The co-transport of Cd(Ⅱ) and nZnO in saturated soil packed column:effects of ionic strength and pH

The rapid development and widespread use of ZnO nanoparticles(nZnO) in various industries have raised concerns about their potential environmental impact.Therefore,understanding the fate and role of nZnO in the natural environment is crucial for mitigating their hazardous effects on the environment and human safety.The purpose of the present study was to provide scientific support for understanding and eliminating the joint risk of nanoparticle and heavy metal pollution in the soil environment by revealing the co-transport characteristics of Cd(Ⅱ) and ZnO nanoparticles(nZnO) in soil under different ionic strength(IS) and pH.The impacts of different IS and pH on the co-transport of Cd(Ⅱ) and nZnO in a20 cm long with an inner diameter of 2.5 cm acrylic column packed with 10 cm high soil samples were investigated in the present study.In the above system,a500 μg L^(-1) Cd(Ⅱ) loaded nZnO suspension pulse with varying IS or pH was introduced into the soil column for leaching over 5 PVs,followed up by 5 PVs background solutions without nZnO.The IS was 1,10,or 50 mM NaCl,with pH6,or the pH was 6,7 or 8 with 1 mM NaCl.Meanwhile,Sedimentation experiments for nZnO,adsorption of Cd(Ⅱ) on soil,and nZnO,DLVO theory calculation for the same background condition were conducted.The presence of nZnO significantly increased the mobility of Cd(Ⅱ) as a result of its strong adsorption capacity for nZnO-associated Cd(Ⅱ).However,with the increase of IS,the co-transport of nZnO and Cd(Ⅱ) was decreased and the retention of nZnO in the soil column due to more nZnO attended to aggregate and sediment during the transport and the decrease in the adsorption capacity of nZnO for Cd(Ⅱ) by competition of Na^(+).When pH was 6,7,and 8,the co-transport of nZnO and Cd(Ⅱ) increased with higher pH due to the lower electrostatic attraction between nZnO and soil under higher pH.Meanwhile,the DLVO theory was fitted to describe the above co-transport process of nZnO and Cd(Ⅱ).More attention should be paid to the presence of nZnO on the migration of Cd(Ⅱ) in the natural soil to control the potential risk of nanoparticles and heavy metals to the environment.The risk of co-transport of nZnO and Cd(Ⅱ) might be controlled by adjusting IS and pH in the soil solution.

A new infrageneric classification of Gastrochilus(Orchidaceae:Epidendroideae)based on molecular and morphological data

Gastrochilus is an orchid genus containing 73 species of mainly epiphytic on trees or rocks in mountain forests of tropical and subtropical Asia.Previous phylogenetic analyses and morphological assessments have failed to produce a well-resolved phylogeny at the infrageneric level.In the present study,a new infrageneric classification of Gastrochilus is proposed based on thoroughly morphological and phylogenetic analyses based on 52 species.Our phylogenetic analysis divided the genus into six sections including three new sections,G.sect.Pseudodistichi,G.sect.Brachycaules and G.sect.Acinacifolii.We also reinstate G.suavis to the specific rank.Furthermore,two new species,G.armeniacus Jun Y.Zhang,B.Xu&Yue H.Cheng and G.minjiangensis Jun Y.Zhang,B.Xu&Yue H.Cheng,are described and illustrated.A key to six sections of the genus is presented.

China’s Perspectives on the Modern Educational Value of Critical Information Literacy

Critical information literacy is a new and important direction of information literacy education for university students in the new media era.By comparing critical information literacy between China and the West,combining with the research on information literacy education in China in the past 20 years,and based on the three major relationships that Chinese philosophy is concerned about that people need to face in the world of life,i.e.,the individual and the self,the individual and nature,and the individual and the society,this paper defines critical information literacy as that individuals,as information subjects,discover,select,confirm,and evaluate the information they are exposed to by obtaining and discriminating the content elements of the information world(information sources,information,and information assets)and using critical thinking skills and methods,creatively interpret or solve the relevant problems arising from the interaction between individuals and self,individuals and nature,individuals and society,and form the literacy that represents the knowledge,ability,attitude,habit,and level of the information subject through continuous reflection and practice.In order for human beings to better understand the world and construct it responsibly,critical information literacy can play a greater role and educational value.It not only helps contemporary college students build knowledge of“good questioning”and enhance their“reasoning”skills,but also encourages them to maintain a“firm standpoint,”cultivate a habit of“healthy skepticism,”and enhance their“decision-making”skills.

Non-invasive evaluation of liver steatosis with imaging modalities:New techniques and applications

In the world,nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)accounts for majority of diffuse hepatic diseases.Notably,substantial liver fat accumulation can trigger and accelerate hepatic fibrosis,thus contributing to disease progression.Moreover,the presence of NAFLD not only puts adverse influences for liver but is also associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.Therefore,early detection and quantified measurement of hepatic fat content are of great importance.Liver biopsy is currently the most accurate method for the evaluation of hepatic steatosis.However,liver biopsy has several limitations,namely,its invasiveness,sampling error,high cost and moderate intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility.Recently,various quantitative imaging techniques have been developed for the diagnosis and quantified measurement of hepatic fat content,including ultrasound-or magnetic resonancebased methods.These quantitative imaging techniques can provide objective continuous metrics associated with liver fat content and be recorded for comparison when patients receive check-ups to evaluate changes in liver fat content,which is useful for longitudinal follow-up.In this review,we introduce several imaging techniques and describe their diagnostic performance for the diagnosis and quantified measurement of hepatic fat content.

A new method for preparing a rat intracerebral hemorrhage model by combining focused ultrasound and microbubbles

Background:We aimed to prepare a non-invasive,reproducible,and controllable rat model of intracerebral hemorrhage with focused ultrasound(FUS).Methods:A rat intracerebral hemorrhage(ICH)model was established by combining FUS and microbubbles(μBs),and edaravone was used to verify whether the free radical scavenger had a protective effect on the model.The brain tissue of each group was sectioned to observe the gross histology,blood-brain barrier(BBB)permeability,cerebral infarction volume,and histopathological changes.Results:Compared with the FUS group,the BBB permeability was significantly increased in the FUS+μBs(F&B)group(p=0.0021).The second coronal slice in the F&B group had an obvious hemorrhage lesion,and the FUS+μBs+edaravone(F&B&E)group had smaller hemorrhage areas;however,ICH did not occur in the FUS group.The cerebral infarction volume in the F&B group was significantly larger than that in the FUS group(p=0.0030)and F&B&E group(p=0.0208).HE staining results showed that nerve fibrinolysis,neuronal necrosis,microglia production,and erythrocytes were found in both the F&B group and the F&B&E group,but the areas of the nerve fibrinolysis and neuronal necrosis in the F&B group were larger than the F&B&E group.Conclusions:A rat ICH model was successfully prepared using theμBs assisted FUS treatment,and edaravone had a therapeutic effect on this model.This model can be used to study the pathophysiological mechanism of ICH-related diseases and in preclinical research on related new drugs.

Immune Optimization Approach for Dynamic Constrained Multi-Objective Multimodal Optimization Problems

This work investigates one immune optimization approach for dynamic constrained multi-objective multimodal optimization in terms of biological immune inspirations and the concept of constraint dominance. Such approach includes mainly three functional modules, environmental detection, population initialization and immune evolution. The first, inspired by the function of immune surveillance, is designed to detect the change of such kind of problem and to decide the type of a new environment;the second generates an initial population for the current environment, relying upon the result of detection;the last evolves two sub-populations along multiple directions and searches those excellent and diverse candidates. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can adaptively track the environmental change and effectively find the global Pareto-optimal front in each environment.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound and contrast-enhanced computed tomography for differentiating mass-forming pancreatitis from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma:a meta-analysis

Background:Patients with mass-forming pancreatitis(MFP)or pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC)presented similar clinical symptoms,but required different treatment approaches and had different survival outcomes.This meta-analysis aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS)and contrast-enhanced computed tomography(CECT)in differentiating MFP from PDAC.Methods:A literature search was performed in the PubMed,EMBASE(Ovid),Cochrane Library(CENTRAL),China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),Weipu(VIP),and WanFang databases to identify original studies published from inception to August 20,2021.Studies reporting the diagnostic performances of CEUS and CECT for differentiating MFP from PDAC were included.The meta-analysis was performed with Stata 15.0 software.The outcomes included the pooled sensitivity,specificity,positive likelihood ratio(+LR),negative likelihood ratio(-LR),diagnostic odds ratio(DOR),and summary receiver operating characteristic(SROC)curves of CEUS and CECT.Meta-regression was conducted to investigate heterogeneity.Bayesian network meta-analysis was conducted to indirectly compare the overall diagnostic performance.Results:Twenty-six studies with 2115 pancreatic masses were included.The pooled sensitivity and specificity of CEUS for MFP were 82%(95%confidence interval[CI],73%-88%;I^(2)=0.00%)and 95%(95%CI,90%-97%;I^(2)=63.44%),respectively;the overall+LR,-LR,and DOR values were 15.12(95%CI,7.61-30.01),0.19(95%CI,0.13-0.29),and 78.91(95%CI,30.94-201.27),respectively;and the area under the SROC curve(AUC)was 0.90(95%CI,0.87-92).However,the overall sensitivity and specificity of CECT were 81%(95%CI,75-85%;I^(2)=66.37%)and 94%(95%CI,90-96%;I^(2)=74.87%);the overall+LR,-LR,and DOR values were 12.91(95%CI,7.86-21.20),0.21(95%CI,0.16-0.27),and 62.53(95%CI,34.45-113.51),respectively;and,the SROC AUC was 0.92(95%CI,0.90-0.94).The overall diagnostic accuracy of CEUS was comparable to that of CECT for the differential diagnosis of MFP and PDAC(relative DOR 1.26,95%CI[0.42-3.83],P>0.05).Conclusions:CEUS and CECT have comparable diagnostic performance for differentiating MFP from PDAC,and should be considered as mutually complementary diagnostic tools for suspected focal pancreatic lesions.

Enhanced efficiency and stability in Sn-based perovskite solar cells with secondary crystallization growth

The conversion efficiencies reported for Tin(Sn)halide-based perovskite solar cells(PSCs)fall a large gap behind those of lead halide-based PSCs,mainly because of poor film quality of the former.Here we report an efficient strategy based on a simple secondary crystallization growth(SCG)technique to improve film quality for tin halide-based PSCs by applying a series of functional amine chlorides on the perovskite surface.They were discovered to enhance the film crystallinity and suppress the oxidation of Sn^(2+)remarkably,hence reduce trap state density and non-irradiative recombination in the absorber films.Furthermore,the SCG film holds the band levels matching better with carrier transport layers and herein favoring charge extraction at the device interfaces.Consequently,a champion device efficiency of 8.07% was achieved alo ng with significant enhancements in VOC and JSC,in contrast to 5.35% of the control device value.Moreover,the SCG film-based devices also exhibit superior stability comparing with the control one.This work explicitly paves a novel and general strategy for developing high performance lead-free PSCs.

Mechanism of defect evolution in H^(+)and He^(+)implanted InP

The defect evolution in InP with the 75 keV H^(+)and 115 keV He^(+)implantation at room temperature after subsequent annealing has been investigated in detail.With the same ion implantation fluence,the He^(+)implantation caused much broader damage distribution accompanied by much higher out-of-plane strain with respect to the H^(+)implanted InP.After annealing,the H^(+)implanted InP did not show any blistering or exfoliation on the surface even at the high fluence and the H2 molecules were stored in the heterogeneously oriented platelet defects.However,the He molecules were stored into the large bubbles which relaxed toward the free surface,creating blisters at the high fluence.

Heterogeneous integration of GaSb layer on(100)Si substrate by ion-slicing technique

Integration of the high-quality Ga Sb layer on an Si substrate is significant to improve the Ga Sb application in optoelectronic integration.In this work,a suitable ion implantation fluence of 5×10^(16)-cm^(-2)H ions for Ga Sb layer transfer is confirmed.Combining the strain change and the defect evolution,the blistering and exfoliation processes of Ga Sb during annealing is revealed in detail.With the direct wafer bonding,the Ga Sb layer is successfully transferred onto a(100)Si substrate covered by 500-nm thickness thermal oxide SiO_(2)layer.After being annealed at 200℃,the Ga Sb layer shows high crystalline quality with only 77 arcsec for the full width at half maximum(FWHM)of the x-ray rocking curve(XRC).

Critical Information Literacy Education Strategies for University Students in the Post-Pandemic Era

The advent of the post-pandemic era,with its risks,uncertainties,and global characteristics,puts forward urgent requirements for the innovation of information literacy education in universities.Critical information literacy has become the top priority of information literacy education.It is urgent to explore diversified and effective critical information literacy education strategies for university students.This paper mainly expounds the educational strategies of critical information literacy,such as original material analysis,reflection,and critical reading.

Improved ferroelectric properties of CMOS back-end-of-line compatible Hf_(0.5)Zr_(0.5)O_(2)thin films by introducing dielectric layers

Hf_(0.5)Zr_(0.5)O_(2)(HZO)ferroelectric thin films have gained significant attention for the development of next-generation ferroelectric memories by complementary-metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS)back-end-of-line(BEOL)processing,due to their relatively low crystallization temperature.However,it remains challenging to achieve excellent ferroelectric properties with post deposition annealing(PDA)process at a BEOL compatible temperature.Along these lines,in this work,it is demonstrated that the ferroelec-tricity of 15 nm thick HZO thin film prepared by PDA process at 400℃can be improved to varying degrees,via depositing 2 nm thick dielectric layers of Al_(2)O_(3),HfO_(2),or ZrO_(2)at either the bottom or the top of the film.Notably,the HZO thin film with the top-Al_(2)O_(3)layer exhibits remarkable ferroelectric prop-erties,which are independent of the thickness of HZO.The 6 nm thick HZO thin film shows a total remanent polarization(2Pr)of 31 mC/cm^(2)under an operating voltage of 2.5 V.These results represent a significant advancement in the fabrication of high-performance,BEOL compatible ferroelectric mem-ories,as compared to previously reported state-of-the-art works.

Unveiling the performance of a novel alkalizing bacterium Enterobacter sp.LYX-2 in immobilization of available Cd

A novel alkalizing strain Enterobacter sp.LYX-2 that could resist 400 mg/L Cd was isolated from Cd-contaminated soil,which immobilized 96.05%Cd^(2+)from medium.Cd distribution analysis demonstrated that more than half of the Cd^(2+)was converted into extracellular precipitated Cd through mobilization of the alkali-producing mechanism by the strain LYX-2,achieving the high immobilization efficiency of Cd^(2+).Biosorption experiments revealed that strain LYX-2 had superior biosorption capacity of 48.28 mg/g for Cd.Pot experiments with Brassica rapa L.were performed with and without strain LYX-2.Compared to control,15.92%bioavailable Cd was converted to non-bioavailable Cd and Cd content in aboveground vegetables was decreased by 37.10%with addition of strain LYX-2.Available Cd was mainly immobilized through extracellular precipitation,cell-surface biosorption and intracellular accumulation of strain LYX-2,which was investigated through Cd distribution,Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy(SEM-EDS),Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FT-IR),X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy(XPS)and Transmission Electron Microscopy(TEM)analysis.In addition,the application of strain LYX-2 significantly promoted the growth of vegetables about 2.4-fold.Above results indicated that highly Cd-resistant alkalizing strain LYX-2,as a novel microbial passivator,had excellent ability and reuse value to achieve the remediation of Cd-contaminated soil coupled with safe production of vegetables simultaneously.

Optimization of ferroelectricity and endurance of hafnium zirconium oxide thin films by controlling element inhomogeneity

Ferroelectric thin films based on HfO_(2) have garnered increasing attention worldwide,primarily due to their remarkable compatibility with silicon and scalability,in contrast to traditional perovskite-structured ferroelectric materials.Nonetheless,significant challenges remain in their widespread commercial utilization,particularly concerning their notable wake-up effect and limited endurance.To address these challenges,we propose a novel strategy involving the inhomogeneous distribution of Hf/Zr elements within thin films and explore its effects on the ferroelectricity and endurance of Hf_(0.5)Zr_(0.5)O_(2) thin films.Through techniques such as grazing incidence X-ray diffraction,transmission electron microscopy,and piezoresponse force microscopy,we investigated the structural characteristics and domain switching behaviors of these materials.The experimental results indicate that the inhomogeneous distribution of Hf/Zr contributes to improving the frequency stability and endurance while maintaining a large remnant polarization in Hf_(0.5)Zr_(0.5)O_(2) ferroelectric thin films.By adjusting the distribution of Zr/Hf within the Hf_(0.5)Zr_(0.5)O_(2) thin films,significant enhancements in the remnant polarization(2P_(r)>35μC/cm2)and endurance(>109)along with a reduced coercive voltage can be achieved.Additionally,the fabricated ferroelectric thin films also exhibit high dielectric tunability(≥26%)under a low operating voltage of 2.5 V,whether in the wake-up state or not.This study offers a promising approach to optimize both the ferroelectricity and endurance of HfO_(2)-based thin films.

Adaptive sampling immune algorithm solving joint chance-constrained programming

This work investigates one immune optimization algorithm in uncertain environments, solving linear or nonlinear joint chance-constrained programming with a general distribution of the random vector. In this algorithm, an a priori lower bound estimate is developed to deal with one joint chance constraint, while the scheme of adaptive sampling is designed to make empirically better antibodies in the current population acquire larger sample sizes in terms of our sample-allocation rule. Relying upon several simplified immune metaphors in the immune system, we design two immune operators of dynamic proliferation and adaptive mutation. The first picks up those diverse antibodies to achieve proliferation according to a dynamical suppression radius index, which can ensure empirically potential antibodies more clones, and reduce noisy influence to the optimized quality, and the second is a module of genetic diversity, which exploits those valuable regions and finds those diverse and excellent antibodies. Theoretically, the proposed approach is demonstrated to be convergent. Experimentally, the statistical results show that the approach can obtain satisfactory performances including the optimized quality, noisy suppression and efficiency.

Broadening and enhancing emission of Cr^(3+) simultaneously by co-doping Yb^(3+) in Ga1.4ln0.6SnO5

Cr^(3+)doped broadband near-infrared(NIR) emitting phosphors are currently the focus of research.Researchers have developed a variety of strategies to achieve broad and strong NIR emission,However,it is a conundrum to simultaneously broaden and enhance the emission of Cr^(3+)with a single strategy,In this work,we solved this problem by co-doping Yb^(3+).Under 452 nm excitation,Ga_(1.4)In_(0.6)SnO_(5)(GISO):0.01Cr^(3+)shows ultrabroadband NIR emission covering 650-1300 nm with a peak of 884 nm,The full width half maximum(FWHM) of the emission is 215 nm and the internal quantum yield(IQY) is 25%.This indicates that the double sites occupation strategy is favorable to achieve ultra-broadband NIR emission.The co-doping of Yb^(3+)can effectively broaden and enhance the emission of Cr^(3+).The FWHM for GISO:0.01Cr^(3+),0.002Yb^(3+)extends to 245 nm,and the IQY increases to 28%.Further increasing the concentration of Yb^(3+)to 0.005,the IQY is lifted to 32%.Finally,a phosphor-co nverted light emitting diode(pc-LED) was prepared by integrating the GISO:0.01Cr^(3+),0.002Yb^(3+)with a blue light chip.Under the current drive of 40 mA,the maximum output power of pc-LED is 4.54 mW,and the photoelectric conversion efficiency is 4.12%.These results indicate that Yb^(3+)ions can simultaneously broaden the emission band and improve the emission efficiency.This work provides an effective strategy for the design of efficient broadband NIR phosphors in the future.

HfO_(2)-based ferroelectric thin film and memory device applications in the post-Moore era:A review

The rapid development of 5G,big data,and Internet of Things(IoT)technologies is urgently required for novel non-volatile memory devices with low power consumption,fast read/write speed,and high reliability,which are crucial for high-performance computing.Ferroelectric memory has undergone extensive investigation as a viable alternative for commercial applications since the post-Moore era.However,conventional perovskite-structure ferroelectrics(e.g.,PbZr_(x)Ti_(1-x)O_(3))encounter severe limitations for high-density integration owing to the size effect of ferroelectricity and incompatibility with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology.Since 2011,the ferroelectric field has been primarily focused on HfO_(2)-based ferroelectric thin films owing to their exceptional scalability.Several reviews discussing the control of ferroelectricity and device applications exist.It is believed that a comprehensive understanding of mechanisms based on industrial requirements and concerns is necessary,such as the wake-up effect and fatigue mechanism.These mechanisms reflect the atomic structures of the materials as well as the device physics.Herein,a review focusing on phase stability and domain structure is presented.In addition,the recent progress in related ferroelectric memory devices and their challenges is briefly discussed.

MDIG-mediated H3K9me3 demethylation upregulates Myc by activating OTX2 and facilitates liver regeneration

The mineral dust-induced gene(MDIG)comprises a conserved JmjC domain and has the ability to demethylate histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation(H3K9me3),Previous studies have indicated the significance of MDIG in promoting cell proliferation by modulating cell-cycle transition.However,its involvement in liver regeneration has not been extensively investigated.In this study,we generated mice with liver-specific knockout of MDIG and applied partial hepatectomy or carbon tetrachloride mouse models to investigate the biological contribution of MDIG in liver regeneration.

A comprehensive review on semiconductor-based photocatalysts toward the degradation of persistent pesticides

Pesticides refer to the chemicals to regulate plant growth and control pests used in agriculture.However,the extensive use of pesticides causes serious pollution that threatens the ecological environment and human health.Photocatalytic degradation of pesticides has become a promising way to deal with pesticide pollution.In this review,pesticides are classified according to the different targets and chemical structures.The recent developments on semiconductor-based photocatalysts including metal oxides,metal oxyhalides,carbon nitrides,metal sulfides were reviewed for degradation of pesticides.Importantly,several modification strategies to improve the photocatalytic performance are described such as doping,heterojunction construction,defect engineering,with special emphasis on anchoring single atom catalyst.Moreover,extensive efforts should be made to indepth understand the photodegradation mechanism by monitoring key intermediates.Our perspectives on the key challenges and future directions of developing high-performance semiconductor-based photocatalysts for pesticide degradation are elaborated.

Author Correction: Characterization of domain distributions by second harmonic generation in ferroelectrics

Correction to:npj Computational Materials https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-018-0095-6,published online 24 July 2018 In this article the affiliation details for author Yinghao Chu were incorrectly given as‘Department of Materials Science and Engineering,National Chiao Tung University,30010 Hsinchu,Taiwan’but should have been‘Department of Materials Science and Engineering,National Chiao Tung University,30010 Hsinchu,Taiwan,China’.The original article has been corrected.