Towards data-driven electricity management: multi-region uniform data and knowledge graph.

Due to growing population and technological advances, global electricity consumption is increasing. Although CO emissions are projected to plateau or slightly decrease by 2025 due to the adoption of clean energy sources, they are still not decreasing enough to mitigate climate change. The residential sector makes up 25% of global electricity consumption and has potential to improve efficiency and reduce CO footprint without sacrificing comfort.

Antiferroelectric Order in Nematic Liquids: Flexoelectricity Versus Electrostatics.

The recent discovery of ferroelectric nematic liquid crystalline phases marks a major breakthrough in soft matter research. An intermediate phase, often observed between the nonpolar and the ferroelectric nematic phase, shows a distinct antiferroelectric response to electric fields. However, its structure and formation mechanisms remain debated, with flexoelectric and electrostatics effects proposed as competing mechanisms.

Role of the stratosphere in the global mercury cycle.

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant with substantial risks to human and ecosystem health. By upward transport in tropical regions, mercury enters into the stratosphere, but the contribution of the stratosphere to global mercury dispersion and deposition remains unknown. We find that between 5 and 50% (passing through the 400-kelvin isentropic surface and tropopause, respectively) of the mercury mass deposited on Earth's surface is chemically processed in the lower stratosphere.

Biocompatible Carbon Dots/Polyurethane Composites as Potential Agents for Combating Bacterial Biofilms: N-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots/Polyurethane and Gamma Ray-Modified Graphene Quantum Dots/Polyurethane Composites.

Pathogen bacteria appear and survive on various surfaces made of steel or glass. The existence of these bacteria in different forms causes significant problems in healthcare facilities and society. Therefore, the surface engineering of highly potent antimicrobial coatings is highly important in the 21st century, a period that began with a series of epidemics.

Evaluation and Characterization of Functionally Graded Adhesive Joints: Experimental and Numerical Analyses.

Epoxy resins have exhibited exceptional performance in engineering applications, particularly as a replacement for traditional mechanical joints in adhesive bonding. This study evaluates the suitability of two innovative adhesives, SikaPower-1511 and SikaPower-1548, in various graded configurations. The thermal curing behavior of the adhesives was analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Foliar Nutrition Strategies for Enhancing Phenolic and Amino Acid Content in Olive Leaves.

Studies on selenium (Se) and silicon (Si) foliar biostimulation of different plants have been shown to affect concentrations of phenolic compounds. However, their effects on olive ( L.) primary and secondary metabolites have not been fully investigated.

Disentangling Sources of Momentum Fluctuations in Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

High-energy nuclear collisions create a quark-gluon plasma, whose initial condition and subsequent expansion vary from event to event, impacting the distribution of the eventwise average transverse momentum [P([p_{T}])]. Disentangling the contributions from fluctuations in the nuclear overlap size (geometrical component) and other sources at a fixed size (intrinsic component) remains a challenge. This problem is addressed by measuring the mean, variance, and skewness of P([p_{T}]) in ^{208}Pb+^{208}Pb and ^{129}Xe+^{129}Xe collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.

Detecting a Long-Lived False Vacuum with Quantum Quenches.

Distinguishing whether a system supports alternate low-energy (locally stable) states-stable (true vacuum) versus metastable (false vacuum)-by direct observation can be difficult when the lifetime of the state is very long but otherwise unknown. Here we demonstrate, in a tractable model system, that there are physical phenomena on much shorter timescales that can diagnose the difference. Specifically, we study the time evolution of the magnetization following a quench in the tilted quantum Ising model, and show that its magnitude spectrum is an effective diagnostic.

Fascicle differentiation of upper extremity nerves on high-resolution ultrasound with multimodal microscopic verification.

This study aimed to compare the fascicular anatomy of upper limb nerves visualized using in situ high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) with ex vivo imaging modalities, namely, magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM), histological cross-sections (HCS), and optical projection tomography (OPT). The median, ulnar, and superficial branch of radial nerve (n = 41) were visualized in 14 cadaveric upper limbs using 22-MHz HRUS. Subsequently, the nerves were excised, imaged with different microscopic techniques, and their morphometric properties were compared.

Engineering 2D spin networks by on-surface encapsulation of azafullerene radicals in nanotemplates.

We present an efficient strategy for on-surface engineering of organic metal-free supramolecular complexes with long-term spin protection. By vacuum deposition of azafullerene (CN) monomers on a pre-deposited template layer of [10]cycloparaphenylene ([10]CPP) nanohoops on Au(111) surface we exploit the molecular shape matching between the CN and [10]CPP for the azafullerene encapsulation with nanohoops in a guest-host complexation geometry. CN⊂[10]CPP supramolecular complexes self-assemble into an extended two-dimensional hexagonal lattice yielding a high density network of stable spin-1/2 radicals.

Fungal lectins show differential antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines.

Glycosylation patterns represent an important signature of cancer cells that can be decoded by glycan-binding proteins, i.e., lectins.

Holistic monitoring of Campylobacter jejuni biofilms with NanoLuc bioluminescence.

Campylobacter jejuni, a major cause of foodborne zoonotic infections worldwide, shows a paradoxical ability to survive despite its susceptibility to environmental and food-processing stressors. This resilience is likely due to the bacterium entering a viable but non-culturable state, often within biofilms, or even initiating biofilm formation as a survival strategy. This study presents an innovative application of NanoLuc bioluminescence to accurately monitor the development of C.

Electrostatic Interaction between SARS-CoV-2 and Charged Surfaces: Spike Protein Evolution Changed the Game.

Previous works show the key role of electrostatics in the SARS-CoV-2 virus in aspects such as virus-cell interactions or virus inactivation by ionic surfactants. Electrostatic interactions depend strongly on the variant since the charge of the Spike protein (responsible for virus-environment interactions) evolved across the variants from the highly negative Wild Type (WT) to the highly positive Omicron variant. The distribution of the charge also evolved from diffuse to highly localized.

Microplasma Controlled Nanogold Sensor for SERS of Aliphatic and Aromatic Explosives with PCA-KNN Recognition.

Nanogold is an emerging material for enhancing surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), which enables the detection of hazardous analytes at trace levels. This study presents a simple, single-step plasma synthesis method to control the size and yield of Au nanoparticles by using plasma-liquid redox chemistry. The pin-based argon plasma reduces the Au precursor in under 5 min, synthesizing Au spherical particles ranging from ∼20 nm at 0.

Synthesis, Trans-Cis Photoisomerization, Fluorescence Decay Studies of Methoxy Ester Functionalized Alkoxy Side Chain Azobenzene Compounds and Their Photoluminescence Dynamics.

In this study, a series of new methoxy ester functionalized core fluorinated, chloro-fluorinated azobenzene derivatives were synthesized. The molecular structures of the azobenzene derivatives (3a-3c and 4a-4c) were confirmed through various analytical methods, with variations in the alkoxy chain length on one end of the aromatic ring. Optical absorption studies of 3a, 3b revealed π-π* transitions around 368-392 nm.

A Dynamic Metal-Organic Radical Emission System.

Developing new organic radical emission systems and regulating their luminescence properties presents a significant challenge. Herein, we build dynamic and multi-emission band radical luminescence systems by co-assembling inorganic metal salts with carbonyl compounds in ionic liquids. After the assembling, dual-band, and excitation wavelength-dependent emission was observed upon ultraviolet light irradiation, one emission band originates from carbonyl radical after light irradiation, the other band from the ligand-metal charge transfer (LMCT) state, which benefits from the charge transfer from the radicals to the metal salts.

Triclinic polymorph of bis-[2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-]pyridin-2-ium] tetra-chloridocadmium(II).

The crystal structure of the title organic-inorganic hybrid salt, (CHN)[CdCl], (I), has been reported with four mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit in a monoclinic cell [Vassilyeva (2021 ▸). , , 7713-7722]. While using two different aldehydes in the oxidative cyclization-condensation involving CHNH·HCl to prepare a new monovalent cation with the imidazo[1,5-]pyridinium skeleton, a new polymorph was obtained for (I) in space group 1 and a unit cell with approximately half the volume of the monoclinic form.

Auger spectrum of the ultrafast dissociating 2pσ* resonance in HCl.

We present an theoretical method to calculate the resonant Auger spectrum in the presence of ultrafast dissociation. The method is demonstrated by deriving the L-VV resonant Auger spectrum mediated by the 2pσ* resonance in HCl, where the electronic Auger decay and nuclear dissociation occur on the same time scale. The Auger decay rates are calculated within the one-center approximation and are shown to vary significantly with the inter-nuclear distance.

Modified vaginal lactobacilli expressing fluorescent and luminescent proteins for more effective monitoring of their release from nanofibers, safety and cell adhesion.

Electrospun nanofibers offer a highly promising platform for the delivery of vaginal lactobacilli, providing an innovative approach to preventing and treating vaginal infections. To advance the application of nanofibers for the delivery of lactobacilli, tools for studying their safety and efficacy in vitro need to be established. In this study, fluorescent (mCherry and GFP) and luminescent (NanoLuc luciferase) proteins were expressed in three vaginal lactobacilli (Lactobacillus crispatus, Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus jensenii) and a control Lactiplantibacillus plantarum with the aim to use this technology for close tracking of lactobacilli release from nanofibers and their adhesion on epithelial cells.

Signatures of self-organized dynamics in rapidly driven critical sandpiles.

We study two prototypical models of self-organized criticality, namely sandpile automata with deterministic (Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld) and probabilistic (Manna model) dynamical rules, focusing on the nature of stress fluctuations induced by driving-adding grains during avalanche propagation, and dissipation through avalanches that hit the system boundary. Our analysis of stress evolution time series reveals robust cyclical trends modulated by collective fluctuations with dissipative avalanches. These modulated cycles attain higher harmonics, characterized by multifractal measures within a broad range of timescales.

Up-Conversion Photoluminescence Reconfiguration in Silicon by Inner Microstructure Control of Hybrid Plasmonic-Semiconductor Nanoparticles.

Hybrid metal-semiconductor nanostructures unifying plasmonic and high-refractive-index materials in a single resonant system demonstrate a wide set of unique optical properties. Such systems are a perspective for a broad palette of applications, but the link between their inner structure and optical properties is a very sensitive issue, which is still not revealed. Here, we describe the influence of internal microstructure of a hybrid gold-silicon nanoparticle (the gold nanoparticle with embedded silicon nanograins) on the up-conversion white-light photoluminescence.

Computational Psychotherapy System for Mental Health Prediction and Behavior Change with a Conversational Agent.

Background: The importance of computational psychotherapy is increasing due to the record high prevalence of mental health issues worldwide. Despite advancements, current computational psychotherapy systems lack advanced prediction and behavior change mechanisms using conversational agents.

Purpose: This work presents a computational psychotherapy system for mental health prediction and behavior change using a conversational agent.