Grain size regulation for balancing cycle performance and rate capability of LiNi_(0.9)Co_(0.055)Mn_(0.045)O_(2) single crystal nickel-rich cathode materials

It is challenging to balance the cyclability and rate capability of single crystal nickel-rich cathode materials(Ni>0.8).Multicomponent oxides by spray pyrolysis shows potential as highly-reactive precursors to synthesize single crystal nickel-rich cathode at lower temperature,yet Ni^(2+)will severely inhibit particle growth when Ni content exceeds 0.9.Herein,lithium nitrate(LiNO_(3))with low melting point and strong oxidation is introduced as collaborate lithium salts for fabrication of well-dispersed submicron and micron single crystal LiNi_(0.9)Co_(0.055)Mn_(0.045)O_(2)(NCM90)cathode without extra unit operation.By changing amount of LiNO_(3),particle size regulation is realized and cation disorder can be diminished.The as-prepared material with optimal content of 4 wt%LiNO_(3)(NCM90-4 LN)displays the most appropriate particle size(1μm)with approximately stoichiometric structure,and presents better kinetics characterization of lithium-ion diffusion(15%higher than NCM90)and good electrochemical performance with specific discharge capacity of 220.6 and 173.8 mAh g^(-1) at 0.1 C and 10 C at room temperature,respectively.This work broadens the conventional research methodology of size regulation for single crystal Ni-rich cathode materials and is indispensable for the development of designing principal of nickel-rich cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Polyploidy events shaped the expansion of transcription factors in Cucurbitaceae and exploitation of genes for tendril development

Cucurbitaceae is one of the most important plant families distributed worldwide.Transcription factors(TFs)regulate plant growth at the transcription level.Here,we performed a systematic analysis of 42641 TFs from 63 families in 14 Cucurbitaceae and 10 non-cucurbit species.Whole-genome duplication(WGD)was the dominant event type in almost all Cucurbitaceae plants.The TF families were divided into 1210 orthogroups(OGs),of which,112 were unique to Cucurbitaceae.Although the loss of several gene families was detected in Cucurbitaceae,the gene families expanded in five species that experienced a WGD event comparing with grape.Our findings revealed that the recent WGD events that had occurred in Cucurbitaceae played important roles in the expansion of most TF families.The functional enrichment analysis of the genes that significantly expanded or contracted uncovered five gene families,AUX/IAA,NAC,NBS,HB,and NF-YB.Finally,we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the TCP gene family and identified 16 tendril-related(TEN)genes in 11 Cucurbitaceae species.Interestingly,the characteristic sequence changed from CNNFYFP to CNNFYLP in the TEN gene(Bhi06M000087)of Benincasa hispida.Furthermore,we identified a new characteristic sequence,YNN,which could be used for TEN gene exploitation in Cucurbitaceae.In conclusion,this study will serve as a reference for studying the relationship between gene family evolution and genome duplication.Moreover,it will provide rich genetic resources for functional Cucurbitaceae studies in the future.

Multi-Objective Deep Reinforcement Learning Based Time-Frequency Resource Allocation for Multi-Beam Satellite Communications

Resource allocation is an important problem influencing the service quality of multi-beam satellite communications.In multi-beam satellite communications, the available frequency bandwidth is limited, users requirements vary rapidly, high service quality and joint allocation of multi-dimensional resources such as time and frequency are required. It is a difficult problem needs to be researched urgently for multi-beam satellite communications, how to obtain a higher comprehensive utilization rate of multidimensional resources, maximize the number of users and system throughput, and meet the demand of rapid allocation adapting dynamic changed the number of users under the condition of limited resources, with using an efficient and fast resource allocation algorithm.In order to solve the multi-dimensional resource allocation problem of multi-beam satellite communications, this paper establishes a multi-objective optimization model based on the maximum the number of users and system throughput joint optimization goal, and proposes a multi-objective deep reinforcement learning based time-frequency two-dimensional resource allocation(MODRL-TF) algorithm to adapt dynamic changed the number of users and the timeliness requirements. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm could provide higher comprehensive utilization rate of multi-dimensional resources,and could achieve multi-objective joint optimization,and could obtain better timeliness than traditional heuristic algorithms, such as genetic algorithm(GA)and ant colony optimization algorithm(ACO).

Magnetorheological elastomer and smartphone enable microfluidic biosensing of foodborne pathogen

Rapid detection of foodborne pathogens is crucial to prevent the outbreaks of foodborne diseases.In this work,we proposed a novel microfluidic biosensor based on magnetorheological elastomer(MRE)and smartphone.First,micropump and microvalves were constructed by deforming the MRE under magnetic actuation and integrated into the microfluidic biosensor for fluidic control.Then,the micropump was used to deliver immune porous gold@platinum nanocatalysts(Au@PtNCs),bacterial sample,and immunomagnetic nanoparticles(MNPs)into a micromixer,where they were mixed,incubated and magnetically separated to obtain the Au@PtNC-bacteria-MNP complexes.After 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine and hydrogen peroxide were injected and catalyzed by the Au@PtNCs,smartphone was used to measure the color of the catalysate for quantitative analysis of target bacteria.Under optimal conditions,this biosensor could detect Salmonella typhimurium quantitatively and automatically in 1 h with a linear detection range of 8.0×10^(1) CFU/mL to 8.0×10^(4) CFU/mL and a detection limit of 62 CFU/mL.The microfluidic biosensor was compact in size,simple to use,and efficient for detection,and might be used for in-field screening of foodborne pathogens to prevent food poisoning.

Mechanism of oxidation and catalysis of organic matter abiotic humification in the presence of MnO_2

Humification plays a critical role in the environmental fate of organic wastes, and MnO_2 holds great promise for enhancing this reaction. However, the effects of MnO_2 on the enhancement of the humification reaction remain ambiguous. To better reveal the mechanism by which MnO_2 enhances the reaction and investigate the fate of the humification products, abiotic humification experiments were performed using increasing concentrations of dissolved organic matter(DOM) to a fixed amount of MnO_2. DOM was represented by model humic precursors consisting of catechol, glucose and glycine. The results indicate that the reduction of MnO_2 played a dominant role in the formation of fulvic-like acids(FLAs), and the subsequent reduction products, MnOOH and Mn(II), acted as catalysts in the formation of humic-like acids(HLAs). Moreover, CO_2 release occurred during the formation of FLAs, and a strong linear correlation between CO_2 release and the formation of FLAs was observed(p < 0.01), where 0.73–1.87 mg of CO_2 was released per mg dissolved organic carbon(DOC)FLAs. Furthermore, the concentration of MnO_2 had a pronounced influence on the product behavior, where a lower MnO_2 concentration decreased the quantity of FLAs produced.

Flexible inorganic bioelectronics

Flexible inorganic bioelectronics represent a newly emerging and rapid developing research area.With its great power in enhancing the acquisition,management and utilization of health information,it is expected that these flexible and stretchable devices could underlie the new solutions to human health problems.Recent advances in this area including materials,devices,integrated systems and their biomedical applications indicate that through conformal and seamless contact with human body,the measurement becomes continuous and convenient with yields of higher quality data.This review covers recent progresses in flexible inorganic bio-electronics for human physiological parameters’monitoring in a wearable and continuous way.Strategies including materials,structures and device design are introduced with highlights toward the ability to solve remaining challenges in the measurement process.Advances in measuring bioelectrical signals,i.e.,the electrophysiological signals(including EEG,ECoG,ECG,and EMG),biophysical signals(including body temperature,strain,pressure,and acoustic signals)and biochemical signals(including sweat,glucose,and interstitial fluid)have been summarized.In the end,given the application property of this topic,the future research directions are outlooked.

Effects of oxidizing environment on digestate humification and identification of substances governing the dissolved organic matter(DOM)transformation process

The formation of humic-like acids(HLAs)is an essential process for converting liquid digestate into organic soil amendments to enhance agricultural sustainability.The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of oxygen and/or MnO_(2)on the production of HLAs.Herein,abiotic humification performance of the digestate dissolved organic matter(DOM)is investigated with fluxes of air and N2 in the absence and presence of MnO_(2).Our results demonstrated that the fate of digestate DOM greatly depends on the oxidizing environment,the MnO_(2)enhanced nitrogen involved in the formation of HLAs.The synergistic effects of MnO_(2)and oxygen effectively improved the production of HLAs,and the corresponding component evolution was analyzed using spectroscopic evidence.The twodimensional correlation spectroscopy results demonstrated that the reaction sequence of digestate DOM followed the order of protein-like substances,substances with an absorbance at 325 nm,substances with UV absorbance at 254 nm and HLAs.Additionally,excitation emission matrix fluorescence combined with parallel factor analysis(EEM-PARAFAC)showed that tryptophan-like C3 was more prone to transformation than tyrosine-like C2 and was responsible for the humification process.The substance with an absorbance at 325 nm was a reaction intermediate in the transformation process of protein-like substances to HLAs.The above findings can be used to promote the production of liquid fertilizer associated with carbon sequestration as well as the sustainable development of biogas production.