mlsa-iai-msu-lab/ru_sci_bench_zho_cite_reranking huggingface dataset:
A Nowcasting Technique Based on Application of the Particle Filter Blending Algorithm

To improve the accuracy of nowcasting, a new extrapolation technique called particle filter blending was configured in this study and applied to experimental nowcasting. Radar echo extrapolation was performed by using the radar mosaic at an altitude of 2.5 km obtained from the radar images of 12 S-band radars in Guangdong Province, China. The first bilateral filter was applied in the quality control of the radar data; an optical flow method based on the Lucas–Kanade algorithm and the Harris corner detection algorithm were used to track radar echoes and retrieve the echo motion vectors; then, the motion vectors were blended with the particle filter blending algorithm to estimate the optimal motion vector of the true echo motions; finally, semi-Lagrangian extrapolation was used for radar echo extrapolation based on the obtained motion vector field. A comparative study of the extrapolated forecasts of four precipitation events in 2016 in Guangdong was conducted. The results indicate that the particle filter blending algorithm could realistically reproduce the spatial pattern, echo intensity, and echo location at 30- and 60-min forecast lead times. The forecasts agreed well with observations, and the results were of operational significance. Quantitative evaluation of the forecasts indicates that the particle filter blending algorithm performed better than the cross-correlation method and the optical flow method. Therefore, the particle filter blending method is proved to be superior to the traditional forecasting methods and it can be used to enhance the ability of nowcasting in operational weather forecasts.
Two-color multiphoton in vivo imaging with a femtosecond diamond Raman laser

Two-color multiphoton microscopy through wavelength mixing of synchronized lasers has been shown to increase the spectral window of excitable fluorophores without the need for wavelength tuning. However,most currently available dual output laser sources rely on the costly and complicated optical parametric generation approach. In this report, we detail a relatively simple and low cost diamond Raman laser pumped by a ytterbium fiber amplifier emitting at 1055 nm,which generates a first Stokes emission centered at 1240 nm with a pulse width of 100 fs. The two excitation wavelengths of 1055 and 1240 nm,along with the effective two-color excitation wavelength of 1140 nm, provide an almost complete coverage of fluorophores excitable within the range of 1000-1300 nm. When compared with 1055 nm excitation, two-color excitation at 1140 nm offers a 90% increase in signal for many far-red emitting fluorescent proteins (for example,tdKatushka2). We demonstrate multicolor imaging of tdKa-tushka2 and Hoechst 33342 via simultaneous two-color two-photon, and two-color three-photon microscopy in engineered 3D multicellular spheroids. We further discuss potential benefits and applications for two-color three-photon excitation. In addition, we show that this laser system is capable of in vivo imaging in mouse cortex to nearly 1 mm in depth with two-color excitation.
Enhanced cycle performance of Li/S battery with the reduced graphene oxide/activated carbon functional interlayer

The high-energy lithium/sulfur (Li/S) battery has become a very popular topic of research in recent years due to its high theoretical capacity of 1672 mAh/g. However,the polysulfide shuttle effect remains of great concern with a great number of publications dedicated to its mitigation. In this contribution,a three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide/activated carbon (RGO/AC) film,synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method and convenient mechanical pressing,is sandwiched between the separator and the sulfur-based cathode,acting as a functional interlayer to capture and trap polysulfide species. Consequently,the Li/S cell with this interlayer shows an impressive initial discharge capacity of 1078 mAh/g and a reversible capacity of 655 mAh/g even after 100 cycles. The RGO/AC interlayer impedes the movement of polysulfide while providing unimpeded channels for lithium ion mass transfer. Therefore,the RGO/AC interlayer with a well-designed structure represents strong potential for high-performance Li/S batteries.
Research advances in unsupported Pt-based catalysts for electrochemical methanol oxidation

Direct methanol fuel cells are one of the most promising alternative energy technologies in the foreseeable future,but its successful commercialization in large scale is still heavily hindered by several technical shortfalls,especially the undesirable activity and durability issues of electrocatalysts toward methanol oxidation reaction. In light of these challenges,the inherent advantages of unsupported Pt based nanostructures demonstrate their great potentials as durable and efficient electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cells. This review will summarize recent achievements of unsupported Pt-based electrocatalysts toward methanol oxidation,with highlighting the interactions between the performance and structure tailoring and composition modulating. At last,a perspective is proposed for the upcoming challenges and possible opportunities to further prompt the practical application of unsupported Pt-based electrocatalysts for direct methanol fuel cells.
Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube encapsulating cobalt nanoparticles towards efficient oxygen reduction for zinc–air battery

Nitrogen-doped carbon materials encapsulating 3d transition metals are promising alternatives to replace noble metal Pt catalysts for efficiently catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein,we use cobalt substituted perfluorosulfonic acid/polytetrafluoroethylene copolymer and dicyandiamide as the pyrolysis precursor to synthesize nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube (N–CNT) encapsulating cobalt nanoparticles hybrid material. The carbon layers and specific surface area of N–CNT have a critical role to the ORR performance due to the exposed active sites,determined by the mass ratio of the two precursors. The optimum hybrid material exhibits high ORR activity and stability,as well as excellent performance and durability in zinc–air battery.
Application of diatomite as an effective polysulfides adsorbent for lithium-sulfur batteries

The lithium–sulfur batteries show the great potential to be the most promising candidate for high energy applications. However,the shuttling of soluble polysulfides deteriorates the battery performance tremendously. To suppress the diffusion of soluble polysulfides,diatomite that has abundant natural three-dimensional ordered pores is incorporated into the cathode to trap polysulfides. The composite cathode material (S-DM-AB for short),including sulfur (S),diatomite (DM),and acetylene black (AB) is prepared by an impregnation method. For comparison,another composite cathode material (S-AB for short) including sulfur and acetylene black is also prepared by the same method. The battery with S-DMAB composite cathode material delivers a discharge capacity of 531.4 mAh/g after 300 cycles at 2 C with a capacity retention of 51.6% at room temperature. By contrast,the battery with S-AB composite cathode material delivered a capacity of only 196.9 mAh/g with a much lower capacity retention of 18.6% under the same condition. The addition of diatomite in the cathode is proved to be a cheap and effective way to improve the life time of the lithium sulfur batteries.
Advances in efficient electrocatalysts based on layered double hydroxides and their derivatives

The explore and development of electrocatalysts have gained significant attention due to their indispensable status in energy storage and conversion systems,such as fuel cells,metal–air batteries and solar water splitting cells. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and their derivatives (e.g.,transition metal alloys,oxides,sulfides,nitrides and phosphides) have been adopted as catalysts for various electrochemical reactions,such as oxygen reduction,oxygen evolution,hydrogen evolution,and CO_2 reduction,which show excellent activity and remarkable durability in electrocatalytic process. In this review,the synthesis strategies,structural characters and electrochemical performances for the LDHs and their derivatives are described. In addition,we also discussed the effect of electronic and geometry structures to their electrocatalytic activity. The further development of high-performance electrocatalysts based on LDHs and their derivatives is covered by both a short summary and future outlook from the viewpoint of the material design and practical application.
Discrete energetic (~50–200 keV) electron events in the high-altitude cusp/polar cap/lobe

We identified 28 discrete electron events (DEEs) with enhanced fluxes at ~50–200 keV in the high-altitude cusp/polar cap/lobe, using the electron measurements by the BeiDa Image Electron Spectrometer (BD-IES) instrument onboard an inclined (55°) geosynchronous orbit (IGSO) satellite from October 2015 to January 2016. We find that among the 28 DEEs, 22 occur in the nightside and mostly in the northern cusp/polar cap/lobe, while 6 occur in the dayside and all in the southern cusp; 24 events correspond to an average interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) component B_z>0, 3 correspond to an average IMF B_z<0, and 1 has no OMNI IMF data. In these DEEs, the observed average omnidirectional electron differential flux generally fits well to a power-law spectrum, J~E~(–γ), with the spectral index γ ranging from 2.6 to 4.6, while the average electron flux varies over three orders of magnitude from event to event. The spectral index of these cusp DEEs are (strongly) larger than the spectral index of solar wind superhalo electrons (radiation belt electrons) observed by the WIND 3D Plasma & Energetic Particle instrument (the BD-IES). At ~110 keV, the electron flux of DEEs in the cusp/polar cap/lobe shows a weak positive correlation with the solar wind superhalo electron flux but no obvious correlation with the radiation belt electron flux. These results suggest that these DEEs probably originate from transient processes acting on the solar wind superhalo electrons, e.g., the mid/high-latitude reconnection.
A new method for optimal FTU placement in distribution network under consideration of power service reliability

Modern distribution network with high penetration of intermittent renewable sources and the so-called prosumers requires more reliable distribution automation (DA) system for safe operation and control. The design of optimal feeder terminal units (FTU) placement is critical and economical for the effective DA application. Previously proposed solutions of optimal FTU placement aiming to ensure the accuracy of state estimation (SE), typically include the following two main shortcomings: 1) only to obtain the optimal FTU placement in quantity, and the analysis of FTU location is not considered yet; 2) few consider the uncertainty of intermittent power injections in the analysis of state estimation. In this paper, a modified methodology of FTU placement is proposed not only aiming to ensure the accuracy of state estimation with the minimum number of meters, but also finding those specific FTU locations to guarantee the power service reliability. Moreover, the uncertainty models of those intermittent power injections are also considered by using probability density function (PDF). The resultant optimization problem is addressed by using the covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES). Case studies demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
Compensation of image noise induced by difference in optical characteristics of array-LED chips of LED print head

There are various applied electro-optical devices, which utilize light emitting didoe (LED) chip array for applications to displays and opto-electronic sensors. In those devices, it is the one of the critical technical issues to minimize uncertain fluctuations including optical power and optical density. Due to variation in operating environment of a device, those are not corrected precisely by controlling parameters based on simple relation between parameters and resultant abovementioned outputs. Therefore, there is essential need to correct outputs in real-time based on correction function generated from the consideration on various operation condition. In this article, we introduce an output correction method through reporting real-time image noise reduction in the application to electro-photography with LED print head. In the technology of LED print head, as differences in optical characteristics between each LED cause vertical image noise, it should be corrected in order to obtain images that are comparable or better in quality compared to those produced by the conventional laser scanning method. Even though it seems that the method used to obtain uniform light power from each LED can solve this problem, it does not work well for high-resolution printing. Therefore, a scan method involving correction by a printed and scanned pattern is introduced through this work. The scan method is composed of correction patterns to minimize printing noise by its shape, the correction algorithm to calculate the optimized value and the printing algorithm to control gray levels in real-time precisely. We believe that the developed correction method upgrades the printing quality of the LPH printer better than commercial printers. The developed correction method can also be applied to various application areas that use an array-type light source such as display systems and lighting systems.
A portable single-cell analysis system integrating hydrodynamic trapping with broadband impedance spectroscopy

In this paper, we present a portable single-cell analysis system with the hydrodynamic cell trapping and the broadband electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Using the least flow resistance path principle, the hydrodynamic cell trapping in serpentine arrays can be carried out in a deterministic and automatic manner without the assistance of any external fields. The experimental results show that a cell trap rate of higher than 95% can be easily achieved in our cell trapping microdevices. Using the maximum length sequences (MLS) technique, our home-made EIS is capable of measuring the impedance spectrum ranging from 1.953 kHz to 1 MHz in approximately 0.5 ms. Finally, on the basis of the developed single-cell analysis system, we precisely monitor the trapping process of human breast tumor cells (MCF-7 cells) according to the changes of electrical impedance. The MCF-7 cells with different trapping conditions or sizes can also be clearly distinguished through the impedance signals. Our portable single-cell analysis system may provide a promising tool to monitor single cells for long periods of time or to discriminate cell types.
Continuous land cover change monitoring in the remote sensing big data era

Since the late 20th century, global change issues have attracted lots of attention. As a key component of global changes, land cover and land use information has been increasingly important for improved understanding of global environmental changes and feedbacks between social and environmental systems (Verburg et al., 2015). A set of national and global scale land cover/use products with higher spatial and temporal resolutions have been developed to fill this gap. In China, existing efforts include China's National Land Cover/Use Datasets (NLCD-China) since 1980s from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Liu et al., 2014), the Global Land cover dataset at 30 m resolution (GlobeLand30) from the National Geomatics Center of China (Chen et al., 2015), and the Finer Resolution Observation and Monitoring of Global Land Cover (FROM-GLC) products from the Tsinghua University (Gong et al., 2013). In particular, the GlobeLand30 dataset took advantage of an integrated approach based on the pixel- and object-based methods with knowledge (so-called the POK-based approach), which combined computer classification and expert knowledge. The GlobeLand30 dataset has been widely used for different fields including land use change monitoring, farmland protection, ecological and environmental evaluations, and climate change simulation (Shi et al., 2016).
Coseismic Coulomb failure stress changes caused by the 2017 M7.0 Jiuzhaigou earthquake, and its relationship with the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

On August 8, 2017, a M7.0 earthquake occurred in Jiuzhaigou County, Sichuan Province, China, resulting in significant casualties and property damage. Therefore, it is critical to identify the areas of potential aftershocks before reconstruction and re-settling people to avoid future disasters. Based on the elastic dislocation theory and a multi-layered lithospheric model, we calculate the Coulomb failure stress changes caused by the Wenchuan and Jiuzhaigou earthquakes, discuss the relationship between the M_w7.9 Wenchuan and M7.0 Jiuzhaigou earthquakes, and analyze the influence of the aftershock distribution and stress changes on the major faults in this region caused by the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. The co- and post-seismic stress changes caused by the Wenchuan earthquake significantly increased the stress accumulation at the hypocenter of the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. Therefore, the occurrence of the Jiuzhaigou earthquake was probably stimulated by the Wenchuan earthquake. The aftershock distribution is well explained by the co-seismic stress changes of the Jiuzhaigou earthquake. The stress accumulation and corresponding seismic hazard on the Maqu-Heye segment of the East Kunlun fault and the northern extremity of the Huya fault has been further increased by the Jiuzhaigou earthquake.
China in action: national strategies to combat against emerging infectious diseases

During the 2013–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, there was a special team as part of an international effort working in field. This was the Chinese aid team deployed to West Africa as a multidisciplinary group composed of experienced virologists, epidemiologists and physicians. As part of an international effort, they participated in the control of Ebola virus disease from the very beginning until the end of the outbreak, and currently retain a team in West Africa to prevent any subsequent flare-ups. Based out of a state-of-theart biosafety level III (BSL-3) lab in Sierra Leone, tens of thousands of suspected Ebola specimens were tested during the epidemic. This marked the first time that China has deployed public health specialists to countries outside of Asia to combat infectious disease outbreaks (Zhang and Gao, 2015; Gao and Feng, 2014).
The oxidative DNA damage response: A review of research undertaken with Tsinghua and Xiangya students at the University of Pittsburgh

Endogenous stress and exogenous toxicants (chemicals and UV light) alter genetic information either directly or indirectly through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby driving genomic instability in cells and promoting tumorigenesis. All living cells try to faithfully preserve and transmit their genomic information from one generation to the next using DNA repair mechanisms to repair oxidative DNA damage to prevent cancer or premature aging. Oxidative DNA damage comprises a mixture of DNA lesions including base damage, DNA single strand breaks (SSBs), and DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). This review summarizes some of the studies on DNA damage response at a defined genome locus that are performed by students from the Tsinghua University School of Medicine and the School of Medicine of Central South University (Xiangya Hospital) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. A summary of their work highlights the continuous contribution of the students to a particular research program and exemplifies the achievements of this China-U.S. collaborative training program.
To form AIE product with the target analyte: a new strategy for excellent fluorescent probes, and convenient detection of hydrazine in seconds with test strips

A new hydrazine probe was designed, which demonstrates ultrafast “turn-on” response towards hydrazine both in solution and as gas, due to the excellent AIE (aggregation-induced emission) characteristic of the yielded products. Excitedly, the corresponding fabricated test strips can report the presence of trace hydrazine as low as 10 nmol/L in aqueous medium in seconds conveniently, with very high selectivity in the pH value ranging from 3.0 to 14.0.
Biosynthesis and functions of metabolites

Metabolism is the basic activity of life. Two international conferences, including the 4th International Conference on Plant Metabolism (ICPM2017, http://www.cspb.org.cn/2017/icpm.asp), and the 13th International Meeting on Biosynthesis, Function and Synthetic Biology of Isoprenoids (TERPNET2017, http://www.cspb.org.cn/2017/terpnet.asp) were concurrently convened side by side in Dalian from July 16 to 20, 2017. The two conferences were scheduled with independent programs to keep their traditional style, but also arranged with combined plenary sessions, providing a multidimensional forum for interactions of metabolisms with plant and microbial biology among 900 participants from 26 countries.
Surface-engineering enhanced sodium storage performance of Na_3V_2(PO_4)_3 cathode via in-situ self-decorated conducting polymer route

The key to the development of sodium ion battery is materials with a high rate capacity and cycle stability. Conducting coating is an efficient approach to improve electrochemical performance. As a case study, the Na_3V_2(PO_4)_3@PEDOT composite was prepared through an in-situ self-decorated conducting polymer route without further calcination. The Na_3V_2(PO_4)_3 electrode with a 7% poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) coating can deliver an initial reversible capacity of 100 mA h g–1 at 1 cycle, and 82% capacity retention over 200 cycles. The results also show that the Na_3V_2(PO_4)_3 electrode without and with a thick PEDOT coating exhibits poor electrochemical performance, indicating that an appropriate coating layer is important for improving electronic conductivity and regulating Na-ion insertion. Therefore, this work offers possibility to promote the electrochemical performance of poor-conducting materials in sodium-ion batteries using an in-situ self-decorated conducting polymer.
High-capacity lithium-rich cathode oxides with multivalent cationic and anionic redox reactions for lithium ion batteries

Lithium-rich cathode oxides with capability to realize multivalent cationic and anionic redox reactions have attracted much attention as promising candidate electrode materials for high energy density lithium ion batteries because of their ultrahigh specific capacity. However, redox reaction mechanisms, especially for the anionic redox reaction of these materials, are still not very clear. Meanwhile, several pivotal challenges associated with the redox reactions mechanisms, such as structural instability and limited cycle life, hinder the practical applications of these high-capacity lithium-rich cathode oxides. Herein, we review the lithium-rich oxides with various crystal structures. The multivalent cationic/anionic redox reaction mechanisms of several representative high capacity lithium-rich cathode oxides are discussed, attempting to understand the origins of the high lithium storage capacities of these materials. In addition, we provide perspectives for the further development of these lithium-rich cathode oxides based on multivalent cationic and anionic redox reactions, focusing on addressing the fundamental problems and promoting their practical applications.