Tactile feedback display with spatial and temporal resolutions.

We report the electronic recording of the touch contact and pressure using an active matrix pressure sensor array made of transparent zinc oxide thin-film transistors and tactile feedback display using an array of diaphragm actuators made of an interpenetrating polymer elastomer network. Digital replay, editing and manipulation of the recorded touch events were demonstrated with both spatial and temporal resolutions. Analog reproduction of the force is also shown possible using the polymer actuators, despite of the high driving voltage. The ability to record, store, edit, and replay touch information adds an additional dimension to digital technologies and extends the capabilities of modern information exchange with the potential to revolutionize physical learning, social networking, e-commerce, robotics, gaming, medical and military applications

Manipulation of polarisations for broadband terahertz waves emitted from laser plasma filaments

Polarization control of broadband terahertz waves is essential for applications in many areas such as material sciences, medical and biological diagnostics, near-field communications and public securities. Conventional methods for polarization control are limited to narrow bandwidth and often with low efficiency. Here based upon theoretical and experimental studies, we demonstrate that the two-colour laser scheme in gas plasma can provide effective control of elliptically polarized terahertz waves, including their ellipticity, azimuthal angle, and chirality. This is achieved with a circularly-polarized laser at the fundamental frequency and its linearly polarized second harmonic, a controlled phase difference between these two laser components, as well as a suitable length of the laser plasma filament. A flexible control of their ellipticity and azimuthal angle is demonstrated with our theoretical model and systematic experiments. This offers a unique and flexible technique on the polarization control of broadband terahertz radiation suitable for wide applications

Quality Classification of Lithium Battery in Microgrid Networks Based on Smooth Localized Complex Exponential Model

Accurate prediction of battery quality using early-cycle data is critical for battery, especially lithium battery in microgrid networks. To effectively predict the lifetime of lithium-ion batteries, a time series classification method is proposed that classifies batteries into high-lifetime and low-lifetime groups using features extracted from early-cycle charge-discharge data. The proposed method is based on a smooth localized complex exponential model that can extract battery features from time-frequency maps and self-adaptively select the time-frequency resolution to maximize the discrepancy of data from the two groups. A smooth localized complex exponential periodogram is then calculated to obtain the time-frequency decomposition of the whole time series data for further classification. The experimental results show that, by using battery features extracted from the first 128 charge-discharge processes, the proposed method can accurately classify batteries into high-lifetime and low-lifetime groups, with classification accuracy and specificity as high as 95.12% and 92.5%, respectively

Dual-frequency terahertz emission from splitting filaments induced by lens tilting in air

Dual-frequency terahertz radiation from air-plasma filaments produced with two-color lasers in air has been demonstrated experimentally. When a focusing lens is tilted for a few degrees, it is shown that the laser filament evolves from a single one to two sub-filaments. Two independent terahertz sources emitted from the sub-filaments with different frequencies and polarizations are identified, where the frequency of terahertz waves from the trailing sub-filament is higher than that from the leading sub-filament

β-Glucans in particulate and solubilized forms elicit varied immunomodulatory and apoptosis effects in teleost macrophages in a dosedependent manner

β-Glucans are a group of heterogeneous glucose polymers that possess immunomodulatory activities. The complex nature of their structures, uncertainty regarding the doses, and variable immune effects pose a challenge to comprehensive understanding. In this study, we investigated the immune responses and apoptosis effects in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) head kidney macrophages (MФ) upon exposure to two β-Glucans (Paramylon and Laminarin) at low and high doses. Our results demonstrate that Paramylon elicits more robust immune responses than Laminarin, albeit with a dose-limiting effect. We also observed that the high-dose Paramylon induces apoptosis, whereas no such effect was detected in Laminarin treatment. Mechanistically, high-dose Paramylon activates the intrinsic apoptosis pathway, with significantly up-regulation of intrinsic apoptosis-related genes and impaired mitochondrial function. On the other hand, Laminarin triggers metabolic reprogramming in MФ, resulting in the enrichment of the metabolite α-Ketoglutarate, which protects the MФ from apoptosis. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of identifying the optimal dose range for β-Glucans, based on sources or structures, to achieve maximal immunomodulatory effects. These results have important implications for the design and optimization of β-Glucans-based drugs or adjuvants in immunotherapies

Novel flower-like nickel sulfide as an efficient electrocatalyst for non-aqueous lithium-air batteries

In this paper, metal sulfide materials have been explored for the first time as a new choice of bifunctional cathode electrocatalyst materials for non-aqueous lithium-air batteries (LABs). Nickel sulfides with two different morphologies of flower-like (f-NiS) and rod-like (r-NiS) are successfully synthesized using a hydrothermal method with and without the assistance of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. As LAB cathode catalysts, both f-NiS and r-NiS demonstrate excellent catalytic activities towards the formation and decomposition of Li2O2, resulting in improved specific capacity, reduced overpotentials and enhanced cycling performance when compared to those of pure Super P based electrode. Moreover, the morphology of NiS materials can greatly affect LAB performance. Particularly, the f-NiS is more favorable than r-NiS in terms of their application in LABs. When compared to both r-NiS and pure super P materials as LAB cathode materials, this f-NiS catalyst material can give the highest capacity of 6733\u2009mA h g 121 and the lowest charge voltage of 4.24\u2009V at the current density of 75\u2009mA g 121 and also exhibit an quite stable cycling performance.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Estimating a transformation and its effect on Box-CoxT-ratio

Asymptotic expansion, Box-Cox transformation, sensitivity, T-ratio, 62F25,