An Experimental and Numerical Study of Polyelectrolyte Hydrogel Ionic Diodes: Towards Electrical Detection of Charged Biomolecules

Polyelectrolyte hydrogel ionic diodes (PHIDs) have recently emerged as a unique set of iontronic devices. Such diodes are built on microfluidic chips that feature polyelectrolyte hydrogel junctions and rectify ionic currents owing to the heterogeneous distribution and transport of ions across the junctions. In this paper, we provide the first account of a study on the ion transport behavior of PHIDs through an experimental investigation and numerical simulation. The effects of bulk ionic strength and hydrogel pore confinement are experimentally investigated. The ionic current rectification (ICR) exhibits saturation in a micromolar regime and responds to hydrogel pore size, which is subsequently verified in a simulation. Furthermore, we experimentally show that the rectification is sensitive to the dose of immobilized DNA with an exhibited sensitivity of 1 ng/μL. We anticipate our findings would be beneficial to the design of PHID-based biosensors for electrical detection of charged biomolecules

Thermo–Mechanical Behavior and Constitutive Modeling of In Situ TiB2/7050 Al Metal Matrix Composites Over Wide Temperature and Strain Rate Ranges

The thermo–mechanical behavior of in situ TiB2/7050 Al metal matrix composites is investigated by quasi-static and Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar compression tests over a wide range of temperature (20~30 °C) and strain rate (0.001~5000 s−1). Johnson–Cook and Khan–Liu constitutive models determined from curve fitting and constrained optimization are used to predict the flow stress during deformation. In addition, another Johnson–Cook model calculated from an orthogonal cutting experiment and finite element simulation is also compared in this study. The prediction capability of these models is compared in terms of correlation coefficient and average absolute error. Due to the assumptions in orthogonal cutting theory, the determined Johnson–Cook model from cutting cannot describe the material deformation behavior accurately. The results also show that the Khan–Liu model has better performance in characterizing the material’s thermo–mechanical behavior

Self‐Powered Photodetector Based on Perovskite/NiOx Heterostructure for Sensitive Visible Light and X‐Ray Detection

Abstract Self‐powered halide perovskite X‐ray detectors have evoked busting interests because they present outstanding properties such as low power consumption, high sensitivity, and integrability without external power source. Nevertheless, existing self‐powered X‐ray detectors exhibit low sensitivity due to the insufficient charge separation and transport. Herein, a self‐powered photodetector for sensitive X‐ray and photodetection based on single‐crystalline perovskite FAPbBr3/NiOx heterostructure is demonstrated. The built‐in field of FAPbBr3/NiOx heterojunction provides a driving force for separation and transport of photoexcited carriers. Without an external power supply, the photodetector presents excellent photoresponse performance under 450 nm light illumination, including high photoresponsivity (123.6 mA W−1), good detectivity (D = 7.1 × 1011 Jones), and ultrafast response/recovery time (10/200 ns). Simultaneously, the device achieves photovoltaic effect of 0.80 V and a large mobility–lifetime product of 1.1 × 10−3 cm2 V−1, which enable a superior X‐ray sensitivity of 402 µC Gyair−1 cm−2 at zero bias voltage. These results imply that the simple combination of perovskite single crystal and a hole transporting layer provides a flexible platform for the realization of energy‐saving self‐powered photodetector in visible light and X‐rays

Experimental study on laminated bamboo lumber column

This paper presents and discusses the experimental study on the mechanical properties of LBL column both under axial and eccentric compression. The results shows that the ultimate load for the eccentric compression specimens with the eccentricity values of 30 mm and 110 mm are 95.2 kN and 31.8 kN respectively. Eccentricity is one of the main influencing factors for the ultimate bearing capacity of the LBL columns. Because of the vulnerability of the mechanical connections or natural nodes to tensile stress and secondly, laminated bamboo is vulnerable to defects that has more detrimental influence on the tensile resistance of the material. The variation in strain for the laminated bamboo lumber column sections is linear throughout the loading process, following standard normal section bending theory which is similar as that for the beam

Experimental study on laminated bamboo lumber column

This paper presents and discusses the experimental study on the mechanical properties of LBL column both under axial and eccentric compression. The results shows that the ultimate load for the eccentric compression specimens with the eccentricity values of 30 mm and 110 mm are 95.2 kN and 31.8 kN respectively. Eccentricity is one of the main influencing factors for the ultimate bearing capacity of the LBL columns. Because of the vulnerability of the mechanical connections or natural nodes to tensile stress and secondly, laminated bamboo is vulnerable to defects that has more detrimental influence on the tensile resistance of the material. The variation in strain for the laminated bamboo lumber column sections is linear throughout the loading process, following standard normal section bending theory which is similar as that for the beam

Permeability‐Engineered Compartmentalization Enables In Vitro Reconstitution of Sustained Synthetic Biology Systems

In nature, biological compartments such as cells rely on dynamically controlled permeability for matter exchange and complex cellular activities. Likewise, the ability to engineer compartment permeability is crucial for in vitro systems to gain sustainability, robustness, and complexity. However, rendering in vitro compartments such a capability is challenging. Here, a facile strategy is presented to build permeability-configurable compartments, and marked advantages of such compartmentalization are shown in reconstituting sustained synthetic biology systems in vitro. Through microfluidics, the strategy produces micrometer-sized layered microgels whose shell layer serves as a sieving structure for biomolecules and particles. In this configuration, the transport of DNAs, proteins, and bacteriophages across the compartments can be controlled an guided by a physical model. Through permeability engineering, a compartmentalized cell-free protein synthesis system sustains multicycle protein production; ≈100 000 compartments are repeatedly used in a five-cycle synthesis, featuring a yield of 2.2 mg mL-1 . Further, the engineered bacteria-enclosing compartments possess near-perfect phage resistance and enhanced environmental fitness. In a complex river silt environment, compartmentalized whole-cell biosensors show maintained activity throughout the 32 h pollutant monitoring. It is anticipated that permeability-engineered compartmentalization should pave the way for practical synthetic biology applications such as green bioproduction, environmental sensing, and bacteria-based therapeutics

Database Resources of the National Genomics Data Center, China National Center for Bioinformation in 2021

The National Genomics Data Center (NGDC), part of the China National Center for Bioinformation (CNCB), provides a suite of database resources to support worldwide research activities in both academia and industry. With the explosive growth of multiomics data, CNCB-NGDC is continually expanding, updating and enriching its core database resources through big data deposition, integration and translation. In the past year, considerable efforts have been devoted to 2019nCoVR, a newly established resource providing a global landscape of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences, variants, and haplotypes, as well as Aging Atlas, BrainBase, GTDB (Glycosyltransferases Database), LncExpDB, and TransCirc (Translation potential for circular RNAs). Meanwhile, a series of resources have been updated and improved, including BioProject, BioSample, GWH (Genome Warehouse), GVM (Genome Variation Map), GEN (Gene Expression Nebulas) as well as several biodiversity and plant resources. Particularly, BIG Search, a scalable, one-stop, cross-database search engine, has been significantly updated by providing easy access to a large number of internal and external biological resources from CNCB-NGDC, our partners, EBI and NCBI. All of these resources along with their services are publicly accessible at https://bigd.big.ac.cn