Asymmetric Drying and Wetting Trends in Eastern and Western China

As an important factor that directly affects agricultural production, the social economy, and policy implementation,observed changes in dry/wet conditions have become a matter of widespread concern. However, previous research has mainly focused on the long-term linear changes of dry/wet conditions, while the detection and evolution of the non-linear trends related to dry/wet changes have received less attention. The non-linear trends of the annual aridity index, obtained by the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition(EEMD) method, reveal that changes in dry/wet conditions in China are asymmetric and can be characterized by contrasting features in both time and space in China. Spatially, most areas in western China have experienced transitions from drying to wetting, while opposite changes have occurred in most areas of eastern China. Temporally, the transitions occurred earlier in western China compared to eastern China. Research into the asymmetric spatial characteristics of dry/wet conditions compensates for the inadequacies of previous studies, which focused solely on temporal evolution;at the same time, it remedies the inadequacies of traditional research on linear trends over centennial timescales. Analyzing the non-linear trend also provides for a more comprehensive understanding of the drying/wetting changes in China.

Atmospheric Warming Slowdown during 1998-2013 Associated with Increasing Ocean Heat Content

Although atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continuously increased, there was relatively little change in global-averaged surface temperatures from 1998 to 2013, which is known as atmospheric warming slowdown. For further understanding the mechanism involved, we explored the energy redistribution between the atmosphere and ocean in different latitudes and depths by using data analysis as well as simulations of a coupled atmosphere–ocean box model. The results revealed that, compared with observational changes of ocean heat content (OHC) associated with rapid warming, the OHC changes related to warming slowdown are relatively larger in multiple ocean basins, particularly in the deeper layer of the Atlantic. The coupled box model also showed that there is a larger increasing trend of OHC under the warming slowdown scenario than the rapid warming scenario. Particularly, during the warming slowdown period, the heat storage in the deeper ocean increases faster than the ocean heat uptake in the surface ocean. The simulations indicated that the warming patterns under the two scenarios are accompanied by distinct outgoing longwave radiation and atmospheric meridional heat transport, as well as other related processes, thus leading to different characteristics of ocean heat uptake. Due to the global energy balance, we suggest this slowdown has a tight relationship with the accelerated heat transport into the global ocean.

Progress in Semi-arid Climate Change Studies in China

This article reviews recent progress in semi-arid climate change research in China.Results indicate that the areas of semiarid regions have increased rapidly during recent years in China,with an increase of 33%during 1994-2008 compared to 1948-62.Studies have found that the expansion rate of semi-arid areas over China is nearly 10 times higher than that of arid and sub-humid areas,and is mainly transformed from sub-humid/humid regions.Meanwhile,the greatest warming during the past 100 years has been observed over semi-arid regions in China,and mainly induced by radiatively forced processes.The intensity of the regional temperature response over semi-arid regions has been amplified by land-atmosphere interactions and human activities.The decadal climate variation in semi-arid regions is modulated by oceanic oscillations,which induce land-sea and north-south thermal contrasts and affect the intensities of westerlies,planetary waves and blocking frequencies.In addition,the drier climates in semi-arid regions across China are also associated with the weakened East Asian summer monsoon in recent years.Moreover,dust aerosols in semi-arid regions may have altered precipitation by affecting the local energy and hydrological cycles.Finally,semi-arid regions in China are projected to continuously expand in the 21st century,which will increase the risk of desertification in the near future.

Indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors:Materials,devices,and applications

Since the invention of amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide(IGZO)based thin-film transistors(TFTs)by Hideo Hosono in 2004,investigations on the topic of IGZO TFTs have been rapidly expanded thanks to their high electrical performance,large-area uniformity,and low processing temperature.This article reviews the recent progress and major trends in the field of IGZO-based TFTs.After a brief introduction of the history of IGZO and the main advantages of IGZO-based TFTs,an overview of IGZO materials and IGZO-based TFTs is given.In this part,IGZO material electron travelling orbitals and deposition methods are introduced,and the specific device structures and electrical performance are also presented.Afterwards,the recent advances of IGZO-based TFT applications are summarized,including flat panel display drivers,novel sensors,and emerging neuromorphic systems.In particular,the realization of flexible electronic systems is discussed.The last part of this review consists of the conclusions and gives an outlook over the field with a prediction for the future.

Synaptic plasticity and classical conditioning mimicked in single indium-tungsten-oxide based neuromorphic transistor

Emulation of synaptic function by ionic/electronic hybrid device is crucial for brain-like computing and neuromorphic systems.Electric-double-layer(EDL)transistors with proton conducting electrolytes as the gate dielectrics provide a prospective approach for such application.Here,artificial synapses based on indium-tungsten-oxide(IWO)-based EDL transistors are proposed,and some important synaptic functions(excitatory post-synaptic current,paired-pulse facilitation,filtering)are emulated.Two types of spike-timing-dependent plasticity(Hebbian STDP and anti-Hebbian STDP)learning rules and multistore memory(sensory memory,short-term memory,and long-term memory)are also mimicked.At last,classical conditioning is successfully demonstrated.Our results indicate that IWO-based neuromorphic transistors are interesting for neuromorphic applications.

The carbon nanotubes-based materials and their applications for organic pollutant removal: A critical review

The carbon nanotubes(CNTs) as the emerging materials for organic pollutant removal have gradually become a burgeoning research field.Herein,a mini-review of CNTs-based materials curre ntly studies for organic pollutant elimination is presented.This review summarizes the preparation methods of CNTsbased materials.CNTs-based materials can be used as adsorbents to remove organic pollutants in wastewater.The adsorption mechanisms mainly include surface diffusio n,pore diffusion and adsorption reaction.Most importantly,an in-depth overview of CNTs-based materials currently available in advanced oxidation processes(AOPs) applications for wastewater treatment is proposed.CNTs-based materials can catalyze different oxidants(e.g.,hydrogen peroxide(H2 O2),persulfates(PMS/PDS),ozone(O3) and ferrate/permanganate(Fe(Ⅵ)/Mn(Ⅶ)) to generate more reactive oxygen species(ROS) for organic pollutant elimination.Moreover,the possible reaction mechanisms of removing organic pollutants by CNTs-based materials are summarized systematically and discussed in detail.Finally,application potential and future research directions of CNTs-based materials in the environmental remediation field are proposed.

Multiple Equilibria in a Land–Atmosphere Coupled System

Many low-order modeling studies indicate that there may be multiple equilibria in the atmosphere induced by thermal and topographic forcings.However,most work uses uncoupled atmospheric model and just focuses on the multiple equilibria with distinct wave amplitude,i.e.,the high-and low-index equilibria.Here,a low-order coupled land–atmosphere model is used to study the multiple equilibria with both distinct wave phase and wave amplitude.The model combines a two-layer quasi-geostrophic channel model and an energy balance model.Highly truncated spectral expansions are used and the results show that there may be two stable equilibria with distinct wave phase relative to the topography:one(the other)has a lower layer streamfunction that is nearly in(out of)phase with the topography,i.e.,the lower layer ridges(troughs)are over the mountains,called ridge-type(trough-type)equilibria.The wave phase of equilibrium state depends on the direction of lower layer zonal wind and horizontal scale of the topography.The multiple wave phase equilibria associated with ridge-and trough-types originate from the orographic instability of the Hadley circulation,which is a pitch-fork bifurcation.Compared with the uncoupled model,the land–atmosphere coupled system produces more stable atmospheric flow and more ridge-type equilibrium states,particularly,these effects are primarily attributed to the longwave radiation fluxes.The upper layer streamfunctions of both ridge-and trough-type equilibria are also characterized by either a high-or low-index flow pattern.However,the multiple wave phase equilibria associated with ridge-and trough-types are more prominent than multiple wave amplitude equilibria associated with high-and low-index types in this study.

Oxide-based thin film transistors for flexible electronics

The continuous progress in thin film materials and devices has greatly promoted the development in the field of flexible electronics. As one of the most common thin film devices, thin film transistors（TFTs） are significant building blocks for flexible platforms. Flexible oxide-based TFTs are well compatible with flexible electronic systems due to low process temperature, high carrier mobility, and good uniformity. The present article is a review of the recent progress and major trends in the field of flexible oxide-based thin film transistors. First, an introduction of flexible electronics and flexible oxide-based thin film transistors is given. Next, we introduce oxide semiconductor materials and various flexible oxide-based TFTs classified by substrate materials including polymer plastics, paper sheets, metal foils, and flexible thin glass. Afterwards, applications of flexible oxide-based TFTs including bendable sensors, memories, circuits, and displays are presented. Finally, we give conclusions and a prospect for possible development trends.

Optical metalenses:fundamentals,dispersion manipulation,and applications

Metasurfaces,also known as 2D artificial metamaterials,are attracting great attention due to their unprecedented performances and functionalities that are hard to achieve by conventional diffractive or refractive elements.With their sub-wavelength optical scatterers,metasurfaces have been utilized to freely modify different characteristics of incident light such as amplitude,polarization,phase,and frequency.Compared to traditional bulky lenses,metasurface lenses possess the advantages of flatness,light weight,and compatibility with semiconductor manufacture technology.They have been widely applied to a range of scenarios including imaging,solar energy harvesting,optoelectronic detection,etc.In this review,we will first introduce the fundamental design principles for metalens,and then report recent theoretical and experimental progress with emphasis on methods to correct chromatic and monochromatic aberrations.Finally,typical applications of metalenses and corresponding design rules will be presented,followed by a brief outlook on the prospects and challenges of this field.