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Tunable semiconductor lasers have many important applications such as wavelength division multiplexing, light detection and ranging, and gas detection. The increased interest in silicon photonics has led to the rapid development of miniaturized on-chip tunable semiconductor lasers. However, silicon has poor light-emitting properties. Therefore, realizing high-performance tunable semiconductor lasers requires the integration of light sources with silicon. In this study, we review silicon-based light source integration methods and the development of silicon-based integrated tunable semiconductor lasers. Considering that narrow-linewidth performance greatly expands the applications of tunable semiconductor lasers, methods for reducing the linewidth of tunable lasers are summarized. Finally, the development trends and prospects for silicon-based integrated light sources and silicon-based integrated tunable lasers are analyzed and discussed.

Glycyrrhizic acid (GA) and Sirtuin3 (Sirt3) were both found to be involved in epilepsy (EP), but their interaction was rarely studied. Herein, we aim to investigate the underlying mechanism of GA with the interaction of Sirt3 in juvenile EP rats. The EP model in juvenile rats was established by lithium chloride-pilocarpine and treated with different concentrations of GA, GA + DMSO or GA + 3-TYP [a selective inhibitor of Sirtuin3 (Sirt3)]. The expression of Sirt3, mitochondrial autophagy-related genes (C-III core 1, COX IV, LC3-I, LC3-II), apoptosis-related genes (Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialchehyche (MDA) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as mitochondrial membrane potential were subsequently detected. The juvenile EP rats treated with GA showed increased level of C-III core 1 and COX IV, increased LC3-I/LC3-II, GSH and SOD, decreased MDA, increased expression of Sirt3, and Bcl-2, and decreased expression of Bax and Caspase-3. However, inhibition of Sirt3 caused reverse results. Collectively, GA could alleviate hippocampal pathological damage, promote mitochondrial autophagy and reduce oxidative stress in juvenile EP rats through activation of Sirt3. Understanding of these mechanisms may allow devising of novel therapeutics for pediatric EP.

Predicting the influence of trans-structures in the molecular chain structure of natural rubber (NR) on its tensile stress using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In this study, establish two all-atom models, all cis-structure model (model-1), containing 2% trans-structure and 98% cis-structure model (model-2), and calculated the cohesive energy density (CED) of the model to determine the feasibility of the model to simulate NR. Then, uniaxial tensile simulations were carried out for both models and it was found that the presence of the inverse structure reduced the tensile stresses in the models. This study is an important theoretical guide to the preparation of high-performance isoprene rubber (IR).

In this article, the facile synthesis of sea urchin-shaped LiFePO4 nanoparticles by thermal decomposition of metal-surfactant complexes and application of these nanoparticles as a cathode in lithium ion secondary batteries is demonstrated. The advantages of this work are a facile method to synthesize interesting LiFePO4 nanostructures and its synthetic mechanism. Accordingly, the morphology of LiFePO4 particles could be regulated by the injection of oleylamine, with other surfactants and phosphoric acid. This injection step was critical to tailor the morphology of LiFePO4 particles, converting them from nanosphere shapes to diverse types of urchin-shaped nanoparticles. Electron microscopy analysis showed that the overall dimension of the urchin-shaped LiFePO4 particles varied from 300 nm to 2 μm. A closer observation revealed that numerous thin nanorods ranging from 5 to 20 nm in diameter were attached to the nanoparticles. The hierarchical nanostructure of these urchin-shaped LiFePO4 particles mitigated the low tap density problem. In addition, the nanorods less than 20 nm attached to the edge of urchin-shaped nanoparticles significantly increased the pathways for electronic transport.

Background: Higher tumor expression of CD44, a marker of cancer stem cells (CSCs), is associated with poor overall survival (OS) in various cancers. However, the association between CD44 and poor OS remains inconsistent in glioma. We aimed to evaluate the potential predictive role of CD44 for prognosis of glioma patients in a meta-analysis. Methods: Observational studies comparing OS of glioma patients according to the level of CD44 were identified through searching PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane’s Library databases. Meta-analyses were performed with a random- or fixed-effect model according to the heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate the influences of study characteristics. Results: Eleven retrospective cohort studies were included. Results showed that increased CD44 expression in tumor predicted poor OS in glioma patients (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02–1.97, P=0.04). Subgroup analyses showed that higher tumor CD44 expression significantly predicted poor OS in patients with World Health Organization (WHO) stages II–III glioma (HR: 2.99, 95% CI: 1.53–5.89, P=0.002), but not in patients with glioblastoma (HR: 1.26, 95% CI: 0.76–2.08, P=0.47; P for subgroup difference = 0.03). Results were not statistically different between subgroups according to patient ethnicity, sample size, CD44 detection method, CD44 cutoff, HR estimation, univariate or multivariate analysis, or median follow-up durations (P-values for subgroup difference all >0.10). Conclusion: Higher tumor expression of CD44 may predict poor survival in patients with glioma, particularly in those with WHO stage II–III glioma.

Natural rubber (NR) has excellent mechanical properties due to its unique molecular chain structure. In previous studies, the signal of the cis- and trans-isoprene units was deduced by 13C-NMR spectrum of the low molecular weight fraction of NR. In this study, through investigating the 1H-NMR spectra of ribbed smoked sheet 1 (RSS-1) and standard Chinese rubber whole fraction (SCR-WF), and Eucommia ulmoides gum (EUG), trans-1,4-polyisoprene (TPI), found that the methyl-proton in the cis- and trans-isoprene units in 1H-NMR spectra of NR showed signals at 1.61 and 1.53 ppm, respectively. Further, the content of trans-structure in the molecular chain of NR of different producing areas was calculated. The results show that the content of trans-structure in the molecular chain structure of RSS-1 and SCR-WF were 1.500 and 1.054%, respectively.

In this article, the facile synthesis of sea urchin-shaped LiFePO

A higher-order mechanical model of axially moving nanoscale beams with time-dependent velocity was developed in the framework of nonlocal stress gradient theory. Based on the correlation between effective and common nonlocal bending moments, a sixth-order partial differential equation of motion with respect to the transverse displacement was derived. Unlike some previous work which assumed the velocity of axially moving nanoscale beam to be a constant, a time-dependent axial velocity was considered for the nanoscale beams. The resonance vibration frequencies were obtained according to the governing equation of motion and corresponding boundary conditions. It was concluded a nonlocal nanoscale strengthening effect that the vibration frequencies of such axially moving nanostructure increase with stronger nonlocal effects, or a larger dimensionless nonlocal nanoscale parameter causes a higher vibration frequency. A jumping phenomenon in frequency field was observed, and the vibration frequency may decrease or increase with an increase in the axial average velocity. Critical speeds of the axially non-uniformly moving nanoscale beams were defined and determined, and the critical speed versus nonlocal nanoscale revealed step and strengthening effects. The theoretical results obtained were compared with some experimental data and good agreement was achieved. Subsequently, the steady-state and stability of such moving nanostructures including the principal parametric and combination resonances were analyzed using a multiple-scale method. Some beneficial analytical procedures and theoretical formulations at nanoscale were provided. Based on specific boundary conditions, the stability boundaries of the axially accelerating nanoscale beams were determined and the unstable regions were influenced by nonlocal nanoscale significantly.

This work studied possibilities of using lanthanum stearate (LaSt) as an antioxidant in epoxidized natural rubber containing 25 mol.% expoxidation (ENR25) compounds. For comparison purposes, two commercial antioxidant 4010NA and MB were also used. The influence of LaSt, antioxidant 4010NA and MB on cure characteristics, mechanical properties, crosslink density, hot air aging and thermo-oxidative degradation were studied. The results indicated that the incorporation of LaSt and antioxidants could accelerate the vulcanization of ENR. The ENR vulcanizates with antioxidant MB had better mechanical properties than 4010NA and LaSt. Compared with antioxidant 4010NA and MB, the ENR25 vulcanizates with the addition of LaSt exhibited the best hot air aging resistance and thermo-oxidative stability.

The effect of neodymium stearate (NdSt) synthesized by saponification method on thermal degradation and thermo-oxidative degradation of expoxidized natural rubber with 25 mol.% epoxidation (ENR25) was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the structure of ENR25 vulcanized with NdSt after thermo-oxidative decomposition was characterized using Fourier transform infared spectroscopy-attenuated total-reflectance (FTIR-ATR). The thermal degradation kinetic parameters of ENR25 with different loadings of NdSt were determined by Coats-Redfern method. The results showed that the thermal degradation of ENR25 in nitrogen was a one-step reaction regardless of NdSt content, whereas the thermo-oxidative degradation was a multiple-step reaction. The thermal and thermo-oxidative stability of the ENR25 vulcanizates with the addition of NdSt was higher than that of pure ENR25 vulcanizates. The ENR25 vulcanizates with the incorporation of 1 phr (per hundred parts of rubber) NdSt imparted the highest activation energy (E) of thermal and thermo-oxidative degradation. This could be attributed to the many unoccupied orbits in rare earth Nd, which could capture the free radicals and make the epoxide groups stable in the process of thermal and thermo-oxidative degradation for ENR25.

We investigated the effect of ionic liquid molecules (ILMs) in hybrid quantum dot-organic solar cells (HyQD-OSCs). The insertion of an ILM layer between PbS and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) can shift the band edge of PCBM closer to the vacuum level of PbS due to spontaneous dipole polarization. Because of this new architecture, improvements in device performance were achieved, including increases in open-circuit voltage (VOC, from 0.41 V to 0.49 V), fill factor (FF, from 0.48 to 0.59), and power conversion efficiency (PCE, from 1.62% to 2.21%), compared to reference devices under AM 1.5G illumination at 100 mW cm(-2). We observed that treatment of the PbS layer with ILMs causes a significant increase in work function from 3.58 eV to 3.93 eV. Furthermore, the ILMs layer minimizes the contact resistance between PbS and PCBM due to the improved compatibility between the two layers, confirmed as a decrease in charge transfer resistance, as measured by electrical impedance spectroscopy.

Natural rubber–epoxidized natural rubber–silica composites were prepared by the wet masterbatch technique and the traditional dry mixing method. Performances of the composites based on different preparation methods were investigated with a moving die rheometer, an electronic universal testing machine, a dynamic mechanical analyzer, a nuclear magnetic resonance crosslink density analyzer, a rubber processing analyzer (RPA), a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The RPA, SEM, and TEM analyses indicated that silica has better dispersion, lower filler–filler interaction, and better filler–rubber interaction in compounds based on the wet masterbatch technique, leading to improvements in mechanical strength and the dynamic mechanical and compression properties of the composites. It also indicates that composites prepared by the wet masterbatch technique have shorter scorch time, faster curing velocity, and higher crosslink density. The composites prepared by the wet materbatch technique also have lower rolling resistance, which is an important property for their use as a green material for the tire industry.

The effect of neodymium stearate (NdSt) on cure and mechanical properties of expoxidized natural rubber with 25 mol.% epoxidation (ENR25) was studied in the concentration range of 0 to 2 phr, and the relationship between structure and mechanical properties of ENR25 vulcanizates was also discussed. Neodymium sterate was synthesized by saponification of stearic acid with newly formed rare earth hydroxide in water medium, and the structure of NdSt was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Crosslinking density of vulcanized natural rubber was studied by equilibrium swelling method. The results indicated that the interaction force between carboxylic ion of NdSt prepared in the lab and Nd ion was mainly ionic bond through FTIR analysis. NdSt could accelerate the vulcanization of ENR25 and influence the network structure of ENR25 vulcanizates. The incorporation of 1 phr NdSt for ENR25 vulcanizates showed the optimal aging resistance.

Micro-bolometer pixel is an essential element in the infrared focal plane array (IRFPA) of infrared detectors. Its response to infrared radiation is analyzed in this paper. The pixel structure is modeled as a composite laminate thin plate whose sides are measured with the thickness from 0.1-1 μm. Its middle ply is a ferroelectric thin film. Its top surface is covered with a gold or platinum infrared absorber, while the bottom surface is deposited with platinum or lanthanum-nickel. Meanwhile both surfaces are a pair of electrodes. The top surface receives infrared radiation pulses successively. For the very tiny micro bolometer pixel, it is assumed that the infrared radiation is uniformly distributed on the plate. Furthermore, as the ratio of the side length to the thickness of the plate is dramatically large, it is assumed that heat transfer only takes place across the thickness of the plate. The thermal-electric-mechanical coupling governing equations are solved in a form of Fourier series. Results of the displacement, temperature variation and electric output signals of the micro bolometer pixel structure under infrared radiation are obtained, analyzed and compared with experimental data.

The free vibration analysis of cylindrical helical springs is carried out by means of an analytical study. In the governing equations of the motion of the springs, all displacement functions are defined at the centroid axis and also the effects of the rotational inertia, axial and shear deformations are included in the proposed model. Explicit analytical expressions which give the vibrating mode shapes are derived by rigorous application of the symbolic computing package MATHEMATICA and a process of searching is used to determine the exact natural frequencies. Numerical examples are provided for fixed-fixed boundary conditions. The free vibrational parameters are chosen as the number of coils (n = 4 ∼ 14), the helix pitch angle (α = 5 ∼ 30°) and as the ratio of the diameters of the cylinder and the wire (D/d = 4 ∼ 18) in a wide range. Validation of the proposed model has been achieved through comparison with a finite element model using two-node standard beam elements and the results available in published literature, which in these cases indicates a very good correlation.

An incomplete generalized variational functional for naturally curved and twisted composite box beams with complete constrained boundaries at two ends is established by means of Lagrange multiplier method. The equations of motion governing the dynamic behavior of the beams and corresponding boundary conditions are derived from the stationary condition of the functional. The non-classical influences relevant to the beams are those due to transverse shear deformations, torsion-related warping and several elastic couplings that can arise in composite beams. In order to demonstrate the correctness of the theory developed the natural frequencies and normal mode shapes of the beams under in-plane free vibration are evaluated and compared with the results using PATRAN’s beam elements.