Numerical Analysis of Spreading Process of Ellipsoidal Spraying Droplet Impacting on Superhydrophobic Surface

Agricultural spray deposition is especially important for pesticide application because low efficiency can lead to environmental pollution, poor biological efficiency and economic loss. The deposition of pesticide spray on the leave surfaces is related to the impact kinetic behavior of droplets. But after considering the deformation of the droplet, how impingement will affect the deposition is an interesting research. In this study, a superhydrophobic surface was used to replace the plant surface that the pesticide droplets may affect. An interface tracking method was proposed to characterize the impingement dynamics behaviors of different ellipsoid droplets impacting on the surface. The maximum spreading coefficient and time of ellipsoidal droplets increased with the raise of their size. A lower sized droplet has a faster spreading rate, while the center of a higher sized droplet is thinner. As the velocity of pesticide increases, maximum spreading coefficient of droplet increases with a decrease in the maximum spreading time of droplet. The simulation results can contribute to provide theoretical basis for improving spray efficiency

Zn⁺-O⁻ dual-spin surface states formation by modification of ZnO nanoparticles with diboron compounds

ZnO semiconductor oxides are versatile functional materials that are used in photoelectronics, catalysis, sensing, etc. The Zn⁺–O⁻ surface electronic states of semiconductor oxides were formed on the ZnO surface by Zn 4s and O 2p orbital coupling with the diboron compound’s B 2p orbitals. The formation of spin-coupled surface states was based on the spin–orbit interaction on the interface, which has not been reported before. This shows that the semiconductor oxide’s spin surface states can be modulated by regulating surface orbital energy. The Zn⁺–O⁻ surface electronic states were confirmed by electron spin resonance results, which may help in expanding the fundamental research on spintronics modulation and quantum transport

Modification of TiO_2 Nanoparticles with Organodiboron Molecules Inducing Stable Surface Ti^(3+) Complex

As one of the most promising semiconductor oxide materials, titanium dioxide (TiO_2) absorbs ultraviolet (UV) light but not visible light. To address this limitation, the introduction of Ti^(3+) defects represents a common strategy to render TiO_2 visible-light-responsive. Unfortunately, current hurdles in Ti^(3+) generation technologies impeded the widespread application of Ti^(3+) modified materials. Herein, we demonstrate a simple and mechanistically distinct approach to generating abundant surface-Ti^(3+) sites without leaving behind oxygen vacancy and sacrificing one-off electron donors. In particular, upon adsorption of organodiboron reagents onto TiO_2 nanoparticles, spontaneous electron injection from the dibron-bound O^(2-) site to adjacent Ti^(4+) site leads to an extremely stable blue surface Ti^(3+)‒O^(-•) complex. Notably, this defect generation protocol is also applicable to other semiconductor oxides including ZnO, SnO_2, Nb_2O_5 and In_2O_3. Furthermore, the as-prepared photoelectronic device using this strategy affords 10^3 fold higher visible light response, and the fabricated perovskite solar cell shows an enhanced performance

Modification of TiO_2 Nanoparticles with Organodiboron Molecules Inducing Stable Surface Ti^(3+) Complex

As one of the most promising semiconductor oxide materials, titanium dioxide (TiO_2) absorbs ultraviolet (UV) light but not visible light. To address this limitation, the introduction of Ti^(3+) defects represents a common strategy to render TiO_2 visible-light-responsive. Unfortunately, current hurdles in Ti^(3+) generation technologies impeded the widespread application of Ti^(3+) modified materials. Herein, we demonstrate a simple and mechanistically distinct approach to generating abundant surface-Ti^(3+) sites without leaving behind oxygen vacancy and sacrificing one-off electron donors. In particular, upon adsorption of organodiboron reagents onto TiO_2 nanoparticles, spontaneous electron injection from the dibron-bound O^(2-) site to adjacent Ti^(4+) site leads to an extremely stable blue surface Ti^(3+)‒O^(-•) complex. Notably, this defect generation protocol is also applicable to other semiconductor oxides including ZnO, SnO_2, Nb_2O_5 and In_2O_3. Furthermore, the as-prepared photoelectronic device using this strategy affords 10^3 fold higher visible light response, and the fabricated perovskite solar cell shows an enhanced performance

Formaldehyde Sensing by Co3O4 Hollow Spheres at Room Temperature

: Formaldehyde is a ubiquitous and high toxicity gas. It is an essential task to efficient detect owing to their toxicity and diffusion. In this work, we studied on the detection of trace amount of formaldehyde based on hollow Co3O4 nanostructure. It is found that Co3O4 hollow spheres with different structures shows distinct sensing performance towards formaldehyde at room temperature, the response value of nanosheet modified Co3O4 towards 100 ppm formaldehyde will reach 35 in 18 second, and the nanoparticle modified Co3O4 hollow sphere will reach 2.1 in 18 second, 17 in 300 second. The nanosheet modified and nanoparticle modified Co3O4 hollow sphere will reach 4 and 20 in 10 second towards 100 ppm formaldehyde at room temperature. As room temperature, the sensors do not response towards NH3, CO, etc. The sensing mechanism was proposed based on the theoretical and experimental results. The Co3O4 sensor shows that potential utility in CH2O quick sensing at room temperatur

Development of a Three-Dimensional Nerve Stretch Growth Device towards an Implantable Neural Interface

Because of rising traumatic accidents and diseases, the number of patients suffering from nerve injury is increasing. Without effective rehabilitation therapy, the patients will get motor or sensory function losses or even a lifelong disability. As for amputees, neural interface technology can be used to splice nerves and electrical wires together in a way that allows them to control an artificial limb as if it was a natural extension of the body. However, the means the need for an autologous nerve to stimulate axonal regeneration and extension into target tissues, which are limited by the supply of donor nerves. Based on the principle of mechanical force regulating axon growth, in this paper, we developed a three-dimensional nerve stretch growth device for an implantable neural interface. The device consists of three motors controlled by single chip microcomputer and some mechanical parts. The stability and reliability of the device were tested. Then, we used neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells by small chemical molecules to explore the optimal three-dimensional stretch culture parameters. Furthermore, we found that the axons were intact through 10 rotations per day and 1 mm of horizontal pulling per day. The results of this research will provide convenience for patients treated through an implantable neural interface

Back-contact configuration energizes perovskite photovoltaic modules

In this viewpoint, recent hot topics in the photovoltaic community, interdigitated back contact (IBC) cells, are systematically reviewed from the view of device configuration. Two categories of IBC designs on the most popular perovskite solar cells (PSCs) were discussed, and a planar back-contact perovskite module was first proposed. The device configuration, fabrication methods, working mechanism, optimization strategies, and future development directions of this novel PSC module were put forward to show its superiorities in the module performance, processing difficulty, and extensible functionality among present perovskite modules, presenting promising potential to improve the competitiveness of perovskite technology in the photovoltaic market

Construction and validation of a 15-gene ferroptosis signature in lung adenocarcinoma

Background Ferroptosis is a novel form of programmed cell death characterized by the excessive accumulation of intracellular iron and an increase in reactive oxygen species. Emerging studies have shown that ferroptosis plays a vital role in the progression of lung adenocarcinoma, but the effect of ferroptosis-related genes on prognosis has been poorly studied. The purpose of this study was to explore the prognostic value of ferroptosis-related genes. Methods Lung adenocarcinoma samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) Cox regression algorithm was used to establish a predictive signature for risk stratification. Kaplan–Meier (K–M) survival analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were conducted to evaluate the signature. We further explored the potential correlation between the risk score model and tumor immune status. Results A 15-gene ferroptosis signature was constructed to classify patients into different risk groups. The overall survival (OS) of patients in the high-risk group was significantly shorter than that of patients in the low-risk group. The signature could predict OS independent of other risk factors. Single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) identified the difference in immune status between the two groups. Patients in the high-risk group had stronger immune suppression, especially in the antigen presentation process. Conclusions The 15-gene ferroptosis signature identified in this study could be a potential biomarker for prognosis prediction in lung adenocarcinoma. Targeting ferroptosis might be a promising therapeutic alternative for lung adenocarcinoma

Whole-genome DNA methylation and DNA methylation-based biomarkers in lung squamous cell carcinoma

Summary: Exploring early detection methods through comprehensive evaluation of DNA methylation for lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) patients is of great significance. By using different machine learning algorithms for feature selection and model construction based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases, five methylation biomarkers in LUSC (along with mapped genes) were identified including cg14823851 (TBX4), cg02772121 (TRIM15), cg10424681 (C6orf201), cg12910906 (ARHGEF4), and cg20181079 (OR4D11), achieving extremely high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing LUSC from normal samples in independent cohorts. Pyrosequencing assay verified DNA methylation levels, meanwhile qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry results presented their accordant methylation-related gene expression statuses in paired LUSC and normal lung tissues. The five methylation-based biomarkers proposed in this study have great potential for the diagnosis of LUSC and could guide studies in methylation-regulated tumor development and progression