Polymer 4D printing: Advanced shape-change and beyond

4D printing is an exciting branch of additive manufacturing. It relies on established 3D printing techniques to fabricate objects in much the same way. However, structures which fall into the 4D printed category have the ability to change with time, hence the “extra dimension.” The common perception of 4D printed objects is that of macroscopic single-material structures limited to point-to-point shape change only, in response to either heat or water. However, in the area of polymer 4D printing, recent advancements challenge this understanding. A host of new polymeric materials have been designed which display a variety of wonderful effects brought about by unconventional stimuli, and advanced additive manufacturing techniques have been developed to accommodate them. As a result, the horizons of polymer 4D printing have been broadened beyond what was initially thought possible. In this review, we showcase the many studies which evolve the very definition of polymer 4D printing, and reveal emerging areas of research integral to its advancement.     

One-pot,one-step,and selective terpolymerization of ethylene oxide,propylene oxide,and COS to copoly(thioether)s with tunable thermal properties

Facile construction of sulfur-rich polymers using readily available raw chemicals is an area aggressively pursued but challenging. Herein we use common feedstocks of ethylene oxide (EO), propylene oxide (PO), and carbonyl sulfide (COS) to synthesize copoly(thioether)s which are traditionally produced from unpleasant and difficult to store episulfides. In this protocol, the EO/COS coupling selectively generates a pure poly(ethylene sulfide) (PES) with melting temperature (T_m) values up to 172°C and high yields up to 98%. The EO/PO/COS terpolymerization leads to the incorporation of soft poly(propylene sulfide) (PPS) and hard PES segments together, affording a random PES-co-PPS copoly(thioether) with the complete consumption of EO and PO. Additionally, by simply varying the EO/PO feeding ratio, the obtained copoly(thioether)s possess tunable thermal properties, T_m values in the range of 76–144°C, and excellent solubility. These copolymerizations are conducted in one-pot/one-step at industrially favored reaction temperatures of 100–120°C using catalysts of common organic bases, suggesting a facile and practical manner. Especially, the copoly(thioether) exhibits high refractive indices up to 1.68 owing to its high sulfur content, suggesting a broad application prospect in optical materials.     

Regularity of optimal sets for some functional involving eigenvalues of an operator in divergence form

In this paper we consider minimizers of the functional$\min \{{\lambda }_1(\mathrm{\Omega })+\cdots +{\lambda }_k(\mathrm{\Omega })+\mathrm{\Lambda }|\mathrm{\Omega }|,:\mathrm{\Omega }\subset D\text{ open}\}$ where $D\subset {\mathbb{R}}^d$ is a bounded open set and where $0<{\lambda }_1(\mathrm{\Omega })\le \cdots \le {\lambda }_k(\mathrm{\Omega })$ are the first k eigenvalues on Ω of an operator in divergence form with Dirichlet boundary condition and with Hölder continuous coefficients. We prove that the optimal sets ${\mathrm{\Omega }}^{⁎}$ have finite perimeter and that their free boundary $\partial {\mathrm{\Omega }}^{⁎}\cap D$ is composed of a regular part, which is locally the graph of a $C^{1,\alpha }$-regular function, and a singular part, which is empty if $d<d^{⁎}$, discrete if $d=d^{⁎}$ and of Hausdorff dimension at most $d-d^{⁎}$ if $d>d^{⁎}$, for some $d^{⁎}\in \{5,6,7\}$.     

Calcium-based coordination polymers from a solvothermal synthesis of HKUST-1 in 3D printed autoclaves

A mixed-metal 1D coordination polymer [CaCu(HBTC)₂(H2O)₈]_n (where H₃BTC – benzene-1,3,5-tric arboxylic acid) was obtained in a solvothermal synthesis of a well-known copper-containing metal–organic framework [Cu₃(BTC)₂(H₂O)₃]_n (HKUST-1) in autoclaves 3D-printed from commercial polypropylene. This material was a source of calcium ions, apparently, leaking from a colorant (calcium carbonate) promoted by glacial acetic acid as a modulator used to produce large single crystals of HKUST-1. This finding was confirmed by elemental analysis and a model experiment that resulted in a new calcium-based 1D coordination polymer [Ca(H₂BTC)₂(H₂O)₅]_n under the same solvothermal conditions with no copper or calcium salts put into a 3D-printed autoclave.     

四螺旋创新集群:研究型大学人工智能发展生态重构与路向探究——以加拿大多伦多大学为例

以人工智能为代表的知识迭代发展,促使知识生产模式发生重大转变,催生了“大学—产业—政府—公众”四螺旋动力结构的建立和研究型大学知识生产新生态重构。以多伦多大学人工智能发展为例,考察其四螺旋利益相关主体及实践。从内在机理看,4个主体在互动运作中不仅重新确定了各自角色,而且还建立了大学(知识)—产业(产品)—政府(治理)—公众(公益)的新型逻辑链条,平衡公私利益格局,把公益指向作为人工智能四螺旋运作的中心目标;从外在特征看,4个主体形成了以大学为中心的区域创新网络,并牵引其他主体形成环高校创新集群。当前,我国在人工智能发展中不断发力,已进入世界第一方阵,但仍需要在国际比较学习中不断提升自身竞争力。基于案例分析,我国研究型大学发展人工智能有必要把握4个方面:一是走进中心,塑造大学在人工智能发展中的领导地位;二是以专促通,创新研究型大学人工智能专业培养模式;三是引企入研,提升校企合作人工智能创新的转化升级;四是人本导向,突出大学在人工智能发展中的公共价值。总体来看,我国研究型大学发展人工智能不仅要面临技术上的挑战,更要面临来自治理的挑战。     

地理国情普查地表覆盖内业解译的质量问题研究

地表覆盖内业解译是地理国情普查的一道重要工序。地理国情地表覆盖内业解译现存图斑平面位置精度不足、分类错误多种多样等普遍问题,问题突出典型。文中针对这些问题图文并茂、清晰明了的进行了说明,并从多方面分析问题产生的原因,提出加强对技术指标和采集原则的学习和理解,加强内业与外业的结合,充分发挥解译样本的作用等建议,以有效提高内业解译的质量。     

“百病生于气”疾病观的针灸临床应用

 “百病生于气”见于《素问·举痛论》，几千年来始终是中医临床认识疾病、防治疾病的重要理论依据之一。对气的含义及气机失调致病的机制进行了梳理，得出了“百病生于气”的基本含义可以概括为气机失调是疾病发生的基本病机的结论，情志因素、精神心理是导致疾病发生的重要内因。分析认为“百病生于气”的理论对于针灸临床有重要指导意义，针灸诊疗过程中应注重“调气”“调神”，这是针灸取得佳效的根本保障。     

Molecular design of ambipolar redox-active molecules II: closed-shell systems

This mini-review highlights key structural features that should be taken into account when creating ambipolar redox-active closed-shell metal-free molecules. This type of compound is strongly required for the fabrication of all-organic ‘poleless’ batteries and semiconductors. The suggested strategies aimed at stabilization of both oxidized (cationic) and reduced (anionic) redox-states are based on the comprehensive analysis of the most successful structures taken from the recent publications.