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An insect-scale artificial visual-olfactory bionic compound eye
Abstract Compound eyes feature unique optical structures and high-efficiency image processing. The opto-olfactory nervous system of Drosophila has the characteristics of lightweight and low power consumption. Significant efforts have been dedicated to the design and manufacturing of artificial compound eye system. However, it is still challenging to construct a bionic visual-olfactory compound eye microsystem with sensitive photoelectric response and accurate olfactory perception in insect-scale, mimicking the biological multimodal fusion decision-making mechanism. Here, we report a miniature apposition compound eye that integrates 1027 ommatidia on 1.5×1.5 mm 2 by manufacturing a bionic micro-lens array onto flexible photodetectors via femtosecond laser two-photon polymerization, further construct the colorimetric olfactory sensor array through inkjet printing to achieve integrated perception of vision and smell. The bionic compound eye (bio-CE) enables wide field-of-view imaging (azimuth angle 180°), natural interocular isolation, a 1 kHz flicker fusion frequency and color response to various hazardous chemicals, resulting in high sensitivity to moving objects and rapid response to environmental gases. The microsystem can serve as a wide-angle close-range obstacle avoidance detector and a device for monitoring visual and olfactory information of moving targets. The insect-scale bionic apposition compound eye shows great potential applications in unmanned platform navigation and bionic robot intelligence.
Occurrence of Borrelia miyamotoi in Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus ticks removed from human skin in Poland in 2022–2024
Contextual conditions define maximum energy-use threshold in low-carbon controlled environment agriculture for agri-food transformation
Abstract Controlled Environment Agriculture has the potential to achieve food security and lower carbon emissions in agri-food systems. However, contextual factors such as what is produced and how it is produced determine the feasibility of meeting these goals. Here we show how the use of a Maximum Energy-use Threshold, shaped by these contextual factors, can define, identify and enable low-carbon operations. Results support the potential of low-carbon controlled environment agriculture over international import when growing leafy greens in land-locked countries with low grid emission factors or when substituting air freight of short shelf-life produce. Prospective low-carbon energy scenarios helps but optimising energy use remains critical. As controlled environment agriculture allows intensive farming with a reduced land footprint, controlled environment agriculture of high energy use crops as a lower-carbon alternative can be supported when the potential for agricultural land substitution and restoration for environmental services is considered, along with other contextual condition.
Effectiveness of probiotic supplementation on growth performance, gut microbiota, and Salmonella reduction in broiler chicks challenged with Salmonella Typhimurium
An interpretable AI system reduces false-positive MRI diagnoses by stratifying high-risk breast lesions
Therapeutic potential of targeting MASTL in lung adenocarcinoma
Directed cortico-limbic dialogue in the human brain
Abstract How can one trace the brain’s orderly directed signals amid a tangle of nerve fibers? Because direct access to actual brain signaling is rare in humans, the precise wiring diagrams for cortico-limbic communication during sleep and wake remain essentially unmapped, hampering progress in neuroscience. Now, a unique neurosurgical window on the human brain allows for electrically mapping cortical connections at the hospital, but studies so far have relied on average signals, masking the dynamic nature of signal flow across brain regions and vigilance states. To causally estimate signal flow, we repeatedly probed cortico-limbic networks with short-lived electrical pulses over days and assessed the variable fate of each transmitted signal on a single-trial basis. In the resulting openly available dataset, we characterized signaling probabilities and directionality across thousands of local and long-range cortico-limbic connections over days. Challenging established views, we found that limbic structures send twice as many signals as they receive, in both wakefulness and sleep. Our findings provide a fundamental framework for causally interpreting signal flow in the brain and formulating therapeutic strategies for brain network disorders.
Unveiling scale effects in human settlement environment suitability through a novel multi-factor weighting approach
Hierarchical design and scalable production of radiative cooling film featuring multispectral camouflage
Weighted average algorithm adjusted a novel (1 + FOPI)-FOPI-TID controller structure for AGC with integration of non-linearities and cyber-attack
Abstract The integration of diverse energy sources and the advent of smart grids have intensified the challenges in load frequency management (LFM). Modern power systems are increasingly vulnerable to inherent nonlinearities, such as generation rate constraints, governor dead bands, boiler dynamics, and communication delays, as well as sophisticated cyber-attacks, which collectively threaten frequency stability and tie-line power balance. To address these challenges, this study proposes a novel cascade controller, designated as (1 + FOPI)-FOPI-TID, for robust automatic generation control in hybrid two-area power systems. The controller uniquely combines fractional-order (FO) dynamics with a tilt-integral-derivative stage and is optimized using a green metaheuristic, the weighted average algorithm (WAA). The WAA effectively balances exploration and exploitation to achieve superior parameter tuning. The proposed control architecture processes both area control error (ACE) and frequency deviation (ΔF) signals through dedicated stages, enabling enhanced disturbance rejection and transient response. The system model incorporates a comprehensive set of nonlinearities and evaluates resilience against resonance-based cyber-attacks. Comprehensive simulation studies under both AC and HVDC tie-line configurations demonstrate that the WAA-optimized (1 + FOPI)-FOPI-TID controller significantly outperforms existing schemes, including PD-PI, PIFOD-(1 + PI), and PIDF(1 + FOD). Key performance metrics show a 45.3% reduction in the integral of time-weighted absolute error (ITAE) and improvements in settling times of 47.7% for ΔF₁ and 32.8% for ΔF₂. Sensitivity analysis confirms robustness under ± 25% parameter variations and random load perturbations. During cyber-attacks, the controller maintains the lowest Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCoF), underscoring its dual capability in stabilizing grid dynamics and mitigating cyber-physical threats. These results validate the controller’s potential to enhance operational resilience and reliability in future smart grids.
The microwave phase locking in Bloch transistor
Abstract Recent experimental demonstration of the quantum coherent phase slip and current quantization in the superconductors, the fundamental phenomena dual to the coherent Cooper pair tunneling and voltage quantization (Shapiro steps), enables the development of a new quantum device, the Bloch transistor (BT). BT has a unique functionality: it can deliver quantized non-dissipative current to the quantum circuit. BT consists of two coupled Josephson Junctions (JJ) in the regime of coherent quantum phase slip. At the heart of the BT operation is a new mechanism for phase-locking the Bloch oscillations in JJs to microwaves via induced charge. The charge phase locking allows not only quantization of current but also gate voltage control of this quantization through the Aharonov-Casher effect. We study the operation of the BT and analyze its parameters. BT technology is scalable and compatible with other superconducting quantum devices, making it part of an emerging cryogenic quantum technology platform.
Analysis of the influence of new tunnel excavation on the stability of adjacent existing tunnels
Nitroreductase-triggered indazole formation
Abstract Biocatalysis contributes significantly to the development of more sustainable synthetic pathways by using mild reaction conditions and water as a solvent. However, many relevant classes of compounds, including privileged groups in drug design, are not yet accessible via enzymatic pathways. In this context, the development of an enzymatic route to indazoles remains an unmet challenge. Here, we present a nitroreductase-triggered indazole formation, in which 2-nitrobenzylamine derivatives are converted to reactive nitrosobenzylamine intermediates that spontaneously cyclize and aromatize to indazoles. Two nitroreductases accept a series of 2-nitrobenzylamine derivatives with excellent conversions (up to >99 %). In the case of N -substituted nitrosobenzylamines, 2 H -indazoles are formed, whereas other derivatives led to 1 H -indazoles. The synthetic value of the nitroreductase-triggered indazole formation is further demonstrated by successful coupling with an imine reductase in a sequential cascade reaction on a 50 mg scale. With this cascade, 2 H -indazoles are accessible from cheap 2-nitrobenzaldehyde and primary amines, resulting in up to 85 % conversion and 68 % isolated yield.
A hybrid framework of feature selection and interpretability for dissolved oxygen prediction in drinking water treatment plants
Publisher Correction: Deciphering the role of complement system genes in pancreatic cancer susceptibility and prognosis
Facile Preparation of imidazole-functionalized nanofibers for Cobalt removal from spent lithium-ion batteries
Formation of giant carbonatite rare earth deposits controlled by deep-seated magma chambers
Esketamine attenuates bone cancer pain by suppressing MAPK signaling and glial activation in the spinal dorsal horn of rats
Space-time superoscillations
Abstract Superoscillation (SO) refers to the phenomenon in which a wavefield locally oscillates at a rate exceeding its highest spatial or temporal Fourier component. SO has enabled light to be focused into arbitrarily small hotspots, forming the basis of superresolution imaging and metrology far beyond the Abbe-Rayleigh diffraction limit. Here we show that spatial and temporal superoscillations can occur simultaneously at the same point in space-time, a phenomenon we term space-time superoscillation (STSO). We demonstrate STSOs in a band-limited version of supertoroidal light pulses, a recently introduced family of space–time nonseparable finite-energy solutions of Maxwell’s equations. Our results reveal a new regime of extreme spatiotemporal field structuring, with implications for ultrafast metrology, light–matter interactions, and deep-subwavelength control of electromagnetic waves.