bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ion transport mechanism in anhydrous lithium thiocyanate LiSCN part III: charge carrier interactions in the premelting regime
Authors: Joos Markus , Conrad Maurice , Bette Sebastian , Merkle Rotraut , Dinnebier Robert E. , Schleid Thomas , Maier Joachim
Published: July 2022

The interaction of the intrinsic Schottky defects and is investigated in the premelting regime of anhydrous Li(SCN). The cube-root approach is employed, and the volume expansion of the Li(SCN) lattice is incorporated into the model.
A low cost bimetallic AuCu3tetramer on Ti2CO2MXene as an efficient catalyst for CO oxidation: a theoretical prediction
Authors: Mohan T. Aswathi , Ghosh Prasenjit
Published: July 2022

Au/oxides are extensively studied as CO oxidation catalyst but often limited by cost and stability. Hence we propose a novel catalyst, AuCu3supported on Ti2CO2MXene, with superior activity, stability, and/or cost in comparison with its analogs.
Coprecipitation of actinide peroxide salts in the U–Th and U–Pu systems and their thermal decomposition
Authors: Hibert Nicolas , Arab-Chapelet Bénédicte , Rivenet Murielle , Venault Laurent , Tamain Christelle , Tougait Olivier
Published: July 2022

Efficient coprecipation conditions using peroxide ligand were determined for the two U–Th and U–Pu mixed systems. The resulting solids are composed of studtite and actinide(iv) peroxonitrates which readily decompose to oxide phases at low temperature.
Local manufacturing of perovskite solar cells, a game-changer for low- and lower-middle income countries?
Authors: Roose Bart , Tennyson Elizabeth M. , Meheretu Getnet , Kassaw Amare , Tilahun Seifu A. , Allen Lara , Stranks Samuel D.
Published: July 2022

Local manufacturing of perovskite solar cells is feasible in many low- and lower-middle income countries and would boost the economy by providing jobs, adding value to local resources and providing a reliable clean energy source.
Myoglobin diet affected the colonic mucus layer and barrier by increasing the abundance of several beneficial gut bacteria
Authors: Jiang Shuai , Xue Dejiang , Zhang Miao , Li Qian , Liu Hui , Zhao Di , Zhou Guanghong , Li Chunbao
Published: July 2022

The study aimed to explore the in vitro digestion of a myoglobin diet and its relationship with the gut microbiota and intestinal barrier at two feeding time points.
Development of a Ni-promoted, selective electrochemical reductive cleavage of the C–O bond in lignin model compound benzyl phenyl ether
Authors: Lin Fang , TSE Ho-Yin , Erythropel Hanno C. , Petrović Predrag V. , Garedew Mahlet , Chen Jinshan , Lam Jason Chun-Ho , Anastas Paul T.
Published: July 2022

Ni-promoted, highly selective electrochemical protocol to reductively cleave the benzylic C–O bond of the α-O-4 lignin model compound benzyl phenyl ether (BPE) at room temperature and ambient pressure.
Solution-processed linear methyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate films with excellent dielectric and energy storage characters
Authors: Xie Junhao , Liu Hongxu , Hu Jing , Zhao Xuanchen , Song Shixin , Sun Shulin , Zhang Mingyao
Published: July 2022

A novel copolymer (MG) which is methacrylate (MMA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) is synthesized and the dielectric films are applied to dielectric and energy storage aspects.
A multi-omics study of the anti-cancer effect of a ferulic acid derivative FA-30
Authors: Wang Dongyao , Guo Dandan , Tang Yuxiao , Qi Minyu , Fang Jiahao , Zhang Ying , Chai Yifeng , Cao Yan , Lv Diya
Published: July 2022

The active ingredients of Traditional Chinese Medicine are an important source of bioactive molecules and play an important role in the research and development of innovative drugs.
Oxidation of quantum dots encapsulated in block copolymer micelles as a function of polymer terminal charge
Authors: Lee Kil Ho , Noesges Brenton A. , McPherson Chris , Khan Faiz , Brillson Leonard J. , Winter Jessica O.
Published: July 2022

Polymer coatings used to transfer organic quantum dots to water can affect their photostability. Charged polymers can increase surface oxidation during phase transfer, reducing fluorescence.
A planar plasmonic nano-gap and its array for enhancing light-matter interactions at the nanoscale
Authors: Zhang Li , Wang Ximiao , Chen Huanjun , Liu Chuan , Deng Shaozhi
Published: July 2022

Planar nano-gaps supporting dipolar and high-order-mode plasmon resonances in the visible to near-infrared spectral region were fabricated, which can give rise to enhanced second harmonic generation and Raman scattering signals.
Tailoring of the photocatalytic activity of CeO2 nanoparticles by the presence of plasmonic Ag nanoparticles
Authors: Zhao Shuang , Riedel Marc , Patarroyo Javier , Bastús Neus G. , Puntes Victor , Yue Zhao , Lisdat Fred , Parak Wolfgang J.
Published: July 2022

The photoelectrochemical response of Ag/CeO2 hybrid nanoparticles is compared to plain CeO2 nanoparticles.
Synergistic effect of Cu and Fe small nanoparticles supported on porous N-doped graphitic framework for selective electrochemical CO2 reduction at low overpotential
Authors: Du Xiangze , Peng Lu , Hu Jiajun , Peng Yong , Primo Ana , Li Dan , Albero Josep , Hu Changwei , García Hermenegildo
Published: July 2022

Electrochemical CO2 reduction is an appealing approach to diminish CO2 emissions, while obtaining valuable chemicals and fuels from renewable electricity.
Alkyl group-decorated g-C3N4 for enhanced gas-phase CO2 photoreduction
Authors: Yang Chao , Hou Yanting , Luo Guoqiang , Yu Jiaguo , Cao Shaowen
Published: July 2022

Alkyl groups are grafted onto the surface of g-C3N4 for optimizing the adsorption of reactants and improving the photoelectronic properties, and thus greatly enhance the photocatalytic CO2 reduction activity.
In vivo photoacoustic image-guided tumor photothermal therapy and real-time temperature monitoring using a core–shell polypyrrole@CuS nanohybrid
Authors: Cao Yang , Chen Ziqun , Ran Haitao
Published: July 2022

The fabricated PPy@CuS nanohybrid exhibited strong optical absorption and photon-to-heat conversion in the NIR region. It could potentially be used for PA image-guided PTT and real-time temperature monitoring in cancer theranostics.
Giant in-plane optical and electronic anisotropy of tellurene: a quantitative exploration
Authors: Guo Zhengfeng , Gu Honggang , Fang Mingsheng , Ye Lei , Liu Shiyuan
Published: July 2022

Tellurene’s giant in-plane optical anisotropy is quantitatively explored by complex refractive indices and dielectric functions, whose low-symmetry lattice structure gives rise to the electronic anisotropy and ultimately the optical anisotropy.
Metallopolymers in minutes via organocatalysis at room temperature
Authors: Oberle Kjersti G. , Whitman Elizabeth L. , Jolly Charles S. , Webster Katherine A. , Marx Benjamin S. , Howard Christopher M. , Hanger Clara A. , Ramey Erin E. , Zou Yutong , Lowe Jared C. , Turlington Mark , Turlington Christopher R.
Published: July 2022

Organocatalytic ring-opening polymerization of cyclic carbonate monomers derivatized with metallocenes is described for the rapid synthesis of high Mn metallopolymers.
Synthesis and visualization of bottlebrush-shaped segmented hyperbranched polymers
Authors: Zhang Mengjie , Wu Jiasheng , Li Zheqi , Hou Wangmeng , Li Yuanchao , Shi Yi , Chen Yongming
Published: July 2022

Visualization of single molecular morphology provides intuitive evidence to understand the relationship between the molecular structure and the synthetic method.
Flavanthrene derivatives as photostable and efficient singlet exciton fission materials
Authors: Fei Xian , Zhang San , Zhai Dong , Wang Zhiwei , Lin Jin-Liang , Xiao Qi , Sun Chun-Lin , Deng Weiqiao , Zhang Chunfeng , Hu Wenping , Zhang Hao-Li
Published: July 2022

Flavanthrene derivatives can be designed into highly efficient and photostable singlet fission materials, owning to the N-doped two-dimensional angular fused acene framework, which is promising for photo energy conversion applications.
The curious case of a sterically crowded Stenhouse salt
Authors: Théry Valentin , Molton Florian , Sirach Selim , Tillet Neven , Pécaut Jacques , Tomás-Mendivil Eder , Martin David
Published: July 2022

Bulky substituents of a Stenhouse salt prevent the usual formation of a cyclopentenone upon deprotonation. For the first time, a transient open-chain neutral derivative was observed; the cyclized form and an air-persistent radical were isolated.
Wide bandgaps and strong SHG responses of hetero-oxyfluorides by dual-fluorination-directed bandgap engineering
Authors: Hu Yilei , Jiang Xingxing , Wu Tianhui , Xue Yanyan , Wu Chao , Huang Zhipeng , Lin Zheshuai , Xu Jun , Humphrey Mark G. , Zhang Chi
Published: July 2022

Wide bandgaps, strong SHG responses, and sufficient birefringence are observed in the first examples of 5d0-transition metal fluoroiodates, A2WO2F3(IO2F2) (A = Rb, and Cs), which were constructed by dual-fluorination-directed bandgap engineering.
Highly selective and ultrafast uptake of uranium from seawater by layered double hydroxide co-intercalated with acetamidoxime and carboxylic anions
Authors: Wang Qian , Wang Hui , Yang Lixiao , Yao Huiqin , Wu Zhenglong , Yu Tao , Shi Keren , Ma Shulan
Published: July 2022

The LDH material co-intercalated by acetamidoxime and carboxylic anions exhibits highly selective and ultrafast extraction of uranium from seawater.
Positive electrode–Li metal crosstalk behavior-induced morphology change of Li deposits
Authors: Kim Hyun-seung , Jeong Goojin , Leem Han Jun , Lee Min A , Lee Je-Nam , Woo Sang-Gil , Yu Jisang
Published: July 2022

The critical mechanism underlying the degradation of the Li metal electrode and the positive electrode caused by operating voltage-dependent LiFSI-DME electrolyte decomposition is revealed.
Integer programming‐based non‐uniform window decoding schedules for spatially coupled low‐density parity‐check codes
Authors: Khittiwitchayakul Sirawit , Phakphisut Watid , Supnithi Pornchai
Published: July 2022

Spatially coupled low‐density parity‐check (SC‐LDPC) codes generally use a window decoding scheme, which is known to yield a near‐optimal decoding, compared to full block decoding. Recently, a non‐uniform schedule has been proposed to eliminate unnecessary updates of variable nodes within a window: this schedule is generated based on the behaviour of variable node updates analysed by density evolution. Here, the authors present a new non‐uniform schedule based on integer programming, whereby the objective functions and constraints are derived from a protograph‐based extrinsic information transfer chart. Our design is more flexible than the previous design, because the integer programming‐based design allows reduction of update numbers and performance losses through the constraints function, whereas the previous design requires observation of variable node update behaviour. The authors report the performance of their designs of non‐uniform schedules in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and inter‐symbol interference (ISI) channels. Particularly, in the ISI channel, the authors’ non‐uniform schedules are designed with cooperative decoding between a Bahl‐Cocke‐Jelinek‐Raviv (BCJR) detector and an SC‐LDPC decoder.
Automatic esophagus Z‐line delineation in endoscopic images using a new boundary linking method
Authors: Aghanouri Mehrnaz , Dadashi Serej Nasim , Rabbani Hossein , Adibi Peyman
Published: July 2022

Due to the American cancer society, many people with esophageal adenocarcinoma are not survived. The treatment rate can be significant in the early detection of Barrett's esophagus (BE) as a premalignant stage for adenocarcinoma. An important landmark to detect BE is the Z‐line. BE segmentation is already highly dependent upon the operator's knowledge and skill. The main aim of this study is automatic Z‐line extraction using endoscopic images leading to segmentation of the early BE stage. To this end, a computer‐aided detection method exploiting k‐means clustering, image segmentation using the edge detector, and a novel boundary linking algorithm is proposed. For the evaluation, the gold standard is considered the average contours of Z‐lines extracted by the three experts. The proposed method annotated the Z‐line with the accuracy and precision of 0.92 and 0.87, respectively, and the value of the average boundary distance is 5.9 pixels. To the results and visual inspection, the presented method can be used for efficient and robust extraction of the Z‐line at the early BE stage. Furthermore, it can be used in other medical imaging applications with complex boundaries and low contrast in the images, limiting the common automatic boundary detection methods.
Impacts of advanced driver assistance systems on commercial truck driver behaviour performance using naturalistic data
Authors: Wu Chuna , Cao Jing , Du Yuchuan
Published: July 2022

Traffic crashes tend to be more serious when commercial trucks are involved. And an increasing number of commercial vehicles are equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for traffic safety improvement. To this end, this study investigated the impacts of ADAS with respect to forward collision warning (FCW), urban forward collision warning (UFCW), lane departure warning (LDW), headway monitoring and warning (HMW), and speed limit indicator (SLI) on commercial truck drivers' behaviours using naturalistic data. Participants experienced two different test scenarios with two different ADAS warning configurations: Visual and audio alerts in the inactive state and in the active state. After activating alerts, 62%, 35%, 69%, 81% and 73% of drivers received less warnings in terms of FCW, UFCW, LDW, HMW and SLI respectively; the average of FCW, UFCW, LDW, HMW and SLI respectively declined 22%, 13%, 28%, 45% and 15%, but median changed little except for LDW and HMW. Then, the further analysis results by the one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) method revealed that all warnings except UFCW had positive effect on commercial truck drivers' behaviour performance. The findings provide important references for commercial truck driver training and supervision in the age of advanced technology.
Short‐term traffic flow prediction approach incorporating vehicle functions from RFID‐ELP data for urban road sections
Authors: Huang Shuai , Sun Dihua , Zhao Min , Chen Jin , Chen Rui
Published: July 2022

Short‐term traffic flow prediction is particularly important for urban traffic control and congestion management. To improve the accuracy of traffic flow prediction, a new traffic flow prediction approach is proposed from the perspective of vehicle functions by using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) electronic license plate (ELP) data. First, the improved Wavelet Neural Network (WNN) is introduced by adding three momentum terms to avoid local minimum and overfitting. The Long Short‐Term Memory Neural Network (LSTM) is constructed to train the time series with long time lags. Second, a novel short‐term traffic flow prediction method is developed by combining the improved WNN and LSTM in an urban road section. The proposed method performs a weighted combination to obtain a new prediction value according to whether the difference between the prediction values of the two methods satisfy the defined threshold, and then selects the one with the smallest error among the three prediction values as the final prediction result. Third, the experiments explore the prediction performance of the weekdays and weekends with 5 min‐interval, 15 min‐interval and 30 min‐interval via using RFID‐ELP data from Chongqing, China. Compared with existing prediction methods, the proposed approach can promote prediction performance and meet real‐time requirements.
Electromagnetic characterisation of conductive 3D‐Printable filaments for designing fully 3D‐Printed antennas
Authors: Colella Riccardo , Chietera Francesco Paolo , Michel Andrea , Muntoni Giacomo , Casula GiovanniAndrea , Montisci Giorgio , Catarinucci Luca
Published: July 2022

Additive manufacturing (AM) 3D‐printing technology is increasingly bringing benefits even in electromagnetics, with interesting prospects of application. Apart from the use of additive manufacturing for realising dielectric components of suitably shaped antennas, the ambitious target is, undoubtedly, the fully 3D realisation of radiofrequency and microwave circuits as well as radiating structures, including, therefore, conductive parts. In this regard, 3D‐printable filaments with interesting conductive properties are being produced. However, their rigorous conductivity characterisation is still missing, making it difficult to estimate the real behaviour of the final 3D printed electromagnetic device. To fill this gap, the conductivity of one of the most interesting conductive filaments, named Electrifi, is first experimentally evaluated in a frequency range as large as 0.72–6 GHz, accounting also for its roughness. Then it has been validated by designing, realising, and testing three fully 3D‐printed antennas. Specifically, two bow‐tie antennas, operating at 2.8 and 4 GHz, respectively, and an ultrawideband antenna, borrowed from the existing literature, operating between 1 and 7 GHz. The good agreement between simulated and measured results demonstrates the reliability of the performed electrical conductivity characterisation, even in the design of efficient radiating structures entirely realised with thermoplastic materials with copper nanoparticle additives.
Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using Poa bulbosa extract and their antibacterial activity
Authors: Allafchian Alireza , Jalali Seyed Amir Hossein , Mirahmadi Zare Seyede Zohreh , Amiri Razieh
Published: July 2022

Plant tissues are regarded as rich sources of phytochemicals that can be used in the fabrication of nanometals. In this work, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are fabricated using an aqueous Poa bulbosa extract as an efficient reducing agent. The plasmon resonance peaks of the AgNPs recorded by UV–visible spectra during 25 min of the extract exposure to silver ions indicate a blue shift with the chemical reduction process. The FT‐IR spectrum of the Poa bulbosa extract shows the presence of chemical bonds of biomolecules that are involved in the reduction of Ag+ ions to AgNPs. The crystallite and particle sizes of AgNPs are estimated as 45.04 ± 13.6, 56.98 ± 13.08 and 43.14 ± 16.06 nm by XRD, SEM and TEM, respectively. DLS measurements showed a mean particle size of 119.26 ± 26.2 nm and zeta potential of −69.53 mV for the AgNPs indicating a proper colloidal stability. The most pronounced inhibition zone of antibacterial activity is found to be against Salmonella typhimurium, which is mainly attributed to the cell wall structure of the Gram‐negative strains. This is also demonstrated in the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1.6 μg/mL in case of S. typhimurium.
Investigation of low‐cost dual port co‐rotating dual rotor field excited flux switching generator for low‐power rooftop wind turbine integrated with multi‐port DC micro grid
Authors: Ullah Wasiq , Khan Faisal , Hussain Shahid , Alturise Fahad
Published: July 2022

In this paper, a novel low‐cost dual port dual rotor‐field excited flux switching generator (DPDR‐FEFSG) is proposed for low power rooftop wind turbine integrated with DC‐micro‐grids. The proposed DPDR‐FEFSG incorporated inner/outer machine to design a dual rotor structure with dual output port. Due to the existence of field excitation in DPDR‐FEFSG, overall machine cost is reduced and offered excellent flux regulation capabilities. Furthermore, single tooth non‐overlapped armature winding and toroidally wounded field winding significantly shorten end winding that reduces copper losses. Additionally, compared with the existing single‐bus DC‐micro grids system, the proposed DPDR‐FEFSG exhibits two‐port output which makes it feasible for low‐voltage (12–24 V) and high‐voltage (48 V) applications connected to the DC micro‐grids without the requirements of extra power electronics circuitry. The proposed DPDR‐FEFSG is investigated under variable field excitation and variable rotor speed. In order to achieve the desired voltage level at low and high port without frequency variation, AC–DC rectification is employed. Analysis reveals that proposed DPDR‐FEFSG offers dual output port from inner and outer machines. This dual port makes it feasible for wind turbine integrated to multi‐port DC micro‐grids. Due to availability of different voltages at various ports, different load classes are incorporated without the requirements of extra power electronics circuitry and thus reduce overall cost. Finally, a prototype is built and tested to confirm the validity of the proposed concept and finite element analysis (FEA) results.
Eclipse of the V773 Tau B circumbinary disc
Authors: Kenworthy M. A. , González Picos D. , Elizondo E. , Martin R. G. , van Dam D. M. , Rodriguez J. E. , Kennedy G. M. , Ginski C. , Mugrauer M. , Vogt N. , Adam C. , Oelkers R. J.
Published: July 2022

Context. Young multiple stellar systems can host both circumstellar and circumbinary discs composed of gas and dust, and the orientations of circumbinary discs can be sculpted by the orientation and eccentricity of the central binaries. Studying multiple binary systems and their associated discs enables our understanding of the size and distribution of the planetary systems that subsequently form around them.

Aims. A deep (~70%) and extended (~150 days) eclipse was seen towards the young multiple stellar system V773 Tau in 2010. We interpret it as being due to the passage of a circumbinary disc around the B components moving in front of the A components. Our aim is to characterise the orientation and structure of the disc, to refine the orbits of the sub-components, and to predict when the next eclipse will occur.

Methods. We combined the photometry from several ground-based surveys, constructed a model for the light curve of the eclipse, and used high angular resolution imaging to refine the orbits of the three spatially resolved components of the system: A, B, and C. A frequency analysis of the light curves, including from the TESS satellite, enabled the characterisation of the rotational periods of the Aa and Ab stars.

Results. A toy model of the circumbinary disc shows that it extends out to approximately 5 au around the B binary and has an inclination of 73° with respect to the orbital plane of AB, where the lower bound of the radius of the disc is constrained by the geometry of the AB orbit and the upper bound is set by the stability of the disc. We identify several frequencies in the photometric data that we attribute to rotational modulation of the Aa and Ab stellar companions. We produced the first determination of the orbit of the more distant C component around the AB system and limited its inclination to 93°.

Conclusions. The high inclination and large diameter of the disc, together with the expected inclination of the disc from theory, suggest that B is an almost equal-mass, moderately eccentric binary. We identify the rotational periods of the Aa and Ab stars and a third frequency in the light curve that we attribute to the orbital period of the stars in the B binary. We predict that the next eclipse will occur around 2037, during which both detailed photometric and spectroscopic monitoring will characterise the disc in greater detail.
Study of injection-locked stabilized, short cavity Brillouin ring laser source design for fiber sensing applications
Authors: Rossi Leonardo , Bastianini Filippo , Bolognini Gabriele
Published: July 2022

A new pump-seeded, short-cavity Brillouin ring laser source layout intended for Brillouin sensing applications is showcased, showing increased high maximum output (1.5 mW), a strong linewidth narrowing effect (producing light with a linewidth of 10 kHz) and limited relative intensity noise (RIN ~ −145 dB/Hz), providing an ultranarrow, highly stable BRL source that can also be employed as a pump-probe source for Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) applications.
Geomagnetic field shielding over the last one hundred thousand years
Authors: Gao Jiawei , Korte Monika , Panovska Sanja , Rong Zhaojin , Wei Yong
Published: July 2022

The geomagnetic field prevents energetic particles, such as galactic cosmic rays, from directly interacting with the Earth’s atmosphere. The geomagnetic field is not static but constantly changing, and over the last 100,000 years, several geomagnetic excursions occurred. During geomagnetic field excursions, the field strength is significantly decreased and the field morphology is strongly influenced by non-dipole components, and more cosmic ray particles can access the Earth’s atmosphere. Paleomagnetic field models provide a global view of the long-term geomagnetic field evolution, however, with individual spatial and temporal resolution and uncertainties. Here, we reconstruct the geomagnetic shielding effect over the last 100,000 years by calculating the geomagnetic cutoff rigidity using four global paleomagnetic field models, i.e., the GGF100k, GGFSS70, LSMOD.2, and CALS10k.2 model. We compare results for overlapping periods and find that the model selection is crucial to constrain the cutoff rigidity variation. However, all models indicate that the non-dipole components of the geomagnetic field are not negligible for estimating the long-term geomagnetic shielding effect. We provide a combined record of global cutoff rigidities using the best available model for individual time intervals. Our results provide the possibility to estimate the cosmogenic isotope production rate and cosmic radiation dose rate covering the last 100,000 years according to the best current knowledge about geomagnetic field evolution, and will be useful in further long-term solar activity and climate change reconstruction.
Tools shaping drug discovery and development
Authors: Cheung Eugene , Xia Yan , Caporini Marc A. , Gilmore Jamie L.
Published: July 2022

Spectroscopic, scattering, and imaging methods play an important role in advancing the study of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical therapies. The tools more familiar to scientists within industry and beyond, such as nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence spectroscopy, serve two functions: as simple high-throughput techniques for identification and purity analysis, and as potential tools for measuring dynamics and structures of complex biological systems, from proteins and nucleic acids to membranes and nanoparticle delivery systems. With the expansion of commercial small-angle x-ray scattering instruments into the laboratory setting and the accessibility of industrial researchers to small-angle neutron scattering facilities, scattering methods are now used more frequently in the industrial research setting, and probe-less time-resolved small-angle scattering experiments are now able to be conducted to truly probe the mechanism of reactions and the location of individual components in complex model or biological systems. The availability of atomic force microscopes in the past several decades enables measurements that are, in some ways, complementary to the spectroscopic techniques, and wholly orthogonal in others, such as those related to nanomechanics. As therapies have advanced from small molecules to protein biologics and now messenger RNA vaccines, the depth of biophysical knowledge must continue to serve in drug discovery and development to ensure quality of the drug, and the characterization toolbox must be opened up to adapt traditional spectroscopic methods and adopt new techniques for unraveling the complexities of the new modalities. The overview of the biophysical methods in this review is meant to showcase the uses of multiple techniques for different modalities and present recent applications for tackling particularly challenging situations in drug development that can be solved with the aid of fluorescence spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and small-angle scattering.
Influence of spatial resolution in mesoscale modeling to reproduce wind power production in southern Mexico
Authors: Hernández-Yepes J. G. , Rodríguez-Hernández O. , Martínez-Alvarado O. , Magaldi-Hermosillo A. V. , Drew D.
Published: July 2022

Understanding near-surface wind variability is crucial to support wind power penetration on national electrical grids. High-resolution numerical simulations are often proposed as the best solution to study the fluctuation of wind resources. We compare Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) and Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) bias-corrected wind speeds at hub height at different spatial resolutions and transform them to wind power production using a logistic power curve fitted to wind power measurements; the comparisons are based on error statistics and time series spectral analysis. The results show that numerical models reproduce observed wind speeds with correlations higher than 0.9 for WRF and 0.8 for MERRA-2. Moreover, annual observed wind power is reproduced with a maximum difference from observations of 0.011. However, each resolution reproduces the magnitudes of high-resolution periodicities differently so that there is a clear relationship between grid size and signal variance at high frequencies, as variance is indirectly proportional to frequency. This relationship is expected for wind speed, but based on results, it can be associated also for capacity factor sampled at hourly intervals. Therefore, the main benefit of high spatial resolution lies in the added variance in frequencies at sub-daily time scales. The study of the added value of high-resolution simulations in this region contributes to current efforts to develop reliable forecasting tools and strategies to support the development of wind power as a reliable energy source.
Artificial skyrmion in magnetic multilayers
Authors: Ma Mangyuan , Pan Zizhao , Ma Fusheng
Published: July 2022

A magnetic skyrmion is a promising candidate for information carrier in future logic functional devices, ultra-density storage devices, and neuromorphic computing. The presence of interfacial Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction in magnetron sputtered multilayers results in the spontaneous nucleation of magnetic skyrmion. However, the precise control of position and arrangement of magnetic skyrmion spontaneously nucleated in multilayers is still a significant challenge. Artificial skyrmion, generated by various external stimuli, shows high promise for manipulating the spatially ordered arrangement on demand. In this review, we summarize the progress of artificial skyrmion with various formation mechanisms. After introducing the concept of artificial skyrmion, we will focus on several methods of producing artificial skyrmion in magnetic multilayers using spin texture imprinting, integrated bias magnet, local magnetic field gradient, optical irradiation, and nanolithography. In the end, we give a perspective of the potential applications of artificial skyrmions for cavity magnonics and quantum spintronics.
A mixed simulation methodology for long-term wind power with 4D fluctuation features clustering method and asymmetric fluctuations
Authors: Ding Yanru , Peng Huichun , Xiao Feng
Published: July 2022

Long-term wind power time series (WPTS) simulation plays an important role in long-term grid planning. The study focuses on building a mixed simulation methodology for the long-term WPTS based on asymmetric fluctuations. First, we combine fixed threshold wavelet denoising with wavelet transform to get less noise and more detailed information. Second, a 4D fluctuation features clustering method (FFCM) is proposed to optimize the clustering results. In addition, based on multiple asymmetric function fitting models (AFFMs), an improved Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method is proposed to prevent wind power ramp events. Numerical experimental results show that the average simulation error of simulated WPTS based on AFFMs is 3.02% lower than that of the symmetric function fitting model (SFFM). Therefore, the mixed simulation methodology can decrease the simulation error and improve the model accuracy in simulating long-term WPTS and provides a mathematical model for policy guidance on efficient use of wind resources.
Ultrasound shear-wave computed tomography for elasticity imaging
Authors: Jeng Geng-Shi , Yeh Chia-Lun , Lee Chia-Lin , Yang Yung-Shao , Tseng Ling-Yi , Li Pai-Chi
Published: July 2022

Shear-wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) has been routinely used for measuring the elastic properties of tissues. It is potentially applicable to three-dimensional (3D) cell culture systems and may outperform existing methods such as atomic force microscopy and shear rheology in terms of being contactless and having higher spatial resolution and penetration. However, applying clinical SWEI to 3D cell culture systems requires the developments of high-frequency SWEI systems operating at >20 MHz that are compatible with the scale of cell culture systems, and C-scan 3D SWEI well suited to such observations. In this study, we implemented a computed tomography (CT) technique for SWEI (called SWCT) by leveraging the scanning scheme used in first-generation x-ray CT systems, that is, translation and rotation of a 20-MHz push probe and a 40-MHz imaging probe to obtain time-of-flight projections for multiple viewing directions. Compared with conventional B-scan SWEI, the proposed reconstruction method allows high-resolution, robust, 3D C-scan imaging of the shear-wave speed distribution. Three phantoms with different inclusions (half circle, thin strip, and cylinder) were imaged using 3D SWCT to a depth of 13 mm. The estimated shear-wave speed for the strip phantom using SWCT was 1.23 ± 0.20 m/s (mean ± standard deviation) in the background and 2.27 ± 0.11 m/s for the inclusion, which suggests the feasibility of SWCT for improving elasticity measurements of cell culture systems.
An experimental modal testing method for subcritical flow around a cylinder
Authors: Lyu Zhen , Kou Jiaqing , Zhang Weiwei
Published: July 2022

Modal analysis of fluid flows is essential for understanding flow physics and fluid–solid interaction mechanisms and for implementing flow control. Unlike unstable flows, the intrinsic stability of subcritical flows has led to failures in experimentally extracting the clear structure of the subcritical flow modes. To this end, this paper proposes an experimental modal testing method for subcritical flows. Using dynamic mode decomposition, dominant modes of flow around a cylinder at subcritical Reynolds numbers are extracted experimentally for the first time. The extracted structure and parameters of the modes are in agreement with the numerical results in the literature. It is found that the first-order mode is the stable von Kármán mode and can be observed at a Reynolds number as low as 19.3, which is nearly identical to the lower boundary of subcritical vortex-induced vibration. This finding provides the first experimental evidence of the correlation between the von Kármán mode and fluid–solid interaction instability in subcritical flows.
Phonon properties of biphenylene monolayer by first-principles calculations
Authors: Wang Ke , Ren Kai , Zhang Dingbo , Cheng Yuan , Zhang Gang
Published: July 2022

Recently, the synthesis of biphenylene inspires the substantial attention on the two-dimensional allotrope of carbon. Although elastic, thermal, and electronic properties of biphenylene have been reported, phonon modes and the origin of anisotropy in biphenylene are still unclear. In this work, combining the first-principles calculations and theoretical analysis, we investigate the properties of optical and acoustic phonons in monolayer biphenylene. There are nine Raman-active and five infrared-active modes which can be excited by the Raman or infrared laser. Interestingly, a Raman-active single phonon mode (Ag3) is observed, and its frequency is up to 49.67 THz at the Brillouin zone-center point. This provides promising potential for biphenylene monolayer in the application of phonon lasers, quantum nonlinear elements, and quantum mechanical resonators. Meantime, the Grüneisen constant of an Ag3 mode is up to 2.07 at the zone-center point, suggesting that its Raman spectroscopy can be used to identify the lattice strain and temperature of biphenylene. To explore the origin of anisotropy in biphenylene, we calculate the covalency and cophonicity and find that the inconsistent speed of motion and different intensities of hybridization between these inequivalent carbon atoms should take responsibility for the direction dependent thermal and elastic properties in biphenylene.
DMC-ICE13: Ambient and high pressure polymorphs of ice from diffusion Monte Carlo and density functional theory
Authors: Della Pia Flaviano , Zen Andrea , Alfè Dario , Michaelides Angelos
Published: July 2022

Ice is one of the most important and interesting molecular crystals, exhibiting a rich and evolving phase diagram. Recent discoveries mean that there are now 20 distinct polymorphs; a structural diversity that arises from a delicate interplay of hydrogen bonding and van der Waals dispersion forces. This wealth of structures provides a stern test of electronic structure theories, with Density Functional Theory (DFT) often not able to accurately characterize the relative energies of the various ice polymorphs. Thanks to recent advances that enable the accurate and efficient treatment of molecular crystals with Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC), we present here the DMC-ICE13 dataset; a dataset of lattice energies of 13 ice polymorphs. This dataset encompasses the full structural complexity found in the ambient and high-pressure molecular ice polymorphs, and when experimental reference energies are available, our DMC results deliver sub-chemical accuracy. Using this dataset, we then perform an extensive benchmark of a broad range of DFT functionals. Of the functionals considered, revPBE-D3 and RSCAN reproduce reference absolute lattice energies with the smallest error, while optB86b-vdW and SCAN+rVV10 have the best performance on the relative lattice energies. Our results suggest that a single functional achieving reliable performance for all phases is still missing, and that care is needed in the selection of the most appropriate functional for the desired application. The insights obtained here may also be relevant to liquid water and other hydrogen-bonded and dispersion-bonded molecular crystals.
Crop growth rate during the critical period is associated with grain number under sulfur deficiency in barley crops subjected to different levels of nitrogen availability
Authors: Prystupa Pablo , Gutierrez-Boem Flavio
Published: July 2022

Context Sulfur deficiency is a limiting factor of cereal crops, causing significant crop losses associated with a decrease in the number of grains. In barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) crops, grain number (and grain yield) is associated with spike biomass at anthesis, which is related to crop growth rate during the period preceding anthesis (i.e. the ‘critical period’) when spike growth occurs. These relationships have been established for various cultivars under varying radiation intensity and in different locations, and have been confirmed in crops grown under nitrogen and phosphorus deficiencies. Aims The objective of this study was to determine, for malting barley, whether the effects of sulfur, nitrogen and their interaction on the number of grains per unit area could be explained by changes in crop growth rate or photothermal quotient (ratio of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation to temperature) during the critical period. Methods Three field experiments were conducted in the Pampean region of Argentina to evaluate the effects of sulfur fertilisation under three levels of nitrogen availability on the number of grains per unit area. Key results Changes in grain number were associated with crop growth rate or photothermal quotient during the critical period. This association was maintained when sulfur fertilisation changed grain number. Crop growth rate during the critical period varied mainly as a result of changes in accumulated intercepted radiation. Conclusions Sulfur fertilisation increases grain number and grain yield by increasing radiation interception during the critical period, probably as a consequence of increased leaf area. Implications The determination of grain number under sulfur deficiency is similar to that observed under deficiencies of other nutrients.
Short-term effects of combined freeze–thaw and saline–alkali stresses on the physiological response in highland barley (
Authors: Bao Lan , Bao Guozhang , Zhang Xin , Qu Yan , Guo Jiancai , Pan XinYu
Published: July 2022

Highland barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), as the dominant crop on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, is a typical representative of plants adapted to extreme environmental conditions. However, the harsh environment, severe salinisation and frequent freezing and thawing in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are main limiting factor for crop growth in this region. The physiological response of highland barley to salinisation and freeze–thaw stresses was studied in this paper. Under the combined stresses of 60 mmol/L NaCl·60 mmol/L NaHCO3 and freeze–thaw cycles (10, −5, and 10°C), the changes in the relative moisture content, relative electrical conductivity, soluble protein, malondialdehyde (MDA) and photosynthetic indices Pn and E in seedling leaves of eight groups of treatments (CK, S, A, S-A, CK (FT), S (FT), A (FT), and S-A (FT)) were analysed. Results showed that a single stress did not cause a change in the MDA content. All of the combined stresses in S-A, CK (FT), S (FT), A (FT), and S-A (FT) treatments increased the MDA content of barley seedlings, and the MDA content of S-A (FT) reached 28.438 at T2 (−5°C) μmol/g. During the freeze–thaw cycle, the cell membrane of seedlings was damaged more seriously by alkali stress, which showed a significant increase in relative conductivity. The relative moisture content value of seedlings was more than 100% because the seedlings could absorb more moisture due to mechanical injury. The protein content of osmoregulatory substances in highland barley seedlings increased with increasing stress, indicating resistance to stress. Moreover, the effect of freeze–thaw stress on photosynthesis was more significant. The changes in indices proved that an appropriate amount of salt stress could improve the resistance of the plant cell membrane. Alkali stress had a significant effect on the growth of highland barley seedlings. Freezing and thawing can aggravate the damage of saline–alkali stress to highland barley seedlings, resulting in changes in the biological membrane permeability and photosynthesis of seedlings. The fluctuation of osmoregulation substance content confirmed that highland barley seedlings had a certain degree of stress resistance. Freeze–thaw cycles will aggravate the damage of land salinisation to highland barley seedlings. To better reduce the impact and loss of land salinisation and freeze–thaw disasters on agriculture in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, priority should be given to solving freeze–thaw stress in the process of grain production.
A quantification method of somatic mutations in normal tissues and their accumulation in pediatric patients with chemotherapy
Authors: Ueda Sho , Yamashita Satoshi , Nakajima Miho , Kumamoto Tadashi , Ogawa Chitose , Liu Yu-yu , Yamada Harumi , Kubo Emi , Hattori Naoko , Takeshima Hideyuki , Wakabayashi Mika , Iida Naoko , Shiraishi Yuichi , Noguchi Masayuki , Sato Yukio , Ushijima Toshikazu
Published: July 2022

Somatic mutations are accumulated in normal human tissues with aging and exposure to carcinogens. If we can accurately count any passenger mutations in any single DNA molecule, since their quantity is much larger than driver mutations, we can sensitively detect mutation accumulation in polyclonal normal tissues. Duplex sequencing, which tags both DNA strands in one DNA molecule, enables accurate count of such mutations, but requires a very large number of sequencing reads for each single sample of human-genome size. Here, we reduced the genome size to 1/90 using the
Bam
HI restriction enzyme and established a cost-effective pipeline. The enzymatically cleaved and optimal sequencing (EcoSeq) method was able to count somatic mutations in a single DNA molecule with a sensitivity of as low as 3 × 10
−8
per base pair (bp), as assessed by measuring artificially prepared mutations. Taking advantages of EcoSeq, we analyzed normal peripheral blood cells of pediatric sarcoma patients who received chemotherapy (
n
= 10) and those who did not (
n
= 10). The former had a mutation frequency of 31.2 ± 13.4 × 10
−8
per base pair while the latter had 9.0 ± 4.5 × 10
−8
per base pair (
P
< 0.001). The increase in mutation frequency was confirmed by analysis of the same patients before and after chemotherapy, and increased mutation frequencies persisted 46 to 64 mo after chemotherapy, indicating that the mutation accumulation constitutes a risk of secondary leukemia. EcoSeq has the potential to reveal accumulation of somatic mutations and exposure to environmental factors in any DNA samples and will contribute to cancer risk estimation.
‘I know what is best for you better than you do’: cross-cultural evidence of the association between Monopoly on Truth and extremism (‘Yo sé mejor que tú lo que es mejor para ti’: evidencia transcultural de la asociación entre el monopolio de la verdad y el extremismo)
Authors: Dono Marcos , Alzate Mónica , Barreto-Galeano María-Idaly , Uhng-Hur Domenico , Sabucedo José-Manuel
Published: July 2022

Political extremism represents a collective threat to open and democratic societies, a hazard that has grown in recent times. The main goal of the present research is to test one novel construct, the Monopoly on Truth (MoT), by examining its association with illegal and violent extremist acts in a cross-cultural setting. Thus, the association between MoT and extremism has been tested in several countries with different cultures and socio-political landscapes: Brazil, Colombia and Spain ( N = 785). Results support configural and metric invariance of the MoT scale, supporting construct validity. The obtained data also replicate the original validation by showing a curvilinear relation between ideology and MoT. Crucially, the correlational analysis shows that MoT is associated with extremism in all countries participating in the study, even when controlling for ideology. This research contributes to the literature on the psychological underpinnings of extremism by introducing a novel correlate of illegal and violent political action based on a notion of moral superiority unbiased by ideology.
Magneto-Elastic Coupling in a Sinusoidal Modulated Magnet Cr2GaN
Authors: Mao Hui-Can , Li Yu-Feng , Ren Qing-Yong , Chu Mi-Hai , Maynard-Casely Helen E. , Demmel Franz , Adroja Devashibhai , Wen Hai-Hu , Xiao Yin-Guo , Luo Hui-Qian
Published: July 2022

We use neutron powder diffraction to investigate the magnetic and crystalline structure of Cr2GaN. A magnetic phase transition is identified at T ≈ 170 K, whereas no trace of structural transition is observed down to 6 K. Combining Rietveld refinement with irreducible representations, the spin configuration of Cr ions in Cr2GaN is depicted as an incommensurate sinusoidal modulated structure characterized by a propagating vector k = (0.365, 0.365, 0). Upon warming up to the paramagnetic state, the magnetic order parameter closely resembles to the temperature dependence of c-axis lattice parameter, suggesting strong magneto-elastic coupling in this compound. Therefore, Cr2GaN provides a potential platform for exploration of magnetically tuned properties such as magnetoelectric, magnetostrictive and magnetocaloric effects, as well as their applications.