Sensitive electrochemical determination of α-fetoprotein using a glassy carbon electrode modified with in-situ grown gold nanoparticles,graphene oxide and MWCNTs acting as signal amplifiers

The authors describe an electrochemical immunoassay for α-fetoprotein (α-FP) using a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with a nanocomposite made from gold nanoparticles, graphene oxide and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (AuNPs/GO-MWCNTs) and acting as a signal amplification matrix. The nanocomposite was synthesized in a one-pot redox reaction between GO and HAuCl₄ without using an additional reductant. The stepwise assembly of the immunoelectrode was characterized by means of cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The interaction of antigen and antibody on the surface of the electrode creates a barrier for electrons and causes retarded electron transfer, this resulting in decreased signals in differential pulse voltammetry of hexacyanoferrate which is added as an electrochemical probe. Using this strategy and by working at a potential of 0.2 V (vs. SCE), a wide analytical range (0.01 - 100 ng∙mL‾¹) is covered. The correlation coefficient is 0.9929, and the limit of detection is as low as 3 pg∙mL‾¹ at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. This electrochemical immunoassay combines the specificity of an immunological detection scheme with the sensitivity of an electrode modified with AuNPs and GO-MWCNTs.

Schematic illustration of the fabrication procedure of the immunosensor

     

A very compact Mach-Zehnder interferometer with left-handed material

A very compact Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) composed of two parallel straight waveguides with left-handed material (LHM) layers is proposed. The operating principle and characteristics of the MZI with electro-optic material (EOM) core are analyzed by using the supermode theory and coupled mode theory. The result shows that regardless of material loss, a very compact MZI of only 0.87 mm × 0.022 mm can be achieved by utilizing EOM with ultrahigh electro-optic coefficient, which means a new way to fulfill a very compact electro-optic modulator or optical switch. The absorption effect of the proposed MZI is also analyzed by perturbation method which is generated by lossy LHM layers.     

Analytical modeling of loss characteristics of a polymer arrayed waveguide grating multiplexer

Theoretical analysis is performed for the loss characteristics of a polymer arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer around the central wavelength of 1.55 μm with the wavelength spacing of 1.6 nm. The total loss of the device includes the diffraction loss in the input and output (I/O) slab waveguides, bent loss caused by the AWG and I/O channels, leakage loss resulted from the high refractive index substrate, and propagation loss due to the absorption and scattering of the materials of the device. The effects of some structural parameters on the loss characteristics are investigated and discussed. The computed results show that when we select the core thickness as 4 μm, core width as 6 μm, pitch of adjacent waveguides as 15.5 μm, diffraction order as 50, the number of the arrayed waveguides as 91, that of the I/O channels as 17, confined layer thickness between the core and the substrate as 10 μm, distance between the focal point and the origin as 5500 μm, and central angle between the central waveguide and the x-axis (i.e. the vertical of the symmetrical line of the device) as 60°, the total loss of the device can be dropped to the range 3.79–7.93 dB.     

气相爆轰波数值模拟中化学反应模型研究

 基于改进的时 空守恒元解元算法对气相爆轰波数值模拟中3种常用化学反应模型(二步模型,基元反应模型和Sichel的二步模型)进行了考察。对平面爆轰波和具有胞格结构的爆轰波进行了数值模拟,并对数值结果进行了比较和讨论。结果表明3种化学反应模型得到的爆轰参数准确性有所差异,但得到的胞格结构均能和实验结果较好吻合。3种化学反应模型在爆轰波数值模拟中各有优缺点,应视具体问题决定使用哪种化学反应模型。     

Magnetic-Flux-Induced Tunable Completely Flat Band and Topological Nearly Flat Band in Square Kagome Lattice

The flat bands in a square kagome lattice containing square and triangle plaquettes, are respectively investigated, and the origin of the doubly degenerated completely flat bands and the corresponding compact localized states are elucidated. It is found that the introduction of external magnetic flux enriches the modulation parameters, making the system present many interesting results. In the case that the magnetic flux penetrates through each square plaquette, the tunable completely flat band has one more tunable parameter. And when the external magnetic flux penetrates through each triangle plaquette, excepting a completely flat band, the band dispersions of the system present the topological nearly flat band, which is very useful to realize the interesting fractional quantum Hall physics. The average density of states is also calculated to corroborate the completely FB generated by the highly localized eigenstates. Furthermore, the implementation of the square kagome lattice system based on the current photonic waveguide network technology is demonstrated. The scheme opens up a way to generate the tunable completely flat band and topological nearly flat band in square kagome lattice under multi-parameter variable conditions.     

An improved two-dimensional unstructured CE/SE scheme for capturing shock waves

In this paper, the accuracy of Chang’s unstructured space–time conservation element and solution element (CE/SE) scheme is analysed for the first time. Based on a redefinition of conservation elements and solution elements, an improved two-dimensional (2D) unstructured CE/SE scheme with an adjustable parameter β is proposed to accurately capture shock waves. The new scheme can be applied to any type of grid without special treatment. Compared with Chang’s original parameter α, larger β dose not cost extra computational resources. Numerical tests reveal that the new scheme is not only clear in physical concept, compact and highly accurate but also more capable of capturing shock waves than the popular fifth-order accurate weighted essentially non-oscillatory scheme.     

Simulation of shock-induced instability using an essentially conservative adaptive CE/SE method

An essentially conservative adaptive space time conservation element and solution element(CE/SE)method is proposed for the effective simulation of shock-induced instability with low computational cost.Its implementation is based on redefined conservation elements(CEs)and solution elements(SEs),optimized interpolations and a Courant number insensitive CE/SE scheme.This approach is used in two applications,the Woodward double Mach reflection and a twocomponent Richtmyer–Meshkov instability experiment.This scheme reveals the essential features of the investigated cases,captures small unstable structures,and yields a solution that is consistent with the results from experiments or other high order methods.     

Zinc-blende ferromagnetic CrSb film on KCl (100) substrates

CrSb film was deposited on KCl (100) substrates by magnetron sputtering. Strong ferromagnetism was observed in the CrSb film, which can be attributed to the CrSb phase with ferromagnetic zinc-blended structure. The investigated ZB-CrSb film about 5 nm in thickness is sufficiently thicker to be investigated the half-metallic nature of ZB-CrSb and to be practically applied in spintronics devices.