Silicon flower structures by maskless plasma etching.

Silicon nano/microstructures are widely utilized in the semiconductor industry, and plasma etching is the most prominent method for fabricating silicon nano/microstructures. Among the variety of silicon nano/microstructures, black silicon with light-trapping properties has garnered broad interest from both the scientific and industrial communities. However, the fabrication mechanism of black silicon remains unclear, and the light absorption of black silicon only focuses on the near-infrared region thus far.

NbO Coating to Improve the Cyclic Stability and Voltage Decay of Li-Rich Cathode Material for Lithium-Ion Battery.

The commercialization of lithium manganese oxide (LMO) is seriously hindered by several drawbacks, such as low initial Coulombic efficiency, the degradation of the voltage and capacity during cycling, and the poor rating performance. Developing a simple and scalable synthesis for engineering with surface coating layers is significant and challenging for the commercial prospects of LMO oxides. Herein, we have proposed an efficient engineering strategy with a NbO coating layer.

Detection of Alpha-Fetoprotein Using Aptamer-Based Sensors.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is widely-known as the most commonly used protein biomarker for liver cancer diagnosis at the early stage. Therefore, developing the highly sensitive and reliable method of AFP detection is of essential demand for practical applications. Herein, two types of aptamer-based AFP detection methods, i.

Transparent graphene electrodes based hybrid perovskites photodetectors with broad spectral response from UV-visible to near-infrared.

A new class of transparent graphene electrode based organic-inorganic halide perovskite photodetectors with broad spectral response is developed. These ultrasensitive devices exhibit high ON/OFF current ratio, high linear dynamic range, broad spectral range, excellent detection for weak light and easy fabrication with low-cost. Their semi-transparent feature and distinct photodetecting function for both sides would provide new applications affecting our daily lives.

Detection of Mercury Ion with High Sensitivity and Selectivity Using a DNA/Graphene Oxide Hybrid Immobilized on Glass Slides.

Excessive mercury ions (Hg) cause great pollution to soil/water and pose a major threat to human health. The high sensitivity and high selectivity in the Hg detection demonstrated herein are significant for the research areas of analytical chemistry, chemical biology, physical chemistry, drug discovery, and clinical diagnosis. In this study, a series of simple, low-cost, and highly sensitive biochips based on a graphene oxide (GO)/DNA hybrid was developed.

Improved analytical model for the relaxation process of aeolian sand transport.

The process from the initial sand movement to sand flux saturation is described as the relaxation of aeolian sand transport. For this relaxation process, most existing models distinguish the conditions with and without upwind sand flux, therefore lacking in generality. An improved analytical model is proposed in this paper, which incorporates the phenomena of "overshoot" and "equilibrium" and the concept of the region of initiation by fluid, and is able to unify the cases with and without upwind sand flux.

Early clinical and CT features of COVID-19 and community-acquired pneumonia from a fever observation ward in Ningbo, China.

Introduction: We aimed to compare the early clinical manifestations, laboratory results and chest computed tomography (CT) images of COVID-19 patients with those of other community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients to differentiate CAP from COVID-19 before reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction results are obtained.

Methods: The clinical and laboratory data and chest CT images of 51 patients were assessed in a fever observation ward for evidence of COVID-19 between January and February 2020.

Results: 24 patients had laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, whereas 27 individuals had negative results.

The application of the scallop nanostructure in deep silicon etching.

Micro/nanostructures with high aspect ratios in silicon wafers obtained by plasma etching are of great significance in device fabrication. In most cases, the scallop nanostructure in deep silicon etching should be suppressed. However, the scallop nanostructure could be applied in electronic device fabrication as characteristic information, which indicates the balance between deposition and etching.

Direct observation of single-molecule hydrogen-bond dynamics with single-bond resolution.

The hydrogen bond represents a fundamental interaction widely existing in nature, which plays a key role in chemical, physical and biochemical processes. However, hydrogen bond dynamics at the molecular level are extremely difficult to directly investigate. Here, in this work we address direct electrical measurements of hydrogen bond dynamics at the single-molecule and single-event level on the basis of the platform of molecular nanocircuits, where a quadrupolar hydrogen bonding system is covalently incorporated into graphene point contacts to build stable supramolecule-assembled single-molecule junctions.

Chemically Engineered Substrates for Patternable Growth of Two-Dimensional Chalcogenide Crystals.

The key challenge of direct integration of two-dimensional (2D) chalcogenide crystals into functional modules is precise control of the nucleation sites of the building blocks. Herein, we exploit the chemical activities and surface engineering of the substrates to manipulate the nucleation energy barrier of 2D crystals and thereby realize the patternable growth of 2D crystals. The selective-region chemical modifications of the substrates are achieved via microcontact printing combined with the elegant self-assembly of octadecyltrichlorosilane molecules on the substrates.

Primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the left ureter: A case report.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is a subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurring in various sites, but rarely involving the ureters. Primary DLBCL is a rare entity. Imaging studies in a 82-year-old male patient revealed left hydronephrosis and an area of nodular soft tissue density in the upper ureteral wall.

Seed-Assisted Growth of Single-Crystalline Patterned Graphene Domains on Hexagonal Boron Nitride by Chemical Vapor Deposition.

Vertical heterostructures based on two-dimensional layered materials, such as stacked graphene and hexagonal boron nitride (G/h-BN), have stimulated wide interest in fundamental physics, material sciences and nanoelectronics. To date, it still remains challenging to obtain high quality G/h-BN heterostructures concurrently with controlled nucleation density and thickness uniformity. In this work, with the aid of the well-defined poly(methyl methacrylate) seeds, effective control over the nucleation densities and locations of graphene domains on the predeposited h-BN monolayers was realized, leading to the formation of patterned G/h-BN arrays or continuous films.

Oxidative-Etching-Assisted Synthesis of Centimeter-Sized Single-Crystalline Graphene.

Centimeter-sized single-crystalline graphene is obtained by an oxidative-etching-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Gaseous oxidants are found to be highly responsible for graphene etching. By diminishing the uncertain amount of H2 O vapor in commercial H2 and precisely introducing additional O2 , the graphene nucleation density can be well controlled.

Graphene-DNAzyme Junctions: A Platform for Direct Metal Ion Detection with Ultrahigh Sensitivity.

Many metal ions are present in biology and in the human body in trace amounts. Despite numerous efforts, metal sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity (< a few picomolar) are rarely achieved. Here, we describe a platform method that integrates a Cu-dependent DNAzyme into graphene-molecule junctions and its application for direct detection of paramagnetic Cu with femtomolar sensitivity and high selectivity.

Ultrahigh Photogain Nanoscale Hybrid Photodetectors.

A class of ultrasensitive nanoscale hybrid photodetectors formed from carbon electrode-molecule junctions using P3HT:PCBM as photoresponsive semiconductors are demonstrated. The unique device architecture, tunability of nanoscale channel lengths and the optimized contact nature of semiconductor/electrode interfaces led to ultrahigh photogains of 1000 with graphene nanoelectrodes and 1 000 000 with single-walled carbon nanotube nanoelectrodes.

Direct growth of high-quality graphene on high-κ dielectric SrTiO₃ substrates.

High-quality monolayer graphene was synthesized on high-κ dielectric single crystal SrTiO3 (STO) substrates by a facile metal-catalyst-free chemical vapor deposition process. The as-grown graphene sample was suitable for fabricating a high performance field-effect transistor (FET), followed by a far lower operation voltage compared to that of a SiO2-gated FET and carrier motilities of approximately 870-1050 cm(2)·V(-1)·s(-1) in air at rt. The directly grown high-quality graphene on STO makes it a perfect candidate for designing transfer-free, energy-saving, and batch production of FET arrays.

A novel canine model of portal vein stenosis plus thioacetamide administration-induced cirrhotic portal hypertension with hypersplenism.

Current large animal models that could closely resemble the typical features of cirrhotic portal hypertension in human have not been well established. Thus, we aimed to develop and describe a reliable and reproducible canine cirrhosis model of portal hypertension. A total of 30 mongrel dogs were randomly divided into four groups: 1 (control; n = 5), 2 (portal vein stenosis [PVS]; n = 5], 3 (thioacetamide [TAA]; n = 5), and 4 (PVS plus TAA; n = 15).