bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of a robot social presence measurement dimension scale
Authors: Chen Na , Liu Xiaoyu , Zhai Yanan , Hu Xueyan
Published: February 2023

Robots that can exhibit human-like behaviour, build social relationships with humans, and carry out social interaction that can be considered to have a social presence. Measuring the social presence of robots can provide an important basis for optimizing the design of robots’ human-like behaviour, but until now, there has been no research and discussion on the presence of robots from the perspective of social interaction. Based on related studies, such as the theory of the presence of interpersonal interaction society, the mechanism of network social presence measurement and human–computer interaction, this study constructs a theoretical model of robot social presence, and develops corresponding measurement scales with five dimensions, namely, the presence, attention distribution, interactive expression and information understanding, perceived emotional interdependence, and interaction behaviour perception. The 5-dimensional robot social presence model was finalized, and a 17-question questionnaire scale was developed. The validation of the model and the development of the scale includes one expert assessment (involving three experts), one user interview (involving five interviewees), and two questionnaire surveys (involving 172 valid questionnaires and 494 valid questionnaires respectively). The final model shows good reliability of the measurement questionnaire, high inter-factor correlation, high model fit, high internal consistency of the dimensions, high reliability of the scale, and high convergent validity of all dimensions. This study provides a theoretical basis for the study of robot social presence and human–robot collaboration and provides a reference measurement tool for social robot-related development and research.
Subspecies-level genome comparison of Lactobacillus delbrueckii
Authors: Baek Min-gyung , Kim Kwan Woo , Yi Hana
Published: February 2023

Lactobacillus delbrueckii comprises six subspecies, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis, L. delbrueckii subsp. jakobsenii, L. delbrueckii subsp. delbrueckii, L. delbrueckii subsp. sunkii, and L. delbrueckii subsp. indicus. We investigated the evolution of the six subspecies of L. delbrueckii using comparative genomics. While the defining feature of the species was the gene number increment driven by mobile elements and gene fragmentation, the repertoire of subspecies-specific gene gains and losses differed among the six subspecies. The horizontal gene transfer analyses indicated that frequent gene transfers between different subspecies had occurred when the six subspecies first diverged from the common ancestor, but recent gene exchange was confined to a subspecies implying independent evolution of the six subspecies. The subspecies bulgaricus is a homogeneous group that diverged from the other subspecies a long time ago and underwent convergent evolution. The subspecies lactis, jakobsenii, delbrueckii, and sunkii were more closely related to each other than to other subspecies. The four subspecies commonly show increasing genetic variability with increasing genome size. However, the four subspecies were distinguished by specific gene contents. The subspecies indicus forms a branch distant from the other subspecies and shows an independent evolutionary trend. These results could explain the differences in the habitat and nutritional requirements of the subspecies of L. delbrueckii.
Distilling functional variations for human UGT2B4 upstream region based on selection signals and implications for phenotypes of Neanderthal and Denisovan
Authors: Wang Pin-Yi , Yang Yuan , Shi Xiao-Qian , Chen Ying , Liu Shao-Dong , Wang Hong-Yan , Peng Tao , Shi Qiang , Zhang Wei , Sun Chang
Published: February 2023

Our previous work identified one region upstream human UGT2B4 (UDP glucuronosyltransferase family 2 member B4) which is associated with breast cancer and under balancing selection. However, the distribution, functional variation and molecular mechanism underlying breast cancer and balancing selection remain unclear. In current study, the two haplotypes with deep divergence are described by analyzing 1000 genomes project data and observed to be with high frequencies in all human populations. Through population genetics analysis and genome annotation, the potential functional region is identified and verified by reporter gene assay. Further mutagenesis indicates that the functional mutations are rs66862535 and rs68096061. Both SNPs can alter the interaction efficiency of transcription factor POU2F1 (POU class 2 homeobox 1). Through chromosome conformation capture, it is identified that the enhancer containing these two SNPs can interact with UGT2B4 promoter. Expression quantitative trait loci analysis indicates that UGT2B4 expression is dependent on the genotype of this locus. The common haplotype in human is lost in four genomes of archaic hominins, which suggests that Neanderthal and Denisovan should present relatively lower UGT2B4 expression and further higher steroid hormone level. This study provides new insight into the contribution of ancient population structure to human phenotypes.
Use of access port covers in transport incubators to improve thermoregulation during neonatal transport
Authors: Fukuyama Takahiro , Arimitsu Takeshi
Published: February 2023

Hypothermia in newborns increases the risk of health complications and mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of using covers over snap-open access ports of a transport incubator to maintain the temperature within. The change in temperature inside the transport incubator was evaluated over a 15-min period at three ambient room temperatures (20 °C, 24 °C, and 28 °C), as well as for three snap-open access port conditions: closed, where ports are closed; open, where the two ports on one side are open; and covered, where the two ports on one side are open but a cover is used. The automatic temperature control of the incubator was set to 37 °C for all conditions. We repeated the same experiments three times. The temperature decrease inside the incubator was greater for the open than for the closed or covered access port conditions at all three 4 °C-increasing room temperatures (p < 0.05). The incubator temperature decreased as a function of decreasing room temperature only for the open condition, with no significant difference between the closed and covered conditions. Therefore, snap-open access port covers provide an option to maintain a constant temperature within the transport incubator, which may lower the risk of neonatal hypothermia.
Deep ensemble learning enables highly accurate classification of stored red blood cell morphology
Authors: Routt Austin H. , Yang Natalia , Piety Nathaniel Z. , Lu Madeleine , Shevkoplyas Sergey S.
Published: February 2023

Changes in red blood cell (RBC) morphology distribution have emerged as a quantitative biomarker for the degradation of RBC functional properties during hypothermic storage. Previously published automated methods for classifying the morphology of stored RBCs often had insufficient accuracy and relied on proprietary code and datasets, making them difficult to use in many research and clinical applications. Here we describe the development and validation of a highly accurate open-source RBC morphology classification pipeline based on ensemble deep learning (DL). The DL-enabled pipeline utilized adaptive thresholding or semantic segmentation for RBC identification, a deep ensemble of four convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to classify RBC morphology, and Kalman filtering with Hungarian assignment for tracking changes in the morphology of individual RBCs over time. The ensembled CNNs were trained and evaluated on thousands of individual RBCs from two open-access datasets previously collected to quantify the morphological heterogeneity and washing-induced shape recovery of stored RBCs. Confusion matrices and reliability diagrams demonstrated under-confidence of the constituent models and an accuracy of about 98% for the deep ensemble. Such a high accuracy allowed the CNN ensemble to uncover new insights over our previously published studies. Re-analysis of the datasets yielded much more accurate distributions of the effective diameters of stored RBCs at each stage of morphological degradation (discocyte: 7.821 ± 0.429 µm, echinocyte 1: 7.800 ± 0.581 µm, echinocyte 2: 7.304 ± 0.567 µm, echinocyte 3: 6.433 ± 0.490 µm, sphero-echinocyte: 5.963 ± 0.348 µm, spherocyte: 5.904 ± 0.292 µm, stomatocyte: 7.080 ± 0.522 µm). The effective diameter distributions were significantly different across all morphologies, with considerable effect sizes for non-neighboring classes. A combination of morphology classification with cell tracking enabled the discovery of a relatively rare and previously overlooked shape recovery of some sphero-echinocytes to early-stage echinocytes after washing with 1% human serum albumin solution. Finally, the datasets and code have been made freely available online to enable replication, further improvement, and adaptation of our work for other applications.
Specific fluorescent signatures for body fluid identification using fluorescence spectroscopy
Authors: Achetib Nihad , Falkena Kim , Swayambhu Meghna , Aalders Maurice C. G. , van Dam Annemieke
Published: February 2023

Non-invasive, rapid, on-site detection and identification of body fluids is highly desired in forensic investigations. The use of fluorescence-based methods for body fluid identification, have so far remain relatively unexplored. As such, the fluorescent properties of semen, serum, urine, saliva and fingermarks over time were investigated, by means of fluorescence spectroscopy, to identify specific fluorescent signatures for body fluid identification. The samples were excited at 81 different excitation wavelengths ranging from 200 to 600 nm and for each excitation wavelength the emission was recorded between 220 and 700 nm. Subsequently, the total emitted fluorescence intensities of specific fluorescent signatures in the UV–visible range were summed and principal component analysis was performed to cluster the body fluids. Three combinations of four principal components allowed specific clustering of the body fluids, except for fingermarks. Blind testing showed that 71.4% of the unknown samples could be correctly identified. This pilot study shows that the fluorescent behavior of ageing body fluids can be used as a new non-invasive tool for body fluid identification, which can improve the current guidelines for the detection of body fluids in forensic practice and provide the robustness of methods that rely on fluorescence.
Zebrafish Larvae Position Tracker (Z-LaP Tracker): a high-throughput deep-learning behavioral approach for the identification of calcineurin pathway-modulating drugs using zebrafish larvae
Authors: Gore Sayali V. , Kakodkar Rohit , Del Rosario Hernández Thaís , Edmister Sara Tucker , Creton Robbert
Published: February 2023

Brain function studies greatly depend on quantification and analysis of behavior. While behavior can be imaged efficiently, the quantification of specific aspects of behavior is labor-intensive and may introduce individual biases. Recent advances in deep learning and artificial intelligence-based tools have made it possible to precisely track individual features of freely moving animals in diverse environments without any markers. In the current study, we developed Zebrafish Larvae Position Tracker (Z-LaP Tracker), a modification of the markerless position estimation software DeepLabCut, to quantify zebrafish larval behavior in a high-throughput 384-well setting. We utilized the high-contrast features of our model animal, zebrafish larvae, including the eyes and the yolk for our behavioral analysis. Using this experimental setup, we quantified relevant behaviors with similar accuracy to the analysis performed by humans. The changes in behavior were organized in behavioral profiles, which were examined by K-means and hierarchical cluster analysis. Calcineurin inhibitors exhibited a distinct behavioral profile characterized by increased activity, acoustic hyperexcitability, reduced visually guided behaviors, and reduced habituation to acoustic stimuli. The developed methodologies were used to identify ‘CsA-type’ drugs that might be promising candidates for the prevention and treatment of neurological disorders.
Machine learning quantitatively characterizes the deformation and destruction of explosive molecules
Authors: Zhang Kaining , Chen Lang , Zhang Teng , Lu Jianying , Liu Danyang , Wu Junying
Published: February 2023

We present a quantitative model for molecular structure deformation using machine learning algorithms and a qualitative model of its relationship with molecular structure destruction. The analysis method is applicable to other materials.
Construction of donor-mediator-receptor heterojunctions: Ni12P5/In(OH)3/CdIn2S4 ternary catalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production
Authors: Yang Wenwen , Xu Shan-Shan , Niu Yawen , Zhang Yanhui , Li Jian-Feng , Xu Juan
Published: February 2023

The synergistic effect of two different heterojunctions greatly improves the photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency of the Ni12P5/In(OH)3/CdIn2S4 ternary catalyst.
Hakuhybotrol, a polyketide produced byHypomyces pseudocorticiicola, characterized with the assistance of 3D ED/MicroED
Authors: Watanabe Yoshihiro , Takahashi Shuhei , Ito Sho , Tokiwa Toshiyuki , Noguchi Yoshihiko , Azami Haruki , Kojima Hiroki , Higo Mayuka , Ban Sayaka , Nagai Kenichiro , Hirose Tomoyasu , Sunazuka Toshiaki , Yaguchi Takashi , Nonaka Kenichi , Iwatsuki Masato
Published: February 2023

The absolute configuration of a new polyketide, named hakuhybotrol, from a cultured broth of the mycoparasitic fungusHypomyces pseudocorticiicola, was determined by the combination of chemical derivatization, SCXRD, and 3D ED/MicroED, respectively.
Correction: Construction of a near-infrared responsive upconversion nanoplatform against hypoxic tumors via NO-enhanced photodynamic therapy
Authors: Lan Ying , Zhu Xiaohui , Tang Ming , Wu Yihan , Zhang Jing , Liu Jinliang , Zhang Yong
Published: February 2023

Correction for ‘Construction of a near-infrared responsive upconversion nanoplatform against hypoxic tumors via NO-enhanced photodynamic therapy’ by Ying Lan et al., Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 7875–7887, https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR10453D.
An attempt to consider cooperativity in helical-sense preferences induced in fused macrocycles
Authors: Katoono Ryo , Kudo Takaaki , Kawai Shunsuke
Published: February 2023

Several macrocyclic elements are assembled by fusion to constitute a single molecule, where the sense of twisting in an element can affect neighboring element(s) in establishing their own sense-preferences.
Influence of the crystallographic texture of ITO on the electrodeposition of silver nanoparticles
Authors: Bleiji Yorick , Dieperink Mees , Schuringa Imme , Sun Hongyu , Alarcon-Llado Esther
Published: February 2023

This work highlights the importance of reporting the surface properties of polycrystalline substrates when presenting nucleation studies and metal nanoparticle electrochemical growth.
Construction of visual evaluation system for building block night scene lighting based on multi‐target recognition and data processing
Authors: Wang Xiaojian , Sun Xiaoye , Wang Zixuan
Published: February 2023

The rapid development of night tourism economy has made people's demand for night scene lighting in architectural blocks increasing, and the night scene lighting situation of urban architectural blocks has gradually received people's attention and attention. Achieving good night lighting visual effects of building blocks can not only meet the needs of residents for entertainment and consumption at night, but also beautify the image of blocks and promote the economic development of building blocks. However, due to the unreasonable planning and management of the night scene lighting design of architectural blocks in some areas, improper application of night scene lighting, and overly commercial night scene lighting effects, it affects people's normal night activity needs and has a negative impact on the long‐term block economy of the region. Faced with this situation, the night lighting of architectural blocks and its problems is studied and photos are identified with high lighting visual effect evaluation using multi‐target identification and data processing to construct a night lighting visual evaluation system for architectural blocks, and also an experimental study of the visual evaluation system is conducted. The results show that the overall visual suitability evaluation support rate of the respondents for the night scene lighting of architectural blocks is 95.64%, and the visual evaluation system proposed in this paper is reasonable and effective, which is conducive to promoting the improvement of the visual effect of night scene lighting in architectural blocks.
A model of anisotropic winds from rotating stars for evolutionary calculations
Authors: Hastings B. , Langer N. , Puls J.
Published: February 2023

Context. The surface properties of rotating stars can vary from pole to equator, resulting in anisotropic stellar winds which are not included in the currently available evolutionary models.

Aims. We developed a formalism to describe the mass and angular momentum loss of rotating stars which takes into account both the varying surface properties and distortion due to rotation.

Methods. Adopting the mass-loss recipe for non-rotating stars, we assigned to each point on the surface of a rotating star an equivalent non-rotating star, for which the surface mass flux is given by the recipe. The global mass-loss and angular momentum loss rates are then given by integrating over the deformed stellar surface as appropriate. Evolutionary models were computed and our prescription is compared to the currently used simple mass-loss enhancement recipes for rotating stars.

Results. We find that mass-loss rates are largely insensitive to rotation for models not affected by the bi-stability jump. For those affected by the bi-stability jump, the increase in mass-loss rates with respect to time is smoothed. As our prescription considers the variation of physical conditions over the stellar surface, the region affected by the bi-stability jump is able to grow gradually instead of the whole star suddenly being affected.

Conclusions. We have provided an easy to implement and flexible, yet physically meaningful prescription for calculating mass and angular momentum loss rates of rotating stars in a one-dimensional stellar evolution code which compares favourably to more physically comprehensive models
The development of 1 MW ECRH system on J-TEXT
Authors: Chen Xixuan , Xia Donghui , Zhang Junli , Wang Zhijiang , Pan Yuan ,   J-TEXT team
Published: February 2023

A 1 MW electron cyclotron resonance heating system has been designed and developed for J-TEXT tokamak not only to enhance the total heating power but also to provide another possible way to control the plasma parameters. The system is composed of two gyrotrons, both with an output power of 500 kW electron cyclotron wave power. The development progress of the system is elaborated and discussed. The commissioning tests for the gyrotrons were implemented, and each gyrotron realized its standard output successfully. With the assistance of this system, a variety of experiments have been carried out on J-TEXT, mainly related to plasma heating, plasma disruption, plasma start-up, current drive and so on.
Database study of turbulent electron temperature fluctuation measurements at ASDEX Upgrade
Authors: Yoo Christian , Bielajew Rachel , Conway Garrard D. , Molina Cabrera Pedro A. , Rodriguez-Fernandez Pablo , Vanovac Branka , White Anne E. ,   the EUROfusion MST1 Team,   the ASDEX Upgrade Team
Published: February 2023

In this work, an automated method for the analysis of data from the correlation electron cyclotron emission (CECE) diagnostic is applied to discharges in the ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) tokamak. This recently developed, automated method provides an efficient means of accurately analysing large quantities of experimental turbulence data, enabling the development of the largest database of CECE measurements of tokamak plasmas to-date. The turbulence database provides the opportunity to search for large-scale trends in experimental data to improve our understanding of transport-relevant plasma turbulence. The results of physics-based investigations utilizing this turbulence database will be reported on separately from this work.
A model of non-Maxwellian electron distribution function for the analysis of ECE data in JET discharges
Authors: Giruzzi G. , Fontana M. , Orsitto F.P. , de la Luna E. , Dumont R. , Figini L. , Maslov M. , Mazzi S. , Schmuck S. , Senni L. , Sozzi C. , Challis C. , Frigione D. , Garcia J. , Garzotti L. , Hobirk J. , Kappatou A. , Keeling D. , Lerche E. , Maggi C. , Mailloux J. , Rimini F. , Van Eester D. ,   JET contributors
Published: February 2023

Recent experiments performed in JET at high level of plasma heating, in preparation of, and during the DT campaign have shown significant discrepancies between electron temperature measurements by Thomson Scattering (TS) and Electron Cyclotron Emission (ECE). In order to perform a systematic analysis of this phenomenon, a simple model of bipolar distortion of the electron distribution function has been developed, allowing analytic calculation of the EC emission and absorption coefficients. Extensive comparisons of the modelled ECE spectra (at both the 2nd and the 3rd harmonic extraordinary mode) with experimental measurements display good agreement when bulk electron distribution distortions around 1-2 times the electron thermal velocity are used and prove useful for a first level of analysis of this effect.
The ECRH-Power Upgrade at the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator
Authors: Laqua H. P. , Avramidis K. A. , Braune H. , Chelis I. , Gantenbein G. , Illy S. , Ioannidis Z. , Jelonnek J. , Jin J. , Krier L. , Lechte C. , Leggieri A. , Legrand F. , Marsen S. , Moseev D. , Oosterbeek H. , Rzesnicki T. , Ruess T. , Stange T. , Thumm M. , Tigelis I. , Wolf R. C. ,   the W7-X team
Published: February 2023

The existing ECRH system at W7-X consists of 10 gyrotrons, with output power levels ranging from 0.6 MW up to 1.0 MW each at a frequency of 140 GHz, quasi-optical transmission lines and microwave launchers at the plasma vessel. Compared to other large fusion experiments, W7-X has a relatively low power-to-volume ratio. However high heating power is particularly necessary for achieving high plasma beta values, where the improved confinement of fast ions, one of the optimization criteria of W7-X, can be examined. It is therefore necessary to expand the ECRH systems in several consecutive steps. It is planned to increase the number of gyrotron positions from 10 to 12 and at the same time to evolve the gyrotron output power in several development steps from 1 MW to nominal 1.5 MW and, finally, up to 2 MW. At the same time, the transmission lines will also be upgraded for 2 MW operation. A special effort is also made to improve the reliability of the system by the fast control system.
Fast synergy approximation in transportation procurement with combinatorial auctions
Authors: Keskin Muhammed Emre , Triki Chefi , Elomri Adel
Published: February 2023

In this study we develop a decision support tool to help carriers in defining their bids when participating in transportation combinatorial auctions. In this way, they can avoid many of their empty movements and ensure additional business through the spot market. We propose three algorithms that quantify the synergy as a key concept to measure the complementarity between the carrier’s existing network and the contracts to be included in the bundles to be submitted as bids. The algorithms are validated on a real-life application and our results emphasized their superiority compared to previous studies.
Efficacy of Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Stage II/III Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutations
Authors: Matsunaga Takeshi , Takamochi Kazuya , Hattori Aritoshi , Fukui Mariko , Suzuki Kenji
Published: February 2023

Background Adjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy improves the survival of patients with resected pathological stage II/III nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the efficacy in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations remains controversial.

Methods This retrospective study included 353 patients with resected pathological N1/N2 stage II/III NSCLC between 2010 and 2016. Mutant EGFR (mEGFR) was detected in 76 patients. Adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) was administered to 151 patients. We compared cancer-specific survival (CSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) between AC and surgery-alone (SA) groups, including patients with wild-type EGFR (wEGFR) and mEGFR. Using multivariate analysis, we evaluated the prognostic factors in patients with wEGFR and mEGFR.

Results The median follow-up time was 4.7 years. In patients with wEGFR, the differences in CSS and RFS between the AC (n = 114) and SA (n = 163) groups were significant (CSS: 66.8% [5 years] vs. 49.4% [5 years], p = 0.001; RFS: 54.2% [5 years] vs. 39.2% [5 years], p = 0.013). The significant prognostic factors were AC (vs. SA; p < 0.0001), diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide  > 60% (p = 0.028), tumor size (p < 0.001), lymphatic permeation (p = 0.041), and pN1 (vs. pN2; p < 0.001). However, the differences in CSS and RFS between the AC (n = 37) and SA (n = 39) groups were not significant (CSS: 64.0% [5 years] vs. 58.1% [5 years], p = 0.065; RFS: 45.0% [5 years] vs. 33.8% [5 years], p = 0.302). Multivariate analysis identified no significant prognostic factors in patients with mEGFR.

Conclusion We demonstrated the efficacy of AC in patients with mEGFR and wEGFR. The efficacy of AC may be lower in patients with mEGFR than in those with wEGFR.
Unusual Intracerebral Hemorrhage Secondary to Delayed Posttraumatic Middle Meningeal Artery Pseudoaneurysm, Successfully Treated by Endovascular N-Butyl Cyanoacrylate Embolization
Authors: Waghralkar Mandar G. , Ojha Piyush , Goel Gaurav , Banerjee Anirban Deep , Mahajan Anshu
Published: February 2023

Pseudoaneurysm of the middle meningeal artery, presenting as a delayed sequela of trauma, being a rare entity, may sometimes present as an acute intraparenchymal hemorrhage, with a risk of rerupture and mortality. The optimal management in acute settings remains undetermined. We, hereby, report a case of elderly gentleman with a history of a road traffic accident. Noncontrast computed tomography (NCCT) brain was reported to have left parietal hemorrhagic contusion without any mass effect. The patient was managed conservatively without any major neurological deficits. After 7 months, the patient presented with severe headache, altered sensorium, and right hemiparesis. NCCT brain showed acute left thalamocapsular hemorrhage with minimal subarachnoid hemorrhage with associated mass effect and impending herniation. Considering the fall in patient's baseline Glasgow comma scale response, pupillary asymmetry, and CT findings, immediate decompression and hematoma evacuation were advised. In view of atypical morphology, the patient was planned for urgent digital subtraction angiography prior to the surgery to rule out the ruptured aneurysm or pial arterio-venous fistula. Selective angiography of the left external carotid artery demonstrated a dissecting pseudoaneurysm feeding from the middle meningeal artery (MMA), which was embolized using n-butyl cyanoacrylate (NBCA). Postprocedure DynaCT revealed the left temporal bone fracture, indicating this pseudoaneurysm to be most likely posttraumatic delayed sequelae. Postembolization, the patient underwent surgical decompression and excision of hematoma. Patient's neurological status gradually improved and was discharged with the minimal deficit. Our case highlights the importance of awareness of the posttraumatic MMA pseudoaneurysm as an uncommon but treatable entity, which can be easily diagnosed using cerebral angiography and amenable to safe and effective endovascular embolization using NBCA.
Drug delivery with nanoparticles to improve osteosarcoma outcomes
Authors: Thompson Avery
Published: February 2023

This type of bone cancer has comparatively low survival rates that could be raised with targeted drug delivery.
Applying ferroelectric materials in transistors for electronic and optoelectronic applications
Authors: Thompson Avery
Published: February 2023

Thin-film field-effect transistors provide unique benefits in electronics research.
Ferroelectric field effect transistors for electronics and optoelectronics
Authors: Jiao Hanxue , Wang Xudong , Wu Shuaiqin , Chen Yan , Chu Junhao , Wang Jianlu
Published: February 2023

Ferroelectric materials have shown great value in the modern semiconductor industry and are considered important function materials due to their high dielectric constant and tunable spontaneous polarization. A ferroelectric field effect transistor (FeFET) is a field effect transistor (FET) with ferroelectric polarization field introduced to regulate carriers in semiconductors. With the coupling of ferroelectric and semiconductor, FeFETs are attractive for advanced electronic and optoelectronic applications, including emerging memories, artificial neural networks, high-performance photodetectors, and smart sensors. In this review, representative research results of FeFETs are reviewed from the perspective of structures and applications. Here, the background and significance of ferroelectrics and FeFETs are given. Furthermore, methods of building FeFETs in different structures and physical models describing the characteristics of FeFET are introduced. Important applications of FeFETs in electronics and optoelectronics are presented, with a comparison of performance between FeFETs and FETs without ferroelectrics, including memories and memristive devices, photodetectors, negative capacitance FETs, sensors, and multifunctional devices. Finally, based on the above discussions, promising applications and challenges of FeFETs are summarized.
Switching boundary estimation and adaptive sliding mode control for the dynamical systems with discontinuity due to the actuators
Authors: Xiao Binghang , Huang Jianzhe , Jing Zhongliang
Published: February 2023

Due to the discontinuous physical property of the control actuators, the state space of such a dynamical system is divided into many subdomains. For each subdomain, the flow of such a system is governed by the corresponding subsystem. The state boundary between the adjacent subdomains is called the physical switching boundary. The controller is designed to switch when the subsystem of such a discontinuous dynamical system is switched in order to have the optimum control performance. Since the ambiguity and uncertainty of modeling, the mathematical expressions for describing the discontinuous physical properties of the control actuators may not be accurate. Since the nominal switching boundary where the controller really switches is not exactly the corresponding physical switching boundary, the mismatch between the subsystem and the corresponding controller will occur and it may seriously affect the control performance. Therefore, a boundary estimation algorithm is proposed to estimate the physical switching boundaries based on the model reference control and error backpropagation. The simulation results show that the adaptive sliding mode control with the boundary estimation algorithm has superior control performance and strong robustness to deal with the internal uncertainty, the external interference, and the boundary ambiguity.
Physicochemical model for reactive sputtering of a sandwich target
Authors: Shapovalov Viktor I.
Published: February 2023

A non-isothermal physicochemical model of reactive sputtering is extended in this work. The new version is used in this work to simulate reactive sputtering of a sandwich target with two plates of different metals located on the same axis. The external plate contains cut-outs through which the internal plate is sputtered. The main independent process parameters are the reactive gas flow introduced into the vacuum chamber, the discharge current density, and the total area of cut-outs in the external plate. The physical model of the process is described by a system containing 14 algebraic equations. Only its numerical solution is possible, which allows studying the sputtering process in detail. The model can be used to estimate the conditions that ensure the deposition of a compound film in a real technological process. The model was used to analyze sputtering of a target with internal titanium and external tantalum plates in oxygen. Application of the model in particular cases of sputtering of single targets showed that it is adequate.
Efficient generation of intense broadband terahertz pulses from quartz
Authors: Wei Yuxuan , Le Jiaming , Huang Li , Tian Chuanshan
Published: February 2023

Intense terahertz (THz) pulses facilitate the observation of various nonlinear optical effects and the manipulation of material properties. In this work, we report a convenient approach to produce strong broadband THz pulses with a center frequency tunable between 2 and 4 THz. A coherent THz light source with a pulse energy of 1.2 mJ can be generated from low-cost crystalline quartz using a tilted-pulse-front scheme. Thanks to the wide transparent spectral window and high damage threshold, our theoretical analysis and experiment show that the THz conversion efficiency in quartz reaches 0.05%, which is comparable with that in LiNbO3 at room temperature, while the output THz spectral range is much broader in the former. This work not only provides the light source that is urgently needed for nonlinear THz spectroscopy beyond 2 THz but also offers an alternative route in selecting nonlinear optical crystals for optical frequency conversion.
Acoustically driven translation of a single bubble in pulsed traveling ultrasonic waves
Authors: Kim Yeo Cheon , Blanloeuil Philippe , Li Darson D. , Taylor Robert A. , Barber Tracie J.
Published: February 2023

The acoustic radiation force has been proven as an effective mechanism for displacing particles and bubbles, but it has been mainly applied in a standing wave mode in microfluidics. Alternatively, the use of pulsed traveling acoustic waves could enable new options, but its transient dynamic, which entails the additional complexities of pulse timing, reflections, and the type of waveform, has not yet been fully investigated. To better understand these transient effects, a transient numerical solution and an experimental testbed were developed to gain insights into the displacement of microbubbles when exposed to on- and off-periods of pulsed traveling waves. In this study, a practical sinusoid tone burst excitation at a driving frequency of 0.5 MHz is investigated. Our numerical and experimental results were found to be in good agreement, with only a 13% deviation in the acoustically driven velocity. With greater detail from the numerical solution at a sampling rate of 1 GHz, the fundamental mechanism for the bubble translation was revealed. It was found that the added mass force, gained through the on-period of the pulse, continued to drive the bubble throughout the off-period, enabling a large total displacement, even in the case of low duty-cycle (2%) pulsing. In addition, the results showed greater translational velocity is possible with a lower number of cycles for the same input acoustic energy (constant duty cycle and acoustic pressure amplitude). Overall, this study proposes a new, practical, and scalable approach for the acoustic manipulation of microbubbles for scientific, biomedical, and industrial applications.
Drop impact phenomena and spray cooling on hot nanotextured surfaces of various architectures and dynamic wettability
Authors: Park Chanwoo , Seol Jaewoo , Aldalbahi Ali , Rahaman Mostafizur , Yarin Alexander L. , Yoon Sam S.
Published: February 2023

Spray cooling has been used to quench metal slabs during casting, cool nuclear reactors, suppress accidental fires, and remove heat from high-power density electronics. In particular, the miniaturization of electronic devices inevitably results in an increased power density or heat flux on the microelectronics surfaces and poses a threat of a thermal shutdown of such devices when cooling is insufficient. Surface nanotexturing effectively augments additional liquid-to-substrate surface area, thereby increasing cooling capability, as well as an effective heat transfer coefficient. In spray cooling, surface dynamic wettability also affects drop impact dynamics and subsequent coolant evaporation on a hot surface. Herein, we introduced various nanotextured surfaces and affected dynamic wettability using the so-called thorny-devil nanofibers, nickel nanocones, Teflon and titania nanoparticles, and zinc nanowires. The effect of these different nanoscale architectures on drop impact phenomena and subsequent evaporative cooling was investigated. These nanotextured surfaces were fabricated using various deposition methods, including electrospinning, electroplating, supersonic spraying, aerosol deposition, and chemical bath deposition. We found that the surface with greater dynamic wettability related to the hydrodynamic focusing considerably improved the heat removal capability by furthering the Leidenfrost limit and facilitating drop spreading. In particular, the thorny-devil nanofiber surface yielded the highest heat flux at all ranges of the Reynolds and Weber numbers. Spray cooling on a model electronic kit also confirmed that the thorny-devil nanofibers were most effective in cooling the surface of the model kit during multiple cycles of water spraying.
Numerical study on the scattering of acoustic waves by a compact vortex
Authors: Ma Ruixuan , Wang Yimin , Li Hu , Wu Conghai , Han Shuaibin , Wang Xunnian
Published: February 2023

A new family of compact vortex models is developed and taken as base vortical flows to numerically study the acoustic scattering by solving the two-dimensional Euler equations in the time domain with high-order accurate finite-difference methods and nonreflecting boundary conditions. The computations of scattered fields with very small amplitude are found to be in excellent agreement with a benchmark provided by previous studies. Simulations for the scattering from a Taylor vortex reveal that the amplitude of the scattered fields is strongly influenced by two dimensionless quantities, the vortex strength Mv based on the maximal velocity of the vortex, and the acoustic length-scale ratio λ/R defined as the acoustic wavelength relative to the vortex core size. To have a deep understanding of the roles played by these two quantities, another significant quantity used for describing quantitatively the total amount of scattering, namely, scattered sound power, is introduced. Thereupon, on the basis of a global analysis of scale effects of these two dimensionless quantities on the scattered sound power, the scattering defined in a physical coordinate system with Mv and λ/R is divided into three domains, long-wave domain, resonance domain, and geometrical-acoustics domain. For each domain, we examine the influence of Mv and λ/R in detail and derive the explicit scaling laws involved in the strength of the scattered field and these two dimensionless quantities separately. Furthermore, the computations for the scattering from a high-order compact vortex are conducted at a wide range of Mv and λ/R and compared with the results from the Taylor vortex in each domain to gain some insights into the acoustic scattering by a compact vortex.
Characterization of the defect in CIGSe solar cell by admittance spectroscopy
Authors: Zhu Jiwu , Jia Rui , Tian Xiaorang , Li Xing , Tao Ke , Luo Wei , Wang Longjie
Published: February 2023

In this work, we used admittance spectroscopy to accurately characterize the defect energy distribution of defects in the absorption layer of a CuIn1−xGaxSe2 (CIGSe) solar cell. We found that the dark current of the CIGSe cell decreased by an order of magnitude, and its ideality factor dropped from 2.16 to 1.85 after annealing. The capacitance of the CIGSe solar cell before annealing was higher than that after annealing under reverse bias. Moreover, a higher free carrier concentration was found in the absorption layer of the cell before annealing. The results of our tests show that the built-in electric voltages of the CIGSe cell before and after annealing were 0.52 and 0.64 V, respectively. After annealing, the activation energy of defects in the absorption layer decreased, and their concentration remained almost constant, as measured by admittance spectroscopy. The decrease of the defect activation energy indicated a corresponding decrease in the Shockley–Read–Hall recombination probability of defects in the present cell; hence, the increase of the open circuit voltage and parallel resistance of the CIGSe solar cells after annealing resulted in improved performance.
Direct numerical simulation of hypersonic wall-bounded turbulent flows: An improved inflow boundary condition and applications
Authors: Mo Fan , Li Qiang , Zhang Likun , Gao Zhenxun
Published: February 2023

In this paper, the method of generating inflow turbulence based on turbulence fluctuation library (TFL) in direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the hypersonic turbulent boundary layer (TBL) is investigated. The application of the TFL method to the DNS of a supersonic TBL shows that, although there are significant differences in freestream between the TFL and the target TBL, the flow could successfully develop to the target TBL downstream as the fluctuations of TFL are suitably scaled and added to the DNS inflow. However, there is a “transition”-like recovery process from the inflow to the target turbulence. To deal with the defects of the thermodynamic fluctuations scaling laws in the current TFL method under the hypersonic TBL, new thermodynamic fluctuations scaling laws are theoretically derived by introducing the generalized Reynolds analogy. The application in the DNS of Mach 7.25 TBL shows that the new scaling laws for thermodynamic fluctuations are more rational and accurate than the previous ones. Furthermore, the study on the recovery process shows that the matching degree between the TFL and the target TBL on the friction Reynolds number (Reτ) is the dominant factor in determining the length of recovery distance. Guaranteeing the similar Reτ of the TFL and the target TBL can make the two possess similar coherence structures, which can avoid the distortion of the coherence structures at the inflow after spanwise and normal interpolation, prevent the process of Reynolds stress decay and readjustment downstream the inflow, and finally effectively shorten the recovery distance.
A study on the shape of polar anisotropic magnetizing yoke to reduce dead zone of ring magnet
Authors: Min Jeong-Yeon , Nam Dong-Woo , Lee Seung-Heon , Jung Dong-Hoon , Kim Won-Ho
Published: February 2023

A ring magnet attached under the safety window motor is used for detecting the position of the window with a hall sensor. A dead zone that the magnetic flux is weak appears between the poles of the ring bonded magnet and the larger the angle of the dead zone, the more difficult it is to detect the precise position of window. In this study, the shape of polar anisotropic magnetizing yoke with a magnetic flux concentration structure is proposed to reduce the range of the dead zone. A magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) was presented to prove the theoretical validity. With the design variables as the inner width, outer width, and magnetic flux angle of the teeth of the yoke, the response value for the dead zone minimization was obtained using the response surface method, which is an optimization technique. And to examine this result as the tendency of flux line change in the model, finite element analysis was performed, and the final model was obtained. The prototype of the final model was manufactured, and the validity of the analysis result was verified.
Eclipse Chasers
Authors: Lomb Nick , Stevenson Toner
Published: February 2023

Witnessing a total solar eclipse is a wondrous and unforgettable event!

Eclipse Chasers is a guide to past and future Australian total solar eclipses, exploring historical and cultural knowledge, as well as featuring five upcoming eclipses that will be visible in Australia.

The science of eclipses is explained, as well as how to prepare for an eclipse and view it safely. For upcoming eclipses the best locations to view each one are revealed, alongside tips for taking photographs.

The book also reveals untold stories of how past Australian astronomers observed the total eclipses that have occurred since European settlement, and how these eclipses were celebrated in popular culture, poetry and art. It explores the great significance of solar eclipses for First Nations peoples, and their observations and cultural meanings.

Eclipse Chasers showcases the drama and beauty of total solar eclipses and is essential for anyone fascinated by these amazing events.
Humpback spiders from Ecuador: relationships, prosoma ‘inflation’ and genital asymmetry (Araneae: Pholcidae: Mecolaesthus)
Authors: Huber Bernhard A. , Meng Guanliang , Dupérré Nadine , Herrera Mauricio , Inclán Diego J. , Wipfler Benjamin
Published: February 2023

Males of the South American spider genus Mecolaesthus Simon, 1893 are characterised by a dorsally ‘inflated’ prosoma or hump. Here we describe the first representatives of the genus from Ecuador. A phylogenetic analysis of molecular sequence data suggests that the new species are part of an Amazonian-West Indian clade. Whether this clade is sister to ‘true’ (northern Venezuelan) Mecolaesthus or not remains unclear. The two clades occupy different major Neotropical biogeographic regions. Our phylogenetic reanalysis of Mecolaesthus and related genera greatly expands the taxon sampling compared to previous analyses (from 9 to 46 species representing the ‘Venezuelan clade’ of genera) but remains ambiguous regarding the monophyly of Mecolaesthus. In addition, we present first micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) data of the unique prosoma ‘inflation’, showing that these ‘inflations’ are tightly packed with muscles inserted at the leg coxae, mainly of legs 2 and 3. Male (but not female) leg length is negatively correlated with body size and this is highly unusual in Pholcidae. We predict that male–male fights in Mecolaesthus rely on powerful leg movements of legs 2 and 3 rather than on using legs 1 to assess the opponent’s body size. Finally, we document structural genital asymmetry in females of three of the four new species and in M. putumayo Huber, 2000 (of which the female is newly described). This constitutes the fourth known case of structural genital asymmetry in Pholcidae. ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3110BCD6-BA65-45E2-A758-71F2767BD6E4