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AgNbO3 (AN) and modified AgNbO3 have been extensively investigated as promising lead-free antiferroelectric (AFE) energy storage materials. Previous studies have focused mainly on the use of an ion dopant at the A/B site to obtain a stabilized AFE phase; however, simultaneous improvements in the recoverable energy storage density (Wrec) and efficiency (η) are still difficult to realize. Herein, we innovatively constructed a AgNbO3–NaNbO3–(Sr0.7Bi0.2)TiO3 (AN–NN–SBT) ternary solid solution to achieve a relaxor AFE in AgNbO3-based materials. The coexistence of antiferroelectric (M3) and paraelectric (O) phases in 0.8(0.7AgNbO3–0.3NaNbO3)–0.2(Sr0.7Bi0.2)TiO3 confirms the successful realization of a relaxor AFE, attributed to multiple ion occupation at the A/B sites. Consequently, a high Wrec of 7.53 J·cm−3 and η of 74.0% are acquired, together with superior stability against various temperatures, frequencies, and cycling numbers. Furthermore, a high power density (298.7 MW·cm−3) and fast discharge speed (41.4 ns) are also demonstrated for the AgNbO3-based relaxor AFE. This work presents a promising energy storage AgNbO3-based ternary solid solution and proposes a novel strategy for AgNbO3-based energy storage via the design of relaxor AFE materials.

Abstract Epitaxial growth of two-dimensional (2D) materials with uniform orientation has been previously realized by introducing a small binding energy difference between the two locally most stable orientations. However, this small energy difference can be easily disturbed by uncontrollable dynamics during the growth process, limiting its practical applications. Herein, we propose a quasi-equilibrium growth (QEG) strategy to synthesize inch-scale monolayer α-In2Se3 single crystals, a semiconductor with ferroelectric properties, on fluor-phlogopite substrates. The QEG facilitates the discrimination of small differences in binding energy between the two locally most stable orientations, realizing robust single-orientation epitaxy within a broad growth window. Thus, single-crystal α-In2Se3 film can be epitaxially grown on fluor-phlogopite, the cleavage surface atomic layer of which has the same 3-fold rotational symmetry with α-In2Se3. The resulting crystalline quality enables high electron mobility up to 117.2 cm2 V−1 s−1 in α-In2Se3 ferroelectric field-effect transistors, exhibiting reliable nonvolatile memory performance with long retention time and robust cycling endurance. In brief, the developed QEG method provides a route for preparing larger-area single-crystal 2D materials and a promising opportunity for applications of 2D ferroelectric devices and nanoelectronics.

The traditional evaporator of water source heat pump system is easy to freeze when the water source temperature is too low in winter. A novel ice source heat pump system is proposed, which can use low temperature surface water to supply heat to buildings. One of the key problems for safe transportation is velocity range of ice slurry in ice outlet pipeline. In order to study the critical flow velocity of ice slurry in the pipe, an Euler model of horizontal straight pipe and 90° elbow pipe were established by Fluent software. The influence of five factors on the critical flow velocity of two kinds of pipes, including initial ice packing fraction, ice particle size, pipe diameter, length of straight pipe and radius curvature of elbow was studied. It found that the initial ice content should be controlled from 10% to 15%. The inlet flow rate was 20% higher than the critical flow rate under the most unfavorable condition. Ice particle size was less than 0.2 mm. The total length of ice discharge pipeline was less than 50 m. Curvature radius of the bend should be met the minimum requirements of the specification of the pipe used.

Abstract Background and aim Combination therapy is the primary treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (u-HCC). The hepatic functional reserve is also critical in the treatment of HCC. In this study, u-HCC was treated with combined hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC), tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitors to analyze the therapeutic response, progression-free survival (PFS), and safety. Methods One hundred sixty-two (162) patients with u-HCC were treated by combination therapy of HAIC, TKIs, and PD-1 inhibitors. PFS was assessed by Child–Pugh (CP) classification subgroups and the change in the CP score during treatment. Results The median PFS was 11.7 and 5.1 months for patients with CP class A (CPA) and CP class B (CPB), respectively (p = 0.013), with respective objective response rates of 61.1 and 27.8% (p = 0.002) and conversion rates of 16 and 0% (p = 0.078). During treatment, the CP scores in patients with CPA worsened less in those with complete and partial response than in those with stable and progressive disease. In the CP score 5, patients with an unchanged CP score had longer PFS than those with a worsened score (Not reached vs. 7.9 months, p = 0.018). CPB was an independent factor negatively affecting treatment response and PFS. Patients with CPA responded better to the combination therapy and had fewer adverse events (AEs) than those with CPB. Conclusions Thus, triple therapy is more beneficial in patients with good liver function, and it is crucial to maintain liver function during treatment.

The external pressure is one of the essential parameters for regulating the structure and energy conversion properties of antiferroelectric AgNbO3. For pure AgNbO3, however, there has been still a blank of its real lattice structure under the stress field. Here, high-pressure lattice structures and phase transitions of AgNbO3 have been explored by spectroscopic experiments and theoretical models. A successive phase transition process from Pbcm to C2221 to P21 has been observed at the pressure range of 0–30 GPa, associated with displacive-type characterized by soft-mode kinetics. Note that the paraelectric phase cannot be achieved under high-pressure at room temperature. Significantly, the competition of long-range Coulomb force, short-range interatomic interaction, and covalent interaction in AgNbO3 lattice were demonstrated under the stress field. The present work can provide fundamental guidelines to reveal the high-pressure phase transitions of AgNbO3, which will open up possibilities for the designing device with functional properties at extremes.

The external pressure and doping effect have been studied on the lattice structure of multiferroic Bi5Ti3−2xFe1+xNbxO15 (BTFNx) ceramics. Based on the x-ray diffraction and the Raman spectroscopic evidence, it is confirmed that the doping-induced lattice deformation is closely related to the concentrations of the Nb5+ and Fe3+ ions. The Bi5Ti3FeO15 (BTF) ceramic transits from orthorhombic (O, A21am) - O and tetragonal (T) - T (I4/mmm) with pressure, showing the intermediate phase coexistence at a wide pressure range of 4.5–14.8 GPa, while for BTFN0.6 ceramics, it is O (Fmm2) - O and T - T(I4/mmm) having the phase coexistence at 6–18 GPa. The ionic substitution, phase diagram and the evolution of phonon, lattice symmetry, and stability of BTFNx ceramics have been systematically observed and studied under the internal and external factors. Our work provides a comprehensive understanding of the structural and physical functionality for the development and optimization of multiferroic four-layer compounds BTF material systems.

To evaluate China's sustainable development level, it is necessary to integrate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) into the indicators reflecting the development issues with Chinese characteristics after localization. Based on China's national conditions, the SDGS are specified in the Chinese context, and integrated into the indicators reflecting the development problems with Chinese characteristics to evaluate the degree of sustainable development in China. Results show that: first, the overall trend of China's sustainable development level is positive, but mainly increased by the system development degree and system coordination degree. The system sustainability degree decline sent a danger signal to the future of China's sustainable development. Second, the development pace of China's sustainable development in different regions is quite different, and overall, there is a step-type differentiation between the east regions, central regions, and west regions. Beijing and Shenzhen are with the highest degree of China's sustainable development. Third, the line of the characteristic national conditions index is “U” shaped. As for a series of accompanying problems in the construction of socialism with characteristics, China's attention to them and its ability to solve them have changed qualitatively around 2007. Based on this, the paper puts forward different suggestions for the sustainable development of different regions.

Abstract The most promising candidates for energy storage capacitor application are relaxor ferroelectrics, among which, the perovskite structure ferroelectric ceramics have witnessed great development progress. However, less attention has been paid on tetragonal tungsten bronze structure (TTBS) ceramics because of their lower breakdown strength and polarization. Herein, a multiscale regulation strategy is proposed to tune the energy storage performances (ESP) of TTBS ceramics from grain, domain, and macroscopic scale. The enhanced relaxor behavior with dynamic polar nanodomains guarantees low remanent polarization, while the refined grains and enlarged bandgap ensure increased breakdown strength. Hence, excellent ESP is realized in unfilled TTBS Sr0.425La0.1□0.05Ba0.425Nb1.4Ta0.6O6 (SLBNT) ceramics with an ultrahigh recoverable energy density of 5.895 J cm−3 and a high efficiency of 85.37%. This achievement notably surpasses previous studies in TTBS ceramics and is comparable to that of perovskite components. Meanwhile, the energy density exhibits a wide temperature, frequency, and cycling fatigue stability. In addition, high power density (257.89 MW cm−3), especially the ultrafast discharge time (t0.9 = 16.4 ns) are achieved. The multiscale regulation strategy unlocks the energy storage potential of TTBS ceramics and thus highlights TTBS ceramics as promising candidates for energy storage, like perovskite structured ceramics.

BackgroundUnresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (u-HCC) still accounts for the majority of newly diagnosed HCC which with poor prognosis. In the era of systemic therapy, combination therapy with programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitors and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has become mainstream. Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) as a local treatment has also shown a strong anti-tumor effect. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of HAIC, PD-1 inhibitors plus TKIs for u-HCC.MethodsThis retrospective study included patients with initially u-HCC between October 2020 to April 2022 who had received at least one cycle of therapy with HAIC, PD-1 inhibitors plus TKIs. The primary outcome included overall response rate (ORR), the disease control rate (DCR), surgical conversion rate, progression-free survival (PFS) and treatment-related adverse events.ResultsA total of 145 patients were included in the study. The median treatment cycle of HAIC and PD-1 inhibitors were 3 and 4, respectively. According to the modified RECIST criteria, the best ORR was 57.2% (83/145), 9 had achieved complete response (CR), DCR was 89.7% (130/145). Median time to achieve CR or PR was 65 days. Surgical conversion rate was 18.6% (27/145), seven patients (7/27,25.9%) achieved pathological complete response (pCR). The median follow-up was 12.5 months (4.5-20 months), and the median PFS was 9.7 months. Subgroup analysis showed that Child-pugh A patients had higher DCR (92.2% vs 79.3%, p=0.041) than Child-pugh B patients, as well as increased successful conversion rate (22.4% vs 3.4%, p=0.019). Patients without vascular invasion and extrahepatic metastases showed higher PR (63.4% vs 43.3%, p0.05). The incidence rate of grade 3/4 treatment-related AEs was 17.7% without fatal events.ConclusionThe triple combination therapy of HAIC and PD-1 inhibitors plus TKIs for patients with initially unresectable HCC exhibited satisfactory efficacy with tolerable toxicity.

Abstract Recently, researchers have focused on optoelectronics based on two-dimensional van der Waals materials to realize multifunctional memory and neuron applications. Layered indium selenide (InSe) semiconductors satisfy various requirements as photosensitive channel materials, and enable the realization of intriguing optoelectronic applications. Herein, we demonstrate InSe photonic devices with different trends of output currents rooted in the carrier capture/release events under various gate voltages. Furthermore, we reported an increasing/flattening/decreasing synaptic weight change index (∆W n ) via a modulated gate electric field, which we use to imitate medicine-acting metaplasticity with effective/stable/ineffective features analogous to the synaptic weight change in the nervous system of the human brain. Finally, we take advantage of the low-frequency noise (LFN) measurements and the energy-band explanation to verify the rationality of carrier capture-assisted optoelectronics applied to neural simulation at the device level. Utilizing optoelectronics to simulate essential biomedical neurobehaviors, we experimentally demonstrate the feasibility and meaningfulness of combining electronic engineering with biomedical neurology.

Abstract Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the tumor microenvironment contribute to poor prognosis in gastric cancer (GC). However, the underlying mechanism by which TAMs promote GC progression and metastasis remains elusive. Expression of POU1F1 was detected in 60 matched GC-normal tissue pairs using qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. The correlation between POU1F1 and the clinical-pathological factors of GC patients were further assessed. Cell proliferation was monitored by CCK-8, colony formation, and 5-Ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation assays. Cell migration and invasion were assessed by transwell assays. The impact on angiogenesis was evaluated by tube formation assay. Xenograft model was generated to investigate the role of POU1F1 on tumor growth and lung metastasis in vivo. GST pull-down and Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) were used to study the interaction between HMGA1B/2 and POU1F1. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and dual luciferase reporter assays were performed to investigate the transcriptional regulation of POU1F1. Flow cytometry was performed to detect the surface expression of macrophage markers. Upregulated POU1F1 observed both in GC tissues and cell lines was positively correlated with poor prognosis. Knockdown of POU1F1 inhibited cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis in vitro, and suppressed tumor growth in vivo. HMGA1B/2 transcriptionally activated-POU1F1. POU1F1 promoted GC progression via regulating macrophage proliferation, migration, polarization, and angiogenesis in a CXCL12/CXCR4-dependent manner. POU1F1 also promoted GC metastasis in lung by modulating macrophage polarization through CXCL12/CXCR4 axis in vivo. HMGA1B/2-upregulated POU1F1 promoted GC metastasis via regulating macrophage polarization in a CXCL12/CXCR4-dependent manner.

The desire to exploit clean and sustainable energy sources with high gravimetric energy density has greatly inspired the exploration of hydrogen energy as an affordable alternative to fossil energy. Electrocatalytic water splitting is an efficient method for the low‐cost production of pure H2, but the use of platinum (Pt)‐like active electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains necessary. In attempts to replace high‐value, scarce Pt catalysts, nickel‐based materials are being developed, as earth‐abundant HER electrocatalysts. Recently, a number of advanced nickel (Ni)‐based catalysts have been developed by rational synthesis strategies, including morphology control, structure tailoring, and interface engineering, significantly improving the HER performance. This review summarizes recent achievements in the application of Ni‐based HER electrocatalysts and demonstrates the advantages of each category in enhancing the HER performance. The current progress in the theory of water evolution and various modern techniques for characterizing catalysts are also reviewed, along with the rational design of Ni‐based nanostructure catalysts. Finally, the challenges in the practical applications of Ni‐based HER catalysts are highlighted.

A deep understanding of low-temperature transport properties of GeTe material remains a challenge. Here, the authors investigate phase-coherent phenomena in GeTe nanowire structures where the occurrence of magnetic flux-periodic oscillations come from the formation of a tubular hole accumulation layer.

The dynamic crystallization process of silicon (Si) doped Sb2Te3 (SST) films as a function of temperature (210–620 K) and Si concentration (0%–12%) has been investigated by temperature dependent Raman scattering. Based upon the evolution of original Raman spectra and surface morphologies with increasing temperature for the samples, it can be concluded that the temperature ranges for intermediate transition states are estimated to be 160, 120, and 80 K, corresponding to SST7%, SST9%, and SST12% films, respectively. This phenomenon can also be summarized by the thermal evolution of the proportion of the rhombohedral phase derived from Raman phonon modes. It illustrates that Si introduction can suppress the crystallization of amorphous films, increase the crystallization temperature, and accelerate the crystallization process of the intermediate transition state. The phase change behavior improvement by Si doping is of great significance for further study on the amorphous thermal stability and endurance of SST-based data storage devices from the optical perspective.

Abstract Ultrabroadband photodetection is of great significance in numerous cutting‐edge technologies including imaging, communications, and medicine. However, since photon detectors are selective in wavelength and thermal detectors are slow in response, developing high performance and ultrabroadband photodetectors is extremely difficult. Herein, one demonstrates an ultrabroadband photoelectric detector covering visible, infrared, terahertz, and millimeter wave simultaneously based on single metal–Te–metal structure. Through the two kinds of photoelectric effect synergy of photoexcited electron–hole pairs and electromagnetic induced well effect, the detector achieves the responsivities of 0.793 A W−1 at 635 nm, 9.38 A W−1 at 1550 nm, 9.83 A W−1 at 0.305 THz, 24.8 A W−1 at 0.250 THz, 87.8 A W−1 at 0.172 THz, and 986 A W−1 at 0.022 THz, respectively. It also exhibits excellent polarization detection with a dichroic ratio of 468. The excellent performance of the detector is further verified by high‐resolution imaging experiments. Finally, the high stability of the detector is tested by long‐term deposition in air and high‐temperature aging. The strategy provides a recipe to achieve ultrabroadband photodetection with high sensitivity and fast response utilizing full photoelectric effect.

Faciogenital Dysplasia 1 (FGD1) has been involved in a variety of biological processes, including cytoskeleton restructuring, cell morphology, cell cycle progression, and cell polarity. Abnormal expression of FGD1 was also identified in several types of cancers, indicating its critical role in the development of cancers. However, little is known about the role of FGD1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, the expression of FGD1 in HCC was mined with the RNA sequencing data from the cancer genome atlas. By over-expressing or knocking down of FGD1, the effects of FGD1 on the malignant behavior of HCC were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. We find that FGD1 is up-regulated in HCC and correlated with the development and prognosis of HCC. By over-expressing or knocking down of FGD1, the effects of FGD1 on the malignant behavior of HCC were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown of FGD1 remarkably inhibits the malignant behaviors and causes morphological disorder of pseudopodia, autophagy inhibition and mitochondrial dyfunction in HCC cells. Further investigation shows that Cdc42, a Rho GTPase, plays a role in these processes. Overexpression of FGD1 significantly promotes the oncogenic properties of HCC cells. Collectively, these findings reveal that FGD1 exhibits oncogenic properties in HCC through regulating cell morphology, autophagy and mitochondrial function, suggesting that FGD1 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for HCC.

Phase change materials combined with silicon photonics are emerging as a promising platform to realize miniature photonic devices. We study the basic optical properties of a subwavelength-dimension silicon ridge waveguide with a 20-nm-thick Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) top-clad layer. Numerical simulations show that the effective index of the Si-GST hybrid waveguide varies significantly when the GST changes from the amorphous to the crystalline states. This change can be utilized to make micron-size photonic devices. To experimentally verify the effectiveness of the Si-GST hybrid waveguide on light wave manipulation, we fabricated a series of unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers with one arm connected with a section of Si-GST hybrid waveguide in different lengths. The transmission spectra are measured and the complex effective indices are extracted for GST at crystalline, amorphous, and intermediate phases. The experimental results overall agree well with the simulation ones. The nonvolatile property of GST makes it attractive to reduce the static power consumption. This research represents a significant step toward the realization of ultracompact Si-GST hybrid devices that will play a key role in high-density photonic integrated circuits, opening the door to many potential applications, including optical switch, memory, and logic operation.

Abstract Copper ferrites are emerging transition metal oxides that have potential applications in energy storage devices. However, it still lacks in-depth designing of copper ferrites based anode architectures with enhanced electroactivity for lithium-ion batteries. Here, we report a facile synthesis technology of copper ferrites anchored on reduced graphene oxide (CuFeO2@rGO and Cu/CuFe2O4@rGO) as the high-performance electrodes. In the resulting configuration, reduced graphene offers continuous conductive channels for electron/ion transfer and high specific surface area to accommodate the volume expansion of copper ferrites. Consequently, the sheet-on-sheet CuFeO2@rGO electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity (587 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 200 mA g−1). In particular, Cu/CuFe2O4@rGO hybrid, which combines the advantages of nano-copper and reduced graphene, manifests a significant enhancement in lithium storage properties. It reveals superior rate capability (723 mAh g−1 at 800 mA g−1; 560 mAh g−1 at 3200 mA g−1) and robust cycling capability (1102 mAh g−1 after 250 cycles at 800 mA g−1). This unique structure design provides a strategy for the development of multivalent metal oxides in lithium storage device applications.

Abstract Active and widely controllable phase transition optical materials have got rapid applications in energy-efficient electronic devices, field of meta-devices and so on. Here, we report the optical properties of the vanadium dioxide (VO2)/aluminum-doped zinc oxide (Al:ZnO) hybrid n-n type heterojunctions and the corresponding electro-optic performances of the devices. Various structures are fabricated to compare the discrepancy of the optical and electrical characteristics. It was found that the reflectance spectra presents the wheel phenomenon rather than increases monotonically with temperature at near-infrared region range. The strong interference effects was found in the hybrid multilayer heterojunction. In addition, the phase transition temperature decreases with increasing the number of the Al:ZnO layer, which can be ascribed to the electron injection to the VO2 film from the Al:ZnO interface. Affected by the double layer Al:ZnO, the abnormal Raman vibration mode was presented in the insulator region. By adding the external voltage on the Al2O3/Al:ZnO/VO2/Al:ZnO, Al2O3/Al:ZnO/VO2 and Al2O3/VO2/Al:ZnO thin-film devices, the infrared optical spectra of the devices can be real-time manipulated by an external voltage. The main effect of joule heating and assistant effect of electric field are illustrated in this work. It is believed that the results will add a more thorough understanding in the application of the VO2/transparent conductive film device.

Abstract Two-dimensional layered K4Nb6O17 (KN) was easily formed as a secondary phase caused by the volatilization of alkali metal ions, when preparing ferroelectric K x Na1−x NbO3 based ceramics and films. In this work, it was believed that KN film is with weak ferroelectricity and has a little effect on the ferroelectric properties of K x Na1−x NbO3 based films. Moreover, temperature dependent (77–500 K) dielectric functions of KN film have been firstly extracted by fitting ellipsometric spectra with the Adachi dielectric function model and a four-phase layered model. The high-frequency dielectric constant linearly increases and optical band gap slightly decreases with increasing the temperature. We also research its photoelectrochemical properties and its application in high-efficient light-induced H2 evolution. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman scattering, temperature dependent transmittance and infrared reflectance spectra, and first-principles calculation were conjointly performed to further reveal the intrinsic optoelectronic features and relevant mechanisms of KN.

We introduce a Monte Carlo model based on random deposition and diffusion limited aggregation in order to study the morphological evolution of deposition of nanofilm, which is difficult to carry out by the experimental methods. The instantaneous evolution of morphology and the corresponding parameters are observed when employing a novel perspective, modeling the aggregation of nanoscale units. Despite simplifying the chemical details, the simulation results qualitatively describe experiments with bulky precursors, and the strong dependence of growth rate on steric hindrance is obtained. Moreover, the well know behavior that the delay before steady growth is accurately predicted and analyzed based solely on modeling. Through this work, the great influence of steric hindrance on the initial stage of ALD is described.