Browse Articles

Orally derived mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of vascular diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Ion irradiation defect engineering modulates thermal transport in MoS2/Si heterostructure

We investigate the thermal transport behavior in MoS2/Si (2D/3D) heterostructure through ion irradiation defect engineering, revealing differentiated regulation mechanisms for interfacial and in-plane heat transfer via multiscale methodologies. MoS2/Si, MoS2/V-Si(B) (bottom defects), and MoS2/V-Si(T) (top defects) were fabricated. Combined experimental measurements, finite element analysis, and molecular dynamics simulations confirm that V-Si(T) significantly enhances interfacial thermal conductance while reducing thermal conductivity of supported MoS2, whereas V-Si(B) concurrently improves both. The dynamic evolution process of Ar+ irradiation defects was reconstructed, and acoustic analysis with the frozen phonon method elucidates that irradiation-induced phonon-defect scattering enhances interfacial phonon coupling and creates additional transmission channels. V-Si(B) further promotes Rayleigh wave-to-bulk mode coupling, while V-Si(T) intensifies out-of-plane phonon scattering in MoS2, thereby suppressing in-plane heat transfer. The proposed ion irradiation strategy establishes an engineerable thermal management pathway with theoretical foundations for addressing heat dissipation bottlenecks in micro/nanoelectronic devices.

CTRNet: a lightweight and efficient deep learning model for field maize whorl identification

PEDOT:PSS-assisted interfacial stabilization of Li-rich NMC cathodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

There is a pressing need to develop lithium and manganese-rich layered oxides (Li-rich NMCs), such as Li1.2Ni0.16Co0.08Mn0.56O2, as potential cathode materials. However, they possess disadvantages such as protracted voltage loss (voltage decay), limited rate performance, and interfacial instability. In this work, we define the synthesis and electrochemical characterization of a surface coating of PEDOT:PSS on the Li-rich NMC (PEDOT:PSS@Li-richNMC) cathode material. The PEDOT:PSS on the surface of Li-rich layered oxide enhanced interfacial electronic conductivity and the stability of CEI layers while allowing the retention of redox reversibility. The electrochemical testing of the composite cathode shows improved initial capacity (295.2 mAh g−1 at 0.1C), rate capability, and long-term cycling stability (97% capacity retention upon 200 cycles at 2C) compared to pristine Li-rich NMC. Through EIS, reduced charge transfer resistance and an increased Li+ diffusion coefficient were found for the cycled cells with the PEDOT:PSS@Li-rich NMC surface-engineered conductive polymer coatings, making them suitable as cathodes for high-energy LIBs.

Data-driven optimisation of sustainable high-performance concrete incorporating SCMs, biomass ash, and graphene nanoplatelets

Coupling between ferroelectric distortions and excitonic properties in PbTiO3

PbTiO3 is a ferroelectric perovskite semiconductor with favorable electronic and optical properties, making it suitable for a wide range of applications, including photo-catalysis and (opto)electronic devices. Despite its relevance, an accurate ab initio description of the optical absorption spectrum and of the impact of ferroelectric distortion on the excitonic properties is still lacking. We combine G0W0 and Bethe–Salpeter equation calculations to investigate the electronic and optical properties of PbTiO3, tracking the evolution of its excitonic spectrum along the transition from the cubic paraelectric to the tetragonal ferroelectric phase. As the polar distortion increases, the first absorption peak of the cubic phase splits into two distinct features due to symmetry breaking, which partially lifts the degeneracy of the underlying excitonic state. Crucially, the distortion further introduces an in-plane/out-of-plane anisotropy in the spectra and controls the energy separation between the resulting excitonic branches. These findings highlight the potential for tuning the optical absorption properties of PbTiO3 via the application of an external electric field.

Duckworth–Lewis–Stern modeling with fuzzy logic and contextual indices for target revision in cricket

AlxGa1 <b>−</b> xN (0.7  <b>&amp;lt;</b>  x  <b>&amp;lt;</b>  1) Schottky diodes using distributed polarization doped layer with a current density of 14 kA/cm2

High Al-content AlxGa1−xN (0.7 &amp;lt; x &amp;lt; 1) quasi-vertical Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with distributed polarization doping were grown on the bulk AlN substrate. They exhibit excellent rectification behavior with a large forward current density (∼14 kA/cm2) and a high breakdown field of ∼8.3 MV/cm. The SBDs also exhibited low ideality factors of (η ∼ 1.2) with a high Schottky barrier height (Φb ∼ 1.7 eV). Thus, this study demonstrates the feasibility of the distributed polarization doping approach for high current–high voltage devices.

Super-resolution approach tailored for wafer transmission electron microscopy images

Suppressed precipitates dissolution and dislocation loop growth in laser shock peened Inconel 718

Inconel 718 alloy is a critical candidate material for Gen-IV nuclear reactors. However, its high-temperature mechanical performance is compromised under irradiation due to irradiation softening and embrittlement, raising concerns about its service reliability in advanced reactors with higher neutron flux. This study reveals a notable suppression of irradiation-induced precipitate dissolution in the Inconel 718 alloy treated by laser shock peening (LSP). Compared to the untreated material, the LSP-treated alloy shows a 40.8% decrease in the precipitate dissolution rate and a retardation in the growth of dislocation loops under irradiation. Consequently, LSP significantly reduces the irradiation-induced hardness change by 26.7% relative to the untreated sample. Molecular dynamics simulations further reveal that the high-density dislocations introduced by LSP serve as the primary trap for irradiation-induced defects, while the compressive residual stress provides an auxiliary barrier to diffusion. This dual-mechanism effectively suppresses the dissolution of precipitates and the growth of dislocation loops, resulting in a remarkable enhancement in the overall irradiation performance of Inconel 718.

Identification of biomarkers associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress-related cell death in osteoporosis based on bulk and single-cell transcriptomic analyses and experimental validation

Electronic structure and optical properties of doped Cs3Cu2I5 for scintillator: A first-principles study

Cs3Cu2I5 has emerged as a prominent candidate for next-generation scintillators. To further enhance its scintillation performance, this study systematically investigated the electronic structure and optical properties of a series of doped Cs3Cu2I5 scintillators using density functional theory calculations. Cs3Cu2I5:Mn exhibits the narrowest bandgap due to the enlarged lattice constant as well as the influence of impurity levels to the conduction band minimum. By contrast, doping with In, Sn, Tl, and Zn slightly increases the bandgap of Cs3Cu2I5. At the meantime, the attenuation of scintillation light can be effectively suppressed by doping heteroatoms. As the amount of Mn2+ increases, the bandgap can be further reduced due to the electron delocalization. However, higher Mn2+ doping results in the confinement of electrons and causes a bandgap widening. Therefore, our findings can pave guidance for the rational designing of the doped Cs3Cu2I5 scintillator for high-energy radiation detection.

Low E-cadherin expression is associated with poor prognosis in pulmonal adenocarcinoma

Abstract E-cadherin is a critical cell adhesion molecule with a tumor suppressive role. Reduced membranous E-cadherin expression is considered a central step in the progression and metastatic spread in human cancers. To study the prevalence and potential role of reduced E-cadherin expression in different lung cancer subtypes, E-cadherin expression was analyzed in more than 850 resected lung cancers by IHC in a tissue microarray format. A membranous E-cadherin staining was seen in 779 (96.9%) of the 804 interpretable tumor samples. A loss of E-cadherin expression was slightly more frequent in adenocarcinomas (ACs; 1.1%) than in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs; 0.0%; p &lt; 0.0001). Among the less common tumor entities, E-cadherin immunostaining was absent in 57.1% of 35 mesotheliomas, but retained in all cases of carcinoid (n = 52), large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (n = 19), undifferentiated large cell carcinoma (n = 3), carcinosarcoma (n = 2), pleiomorphic carcinoma (n = 11), adenosquamous carcinoma (n = 8), mucoepidermoid carcinoma (n = 1), lymphoepithelial carcinoma (n = 1), and SMARCA4-deficient undifferentiated tumors (n = 1). Reduced E-cadherin immunostaining was significantly linked to advanced pT stage (p = 0.0265) and high grade (p = 0.0351) in ACs. Univariate outcome analysis revealed a significant association between E-cadherin expression and patient survival in all NSCLCs (p &lt; 0.0001) and in ACs (p = 0.0133). It is concluded that loss of E-cadherin expression occurs in only a small subset of NSCLCs, that it is more frequent in ACs compared to SCCs and that reduced E-cadherin expression is linked to poor prognosis and unfavorable histopathological features in ACs. Should targeted therapy become available in the future, a small subset of pulmonary ACs and many mesotheliomas could be candidates for treatment.

Enhanced optical response of a type-II superlattice mid-wave infrared detector enabled by ring-shaped metasurface structures

To overcome photon-capture bottlenecks and low external quantum efficiency in type-II superlattice (T2SL) infrared detectors, we propose and experimentally realize a metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) coupled architecture integrated with a metallic ring metasurface. The metasurface drives strong near-field localization and efficient in-coupling into the T2SL active region. Devices were fabricated on molecular-beam-epitaxy grown T2SL epitaxial wafers using electron-beam lithography and electron-beam evaporation. Measurements show that the annular MSM–T2SL structure markedly enhances photon capture and quantum efficiency (QE) across the mid-wave infrared (3–5 μm) band, the average QE increased from 18.3% to 26.2%, and the peak specific detectivity reached a maximum of 1.53 × 1012 cm Hz1/2/W.

Geochemical characterization of millions of individual atmospheric particles entrapped in Antarctic ice across the last glacial-interglacial transition

Abstract Reconstructing the source regions of past atmospheric dust preserved in ice remains a challenge in Antarctic glaciology. Until now, different dust properties were obtained by separate techniques and could not be directly correlated at single particle level limiting the dust characterization. Here we apply a novel technique (single particle Inductively Coupled Plasma-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry) to characterize millions of individual particles in low-volume (&lt; 2 mL) ice samples. We analyzed more than 2,000,000 individual particles smaller than 2.5 µm in 28 discrete samples from Taylor Glacier, coastal East Antarctica, spanning 44—9 kyr BP. We show a glacial-interglacial shift in particle number and mass concentrations, as well as in the elemental and mineralogical compositions. Our observations suggest a common potential dust source area for central and coastal East Antarctica during the Last Glacial Period, followed by a transition to different dominant sources in coastal sites during the Holocene. These changes likely reflect large-scale variations in dust sources, and environmental conditions in the Southern Hemisphere. We have also identified and measured the elemental composition of thousands of volcanic particles &lt; 2.5 µm, indicating occasional tephra deposition from one of the Victoria Land volcanoes around 14.8 kyr BP.

Ultraflexible and stretchable multifunctional synaptic memristor by molecular layer deposition

Stretchable memristors are anticipated to be pivotal in the development of next-generation wearable and implantable electronic devices. However, the challenging fabrication requirements and restricted functionality have impeded progress in this field. In this Letter, ultraflexible and stretchable PDMS/Au/Ti-HQ/Al-HQ/Ag (denoted as ATP) memristor is fabricated using a pre-stretch–release process and molecular layer deposition. The ATP memristor exhibits stable bipolar resistive switching behavior at a curvature radius of 0.1 mm or under a 15% strain. The device features low switching voltages (VSET = 0.93 V and VRESET = −0.65 V), long-term retention performance (up to 104 s), stable endurance (up to 3000 cycles), and excellent multilevel conductance states. As an artificial synapse, it can simulate various important synaptic behaviors, such as long-term potentiation/depression, paired-pulse facilitation/depression, and spike time-dependent plasticity. Furthermore, basic logic and arithmetic operations have been realized using the ATP memristor, and parity checkers and encryption matrix systems have been constructed to ensure the accuracy and security of data transmission. Additionally, the ATP memristor-based deep convolutional neural network provides high accuracy and speed in image recognition tasks, achieving an 92% accuracy rate after training for 30 epochs. This cross-disciplinary research into memristor technology covers flexible electronics, digital circuits, information security, and brain-inspired computing, laying the groundwork for the next generation of high-performance, low-power artificial intelligence systems.

Spatio-temporal graph autoencoder for automated evaluation of human actions in 3D in immersive VR-based training for archaeologists

Orientation-tunable local crystallization of Si films enabled by atomic imprint crystallization

In this paper, we demonstrate area-selective crystallization of amorphous Si into tunable crystal orientations enabled by atomic imprint crystallization (AIC), where an amorphous Si layer is crystallized by solid phase epitaxy (SPE) from an externally impressed single-crystalline Si template. Using micro-patterned single-crystalline Si templates, a limited area of an amorphous Si film, where the film surface and patterned template surface are in contact, is crystallized via SPE to create an array of crystallographically aligned dots embedded in amorphous matrix. Combining AIC from the top surface and conventional SPE from the substrate, we demonstrate the fabrication of an array of crystalline dots embedded in single-crystalline matrix with tunable in-plane rotation angle. The results indicate the high tunability of the crystallization process enabled by AIC, allowing precise control of crystallographic properties of thin films with area-selectivity; such capability opens opportunities for the design of new materials for a wide range of applications in materials science.

Precise disease heterogeneity and progression quantification in MSA and Parkinson’s disease using machine learning

Proximity-induced two-dimensional superconductivity in a TaIrTe4/NbSe2 heterostructure

Coupling topological surface states with superconductivity provides a powerful route to realizing a topological superconducting phase that can host Majorana zero modes and support fault-tolerant topological quantum computation. Here, we report proximity-induced two-dimensional superconductivity in a TaIrTe4/NbSe2 heterostructure, where superconductivity is induced into the surface of the type-II Weyl semimetal TaIrTe4. Differential resistance spectra reveal pronounced subgap oscillations, indicating multiple induced superconducting gaps associated with the coexistence of electron and hole Fermi pockets in TaIrTe4. The induced superconductivity exhibits strong anisotropy: while a modest out-of-plane magnetic field is sufficient to suppress the superconducting state, the in-plane upper critical field remains much higher and exceeds the Pauli limit below 2.7 K. Angular-dependent upper critical field measurements reveal a distinct Tinkham-like cusp, together with the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless transition, confirming the two-dimensional nature of the induced superconductivity. These results establish TaIrTe4/NbSe2 heterostructure as a versatile platform for exploring superconductivity mediated by topological surface states in type-II Weyl systems.