The challenges of developing neuromorphic vision systems inspired by the human eye come not only from how to recreate the flexibility, sophistication, and adaptability of animal systems, but also how ...to do so with computational efficiency and elegance. Similar to biological systems, these neuromorphic circuits integrate functions of image sensing, memory and processing into the device, and process continuous analog brightness signal in real-time. High-integration, flexibility and ultra-sensitivity are essential for practical artificial vision systems that attempt to emulate biological processing. Here, we present a flexible optoelectronic sensor array of 1024 pixels using a combination of carbon nanotubes and perovskite quantum dots as active materials for an efficient neuromorphic vision system. The device has an extraordinary sensitivity to light with a responsivity of 5.1 × 10
A/W and a specific detectivity of 2 × 10
Jones, and demonstrates neuromorphic reinforcement learning by training the sensor array with a weak light pulse of 1 μW/cm
.
Fiber‐based structures are highly desirable for wearable electronics that are expected to be light‐weight, long‐lasting, flexible, and conformable. Many fibrous structures have been manufactured by ...well‐established lost‐effective textile processing technologies, normally at ambient conditions. The advancement of nanotechnology has made it feasible to build electronic devices directly on the surface or inside of single fibers, which have typical thickness of several to tens microns. However, imparting electronic functions to porous, highly deformable and three‐dimensional fiber assemblies and maintaining them during wear represent great challenges from both views of fundamental understanding and practical implementation. This article attempts to critically review the current state‐of‐arts with respect to materials, fabrication techniques, and structural design of devices as well as applications of the fiber‐based wearable electronic products. In addition, this review elaborates the performance requirements of the fiber‐based wearable electronic products, especially regarding the correlation among materials, fiber/textile structures and electronic as well as mechanical functionalities of fiber‐based electronic devices. Finally, discussions will be presented regarding to limitations of current materials, fabrication techniques, devices concerning manufacturability and performance as well as scientific understanding that must be improved prior to their wide adoption.
Fiber‐based electronic structures have great potential to be light‐weight, long‐lasting, flexible, and comfortable. It is highly feasible to build electronic functions directly on the surface or inside of single fibers by cost‐effective manufacturing technologies. This article presents a critical review of the state of the art with respect to materials, fabrication techniques, structural design of devices as well as applications of the fiber‐based wearable electronic products.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Single-atom catalysts not only maximize metal atom efficiency, they also display properties that are considerably different to their more conventional nanoparticle equivalents, making them a ...promising family of materials to investigate. Herein we developed a general host-guest strategy to fabricate various metal single-atom catalysts on nitrogen-doped carbon (M
/CN, M = Pt, Ir, Pd, Ru, Mo, Ga, Cu, Ni, Mn). The iridium variant Ir
/CN electrocatalyses the formic acid oxidation reaction with a mass activity of 12.9 Formula: see text whereas an Ir/C nanoparticle catalyst is almost inert (~4.8 × 10
Formula: see text). The activity of Ir
/CN is also 16 and 19 times greater than those of Pd/C and Pt/C, respectively. Furthermore, Ir
/CN displays high tolerance to CO poisoning. First-principle density functional theory reveals that the properties of Ir
/CN stem from the spatial isolation of iridium sites and from the modified electronic structure of iridium with respect to a conventional nanoparticle catalyst.
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FZAB, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Quantum state preparation is an important subroutine for quantum computing. We show that any n-qubit quantum state can be prepared with a Θ(n)-depth circuit using only single- and two-qubit gates, ...although with a cost of an exponential amount of ancillary qubits. On the other hand, for sparse quantum states with d⩾2 nonzero entries, we can reduce the circuit depth to Θ(log(nd)) with O(ndlogd) ancillary qubits. The algorithm for sparse states is exponentially faster than best-known results and the number of ancillary qubits is nearly optimal and only increases polynomially with the system size. We discuss applications of the results in different quantum computing tasks, such as Hamiltonian simulation, solving linear systems of equations, and realizing quantum random access memories, and find cases with exponential reductions of the circuit depth for all these three tasks. In particular, using our algorithm, we find a family of linear system solving problems enjoying exponential speedups, even compared to the best-known quantum and classical dequantization algorithms.
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CMK, CTK, FMFMET, IJS, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
A large nonlinear optical (NLO) coefficient and a wide band gap are two crucial but contradictory parameters that are difficult to achieve simultaneously in a single infrared (IR) NLO compound. A ...salt‐inclusion chalcogenide (SIC), LiLiCs2ClGa3S6 (1), was prepared that presents a nanosized tunnel framework constructed from monotype chalcogenide tetrahedra. Highly oriented covalent GaS4 tetrahedra in the host lead to a moderate second harmonic generation response (0.7 AgGaS2), and ionic guests effectively broaden the band gap to the widest value (4.18 eV) among all IR NLO chalcogenides, thereby achieving a remarkable balance between NLO efficiency and band gap.
The salt‐inclusion chalcogenide LiLiCs2ClGa3S6 is presented, which features a 3D framework composed of Ga3S6 nanosized tunnels. Introduction of an ionic guest to the covalent chalcogenide host produces a material with a moderate nonlinear optical (NLO) coefficient and an ultrawide band gap (Eg). These characteristics are promising for the development of infrared (IR) NLO materials.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Cobalt imidazolate frameworks are classical electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) but suffer from the relatively low activity. Here, a non‐3d metal modulation strategy is presented ...for enhancing the OER activity of cobalt imidazolate frameworks. Two isomorphous frameworks Co4(MO4)(eim)6 (M=Mo or W, Heim=2‐ethylimidazole) having Co(eim)3(MO4) units and high water stabilities were designed and synthesized. In different neutral media, the Mo‐modulated framework coated on a glassy carbon electrode shows the best OER performances (1 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 210 mV in CO2‐saturated 0.5 m KHCO3 electrolyte and 2/10/22 mA cm−2 at overpotential of 388/490/570 mV in phosphate buffer solution) among non‐precious metal catalysts and even outperforms RuO2. Spectroscopic measurements and computational simulations revealed that the non‐3d metals modulate the electronic structure of Co for optimum reactant/product adsorption and tailor the energy of rate‐determining step to a more moderate value.
Non‐3D for 3D: Introducing non‐3d metal oxide units into a cobalt imidazolate framework results in the drastic enhancement of electrocatalytic performance of the oxygen evolution reaction in neutral media.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Physiological temperature varies temporally and spatially. Accurate and real‐time detection of localized temperature changes in biological tissues regardless of large deformation is crucial to ...understand thermal principle of homeostasis, to assess sophisticated health conditions, and further to offer possibilities of building a smart healthcare and medical system. Additionally, continuous temperature mapping in flexible and stretchable formats opens up many other potential areas, such as artificially electronic skins and reflection of emotional changes. This review exploits a comprehensive investigation onto recent advances in flexible temperature sensors, stretchable sensor networks, and platforms constructed in soft and compliant formats for wearable physiological monitoring. The most recent examples of flexible temperature sensors are first discussed regarding to their materials, structures, electrical and mechanical properties; temperature sensing network technologies in new materials and structural designs are then presented based on platforms comprised of multiple physical sensors and stretchable electronics. Finally, wearable applications of the sensing network are described, such as detection of human activities, monitoring of health conditions, and emotion‐related bodily sensations. Conclusions are made with emphasis on critical issues and new trends in the field of wearable temperature sensor network technologies.
Accurate and real‐time detection of localized temperature changes in biological tissues regardless of large deformation is crucial to understand thermal principle of homeostasis and to assess sophisticated health conditions. This review exploits recent advances in flexible temperature sensors, stretchable sensor networks, and platforms constructed in soft and compliant formats for wearable physiological monitoring.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2 virus) has been sustained in China since December 2019, and has become a ...pandemic. The mental health of frontline medical staff is a concern. In this study, we aimed to identify the factors influencing medical worker anxiety in China during the COVID-19 outbreak. We conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of anxiety among medical staff in China from 10 February 2020 to 20 February 2020 using the Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) to assess anxiety, with the criteria of normal (⩽49), mild (50-59), moderate (60-70) and severe anxiety (⩾70). We used multivariable linear regression to determine the factors (e.g. having direct contact when treating infected patients, being a medical staff worker from Hubei province, being a suspect case) for anxiety. We also used adjusted models to confirm independent factors for anxiety after adjusting for gender, age, education and marital status. Of 512 medical staff in China, 164 (32.03%) had had direct contact treating infected patients. The prevalence of anxiety was 12.5%, with 53 workers suffering from mild (10.35%), seven workers suffering from moderate (1.36%) and four workers suffering from severe anxiety (0.78%). After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, education and marital status), medical staff who had had direct contact treating infected patients experienced higher anxiety scores than those who had not had direct contact (β value = 2.33, confidence interval (CI) 0.65-4.00; P = 0.0068). A similar trend was observed in medical staff from Hubei province, compared with those from other parts of China (β value = 3.67, CI 1.44-5.89; P = 0.0013). The most important variable was suspect cases with high anxiety scores, compared to non-suspect cases (β value = 4.44, CI 1.55-7.33; P = 0.0028). In this survey of hospital medical workers during the COVID-19 outbreak in China, we found that study participants experienced anxiety symptoms, especially those who had direct clinical contact with infected patients; as did those in the worst affected areas, including Hubei province; and those who were suspect cases. Governments and healthcare authorities should proactively implement appropriate psychological intervention programmes, to prevent, alleviate or treat increased anxiety.
Precise determination of the structure‐property relationship of zeolite‐based metal catalysts is critical for the development toward practical applications. However, the scarcity of real‐space ...imaging of zeolite‐based low‐atomic‐number (LAN) metal materials due to the electron‐beam sensitivity of zeolites has led to continuous debates regarding the exact LAN metal configurations. Here, a low‐damage high‐angle annular dark‐field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF‐STEM) imaging technique is employed for direct visualization and determination of LAN metal (Cu) species in ZSM‐5 zeolite frameworks. The structures of the Cu species are revealed based on the microscopy evidence and also proved by the complementary spectroscopy results. The correlation between the characteristic Cu size in Cu/ZSM‐5 catalysts and their direct oxidation of methane to methanol reaction properties is unveiled. As a result, the mono‐Cu species stably anchored by Al pairs inside the zeolite channels are identified as the key structure for higher C1 oxygenates yield and methanol selectivity for direct oxidation of methane. Meanwhile, the local topological flexibility of the rigid zeolite frameworks induced by the Cu agglomeration in the channels is also revealed. This work exemplifies the combination of microscopy imaging and spectroscopy characterization serves as a complete arsenal for revealing structure‐property relationships of the supported metal‐zeolite catalysts.
A low‐damage HAADF‐STEM imaging technique is employed for direct visualization and determination of Cu species in ZSM‐5 zeolite frameworks. The structure of the Cu species are revealed based on the microscopy evidence and also proved by the complementary spectroscopy results. The mono‐Cu species stably anchored by Al pairs inside the zeolite channels are identified as the key structure for higher C1 oxygenates yield and methanol selectivity for direct oxidation of methane.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
In this article, we focus on developing a novel method to extract sea ice cover (i.e., discrimination/classification of sea ice and open water) using Sentinel-1 (S1) cross-polarization ...vertical-horizontal (VH) or horizontal-vertical (HV) data in extra-wide (EW) swath mode based on the support vector machine (SVM) method. The classification basis includes the S1 radar backscatter and texture features, which are calculated from S1 data using the gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). Different from previous methods where appropriate samples are manually selected to train the SVM to classify sea ice and open water, we proposed a method of unsupervised generation of the training samples based on two GLCM texture features, i.e., entropy and homogeneity, that have contrasting characteristics on sea ice and open water. We eliminate the most uncertainty of selecting training samples in machine learning and achieve automatic classification of sea ice and open water by using S1 EW data. The comparisons based on a few cases show good agreements between the synthetic aperture radar (SAR)-derived sea ice cover using the proposed method and visual inspections, of which the accuracy reaches approximately 90%-95%. Besides this, compared with the analyzed sea ice cover data Ice Mapping System (IMS) based on 728 S1 EW images, the accuracy of the extracted sea ice cover by using S1 data is more than 80%.