of polymer-fullerene:lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs). The PbS QDs yield a photoconductive gain due to their hole-trapping effect, which effectively enhances both the responsivity and the visible rejection ratio of the external quantum efficiency by10 fold compared to those without PbS QDs. Encouragingly, the inclusion of the PbS QDs does not increase the device noise. We directly measured a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 6.1 pW cm(-2) at 890 nm, and a large linear dynamic range (LDR) over 11 orders of magnitude. The highly sensitive visible-blind NIR narrow-band photodetectors may find applications in biomedical engineering.

Uniform and high-electronic-quality perovskite thin films are essential for high-performance perovskite devices. Here, it is shown that the 3-(decyldimethylammonio)-propane-sulfonate inner salt (DPSI), which is a sulfonic zwitterion, plays dual roles in tuning the crystallization behavior and passivating the defects of perovskites. The synergistic effect of crystallization control and defect passivation remarkably suppresses pinhole formation, reduces the charge trap density, and lengthens the carrier recombination lifetime, and thereafter boosts the small-area (0.08 cm2 ) planar perovskite device efficiency to 21.1% and enables a high efficiency of 18.3% for blade-coating large-area (1 cm2 ) devices. The device also shows good light stability, which remains at 88% of the initial efficiency under continuous unfiltered AM 1.5G light illumination for 480 h. These findings provide an avenue for simultaneous crystallization control and defect passivation to further improve the performance of perovskite devices.

SummaryChanges in the concentrations of trans-resveratrol (Res) and other phenolic compounds in the skin and seeds of red grape (Vitis vinifera × V. amurensis ‘Beiquan’) during low temperature storage (−1o ± 0.5oC) after post-harvest UV-B and UV-C irradiation and incubation at room temperature (25oC) were evaluated. No obvious changes in Res levels were observed in control and UV-B-irradiated grape skins after 14 d. A higher content of Res was recorded in UV-B-irradiated grape skins for only 7 d in cold storage, but the content was highest in UV-C-irradiated grape skins for the entire period (28 d) in cold storage. Total levels of anthocyanins in grape skins after either UV treatment were significantly higher than in controls during the first 7 d of storage, while only those in UV-B-treated skins were significantly higher than controls during the later period (from 21 – 28 d) of storage, due to sharp declines in levels of the five main anthocyanins in UV-C-treated grape skins. Total flavan-3-ol and flavon...

Non-invasive and real-time imaging of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is particularly desirable for research and clinical studies of patients with symptoms arising from gastrointestinal diseases. Here, we designed and fabricated silica-coated bismuth sulfide nanorods (Bi2S3@SiO2 NRs) for a non-invasive spatial-temporally imaging of the GI tract. The Bi2S3 NRs were synthesized by a facile solvothermal method and then coated with a SiO2 layer to improve their biocompatibility and stability in the harsh environments of the GI tract, such as the stomach and the small intestine. Due to their strong X-ray- and near infrared-absorption abilities, we demonstrate that, following oral administration in mice, the Bi2S3@SiO2 NRs can be used as a dual-modal contrast agent for the real-time and non-invasive visualization of NRs distribution and the GI tract via both X-ray computed tomography (CT) and photoacoustic tomography (PAT) techniques. Importantly, integration of PAT with CT provides complementary information on anatomical details with high spatial resolution. In addition, we use Caenorhabditis Elegans (C. Elegans) as a simple model organism to investigate the biological response of Bi2S3@SiO2 NRs by oral administration. The results indicate that these NRs can pass through the GI tract of C. Elegans without inducing notable toxicological effects. The above results suggest that Bi2S3@SiO2 NRs pave an alternative way for the fabrication of multi-modal contrast agents which integrate CT and PAT modalities for a direct and non-invasive visualization of the GI tract with low toxicity.

Here, we present a precision cancer nanomedicine based on Bi(2)S(3) nanorods (NRs) designed specifically for multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT)/X-ray computed tomography (CT)-guided photothermal therapy (PTT). The as-prepared Bi(2)S(3) NRs possess ideal photothermal effect and contrast enhancement in MSOT/CT bimodal imaging. These features make them simultaneously act as "satellite" and "precision targeted weapon" for the visual guide to destruction of tumors in vivo, realizing effective tumor destruction and metastasis inhibition after intravenous injection. In addition, toxicity screening confirms that Bi(2)S(3) NRs have well biocompatibility. This triple-modality-nanoparticle approach enables simultaneously precise cancer therapy and therapeutic monitoring.

Organic-inorganic halide perovskite (OIHP) solar cells with efficiency over 18% power conversion efficiency (PCE) have been widely achieved with lab scale spin-coating method which is however not scalable for the fabrication of large area solar panels. The PCEs of OIHP solar cells made by scalable deposition methods, such as doctor-blading or slot-die coating, have been lagging far behind than spin-coated devices. In this study the authors report composition engineering in doctor-bladed OIHP solar cells with p-i-n planar hetero-junction structure to enhance their efficiency. Phase purer OIHP thin films are obtained by incorporating a small amount of cesium (Cs+) and bromine (Br-) ions into perovskite precursor solution, which also reduces the required film formation temperature. Pinhole free OIHP thin films with micrometer-sized grains have been obtained assisted by a secondary grain growth with added methylammonium chloride into the precursor solution. The OIHP solar cells using these bladed thin films achieved PCEs over 19.0%, with the best stabilized PCE reaching 19.3%. This represents a significant step toward scalable manufacture of OIHP solar cells.

Efficient wide-bandgap (WBG) perovskite solar cells are needed to boost the efficiency of silicon solar cells to beyond Schottky-Queisser limit, but they suffer from a larger open circuit voltage (VOC) deficit than narrower bandgap ones. Here, it is shown that one major limitation of VOC in WBG perovskite solar cells comes from the nonmatched energy levels of charge transport layers. Indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA) with higher-lying lowest-unoccupied-molecular-orbital is needed for WBG perovskite solar cells, while its energy-disorder needs to be minimized before a larger VOC can be observed. A simple method is applied to reduce the energy disorder by isolating isomer ICBA-tran3 from the as-synthesized ICBA-mixture. WBG perovskite solar cells with ICBA-tran3 show enhanced V-OC by 60 mV, reduced V-OC deficit of 0.5 V, and then a record stabilized power conversion efficiency of 18.5%. This work points out the importance of matching the charge transport layers in perovskite solar cells when the perovskites have a different composition and energy levels.

Owing to their high efficiency, low-cost solution-processability, and tunable bandgap, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) made of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite (HOIP) thin films are promising top-cell candidates for integration with bottom-cells based on Si or other low-bandgap solar-cell materials to boost the power conversion efficiency (PCE) beyond the Shockley-Quiesser (S-Q) limit. In this review, recent progress in such tandem solar cells based on the emerging PSCs is summarized and reviewed critically. Notable achievements for different tandem solar cell configurations including mechanically-stacked, optical coupling, and monolithically-integrated with PSCs as top-cells are described in detail. Highly-efficient semitransparent PSC top-cells with high transmittance in near-infrared (NIR) region are critical for tandem solar cells. Different types of transparent electrodes with high transmittance and low sheet-resistance for PSCs are reviewed, which presents a grand challenge for PSCs. The strategies to obtain wide-bandgap PSCs with good photostability are discussed. The PCE reduction due to reflection loss, parasitic absorption, electrical loss, and current mismatch are analyzed to provide better understanding of the performance of PSC-based tandem solar cells.

Multi-drug resistance (MDR) is a major cause of failure in cancer chemotherapy. Tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) has been extensively investigated for overcoming MDR in cancer therapy because of its ability to inhibit P-glycoprotein (P-gp). In this work, TPGS was for the first time used as a new surface modifier to functionalize NaYbF4:Er upconversion nanoparticles (UNCPs) and endowed the as-prepared products (TPGS-UCNPs) with excellent water-solubility, P-gp inhibition capability and imaging-guided drug delivery property. After the chemotherapeutic drug (doxorubicin, DOX) loading, the as-formed composites (TPGS-UCNPs-DOX) exhibited potent killing ability for DOX-resistant MCF-7 cells. Flow-cytometric assessment and Western blot assay showed that the TPGS-UCNPs could potently decrease the P-gp expression and facilitate the intracellular drug accumulation, thus achieving MDR reversal. Moreover, considering that UCNPs process efficient upconversion emission and Yb element contained in UCNPs has strong X-ray attenuation ability, the as-obtained composite could also serve as a dual-modal probe for upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging and X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging, making them promising for imaging-guided cancer therapy.

Summary The seismic data acquired in the mountains area are generally irregular or sparely because of the complex surface, which may not fulfill the processing requirements and degrades processing quality, so these data should often be interpolated. A projection onto convex sets (POCS) algorithm using Fourier transforms is a well-known technique to reconstruct the irregular seismic data, helping on the processing of data with different acquisition problems. We proposed the interpolation procedure using POCS method based on OVT domain and applied it to the field data. Numerical examples indicates that the proposed scheme is effective and applicable, as it can reconstruct missing traces of complex data acquisition.

We report here a simple, high-yield yet low-cost approach to design single-layer MoS2 nanosheets with controllable size via an improved oleum treatment exfoliation process. By decorating MoS2 nanosheets with chitosan, these functionalized MoS2 nanosheets have been developed as a chemotherapeutic drug nanocarrier for near-infrared (NIR) photothermal-triggered drug delivery, facilitating the combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy into one system for cancer therapy. Loaded doxorubicin could be controllably released upon the photothermal effect induced by 808 nm NIR laser irradiation. In vitro and in vivo tumor ablation studies demonstrate a better synergistic therapeutic effect of the combined treatment, compared with either chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone. Finally, MoS2 nanosheets can also be used as a promising contrast agent in X-ray computed tomography imaging due to the obvious X-ray absorption ability of Mo. As a result, the high-throughput oleum treatment exfoliation process could be extended for fabricating other 2D nanomaterials, and the NIR-triggered drug release strategy was encouraging for simultaneous imaging-guided cancer theranostic application.

Light-triggered drug delivery based on near-infrared (NIR)-mediated photothermal nanocarriers has received tremendous attention for the construction of cooperative therapeutic systems in nanomedicine. Herein, a new paradigm of light-responsive drug carrier that doubles as a photothermal agent is reported based on the NIR light-absorber, Rb (x) WO3 (rubidium tungsten bronze, Rb-TB) nanorods. With doxorubicin (DOX) payload, the DOX-loaded Rb-TB composite (Rb-TB-DOX) simultaneously provides a burst-like drug release and intense heating effect upon 808-nm NIR light exposure. MTT assays show the photothermally enhanced antitumor activity of Rb-TB-DOX to the MCF-7 cancer cells. Most remarkably, Rb-TB-DOX combined with NIR irradiation also shows dramatically enhanced chemotherapeutic effect to DOX-resistant MCF-7 cells compared with free DOX, demonstrating the enhanced efficacy of combinational chemo-photothermal therapy for potentially overcoming drug resistance in cancer chemotherapy. Furthermore, in vivo study of combined chemo-photothermal therapy is also conducted and realized on pancreatic (Pance-1) tumor-bearing nude mice. Apart from its promise for cancer therapy, the as-prepared Rb-TB can also be employed as a new dual-modal contrast agent for photoacoustic tomography and (PAT) X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging because of its high NIR optical absorption capability and strong X-ray attenuation ability, respectively. The results presented in the current study suggest promise of the multifunctional Rb (x) WO3 nanorods for applications in cancer theranostics.

We developed a facile strategy to obtain a new kind of mesoporous core-shell structured up-conversion nanoparticles (mUCNPs), composed of a NaYbF4:2%Er core and a mesoporous NaGdF4 shell. This mesoporous shell not only enhanced the up-conversion luminescence but also endowed many other functionalities of the nanoparticles such as drug delivery and bio-imaging capabilities. Moreover, after being conjugated with polyethylenimine (PEI) and folic acid (FA), core-shell mUCNPs exhibited good water dispersibility, enhanced drug delivery efficiency, and remarkable targeting ability to cancer cells. To certify the folate receptors (FR)-mediated targeted drug delivery, cell viability assay, cell up-conversion luminescence imaging and flow cytometry analysis were carried out. Furthermore, apart from the application for targeted drug delivery, the as-prepared core-shell mUCNPs could also be employed as the contrast agents for X-ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, because of the strong X-ray attenuation ability of Yb and high longitudinal molar relaxivity (r1) of Gd in the nanoparticles, providing the potential for simultaneously bio-imaging and cancer-targeting therapy.

Given a finite set of arbitrarily distributed points in affine space with multiplicity structures, we present an algorithm to compute the reduced Gr\({\ddot{\mathrm{o}}}\)bner basis of the vanishing ideal under the lexicographic order. We split the problem into several smaller ones which can be solved by induction over variables and then use our new algorithm for intersection of ideals to compute the result of the original problem. The new algorithm for intersection of ideals is mainly based on the Extended Euclidean Algorithm. Our method discloses the essential geometric connection between the relative position of the points with multiplicity structures and the leading monomials of the reduced Gr\({\ddot{\mathrm{o}}}\)bner basis of the vanishing ideal.

We study the dynamic response characteristics of the piezoelectric ceramics (PZT) driver for many kinds of the irregular signals. The driver circuit can linearly amply many kinds of irregular signals with little distortion. When sinusoid signal is inputted, we measured the frequency response range of this circuit. When the frequency of the input sinusoid signal is in the range of 0-10 KHz, the distortion of the output signal is less than 3.19%. The rise-time and the fall-time were only 4.6 and 18.4 respectively when rectangular signal is inputted. The results show that, the PZT driver has wonderful dynamic response characteristics for irregular signals, and the frequency range is wide and the response speed is very fast. Furthermore, we find that when the frequency of the input signal changed, the consumed power of the driver changed correspondingly. By analyzing the experiment data, we can find that the consumed power of driver is proportional to the frequency of the input signal. To our knowledge, the correlation is seldom mentioned before.

A novel tunable microwave notch filter based on air-guiding photonic bandgap fiber (AG-PBGF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The operational principle of the proposed filter is analyzed in detail. Using the character of wavelength-dependent high birefringence of AG-PBGF, the frequency response of the polarization-dependent notch filter can be simply tuned by changing the incident optical wavelength, and its notch depth is dominated by the input azimuth angle. Moreover, the proposed filter is free from the coherence induced by the laser source. Therefore, the magnitude frequency response is robust. A piece of 20-m AG-PBGF is used in the experiment. As expected, the free-spectral range (FSR) changes from 22.4GHz to 8.74GHz when the wavelength from 1570nm to 1584nm and the largest notch depth is more than 40dB.

Expanding the near-infrared (NIR) response of perovskite materials to approach the ideal bandgap range (1.1–1.4 eV) for single-junction solar cells is an attractive step to unleash the full potential of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, polycrystalline formamidinium lead triiodide (FAPbI3)-based absorbers, used in record-efficiency PSCs, currently offer the smallest bandgap that can be achieved for lead-halide perovskite thin films (>100 meV larger than the optimal bandgap). Here, we uncover that utilizing a mixed-cation single-crystal absorber layer (FA0.6MA0.4PbI3) is capable of redshifting the external quantum efficiency (EQE) band edge past that of FAPbI3 polycrystalline solar cells by about 50 meV – only 60 meV larger than that of the top-performing photovoltaic material, GaAs – leading to EQE-verified short-circuit current densities exceeding 26 mA cm−2 without sacrificing the open-circuit voltage (VOC), and therefore, yielding power conversion efficiencies of up to 22.8%. These figures of merit not only set a new record for SC-PSCs and are among the highest reported for inverted-structured-PSCs, but also offer an avenue for lead halide PSCs to advance their performance toward their theoretical Shockley–Queisser Limit potential.

Simplifying the manufacturing processes of renewable energy technologies is crucial to lowering the barriers to commercialization. In this context, to improve the manufacturability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), we have developed a one-step solution-coating procedure in which the hole-selective contact and perovskite light absorber spontaneously form, resulting in efficient inverted PSCs. We observed that phosphonic or carboxylic acids, incorporated into perovskite precursor solutions, self-assemble on the indium tin oxide substrate during perovskite film processing. They form a robust self-assembled monolayer as an excellent hole-selective contact while the perovskite crystallizes. Our approach solves wettability issues and simplifies device fabrication, advancing the manufacturability of PSCs. Our PSC devices with positive-intrinsic-negative (p-i-n) geometry show a power conversion efficiency of 24.5% and retain >90% of their initial efficiency after 1,200 h of operating at the maximum power point under continuous illumination. The approach shows good generality as it is compatible with different self-assembled monolayer molecular systems, perovskites, solvents and processing methods., Improving the manufacturability of perovskite solar cells is key to their deployment. Zheng et al. report a one-step deposition of the hole-selective and absorber layers that addresses wettability issues and simplifies the fabrication process.