Photonic Crystal Fiber Plasmonic Sensor Based on Dual Optofluidic Channel.

A hexagonal photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensor with a dual optofluidic channel based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect is proposed. The sensor characteristic is numerically explored by software integrated with the finite element method (FEM). The numerical results show that, when the analyte refractive index (RI) varies from 1.

Graphene-Coupled Terahertz Semiconductor Lasers for Enhanced Passive Frequency Comb Operation.

Optical frequency combs, consisting of well-controlled equidistant frequency lines, have been widely used in precision spectroscopy and metrology. Terahertz combs have been realized in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) by employing either an active mode-locking or phase seeding technique, or a dispersion compensator mirror. However, it remains a challenge to achieve the passive comb formation in terahertz semiconductor lasers due to the insufficient nonlinearities of conventional saturable absorbers.

High-sulfur coal-derived nitrogen, sulfur dual-doped carbon as an economical metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction.

The search for an economical electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a worldwide issue for fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Herein, we used cheap and available high-sulfur inferior coal as the single precursor to synthesize an N, S dual-doped carbon (NSC) metal-free electrocatalyst for the ORR. The N, S dual-doped carbon (NSC), prepared at 800 °C (NSC800), possessed a large specific surface area of 942 m g, with an amorphous carbon structure and more defects than the others.

Novel designed azo substituted semi-cyanine fluorescent probe for cytochrome P450 reductase detection and hypoxia imaging in cancer cells.

A hypoxia activated fluorescent probe AZO-Cy which contains an azo group conjugated to the electron withdrawing part of the fluorescent dye was synthesized. In the presence of NADH, AZO-Cy displayed high selectivity and sensitivity to cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) under low . The probe showed high anti-interference capability in the presence of other biothiols and ions.

Optomagnetic plasmonic nanocircuits.

The coupling between solid-state quantum emitters and nanoplasmonic waveguides is essential for the realization of integrated circuits for various quantum information processing protocols, communication, and sensing. Such applications benefit from a feasible, scalable and low loss fabrication method as well as efficient coupling to nanoscale waveguides. Here, we demonstrate optomagnetic plasmonic nanocircuitry for guiding, routing and processing the readout of electron spins of nitrogen vacancy centres.

Conformational-transited protein corona regulated cell-membrane penetration and induced cytotoxicity of ultrasmall Au nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles (NP) in biological fluids almost invariably become coated with proteins to form protein coronas. It is the NP-protein corona rather than the bare nanoparticle that determines the nanoparticle's bio-behavior. Here, ultrasmall gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) coated by a human serum albumin (HSA) corona were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, denature experiments, fluorescence quenching.

Acetylacetone functionalized magnetic carbon microspheres for the highly-efficient adsorption of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions.

Herein, Acac-C@FeO, a magnetic carbon (C@FeO) modified with acetylacetone (Acac), was first prepared and used as a solid-phase adsorbent for adsorbing some heavy metal ions from aqueous solution. The adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and BET studies. Some parameters affecting the adsorption and desorption processes were studied in Pb solution, including sample pH, contact time, initial concentration, type and connection of the desorption solution.

Kinetic and mechanistic investigations of the degradation of propranolol in heat activated persulfate process.

This study investigated the heat activated persulfate (heat/PS) process in the degradation of propranolol from water. Various factors (, temperature, persulfate dose, initial pH and natural water constituent) on PRO degradation kinetics have been investigated. The results showed that the PRO degradation followed a pseudo-first-order kinetics pattern.

Reactive oxygen species inhibits invasion into HepG2 epithelial cells.

(Lm) can colonize human gastrointestinal tract and subsequently cross the intestinal barrier. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced by NADPH oxidase. However, the role of ROS in bacterial invasion remains to be less understood.

Sword-like CuO/CeO composites derived from a Ce-BTC metal-organic framework with superior CO oxidation performance.

Porous shape-controllable metal oxide composites derived from a metal-organic framework have gained more and more attention due to their extensive applications. In this paper, sword-like CuO/CeO composites were successfully synthesized by calcination of a strawsheave-like Ce-based metal-organic framework (Ce-BTC) containing suitable Cu loading as self-sacrificial templates at 500 °C. Moreover, sword-like CuO/CeO composites displayed superior catalytic performance for CO oxidation, which was ascribed to a good interfacial contact, easily reducible surface copper species at low temperature and abundant surface lattice oxygen species, more Cu and oxygen vacancies.

Fifteen-gene expression based model predicts the survival of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the major renal cell carcinoma subtype, but its postsurgical prognosis varies among individual patients.We used gene expression, machine learning (random forest variable hunting), and Cox regression analysis to develop a risk score model based on 15 genes to predict survival of patients with ccRCC in the The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset (N = 533). We validated this model in another cohort, and analyzed correlations between risk score and other clinical indicators.

Facile synthesis of highly active fluorinated ultrathin graphitic carbon nitride for photocatalytic H evolution using a novel NaF etching strategy.

Although graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) has been intensively studied in photocatalytic research, its performance is still hindered by its inherently low photo-absorption and inefficient charge separation. Herein, we report a simple NaF solution treating method to produce fluorinated and alkaline metal intercalated ultrathin GCN with abundant in-plane pores and exposed active edges, and therefore an enhanced number of actives sites. Compared to bulk GCN, NaF treated GCN has a larger specific surface area of 81.

Extraction in cholinium-based magnetic ionic liquid aqueous two-phase system for the determination of berberine hydrochloride in .

A magnetic ionic liquids (MILs)-based aqueous two-phase system (MIL-ATPs) obtained by mixing with a series of inorganic salts, which involves five cholinium MILs with the piperidinyloxy radical anion is reported for the first time. Phase diagrams for the new ATPs were experimentally determined at different temperatures (298.15-318.

Sulfur encapsulated in thermally reduced graphite oxide as a cathode for Li-S batteries.

Rechargeable Li-S batteries are receiving ever-increasing attention due to their high theoretical energy density and inexpensive raw sulfur materials. However, their practical applications have been hindered by short cycle life and limited power density owing to the poor electronic conductivity of sulfur species, diffusion of soluble polysulfide intermediates (LiS , = 4-8) and the large volume change of the S cathode during charge/discharge. Optimizing the carbon framework is considered as an effective approach for constructing high performance S/carbon cathodes because the microstructure of the carbon host plays an important role in stabilizing S and restricting the "shuttle reaction" of polysulfides in Li-S batteries.

Size-Controlled Graphene Nanodot Arrays/ZnO Hybrids for High-Performance UV Photodetectors.

Graphene nanodots (GNDs) are one of the most attractive graphene nanostructures due to their tunable optoelectronic properties. Fabricated by polystyrene-nanosphere lithography, uniformly sized graphene nanodots array (GNDA) is constructed as an ultraviolet photodetector (PD) with ZnO nanofilm spin coated on it. The size of GNDA can be well controlled from 45 to 20 nm varying the etching time.

Self-supporting S@GO-FWCNTs composite films as positive electrodes for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Although lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are a promising secondary power source, it still faces many technical challenges, such as rapid capacity decay and low sulfur utilization. The loading of sulfur and the weight percentage of sulfur in the cathode usually have a significant influence on the energy density. Herein, we report an easy synthesis of a self-supporting sulfur@graphene oxide-few-wall carbon nanotube (S@GO-FWCNT) composite cathode film, wherein an aluminum foil current collector is replaced by FWCNTs and sulfur particles are uniformly wrapped by graphene oxide along with FWCNTs.

Theory and development of biplanar active shim coils for a permanent NMR analyzer.

The general expression for magnetic induction in the z axis direction is derived from magnetic scalar potential, and magnetic induction for biplanar shimming coils (BSCs) is also derived from magnetic vector potentials and Green functions, which simultaneously include Sin and Cos harmonic fields. The relationship between these expressions is discussed, and we show they are partially consistent. Magnetic induction generated Sin and Cos stream functions, which are presented and discussed, and we conclude that the type of stream function determines the type of harmonic field, and that BSCs can not only generate specific harmonic fields directly using Cos stream function, but also generate the rest of the harmonic fields through some specific operations.

Design of an Adaptive Human-Machine System Based on Dynamical Pattern Recognition of Cognitive Task-Load.

This paper developed a cognitive task-load (CTL) classification algorithm and allocation strategy to sustain the optimal operator CTL levels over time in safety-critical human-machine integrated systems. An adaptive human-machine system is designed based on a non-linear dynamic CTL classifier, which maps a set of electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) related features to a few CTL classes. The least-squares support vector machine (LSSVM) is used as dynamic pattern classifier.

Not Bad: Passive Leg Raising in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation-A New Modeling Study.

To evaluate, using a simulated haemodynamic circulation model, whether passive leg raising (PLR) is able to improve the effect during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); to expose the possible reasons why PLR works or not. We adapted a circulatory model for CPR with PLR. First we compared cardiac output (CO), coronary perfusion pressure (CPP), blood flow to heart (Q), and blood flow to neck and brain (Q) of standard chest compression-only CPR with and without PLR; second we simulated the effects of PLR in different situations, by varying the thoracic pump factor (TPF) from 0 to 1; third we simulated the effects when the legs are lifted to the different heights.

Correlation between bone mineral density and serum trace element contents of elderly males in Beijing urban area.

Trace element levels are associated with the incidence of osteoporotic fractures, but related mechanisms remain unknown. Trace elements may interfere with growth, development and maintenance of bones. Therefore, we investigated whether plasma trace element levels are associated with bone mineral density in elderly males in Beijing.

Is experiential-intuitive cognitive style more inclined to err on conjunction fallacy than analytical-rational cognitive style?

In terms of prediction by Epstein's integrative theory of personality, cognitive-experiential self-theory (CEST), those people with experiential-intuitive cognitive style are more inclined to induce errors than the other people with analytical-rational cognitive style in the conjunction fallacy (two events that can occur together are seen as more likely than at least one of the two events). We tested this prediction in a revised Linda problem. The results revealed that rational and experiential cognitive styles do not statistically influence the propensity for committing the conjunction fallacy, which is contrary to the CEST's predictions.