Tantalum Nitride Nanosheets for Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Photothermal Cancer Therapy

In this study, the synthesis of TaN nanosheets and their application in theranostic agents is reported. After coating polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the TaN nanosheets, the as-synthesized PEG-modified TaN nanosheets (TaN-PEG) show good stability and biocompatibility. Because of their high absorbance in the near-IR region, TaN-PEG can be utilized as photoacoustic imaging contrast agents for tumor imaging. Moreover, TaN-PEG has significant photothermal conversion performance, exhibiting effective laser-induced tumor ablation capability. The TaN-PEG possessing excellent photoacoustic contrast effect and photothermal properties thus have great promise in theranostic applications, especially imaging-guided cancer treatment.     

A visual uncertainty analytics approach for weather forecast similarity measurement based on fuzzy clustering

Journal of Visualization - Forecast calibration methods based on historical similar atmospheric state are effective means weather forecast accuracy. Conventional approaches search similar forecasts...     

Exponential Stability for Time-changed Stochastic Differential Equations

Acta Mathematicae Applicatae Sinica, English Series - So far there have been few results presented on the exponential stability for time-changed stochastic differential equations. The main aim of...     

Comparison of different methodologies for the computation of damped nonlinear normal modes and resonance prediction of systems with non-conservative nonlinearities

Nonlinear Dynamics - The nonlinear modes of a non-conservative nonlinear system are sometimes referred to as damped nonlinear normal modes (dNNMs). Because of the non-conservative...     

Effect of monomer hydrophilicity on ARGET–ATRP kinetics in aqueous mini-emulsion polymerization

Activators regenerated by electron transfer (ARGET) atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP)-based aqueous miniemulsion polymerization where the polymerization takes place in the stabilized monomer droplets is described. In this work, we compared styrene, n-butyl methacrylate (nBMA) and tert-butyl methacrylate (tBMA) and investigated the influence of their hydrophobicity on dispersity, molecular weight and particle stability based their partition coefficients (logP) (2.67, 2.23, and 1.86, respectively). Tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) was used as a phase transfer agent for the controlled delivery of Cu²⁺-Br/tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPMA), a hydrophilic catalyst, into monomer droplets of varying hydrophobicity. The resulting dispersity and particle stability of each polymer is a function of its logP value, with the most hydrophobic monomer (styrene) displaying the narrowest dispersity and most control (Đ < 1.3), and the most hydrophilic polymer poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) (PtBMA) having reduced emulsion stability, determined by the observation of aggregate formation. Selected polymerization parameters, including effects of total ascorbic acid feed concentration and the monomer concentration and their effects on dispersity are reported. The controlled polymerizations of hydrophilic monomers using ARGET-ATRP in miniemulsion conditions and understanding the effect of monomer hydrophilicity on the emulsion stability will broaden the use of ARGET-ATRP in emulsion polymerization for the synthesis of polymer-grafted nanoparticles with hydrophilic corona.     

Fully Chemical Recyclable Poly(γ-butyrolactone)-based Copolymers with Tunable Structures and Properties

Chinese Journal of Polymer Science - The emerging chemical recyclable polymers, such as poly(γ-butyrolactone) (PGBL) and poly((R)-3,4-trans six-membered ring-fused GBL) (P((R)-M)), provide a...     

气相输运沉积制备c轴择优取向的碘化铋薄膜

铋基卤化物材料因其无毒和优良的光电性能而显示出巨大的应用潜力。BiI₃作为一种层状重金属半导体,已被用于X射线检测、γ射线检测和压力传感器等领域,最近其作为一种薄膜太阳能电池吸收材料备受关注。本文采用简单的气相输运沉积(VTD)法,以BiI₃晶体粉末作为蒸发源,在玻璃基底上得到高质量c轴择优取向的BiI₃薄膜。并通过研究蒸发源温度和沉积距离对薄膜物相和形貌的影响,分析了BiI₃薄膜择优生长的机理。结果表明VTD法制备的BiI₃薄膜属于三斜晶系,其光学带隙为~1.8 eV。沉积温度对薄膜的择优取向有较大影响,在沉积温度低于270 ℃时,沉积的薄膜具有沿c轴择优取向生长的特点,超过此温度,c轴择优取向生长消失。在衬底温度为250 ℃、沉积距离为15 cm时制备的薄膜结晶性能最好,晶体形貌为片状八面体。     

Dynamic mechanism of epileptic seizures generation and propagation after ischemic stroke

Nonlinear Dynamics - Epilepsy is the second largest neurological disease which seriously threatens human life and health. The one important reason of inducing epileptic seizures is ischemic stroke...     

[Nb@Ge13/14]3−: New Family Members of Ge-Based Intermetalloid Clusters

During the past two decades, single-atom-centered medium-sized germanium clusters [M@Ge_n] (M=transition metals, n>12) have been extensively explored, both from theoretical perspectives and experimental gas-phase syntheses. However, the actual structural arrangements of the Ge₁₃ and Ge₁₄ endohedral cages are still ambiguous and have long remained an unresolved problem for experimental implementation. In this work, we successfully synthesize 13-/14-vertex Ge clusters [Nb@Ge₁₃]³⁻ ( 1 ) and [Nb@Ge₁₄]³⁻ ( 2 ), which are structurally characterized and exhibit unprecedented topologies, neither classical deltahedra nor 3-connected polyhedral structures. Theoretical analysis indicates that the major stabilization of the Ge backbones arises due to the substantial interaction of Ge 4p-AOs with the endohedral Nb 4d-AOs through three/four-center two-electron bonds with an enhanced electron density accumulated over the shortest Nb−Ge13 contact in 1 . Low occupancies of the direct two-center two-electron (2c–2e) Nb−Ge and Ge−Ge σ bonds point to a considerable degree of electron delocalization over the Ge cages revealing their electron deficiency.