Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most widely used polymer in the world. For the first time, the laser‐driven integration of aluminum nanoparticles (Al NPs) into PET to realize a laser‐induced ...graphene/Al NPs/polymer composite, which demonstrates excellent toughness and high electrical conductivity with the formation of aluminum carbide into the polymer is shown. The conductive structures show an impressive mechanical resistance against >10000 bending cycles, projectile impact, hammering, abrasion, and structural and chemical stability when in contact with different solvents (ethanol, water, and aqueous electrolytes). Devices including thermal heaters, carbon electrodes for energy storage, electrochemical and bending sensors show this technology's practical application for ultra‐robust polymer electronics. This laser‐based technology can be extended to integrating other nanomaterials and create hybrid graphene‐based structures with excellent properties in a wide range of flexible electronics’ applications.
Taking circuits and sensors from their conventional rigid nature to flexible architectures is an unavoidable step for the future of electronics. Here, the inexpensive and large‐scale laser‐driven fabrication of circuits on the surface of common plastic materials is shown. The results show a strong integration of nanoparticles with simultaneous graphene formation for high‐performance flexible electronics.
Abstract
Designing active and stable electrocatalysts with economic efficiency for acidic oxygen evolution reaction is essential for developing proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers. Herein, ...we report on a cobalt oxide incorporated with iridium single atoms (Ir-Co
3
O
4
), prepared by a mechanochemical approach. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals that Ir atoms are partially oxidized to active Ir
>4+
during the reaction, meanwhile Ir and Co atoms with their bridged electrophilic O ligands acting as active sites, are jointly responsible for the enhanced performance. Theoretical calculations further disclose the isolated Ir atoms can effectively boost the electronic conductivity and optimize the energy barrier. As a result, Ir-Co
3
O
4
exhibits significantly higher mass activity and turnover frequency than those of benchmark IrO
2
in acidic conditions. Moreover, the catalyst preparation can be easily scaled up to gram-level per batch. The present approach highlights the concept of constructing single noble metal atoms incorporated cost-effective metal oxides catalysts for practical applications.
Gefitinib, erlotinib and afatinib are approved for first‐line treatment of advanced non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) bearing an activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. However, ...the clinical outcomes among the three EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are still controversial. We aimed to evaluate clinical outcomes and secondary EGFR T790M mutation among the three EGFR TKIs. From May 2014 to January 2016, a total of 301 patients received treatment with gefitinib, erlotinib or afatinib, for first‐line treatment of advanced NSCLC with an activating EGFR mutation, based on their clinicians’ choice. The median overall survival (OS) was 37.0 months. Although the baseline characteristics of patients were unequal, progression‐free survival and OS did not differ among the 3 groups. Multivariate analysis found that gefitinib (adjusted odds ratio aOR 3.29, 95% confidence interval CI, 1.15–9.46, p = 0.027), EGFR TKI treatment duration more than 13 months (aOR 3.16, 95% CI, 1.20–8.33, p = 0.020), male (aOR 3.25, 95% CI, 1.10–9.66, p = 0.034), initial liver metastasis (aOR 4.97, 95% CI 1.18–20.96, p = 0.029) and uncommon EGFR mutation (aOR 0.14, 95% CI, 0.02–0.97, compared to EGFR deletion 19, p = 0.047) were independent factors for secondary T790M mutation. In real‐world practice, choosing first line EGFR TKI based on the patients’ clinical characteristics yielded good clinical outcomes. First‐line gefitinib, longer EGFR TKI treatment duration, male, initial liver metastasis and uncommon EGFR mutations may be independent factors for secondary EGFR T790M mutation.
What's new?
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) commonly are used as first‐line therapy for advanced non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the actual extent of their clinical performance, including impacts on secondary EGFR T790M mutation, the most frequent EGFR‐TKI resistance mechanism, remains uncertain. Here, analyses of first‐line EGFR‐TKIs afatinib, erlotinib, gefitinib in advanced EGFR‐mutant NSCLC, with TKIs chosen by clinicians’ discretion, shows median overall survival to be 37 months, which is longer than previously reported. Secondary EGFR T790M mutation was independently associated with multiple factors, including first‐line gefitinib therapy and EGFR TKI use for more than 13 months.
In recent years, the integration of graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials in optical fibers have stimulated significant advances in all-fiber photonics and optoelectronics. The ...conventional passive silica fiber devices with 2D materials are empowered for enhancing light-matter interactions and are applied for manipulating light beams in respect of their polarization, phase, intensity and frequency, and even realizing the active photo-electric conversion and electro-optic modulation, which paves a new route to the integrated multifunctional all-fiber optoelectronic system. This article reviews the fast-progress field of hybrid 2D-materials-optical-fiber for the opto-electro-mechanical devices. The challenges and opportunities in this field for future development are discussed.
The “right-to-repair” (RTR) movement calls for government legislation that requires manufacturers to provide repair information, tools, and parts so that consumers can independently repair their own ...products with more ease. The initiative has gained global traction in recent years. Repair advocates argue that such legislation would break manufacturers’ monopoly on the repair market and benefit consumers. They further contend that it would reduce the environmental impact by reducing e-waste and new production. Yet the RTR legislation may also trigger a price response in the product market as manufacturers try to mitigate the profit loss. This paper employs an analytical model to study the pricing, welfare, and environmental implications of RTR. We find that, as the RTR legislation continually lowers the independent repair cost, manufacturers may initially cut the new product price and then raise it. This nonmonotone price adjustment may further induce a nonmonotone change in consumer surplus, social welfare, and the environmental impact. Strikingly, the RTR legislation can potentially lead to a lose–lose–lose outcome that compromises manufacturer profit, reduces consumer surplus, and increases the environmental impact despite repair being made easier and more affordable.
This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management.
Funding:
Chen Jin gratefully acknowledges the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 1, Grant R-253-000-144-133.
Supplemental Material:
The online appendix is available at
https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4401
.
Temperature stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that adversely affect agricultural productivity worldwide. Temperatures beyond a plant’s physiological optimum can trigger significant ...physiological and biochemical perturbations, reducing plant growth and tolerance to stress. Improving a plant’s tolerance to these temperature fluctuations requires a deep understanding of its responses to environmental change. To adapt to temperature fluctuations, plants tailor their acclimatory signal transduction events, and specifically, cellular redox state, that are governed by plant hormones, reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulatory systems, and other molecular components. The role of ROS in plants as important signaling molecules during stress acclimation has recently been established. Here, hormone-triggered ROS produced by NADPH oxidases, feedback regulation, and integrated signaling events during temperature stress activate stress-response pathways and induce acclimation or defense mechanisms. At the other extreme, excess ROS accumulation, following temperature-induced oxidative stress, can have negative consequences on plant growth and stress acclimation. The excessive ROS is regulated by the ROS scavenging system, which subsequently promotes plant tolerance. All these signaling events, including crosstalk between hormones and ROS, modify the plant’s transcriptomic, metabolomic, and biochemical states and promote plant acclimation, tolerance, and survival. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the ROS, hormones, and their joint role in shaping a plant’s responses to high and low temperatures, and we conclude by outlining hormone/ROS-regulated plant responsive strategies for developing stress-tolerant crops to combat temperature changes.
Pectin methylesterase (PME) is a hydrolytic enzyme that catalyzes the demethylesterification of homogalacturonans and controls pectin reconstruction, being essential in regulation of cell wall ...modification. During fruit ripening stage, PME-mediated cell wall remodeling is an important process to determine fruit firmness and softening. Strawberry fruit is a soft fruit with a short postharvest life, due to a rapid loss of firm texture. Hence, preharvest improvement of strawberry fruit rigidity is a prerequisite for extension of fruit refreshing time. Although PME has been well characterized in model plants, knowledge regarding the functionality and evolutionary property of PME gene family in strawberry remain limited.
A total of 54 PME genes (FvPMEs) were identified in woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca 'Hawaii 4'). Phylogeny and gene structure analysis divided these FvPME genes into four groups (Group 1-4). Duplicate events analysis suggested that tandem and dispersed duplications effectively contributed to the expansion of the PME family in strawberry. Through transcriptome analysis, we identified FvPME38 and FvPME39 as the most abundant-expressed PMEs at fruit ripening stages, and they were positively regulated by abscisic acid. Genetic manipulation of FvPME38 and FvPME39 by overexpression and RNAi-silencing significantly influences the fruit firmness, pectin content and cell wall structure, indicating a requirement of PME for strawberry fruit softening.
Our study globally analyzed strawberry pectin methylesterases by the approaches of phylogenetics, evolutionary prediction and genetic analysis. We verified the essential role of FvPME38 and FvPME39 in regulation of strawberry fruit softening process, which provided a guide for improving strawberry fruit firmness by modifying PME level.
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an effective and important technique in monitoring crop and other agricultural targets because its quality does not depend on weather conditions.SAR is sensitive to ...the geometrical structures and dielectric properties of the targets and has a certain penetration ability to some agricultural targets.The capabilities of SAR for agriculture applications can be organized into three main categories:crop identification and crop planting area statistics,crop and cropland parameter extraction,and crop yield estimation.According to the above concepts,this paper systematically analyses the recent progresses,existing problems and future directions in SAR agricultural remote sensing.In recent years,with the remarkable progresses in SAR remote sensing systems,the available SAR data sources have been greatly enriched.The accuracies of the crop classification and parameter extraction by SAR data have been improved progressively.But the development of modern agriculture has put forwarded higher requirements for SAR remote sensing.For instance,the spatial resolution and revisiting cycle of the SAR sensors,the accuracy of crop classification,the whole phenological period monitoring of crop growth status,the soil moisture inversion under the condition of high vegetation coverage,the integrations of SAR remote sensing retrieval information with hydrological models and/or crop growth models,and so on,still need to be improved.In the future,the joint use of optical and SAR remote sensing data,the application of multi-band multi-dimensional SAR,the precise and high efficient modeling of electromagnetic scattering and parameter extraction of crop and farmland composite scene,the development of light and small SAR systems like those onboard unmanned aerial vehicles and their applications will be active research areas in agriculture remote sensing.This paper concludes that SAR remote sensing has great potential and will play a more significant role in the various fields of agricultural remote sensing.
The fast development of synthesis routes and preparation technology of 2D materials has motivated a rapid growth in the micro‐ and nanoelectronic memory devices, which gives rise to the breakthroughs ...in the semiconductor research area. Hexagon boron nitride (h‐BN) with excellent chemical, mechanical, and optical properties has been proven to have potential in overcoming the scaling limit to nanometer, and even sub‐nanometer lengths to replace the use of thick and stiff blocking dielectrics in two‐terminal or three‐terminal devices. The use of atomically thin h‐BN or h‐BN van der Waals heterostructures (vdWhs) can improve the reliability, capability, and functionality of memory devices. This is an encouraging strategy toward high‐density on‐chip integrated circuits, which has recently earned considerable interest. While the research in h‐BN material properties and characterization is comprehensively verified, specified mechanisms of resistive switching have not been analyzed in‐depth. Moreover, recent concern about novel structure design and expanding applications in electronics, optoelectronics, and spintronics has arisen. In this review, recent progress in h‐BN memories with volatile or nonvolatile properties is presented, expanding the memories to functional applications, and further challenges of the development of h‐BN‐based memories and logic circuits are discussed.
Hexagon boron nitride (h‐BN) with excellent chemical, mechanical, and optical properties has the potential to replace the use of thick and stiff blocking dielectrics in two‐terminal or three‐terminal devices. Recent progress in h‐BN memories with volatile or nonvolatile properties is presented, expanding the memories to functional applications, and further challenges in the development of h‐BN‐based memories are discussed.
Biopolymers are particularly suitable for drug applications due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and low immunogenicity. There has been growing interest in using biopolymers to achieve ...the controlled release of therapeutics. However, the solubility and processability of biopolymers remain challenging due to their structural heterogeneity and dense networks of inter- and intramolecular interactions. Fortunately, ionic liquids (ILs), regarded as green solvents, have been increasingly appreciated for their unparalleled power for biopolymer processing. By the dissolution of biopolymers in ILs, various materials including sponges, films, microparticles (MPs), nanoparticles (NPs), and aerogels can be generated as potential drug delivery carriers. Besides, ILs can be used as reaction media and/or catalysts for biopolymer chemical reactions, which show enhanced reaction efficiencies. In addition, because of their unique physicochemical (
e.g.
, polarity, hydrophobicity, amphipathicity and miscibility) and biological properties (
e.g.
, antibacterial activity), ILs can assist or participate in the formation of drug delivery carriers. To cover all these aspects of the research, this review provides an overview of the recent progress in using ILs for the engineering of next-generation drug/gene delivery carrier materials. The tunable properties of ILs as affected by their structures are highlighted. Also, the key principles, challenges and prospects of this area are presented.
Ionic liquids present huge potential in the fabrication of biopolymer-based pharmaceutical materials for accurately controlled drug/gene delivery.
PDF
