Superradiant Emission from Coherent Excitons in van Der Waals Heterostructures

Recent advancements in isolation and stacking of layered van der Waals materials have created an unprecedented paradigm for demonstrating varieties of 2D quantum materials. Rationally designed van der Waals heterostructures composed of monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and few-layer hBN show several unique optoelectronic features driven by correlations. However, entangled superradiant excitonic species in such systems have not been observed before. In this report, it is demonstrated that strong suppression of phonon population at low temperature results in a formation of a coherent excitonic-dipoles ensemble in the heterostructure, and the collective oscillation of those dipoles stimulates a robust phase synchronized ultra-narrow band superradiant emission even at extremely low pumping intensity. Such emitters are in high demand for a multitude of applications, including fundamental research on many-body correlations and other state-of-the-art technologies. This timely demonstration paves the way for further exploration of ultralow-threshold quantum-emitting devices with unmatched design freedom and spectral tunability.     

Authenticity green coffee bean species and geographical origin using near-infrared spectroscopy combined with chemometrics

To prevent the adulteration of agricultural resources and provide a solution to enhance the green coffee bean supply chain, authentication using the near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique was investigated. Partial least square with discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) models combined with various preprocessing methods were built from NIR spectra of 153 Vietnamese green coffee samples. The model combined with the standard normal variate and the first order of derivative yielded excellent performance in predicting coffee species with the error cross-validation of 0.0261. PLS-DA model of mean centre and first-order derivative spectra also yielded good performance in verifying geographical indication of green coffee with the error of 0.0656. By contrast, the predicting abilities of post-harvest methods were poor. The overall results showed a high potential of the NIRS in online authentication practices.     

A Case Report of Germline Compound Heterozygous Mutations in the BRCA1 Gene of an Ovarian and Breast Cancer Patient

The germline carrier of the BRCA1 pathogenic mutation has been well proven to confer an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Despite BRCA1 biallelic pathogenic mutations being extremely rare, they have been reported to be embryonically lethal or to cause Fanconi anemia (FA). Here we describe a patient who was a 48-year-old female identified with biallelic pathogenic mutations of the BRCA1 gene, with no or very subtle FA-features. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and breast cancer at the ages of 43 and 44 and had a strong family history of breast and gynecological cancers.     

Simultaneous improvement of thermal conductivity and mechanical properties for mechanically mixed ABS/h-BN composites by using small amounts of hyperbranched polymer additives

Recently, thermal interface materials (TIMs) are in great demands for modern electronics. For mechanically mixed polymer composite TIMs, the thermal conductivity and the mechanical properties are generally lower than expected values due to the sharply increased viscosity and poor filler dispersion. This work shows that addition of a small amount of polyester-based hyperbranched polymer (HBP) avoided the trade-off in mechanically mixed ABS/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) composites. After adding 0.5 wt% HBP, the maximum h-BN content in the composites increased from 50 to 60 wt%. The out-of-plane, in-plane thermal conductivity, and tensile strength of ABS/h-BN with 50 wt% h-BN were 0.408, 0.517 W/mK, and 18 MPa, respectively, and were increased to 0.729, 0.847 W/mK, and 32 MPa by adding 0.5 wt% HBP, while 0.972, 1.12 W/mK, and 29.5 MPa were achieved for ABS/h-BN/HBP with 60 wt% h-BN. The morphological and rheological results proved that these enhancements are due to the improved h-BN dispersion by decreasing viscosity of composites during mixing. Theoretical modeling based on the modified effective medium theory confirmed such results and showed that the interfacial thermal resistance also decreased slightly. Thus, this work demonstrates a facile and scalable method for simultaneously improving the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of thermoplastic-based TIMs.     

聚乙二醇-三聚氰胺甲醛和聚乙烯醇半互穿网络的构建及表征

为提高三聚氰胺甲醛(MF)树脂制品的柔韧性,以聚乙二醇接枝三聚氰胺(M-PEG)替代部分三聚氰胺,并与甲醛、聚乙烯醇(PVA)在碱性条件下合成了聚乙二醇-三聚氰胺甲醛(PEG-MF)与PVA的半互穿聚合物网络体系(SemiIPN)。采用红外光谱、拉曼光谱、热重分析、差示扫描量热法等手段对Semi-IPN的微观结构进行了剖析,并分析了PEG、PVA等柔性链段对Semi-IPN黏度、游离甲醛含量、柔韧性等性能的影响。结果表明,PVA作为线型结构贯穿于聚乙二醇-三聚氰胺甲醛树脂交联网络体系结构中,形成了半互穿网络结构;所形成的Semi-IPN的热分解温度比MF树脂降低了60℃左右;Semi-IPN的韧性比纯MF树脂提高了800%,最高可达到19.700kJ/m2。     

Heat Propagation in Deformable Polycrystalline Metals with Grain-Size Variation

Russian Engineering Research - Attention focuses on the heat propagation in metal polycrystals where the grain or subgrain size affects the strengthening—as a result of surface plastic...     

300M超高强钢在中性盐雾环境中的腐蚀行为及机制

摘要：为了研究300M超高强钢在中性盐雾环境中的腐蚀行为及腐蚀机制，采用失重法，宏观、微观腐蚀形貌分析，三维表面轮廓分析及电化学分析的研究方法，来表征腐蚀实验现象并进行分析。结果表明：300M超高强钢在中性盐雾环境中的腐蚀产物为FeOOH、Fe2O3、Fe(OH)3和Fe3O4；腐蚀速率随着腐蚀时间逐渐降低，腐蚀后期（72h）腐蚀速率降低50%；腐蚀初期以点蚀为主，点蚀坑通过横向扩展，逐渐发展为后期的均匀腐蚀，腐蚀表面形貌呈沟壑状；外腐蚀层对基体的保护能力很弱，Cr元素在锈层靠近基体的一侧偏聚使内腐蚀层具有一定的抗腐蚀性。     

Cerebral microbleeds and cognitive decline in a hemodialysis patient: Case report and review of literature

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are small hemosiderin deposits indicative of prior cerebral microscopic hemorrhage and previously thought to be clinically silent. Recent population‐based cross‐sectional studies and prospective longitudinal cohort studies have revealed association between CMB and cognitive dysfunction. In the general population, CMBs are associated with age, hypertension, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. In the chronic kidney disease (CKD) population, diminished estimated glomerular filtration rate has been found to be an independent risk factor for CMB, raising the possibility that a uremic milieu may predispose to microbleeds. In the end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) population on hemodialysis, the incidence of microbleeds is significantly higher compared with a control group without history of CKD or stroke. We present an ESRD patient on chronic hemodialysis with a history of gradual cognitive decline and progressive CMBs. Through this case and literature review, we illustrate the need to develop detection and prediction models to treat this frequent development in ESRD patients.