Donut-like photonic nanojet with reverse energy flow

Photonic nanojets(PNJs)are subwavelength jet-like propagating waves generated by illuminating a dielectric microstructure with an electromagnetic wave,conventionally a linearly polarized plane wave.Here,we study the donut-like PNJ produced when a circularly polarized vortex beam is used instead.This novel PNJ also has a reverse energy flow at the donut-like focal plane depending on both the optical vortex topological charge and microsphere size.Our tunable PNJ,which we investigate numerically and analytically,can find applications in optical micromanipulation and trapping.

Molecular mechanism of carvedilol in attenuating the reversion to fetal energy metabolism during cardiac hypertrophy development

Objective: To explore the molecular regulation mechanism of carvedilol in attenuating the reversion back towards fetal energy metabolism during the development of cardiac hypertrophy induced by coarctation of abdominal aorta (CAA) in male Wistar rats. Methods: Hemodynamic and ventricular remodeling parameters, free fatty acid content in the serum were measured in the experimental animals at 16 weeks after the surgical CAA, the rats receiving carvedilol intervention (CAR) after CAA, and those with sham operation (SH). The expressions of muscle carnitine palmitoyltransferaseⅠ (M-CPTⅠ) and medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) mRNA in the cardiac myocytes from every group were studied with RT-PCR. Results: Significant left ventricular hypertrophy were observed in the rats 16 weeks after coarctation operation (P<0.05), together with significant free fatty acids accumulation and downregulation of M-CPTⅠ and MCAD mRNA (P<0.05) in CAA group. Carvedilol at a dose of 30 mg/kg/d for 12 weeks inhibited the left ventricular hypertrophy induced by pressure overload and enhanced the gene expressions of rate-limiting enzyme (M-CPTⅠ) and key enzyme of fatty acid (MCAD) in the CAR group compared with CAA group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Pressure overload-induced hypertrophy in CAA rats causes the reversion back towards fetal enery metabolism, that is, downregulates the expressions of rate-limiting enzyme and key enzyme of fatty acid oxidation. The intervention therapy with carvedilol, a vasodilating alpha- and beta-adrenoreceptor antagonist, attenuates the reversion of the metabolic gene expression to fetal type through upregulating M-CPTⅠ and MCAD mRNA expressions. Thus, carvedilol may exert cardioprotective effects on heart failure by the mechanism of preserving the adult metabolic gene regulation.

Understanding the Reversible Reactions of Li-N_(2) Battery Catalyzed With SnO_(2)

Metal–N_(2) battery can be applied in both energy storage and electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction(NRR);however,there has been only extraordinarily little study on metal–N_(2) battery since its electrochemical reversibility still needs further proofs.And its electrochemical performances also need to be enhanced.Herein,we investigated the discharge–charge reactions between Li anode and N_(2) cathode via designing an efficient catalyst of nanosized SnO_(2) particles dispersed on N-doped carbon nanosheets(SnO 2@NC)for the Li-N_(2) battery,with good cyclic stability and a high specific capacity of 0.25 mA h(~500 mA h g^(−1))at a large current density of 1000 mA g^(−1).The electrochemical reversibility of both NRR in the discharge process and nitrogen extraction reaction in the charge process for Li-N 2 battery is discussed.Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry results imply that the SnO_(2)@NC can effectively promote the adsorption of N_(2) and the activation of NRR in the discharge process.Furthermore,ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared tests are performed to study the electrochemical reversibility of Li-N_(2) battery.It can be proved that the formation and decomposition of discharging product Li_(3)N are electrochemical reversible during cycling in our deigned Li-N_(2) battery system with SnO_(2)@NC catalyst.

Phase transformation and crystal growth behavior of 8mol%(SmO1.5, GdO1.5, and YO1.5) stabilized ZrO2 powders

Nanocrystalline powders of ZrO_2–8mol%SmO1.5（8Sm SZ）, ZrO_2–8mol%GdO1.5（8Gd SZ）, and ZrO_2–8mol%YO1.5（8YSZ） were prepared by a simple reverse-coprecipitation technique. Differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetry（DTA/TG）, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR）, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, Raman spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy（HRTEM） were used to study the phase transformation and crystal growth behavior. The DTA results showed that the ZrO_2 freeze-dried precipitates crystallized at 529, 465, and 467°C in the case of 8Sm SZ, 8Gd SZ, and 8YSZ, respectively. The XRD and Raman results confirmed the presence of tetragonal ZrO_2 when the dried precipitates were calcined in the temperature range from 600 to 1000°C for 2 h. The crystallite size increased with increasing calcination temperature. The activation energies were calculated as 12.39, 12.45, and 16.59 k J/mol for 8Sm SZ, 8Gd SZ, and 8YSZ respectively.

Energy dissipation of atomic-scale friction based on one- dimensional Prandtl-Tomlinson model

The energy transition and dissipation of atomic-scale friction are investigated using the one-dimensional Prandtl-Tomlinson model.A systematic study of the factors influencing the energy dissipation is conducted,indicating that the energy that accumulated during the stick stage does not always dissipate completely during stick-slip motion.We adopt the energy-dissipation ratio(EDR)to describe the relationship between the energy dissipated permanently in the system and the conservative reversible energy that can be reintroduced to the driving system after the slip process.The EDR can change continuously from 100%to 0,covering the stick-slip,intermediate,and smooth-sliding regimes,depending on various factors such as the stiffness,potential-energy corrugation,damping coefficient,sliding velocity,and the temperature of the system.Among these,the parameterη,which depends on both the surface potential and the lateral stiffness,is proven in this paper to have the most significant impact on the EDR.According toη-T phase diagrams of the EDR,the smooth-sliding superlubricity and thermolubricity are found to be unified with regard to the energy dissipation and transition.An analytical formulation for the EDR that can be used to quantitatively predict the amount of energy dissipation is derived from a lateral-force curve.

Novel thioxanthone host material with thermally activated delayed fluorescence for reduced efficiency roll-off of phosphorescent OLEDs

2,7-Di（9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluoren-l-yl）-9H-thioxanthen-9-one （DMBFTX） with thermally activated delayed fluorescence （TADF） was well designed and synthesized. The phosphorescent organic lightemitting device （PHOLED） based on this novel TADF host material displays a stable red phosphorescence region, a peak external quantum efficiency （EQE） value of 12.9% and a low EQE roll-off of 38.8%at a luminance of 10000 cd/m2, which is benefited from the reverse intersystem crossing （RISC） of TADF host and less populated triplet exitons. Notably, the red device based on the TADF host DMBFrX exhibits superior electroluminescence performance and reduced efficiency roll-offcompared with the one hosted by commercially available host 1,3-bis（9-carbazolyl）benzene （mCP）, illustrating the high potential of employing the TADF host material with small energy gap to reduce efficiency roll-off in PHOLED.

Experimental investigations of a prototype reversible pump turbine in generating mode with water head variations

Influences of water head variations on the performances of a prototype reversible pump turbine are experimentally studied in generating mode within a wide range of load conditions(from 25% to 96% of the rated power). The pressure fluctuations of the reversible pump turbine at three different water heads(with non-dimensional values being 0.48, 0.71 and 0.90) are measured and compared based on the pressure data recorded in the whole flow passage of the turbine. Furthermore, effects of monitoring points and load variations on the impeller-induced unstable behavior(e.g. blade passing frequency and its harmonics) are quantitatively discussed. Our findings reveal that water head variations play a significant role on the pressure fluctuations and their propagation mechanisms inside the reversible pump turbine.