Robust boundary states epitomize how deep physics can give rise to concrete experimental signatures with technological promise. Of late, much attention has focused on two distinct mechanisms for ...boundary robustness-topological protection, as well as the non-Hermitian skin effect. In this work, we report the experimental realizations of hybrid higher-order skin-topological effect, in which the skin effect selectively acts only on the topological boundary modes, not the bulk modes. Our experiments, which are performed on specially designed non-reciprocal 2D and 3D topolectrical circuit lattices, showcases how non-reciprocal pumping and topological localization dynamically interplays to form various states like 2D skin-topological, 3D skin-topological-topological hybrid states, as well as 2D and 3D higher-order non-Hermitian skin states. Realized through our highly versatile and scalable circuit platform, theses states have no Hermitian nor lower-dimensional analog, and pave the way for applications in topological switching and sensing through the simultaneous non-trivial interplay of skin and topological boundary localizations.
Lipid Production from Nannochloropsis Ma, Xiao-Nian; Chen, Tian-Peng; Yang, Bo ...
Marine Drugs,
03/2016, Letnik:
14, Številka:
4
Journal Article, Book Review
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Microalgae are sunlight-driven green cell factories for the production of potential bioactive products and biofuels. Nannochloropsis represents a genus of marine microalgae with high photosynthetic ...efficiency and can convert carbon dioxide to storage lipids mainly in the form of triacylglycerols and to the ω-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Recently, Nannochloropsis has received ever-increasing interests of both research and public communities. This review aims to provide an overview of biology and biotechnological potential of Nannochloropsis, with the emphasis on lipid production. The path forward for the further exploration of Nannochloropsis for lipid production with respect to both challenges and opportunities is also discussed.
Inter-data center wide area networks (inter-DC WANs) carry a significant amount of data transfers that require to be completed within certain time periods, or deadlines. However, very little work has ...been done to guarantee such deadlines. The crux is that the current inter-DC WAN lacks an interface for users to specify their transfer deadlines and a mechanism for provider to ensure the completion while maintaining high WAN utilization. In this paper, we address the problem by introducing a deadline-based network abstraction (DNA) for inter-DC WANs. DNA allows users to explicitly specify the amount of data to be delivered and the deadline by which it has to be completed. The malleability of DNA provides flexibility in resource allocation. Based on this, we develop a system called Amoeba that implements DNA. Our simulations and test bed experiments show that Amoeba, by harnessing DNA's malleability, accommodates 15% more user requests with deadlines, while achieving 60% higher WAN utilization than prior solutions.
Lamellar molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has attracted a wide range of research interests in recent years because of its two‐dimensional layered structure, ultrathin thickness, large interlayer distance, ...adjustable band gap, and capability to form different crystal structures. These special characteristics and high anisotropy have made MoS2 widely applicable in energy storage and harvesting. In this Minireview, a systematic and comprehensive introduction to MoS2, as well as its composites, is presented. It is aimed to summarize the various synthetic methods of MoS2‐based composites and their application in energy‐storage devices (lithium‐ion batteries, sodium‐ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, and supercapacitors) in detail. Based on recent studies, this Minireview provides important and comprehensive guidelines for further study and development efforts in the MoS2 in energy‐storage field.
Power beyond the plane: MoS2‐based materials show great potential in the energy‐storage field with high capacity and stability. This review summarizes different synthetic methods and advances in lithium‐ion batteries, sodium‐ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, supercapacitors, and other batteries for energy‐storage applications.
Microplastics (MPs) are one of the emerging contaminants in environmental media, and they have raised great concern because they are resistant to degradation and persist in ecosystems. Although ...numerous advanced technologies have been developed, suitable technologies are still lacking for degradation of widespread MPs in the natural environment. We have discovered that MPs can be degraded exceptionally rapidly in frozen environments. Taking polystyrene (PS) as an example, its degradation rate in ice (−20 °C) is surprisingly competitive to most artificial technologies. PS particles are trapped and squeezed to achieve excited state (3PS*) in the narrow space of the liquid layer between ice crystals, which further react with the highly concentrated dioxygen to selectively produce singlet oxygen (1O2). The 1O2 boosts PS oxidation in the liquid layer thus further causing accelerated degradation at freezing temperature. This finding offers a highly efficient pathway for degradation of MPs and it sheds light on an unusual MPs disposal mechanisms in nature.
The exceptionally rapid degradation of microplastics (MPs) in frozen solution was discovered. The activity is ascribed to selective generation of singlet oxygen in the narrow space of the liquid layer between ice crystals. The findings offer a highly efficient degradation pathway for MPs and shed light on mechanisms of disposal of MPs in nature.
Background: The cytokine network in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex, dynamic system that plays an important role in regulating mucosal innate and adaptive immune responses. While ...several studies have been done to evaluate immunomodulatory profiles in murine IBD, they have been limited to a relatively small number of cytokines that do not take into account its dependency of the interplay of multiple factors, and therefore the diagnostic potential of their cytokine profiles have been inconclusive.
Methods: A novel approach of comprehensive serum multiplex cytokine profiling with biometric immunosandwich ELISA's was used to describe the modulation of 16 Th1, Th2, Th17 cytokines and chemokines in both acute and chronic murine models of DSS and TNBS‐induced colitis. Advanced multivariate discriminant functional analyses (DFA) was used to identify statistically interrelated sets of variables with the most significant power to discriminate among the groups. Profiles of multiple cytokines seen systemically were also validated locally in colonic mucosa using Western blot analysis and fluorescent immunohistochemistry.
Results: Distinctive disease‐specific cytokine profiles were identified with significant correlations to disease activity and duration of disease. TNBS colitis exhibits heightened Th1‐Th17 response (increased IL‐12 and IL‐17) as the disease becomes chronic. In contrast, DSS colitis switches from a Th1‐Th17‐mediated acute inflammation (increased TNF‐α, IL6, IL‐17, and KC) to a predominant Th2‐mediated inflammatory response (increase in IL‐4 and IL‐10 and concomitant decrease in TNF‐α, IL6, IL‐17, and KC) in the chronic state. Moreover, DFA identified discriminatory cytokine profiles that can be sufficiently used to distinguish unaffected controls from diseases, and one disease type from another. IL‐6 and IL‐12 stratified gender‐associated disease activity in chronic colitis.
Conclusions: Our studies provide insight into disease immunopathogenesis and illustrate the significant potential of utilizing multiplex cytokine profiles and bioinformatics as diagnostic tools in IBD.
(Inflamm Bowel Dis 2008)
Edge Provisioning with Flexible Server Placement Hao Yin; Xu Zhang; Liu, Hongqiang Harry ...
IEEE transactions on parallel and distributed systems,
04/2017, Letnik:
28, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
We present Tentacle, a decision support framework to provision edge servers for online services providers (OSPs). Tentacle takes advantage of the increasingly flexible edge server placement, which is ...enabled by new technologies such as edge computing platforms, cloudlets and network function virtualization, to optimize the overall performance and cost of edge infrastructures. The key difference between Tentacle and traditional server placement approaches lies on that Tentacle can discover proper unforeseen edge locations which significantly improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of edge provisioning. We show how Tentacle effectively identifies promising edge locations which are close to a collection of users merely with inaccurate network distance estimation methods, e.g., geographic coordinate (GC) and network coordinate systems (NC). We also show how Tentacle comprehensively considers various pragmatic concerns in edge provisioning, such as traffic limits by law or ISP policy, edge site deployment and resource usage cost, over-provisioning for fault tolerance, etc., with a simple optimization model. We simulate Tentacle using real network data at global and county-wide scales. Measurement-driven simulations show that with a given cost budget Tentacle can improve user performance by around 10-45 percent at global scale networks and 15-35 percent at a country-wide scale network.
Aqueous rechargeable Zn metal batteries (ARZBs) are extensively studied recently because of their low‐cost, high‐safety, long lifespan, and other unique merits. However, the terrible ion conductivity ...and insufficient interfacial redox dynamics at low temperatures restrict their extended applications under harsh environments such as polar inspections, deep sea exploration, and daily use in cold regions. Electrolyte modulation is considered to be an effective way to achieve low‐temperature operation for ARZBs. In this review, first, the fundamentals of the liquid–solid transition of water at low temperatures are revealed, and an in‐depth understanding of the critical factors for inferior performance at low temperatures is given. Furthermore, the electrolyte modulation strategies are categorized into anion/concentration regulation, organic co‐solvent/additive introduction, anti‐freezing hydrogels construction, and eutectic mixture design strategies, and emphasize the recent progress of these strategies in low‐temperature Zn batteries. Finally, promising design principles for better electrolytes are recommended and future research directions about high‐performance ARZBs at low temperatures are provided.
Understanding the key issues and potential solutions is important for the potent application of low‐temperature Zn batteries. The timely and objective strategies for realistic low‐temperature Zn batteries are summarized. The conclusion and outlook are ultimately introduced to provide guidance for future research.
An important way to promote the environmental industry's goal of carbon reduction is to promote the recycling of resources. Membrane separation technology has unique advantages in resource recovery ...and advanced treatment of industrial wastewater. However, the great promise of traditional organic membrane is hampered by challenges associated with organic solvent tolerance, lack of oxidation resistance, and serious membrane fouling control. Moreover, the high concentrations of organic matter and inorganic salts in the membrane filtration concentrate also hinder the wider application of the membrane separation technology. The emerging cost-effective graphene oxide (GO)-based membrane with excellent resistance to organic solvents and oxidants, more hydrophilicity, lower membrane fouling, better separation performance has been expected to contribute more in industrial wastewater treatment. Herein, we provide comprehensive insights into the preparation and characteristic of GO membranes, as well as current research status and problems related to its future application in industrial wastewater treatment. Finally, concluding remarks and future perspectives have been deduced and recommended for the GO membrane separation technology application for industrial wastewater treatment, which leads to realizing sustainable wastewater recycling and a nearly “zero discharge” water treatment process.
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•Detailed description of the demand for industrial wastewater advanced treatment.•The characteristics and performance of GO membrane in advanced treatment of industrial wastewater were described.•The innovative application of GO membrane in advanced treatment of industrial wastewater was summarized.•How to deal with membrane fouling of GO membrane in industrial wastewater treatment was discussed in detail.•The application potential of GO membrane in industrial wastewater treatment was prospected in detail.
•A modified harmonic balance approach is proposed for piezoelectric mechanical systems.•The proposed approach can handle non-polynomial nonlinear restoring forces, nonlinear damping, and nonlinear ...electric terms.•Automatic generation of harmonic balance equations and less analysis is required.•Numerical examples and experimental results well support the proposed method.•Both softening and hardening nonlinearities of a piezoelectric energy harvester are predicted and verified.
A semi-analytical approach based on harmonic balance (HB) method is proposed to predict steady-state responses of nonlinear piezoelectric mechanical systems. In order to handle complicated non-polynomial forces of the systems, the alternating frequency/time domain (AFT) progress is applied to establish a set of implicit algebraic equations of HB method. The stabilities of periodic responses are analyzed via Floquet theory. The proposed approach is successfully implemented a nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvester with a magnetic oscillator and a Duffing energy harvester with strong nonlinear electric terms. The HB solutions are well supported by the simulation results of the Runge-Kutta method. Besides, an experiment piezoelectric device is developed by a circular laminated plate, and an experimental model is established by system identifications. The model includes both the nonlinear stiffness and nonlinear damping which are characterized by the combined functions of polynomials and hyperbolic tangents. The model is analyzed via the proposed approach. The numerical simulations under different excitations show good agreements with the harmonic solutions. The frequency sweeps experimentally pursue the system has both softening and hardening nonlinearities which are verified by HB results. The proposed approach requires less analysis during the solving processes, and shows high accuracy to the strongly nonlinear piezoelectric mechanical systems, even the system with complicated nonlinearities.
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