The rapid development of topological photonics and acoustics calls for accurate understanding of band topology in classical waves, which is not yet achieved in many situations. Here, we present the ...Wilson-loop approach for exact numerical calculation of the topological invariants for several photonic/sonic crystals. We demonstrate that these topological photonic/sonic crystals are topological crystalline insulators with fragile topology, a feature which has been ignored in previous studies. We further discuss the bulk-edge correspondence in these systems with emphasis on symmetry broken on the edges.
Chlorine disinfection to drinking water plays an important role in preventing and controlling waterborne disease outbreaks globally. Nevertheless, little is known about why it enriches the antibiotic ...resistance genes (ARGs) in bacteria after chlorination. Here, ARGs released from killed antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and culturable chlorine-injured bacteria produced in the chlorination process as the recipient, were investigated to determine their contribution to the horizontal transfer of ARGs during disinfection treatment. We discovered Escherichia coli, Salmonella aberdeen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis showed diverse resistance to sodium hypochlorite, and transferable RP4 could be released from killed sensitive donor consistently. Meanwhile, the survival of chlorine-tolerant injured bacteria with enhanced cell membrane permeabilisation and a strong oxidative stress-response demonstrated that a physiologically competent cell could be transferred by RP4 with an improved transformation frequency of up to 550 times compared with the corresponding untreated bacteria. Furthermore, the water quality factors involving chemical oxygen demand (COD
), ammonium nitrogen and metal ions (Ca
and K
) could significantly promote above transformation frequency of released RP4 into injured E. faecalis. Our findings demonstrated that the chlorination process promoted the horizontal transfer of plasmids by natural transformation, which resulted in the exchange of ARGs across bacterial genera and the emergence of new ARB, as well as the transfer of chlorine-injured opportunistic pathogen from non-ARB to ARB. Considering that the transfer elements were quite resistant to degradation through disinfection, this situation poses a potential risk to public health.
Topological insulators with unique edge states have revolutionized the understanding of solid-state materials. Recently, higher-order topological insulators (HOTIs), which host both gapped edge ...states and in-gap corner/hinge states, protected concurrently by band topology, were predicted and observed in experiments, unveiling a new horizon beyond the conventional bulk-edge correspondence. However, the control and manifestation of band topology in a hierarchy of dimensions, which is at the heart of HOTIs, have not yet been witnessed. Here, we propose theoretically and observe experimentally that tunable two-dimensional sonic crystals can be versatile systems to visualize and harness higher-order topology. In our systems, the two-dimensional acoustic bands mimic the quantum spin Hall effect, while the resultant one-dimensional helical edge states are gapped due to broken space-symmetry and carry quantized Zak phases, which then lead to zero-dimensional topological corner states. We demonstrate that topological transitions in the bulk and edges can be triggered independently by tuning the geometry of the sonic crystals. With complementary experiments and theories, our study reveals rich physics in HOTIs, opening a new route towards tunable topological metamaterials where novel applications, such as the topological transfer of acoustic energy among two-, one- and zero-dimensional modes, can be achieved.By tuning the geometry of a two-dimensional sonic crystal, its one-dimensional helical edge states become gapped and zero-dimensional topological corner states emerge. The band topology is thus manifested in a hierarchy of dimensions.
A high‐performance electromagnetic interference shielding composite based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and polystyrene (PS) is realized via high‐pressure solid‐phase compression molding. Superior ...shielding effectiveness of 45.1 dB, the highest value among rGO based polymer composite, is achieved with only 3.47 vol% rGO loading owning to multi‐facet segregated architecture with rGO selectively located on the boundaries among PS multi‐facets. This special architecture not only provides many interfaces to absorb the electromagnetic waves, but also dramatically reduces the loading of rGO by confining the rGO at the interfaces. Moreover, the mechanical strength of the segregated composite is dramatically enhanced using high pressure at 350 MPa, overcoming the major disadvantage of the composite made by conventional‐pressure (5 MPa). The composite prepared by the higher pressure shows 94% and 40% increment in compressive strength and compressive modulus, respectively. These results demonstrate a promising method to fabricate an economical, robust, and highly efficient EMI shielding material.
The rGO/PS composite with segregated architecture is realized via high‐pressure solid‐phase compression molding for efficient EMI shielding. The highest EMI SE of 45.1 dB among rGO based polymer composites is achieved with only 3.47 vol% rGO loading. The high‐pressure molded composite shows 94% and 40% enhancement in compressive strength and modulus compared to conventional‐pressure molded composite.
Weyl semimetals (WSMs)
exhibit phenomena such as Fermi arc surface states, pseudo-gauge fields and quantum anomalies that arise from topological band degeneracy in crystalline solids for electrons
...and metamaterials for photons
and phonons
. Here we report a higher-order Weyl semimetal (HOWSM) in a phononic system that exhibits topologically protected boundary states in multiple dimensions. We created the physical realization of the HOWSM in a chiral phononic crystal with uniaxial screw symmetry. Using acoustic pump-probe spectroscopies, we observed coexisting chiral Fermi arc states on two-dimensional surfaces and dispersive hinge arc states on one-dimensional hinge boundaries. These topological boundary states link the projections of the Weyl points (WPs) in different dimensions and directions, and hence demonstrate the higher-order topological physics
in WSMs. Our study further establishes the fundamental connection between higher-order topology and Weyl physics in crystalline materials and should stimulate further work on other potential materials, such as higher-order topological nodal-line semimetals.
Inner filter effect (IFE) was previously considered as an error in fluorescence measurement. In recent years, it has been developed as an important non-irradiation energy conversion model of ...spectroscopic technique and found wide applications in the fields of chemical sensing and biosensing. In comparison with traditional techniques based on forster resonance energy transfer (FRET), the IFE-based fluorescent approach is more flexible and straightforward without the link of absorber with fluorescer. The present review for the first time introduces the state of the art in the progress of the IFE-based fluorescent sensing systems, including sensing strategy, essential conditions, materials option, and their applications for the detection of various target analytes, e.g., ionic species, small molecules, and macromolecules. In addition, the benefits and limitations of the IFE-based fluorescent sensing systems are also critically discussed and highlighted.
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•Inner filter effect in the application of sensing field.•The fundamental, essential conditions and material option of IFE-based sensing.•Critical applications of IFE-based sensing systems for various target analytes.•The benefits/limitations and perspectives of IFE-based sensing.
Wave trapping and manipulation are at the heart of modern integrated photonics and acoustics. Grand challenges emerge on increasing the integration density and reducing the wave leakage/noises due to ...fabrication imperfections, especially for waveguides and cavities at subwavelength scales. The rising of robust wave dynamics based on topological mechanisms offers possible solutions. Ideally, in a three-dimensional (3D) topological integrated chip, there are coexisting robust two-dimensional (2D) interfaces, one-dimensional (1D) waveguides and zero-dimensional (0D) cavities. Here, we report the experimental discovery of such a dimensional hierarchy of the topologically-protected 2D surface states, 1D hinge states and 0D corner states in a single 3D system. Such an unprecedented phenomenon is triggered by the higher-order topology in simple-cubic sonic crystals and protected by the space group Formula: see text. Our study opens up a new regime for multidimensional wave trapping and manipulation at subwavelength scales, which may inspire future technology for integrated acoustics and photonics.
Microplastics (MPs) derived from plastic wastes have attracted wide attention throughout the world due to the wide distribution, easy transition, and potential threats to organisms. This study ...proposes efficient Mg/Zn modified magnetic biochar adsorbents for microplastic removal. For polystyrene (PS) microspheres (1 µm, 100 mg/mL) in aqueous solution, the removal efficiencies of magnetic biochar (MBC), Mg modified magnetic biochar (Mg-MBC), and Zn modified magnetic biochar (Zn-MBC) were 94.81%, 98.75%, and 99.46%, respectively. It is supposed that the adsorption process was a result of electrostatic interaction and chemical bonding interaction between microplastics and biochar. The coexisting H2PO4- and organic matters in real water significantly affected the removal efficiency of Zn-MBC due to competitive adsorption effect. Microplastic degradation and adsorbent regeneration were accomplished by thermal treatment simultaneously. The degradation of adsorbed MPs was promoted by the catalytic active sites originated from Mg and Zn, releasing adsorption sites. Thermal regeneration maintained the adsorption capability. Even after five adsorption-pyrolysis cycles, MBC (95.02%), Mg-MBC (94.60%), and Zn-MBC (95.79%) showed high microplastic removal efficiency. Therefore, the low-cost, eco-friendly, and robust Mg/Zn-MBCs have promising potential for application in microplastic removal.
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•Mg/Zn-MBCs were prepared as adsorbents for microplastic removal.•The modification by Mg and Zn-MBC enhanced removal efficiency significantly.•Zn-MBC maintained stable adsorption performance in various conditions.•MBCs promoted MPs degradation by thermal treatment for adsorbents regeneration.•Recycled Zn-MBC showed the highest removal efficiency of reported adsorbents.
Soaring cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are pummeling the global health system. Overwhelmed health facilities have endeavored to mitigate the pandemic, but mortality of COVID-19 continues to ...increase. Here, we present a mortality risk prediction model for COVID-19 (MRPMC) that uses patients' clinical data on admission to stratify patients by mortality risk, which enables prediction of physiological deterioration and death up to 20 days in advance. This ensemble model is built using four machine learning methods including Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, Gradient Boosted Decision Tree, and Neural Network. We validate MRPMC in an internal validation cohort and two external validation cohorts, where it achieves an AUC of 0.9621 (95% CI: 0.9464-0.9778), 0.9760 (0.9613-0.9906), and 0.9246 (0.8763-0.9729), respectively. This model enables expeditious and accurate mortality risk stratification of patients with COVID-19, and potentially facilitates more responsive health systems that are conducive to high risk COVID-19 patients.
We report a facile green approach for in situ growth of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on the surface of graphene quantum dots (GQDs). GQDs serve as both reducing agent and stabilizer, and no ...additional reducing agent and stabilizer is necessary. The GQDs/AgNPs hybrid exhibits a superior absorbance fading response toward the reduction of H2O2. A simple colorimetric procedure is thus proposed for ultrasensitive detection of H2O2 without additional chromogenic agent. It provides a record detection limit of 33 nM for the detection of H2O2 by the AgNPs-based sensing system. This colorimetric sensing system is further extended to the detection of glucose in combination with the specific catalytic effect of glucose oxidase for the oxidation of glucose and formation of H2O2, giving rise to a detection limit of 170 nM. The favorable performances of the GQDs/AgNPs hybrid are due to the peroxidase-like activity of GQDs.
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