Generation of genuine entanglement up to 51 superconducting qubits.

Scalable generation of genuine multipartite entanglement with an increasing number of qubits is important for both fundamental interest and practical use in quantum-information technologies1,2. On the one hand, multipartite entanglement shows a strong contradiction between the prediction of quantum mechanics and local realization and can be used for the study of quantum-to-classical transition3,4. On the other hand, realizing large-scale entanglement is a benchmark for the quality and controllability of the quantum system and is essential for realizing universal quantum computing5-8. However, scalable generation of genuine multipartite entanglement on a state-of-the-art quantum device can be challenging, requiring accurate quantum gates and efficient verification protocols. Here we show a scalable approach for preparing and verifying intermediate-scale genuine entanglement on a 66-qubit superconducting quantum processor. We used high-fidelity parallel quantum gates and optimized the fidelitites of parallel single- and two-qubit gates to be 99.91% and 99.05%, respectively. With efficient randomized fidelity estimation9, we realized 51-qubit one-dimensional and 30-qubit two-dimensional cluster states and achieved fidelities of 0.637 ± 0.030 and 0.671 ± 0.006, respectively. On the basis of high-fidelity cluster states, we further show a proof-of-principle realization of measurement-based variational quantum eigensolver10 for perturbed planar codes. Our work provides a feasible approach for preparing and verifying entanglement with a few hundred qubits, enabling medium-scale quantum computing with superconducting quantum systems.

Transarterial chemoembolization with molecular targeted therapies plus camrelizumab for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: The safety and efficacy of transarterial chemoembolization plus molecular targeted therapy (MTT) combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in primary liver cancer have been demonstrated. However, the evidence for TACE plus MTT combined with ICIs in the treatment of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (RHCC) is limited. Given the excellent performance of this combination regimen in primary liver cancer, it is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of TACE plus MTT combined with ICIs in RHCC. METHODS: A total of 88 patients with RHCC treated with TACE plus MTT combined with camrelizumab (TACE-TC group, n = 46) or TACE plus MTT (TACE-T group, n = 42) were retrospectively collected and analyzed. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness and safety of combination therapy for patients with RHCC by analyzing tumor response, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), laboratory biochemical indices, and adverse events (AEs). RESULTS: TACE-TC was superior to TACE-T in PFS (14.0 vs. 8.9 months, p = 0.034) and OS (31.1 vs. 20.2 months, p = 0.009). Moreover, TACE-TC achieved more preferable benefits with respect to disease control rate (89.1% vs. 71.4%, p = 0.036) and objective response rate (47.8% vs. 26.2%, p = 0.036) compared with TACE-T in patients with RHCC. Compared with the TACE-T group, the AFP level in the TACE-TC group decreased more significantly after 3 months of treatment. Multivariate analysis showed that treatment option was a significant predictor of OS and PFS, while the portal vein tumor thrombus and interval of recurrence from initial treatment were another prognostic factor of PFS. There was no significant difference between the TACE-TC and TACE-T groups for Grade 3-4 adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: A combination therapy of TACE, MTT, and camrelizumab significantly improved tumor response and prolonged survival duration, showing a better survival prognosis for RHCC patients.

Clinical application of vancomycin TDM in ventilated patients with gastrointestinal cancer: a propensity-matched analysis.

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of vancomycin is widely recommended for clinical treatment. Due to the complexity of 24-h area under the curve (AUC) guided vancomycin monitoring in clinical practice, the vancomycin trough level remains the most common and practical method. The purpose of this study was designed to investigate the differences in the safety and efficacies of vancomycin TDM based on the two different monitoring methods, and further explore the clinical application of trough-guided vancomycin monitoring in patients with gastrointestinal cancer requiring mechanical ventilation. METHODS: We included a total of 78 gastrointestinal cancer patients who required mechanical ventilation due to various diseases. All patients included in this study were aged 18 years or older and were treated with intravenous vancomycin therapy for more than 2 days due to documented or suspected Gram-positive bacterial infections, and have at least one available vancomycin plasma concentration. First, we compared the safety and efficacies of vancomycin TDM based on different monitoring methods as trough-guided monitoring or AUC-guided monitoring. Then, based on whether the initial vancomycin concentration achieving the target trough concentration (less than 48 h), patients were divided into early and delayed groups, and the clinical factors were compared between them. The primary endpoints include the incidence of new-onset acute kidney injury (AKI) or renal replacement therapy (RRT), clinical success rate and 28-day all-cause mortality. Finally, the overall relationship between trough concentration and potential covariates is screened by univariate and multivariate analysis to explore potential information covariates. RESULTS: The research revealed that patients with gastrointestinal cancer exhibited significantly lower initial vancomycin trough concentrations (median [interquartile range (IQR)]: 6.90[5.28-11.20] mg/L). And there were no statistically significant differences in the safety and efficacies of vancomycin TDM based on the two different monitoring methods for the primary endpoint. Moreover, base on trough-guided vancomycin monitoring, the early group demonstrated a notably shorter duration of mechanical ventilation compared with the delayed group (χ2 = 4.532; p < 0.05; Fig. 2E). Propensity score weighting further confirmed that the duration of mechanical ventilation (χ2 = 6.607; p < 0.05; Fig. 2F) and duration of vasoactive agent (χ2 = 6.106; p < 0.05; Fig. 2D) were significantly shorter in the early group compared with delayed group. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that Cystatin C (Cys-C) was the most important variable for vancomycin target trough achievement (odds ratio, 5.274; 95% CI, 1.780 to 15.627; p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Trough-guided vancomycin monitoring is a simple and effective marker of TDM for ventilated patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Timely achievement of target trough concentrations for vancomycin can improve partial clinical outcomes in Gram-positive bacterial infections. Cys-C level is a potentially valuable parameter for predicting the vancomycin concentration.

Magnetic MOF Substrates for the Rapid and Sensitive Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Detection of Uranyl.

With the widespread use of uranium in the nuclear industry, achieving rapid and sensitive detection of uranium contaminants is critical for reducing environmental pollution. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), with its high sensitivity and unique fingerprint properties, has been used for the analysis of uranyl. However, the weak affinity of Au for uranyl remains a challenge in the development of spherical Au-based SERS substrates. The metal-organic framework (MOF) material ZIF-8 exhibits excellent adsorption capacity for uranyl and could overcome this limitation. In this study, ZIF-8 porous structures were modified on a magnetic SERS substrate, Fe3O4@SiO2@Au (FA), for the rapid and sensitive detection and analysis of the uranyl species. Uranyl was adsorbed by ZIF-8, allowing ready access to the hot spots in the interstices of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs). Symmetrically stretched vibrating bonds of O═U═O were detected at 829 cm-1 as the characteristic peak of uranyl by surface plasmon resonance between the AuNPs. The ZIF-8 coating had minimal influence on target detection as the detection limit for 4-MPY was only half an order of magnitude lower than before modification. The enhancement factor for uranyl reached 106. The substrate showed excellent sensing performance in a neutral or alkaline environment. It was used to detect uranyl in tap water and river water; rapid separation of the species from the water samples was achieved using an external magnet to extract radioactive waste. The proposed substrate offers a route for monitoring and detecting uranyl contamination and an approach for achieving rapid on-site detection, providing a promising application for environmental contaminant detection.

DNA-free CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing of wild tetraploid tomato Solanum peruvianum using protoplast regeneration.

Wild tomatoes (Solanum peruvianum) are important genomic resources for tomato research and breeding. Development of a foreign DNA-free clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas delivery system has potential to mitigate public concern about genetically modified organisms. Here, we established a DNA-free CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing system based on an optimized protoplast regeneration protocol of S. peruvianum, an important resource for tomato introgression breeding. We generated mutants for genes involved in small interfering RNAs biogenesis, RNA-DEPENDENT RNA POLYMERASE 6 (SpRDR6), and SUPPRESSOR OF GENE SILENCING 3 (SpSGS3); pathogen-related peptide precursors, PATHOGENESIS-RELATED PROTEIN-1 (SpPR-1) and PROSYSTEMIN (SpProSys); and fungal resistance (MILDEW RESISTANT LOCUS O, SpMlo1) using diploid or tetraploid protoplasts derived from in vitro-grown shoots. The ploidy level of these regenerants was not affected by PEG-Ca2+-mediated transfection, CRISPR reagents, or the target genes. By karyotyping and whole genome sequencing analysis, we confirmed that CRISPR-Cas9 editing did not introduce chromosomal changes or unintended genome editing sites. All mutated genes in both diploid and tetraploid regenerants were heritable in the next generation. spsgs3 null T0 regenerants and sprdr6 null T1 progeny had wiry, sterile phenotypes in both diploid and tetraploid lines. The sterility of the spsgs3 null mutant was partially rescued, and fruits were obtained by grafting to wild-type (WT) stock and pollination with WT pollen. The resulting seeds contained the mutated alleles. Tomato yellow leaf curl virus proliferated at higher levels in spsgs3 and sprdr6 mutants than in the WT. Therefore, this protoplast regeneration technique should greatly facilitate tomato polyploidization and enable the use of CRISPR-Cas for S. peruvianum domestication and tomato breeding.

Experimental Simulation of Larger Quantum Circuits with Fewer Superconducting Qubits.

Although near-term quantum computing devices are still limited by the quantity and quality of qubits in the so-called NISQ era, quantum computational advantage has been experimentally demonstrated. Moreover, hybrid architectures of quantum and classical computing have become the main paradigm for exhibiting NISQ applications, where low-depth quantum circuits are repeatedly applied. In order to further scale up the problem size solvable by the NISQ devices, it is also possible to reduce the number of physical qubits by "cutting" the quantum circuit into different pieces. In this work, we experimentally demonstrated a circuit-cutting method for simulating quantum circuits involving many logical qubits, using only a few physical superconducting qubits. By exploiting the symmetry of linear-cluster states, we can estimate the effectiveness of circuit-cutting for simulating up to 33-qubit linear-cluster states, using at most 4 physical qubits for each subcircuit. Specifically, for the 12-qubit linear-cluster state, we found that the experimental fidelity bound can reach as much as 0.734, which is about 19% higher than a direct implementation on the same 12-qubit superconducting processor. Our results indicate that circuit-cutting represents a feasible approach of simulating quantum circuits using much fewer qubits, while achieving a much higher circuit fidelity.

Logical Magic State Preparation with Fidelity beyond the Distillation Threshold on a Superconducting Quantum Processor.

Fault-tolerant quantum computing based on surface code has emerged as an attractive candidate for practical large-scale quantum computers to achieve robust noise resistance. To achieve universality, magic states preparation is a commonly approach for introducing non-Clifford gates. Here, we present a hardware-efficient and scalable protocol for arbitrary logical state preparation for the rotated surface code, and further experimentally implement it on the Zuchongzhi 2.1 superconducting quantum processor. An average of 0.8983±0.0002 logical fidelity at different logical states with distance three is achieved, taking into account both state preparation and measurement errors. In particular, the logical magic states |A^{π/4}⟩_{L}, |H⟩_{L}, and |T⟩_{L} are prepared nondestructively with logical fidelities of 0.8771±0.0009, 0.9090±0.0009, and 0.8890±0.0010, respectively, which are higher than the state distillation protocol threshold, 0.859 (for H-type magic state) and 0.827 (for T-type magic state). Our work provides a viable and efficient avenue for generating high-fidelity raw logical magic states, which is essential for realizing non-Clifford logical gates in the surface code.

Associations of Dietary Anthocyanidins Intake with Bone Health in Children: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PURPOSE: Bone health and body composition share several common mechanisms like oxidative stress and inflammation. Anthocyanins have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. We have reported that anthocyanins are associated with better body composition in children, but the associations with bone health have not been elucidated. We aimed to explore the association of anthocyanins with bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) at multiple sites in children. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 452 Chinese children aged 6-9 years were recruited. A validated 79-item food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary information. BMC and BMD at multiple sites (whole body; whole body excluding head, WBEH; limbs; arms; legs) were measured by dual-energy X-ray. RESULTS: Higher dietary intake of total anthocyanidins (per one standard deviation increase) was associated with a 1.28-13.6 g (1.31-1.60%, compared to median) higher BMC at all sites and a 3.61-6.96 mg (0.65-0.90%) higher BMD at the whole body, WBEH, and arm sites after controlling for a number of possible covariates. The results were similar and more pronounced for cyanidin, but not for delphinidin and peonidin. Higher dietary intake of cyanidin (per one standard deviation increase) was associated with a 1.33-15.4 g (1.48-1.68%) higher BMC at all sites and a 4.15-7.77 mg (0.66-1.00%) higher BMD at all sites except the legs. No statistically significant associations with BMC or BMD were found for dietary intake of delphinidin and peonidin. CONCLUSIONS: Higher dietary intake of total anthocyanidins and cyanidins were associated with higher BMC and BMD in Chinese children.

Development of a Cloud-Based Image Processing Health Checkup System for Multi-Item Urine Analysis.

With the busy pace of modern life, an increasing number of people are afflicted by lifestyle diseases. Going directly to the hospital for medical checks is not only time-consuming but also costly. Fortunately, the emergence of rapid tests has alleviated this burden. Accurately interpreting test results is extremely important; misinterpreting the results of rapid tests could lead to delayed medical treatment. Given that URS-10 serve as a rapid test capable of detecting 10 distinct parameters in urine samples, the results of assessing these parameters can offer insights into the subject's physiological condition. These parameters encompass aspects such as metabolism, renal function, diabetes, urinary tract disorders, hemolytic diseases, and acid-base balance, among others. Although the operational procedure is straightforward, the variegated color changes exhibited in the outcomes of individual parameters render it challenging for lay users to deduce causal factors solely from color variations. Moreover, potential misinterpretations could arise due to visual discrepancies. In this study, we successfully developed a cloud-based health checkup system that can be used in an indoor environment. The system is used by placing a URS-10 test strip on a colorimetric board developed for this study, then using a smartphone application to take images which are uploaded to a server for cloud computing. Finally, the interpretation results are stored in the cloud and sent back to the smartphone to be checked by the user. Furthermore, to confirm whether the color calibration technology can eliminate color differences between different cameras, and also whether the colorimetric board and the urine test strips can perform color comparisons correctly in different light intensity environments, indoor environments that could simulate a specific light intensity were established for testing purposes. When comparing the experimental results to real test strips, only two groups failed to reach an identification success rate of 100%, and in both of these cases the success rate reached 95%. The experimental results confirmed that the system developed in this study was able to eliminate color differences between camera devices and could be used without special technical requirements or training.

Crystallizing Self-Standing Covalent Organic Framework Membranes for Ultrafast Proton Transport in Flow Batteries.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) display great potential to be assembled into proton conductive membranes for their uniform and controllable pore structure, yet constructing self-standing COF membrane with high crystallinity to fully exploit their ordered crystalline channels for efficient ionic conduction remains a great challenge. Here, a macromolecular-mediated crystallization strategy is designed to manipulate the crystallization of self-standing COF membrane, where the -SO3 H groups in introduced sulfonated macromolecule chains function as the sites to interact with the precursors of COF and thus offer long-range ordered template for membrane crystallization. The optimized self-standing COF membrane composed of highly-ordered nanopores exhibits high proton conductivity (75 mS cm-1 at 100 % relative humidity and 20 °C) and excellent flow battery performance, outperforming Nafion 212 and reported membranes. Meanwhile, the long-term run of membrane is achieved with the help of the anchoring effect of flexible macromolecule chains. Our work provides inspiration to design self-standing COF membranes with ordered channels for permselective application.

Unlocking the High Capacity Ammonium-Ion Storage in Defective Vanadium Dioxide.

Aqueous ammonium-ion storage has been considered a promising energy storage competitor to meet the requirements of safety, affordability, and sustainability. However, ammonium-ion storage is still in its infancy in the absence of reliable electrode materials. Here, defective VO2 (d-VO) is employed as an anode material for ammonium-ion batteries with a moderate transport pathway and high reversible capacity of ≈200 mAh g-1 . Notably, an anisotropic or anisotropic behavior of structural change of d-VO between c-axis and ab planes depends on the state of charge (SOC). Compared with potassium-ion storage, ammonium-ion storage delivers a higher diffusion coefficient and better electrochemical performance. A full cell is further fabricated by d-VO anode and MnO2 cathode, which delivers a high energy density of 96 Wh kg-1 (based on the mass of VO2 ), and a peak energy density of 3254 W kg-1 . In addition, capacity retention of 70% can be obtained after 10 000 cycles at a current density of 1 A g-1 . What's more, the resultant quasi-solid-state MnO2 //d-VO full cell based on hydrogel electrolyte also delivers high safety and decent electrochemical performance. This work will broaden the potential applications of the ammonium-ion battery for sustainable energy storage.

Ruling Out Real-Valued Standard Formalism of Quantum Theory.

Standard quantum theory was formulated with complex-valued Schrödinger equations, wave functions, operators, and Hilbert spaces. Previous work attempted to simulate quantum systems using only real numbers by exploiting an enlarged Hilbert space. A fundamental question arises: are the complex numbers really necessary in the standard formalism of quantum theory? To answer this question, a quantum game has been developed to distinguish standard quantum theory from its real-number analog, by revealing a contradiction between a high-fidelity multiqubit quantum experiment and players using only real-number quantum theory. Here, using superconducting qubits, we faithfully realize the quantum game based on deterministic entanglement swapping with a state-of-the-art fidelity of 0.952. Our experimental results violate the real-number bound of 7.66 by 43 standard deviations. Our results disprove the real-number formulation and establish the indispensable role of complex numbers in the standard quantum theory.

Observation of Thermalization and Information Scrambling in a Superconducting Quantum Processor.

Understanding various phenomena in nonequilibrium dynamics of closed quantum many-body systems, such as quantum thermalization, information scrambling, and nonergodic dynamics, is crucial for modern physics. Using a ladder-type superconducting quantum processor, we perform analog quantum simulations of both the XX-ladder model and the one-dimensional XX model. By measuring the dynamics of local observables, entanglement entropy, and tripartite mutual information, we signal quantum thermalization and information scrambling in the XX ladder. In contrast, we show that the XX chain, as free fermions on a one-dimensional lattice, fails to thermalize to the Gibbs ensemble, and local information does not scramble in the integrable channel. Our experiments reveal ergodicity and scrambling in the controllable qubit ladder, and open the door to further investigations on the thermodynamics and chaos in quantum many-body systems.

Realization of an Error-Correcting Surface Code with Superconducting Qubits.

Quantum error correction is a critical technique for transitioning from noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices to fully fledged quantum computers. The surface code, which has a high threshold error rate, is the leading quantum error correction code for two-dimensional grid architecture. So far, the repeated error correction capability of the surface code has not been realized experimentally. Here, we experimentally implement an error-correcting surface code, the distance-three surface code which consists of 17 qubits, on the Zuchongzhi 2.1 superconducting quantum processor. By executing several consecutive error correction cycles, the logical error can be significantly reduced after applying corrections, achieving the repeated error correction of surface code for the first time. This experiment represents a fully functional instance of an error-correcting surface code, providing a key step on the path towards scalable fault-tolerant quantum computing.

Regulatory cascade involving transcriptional and N-end rule pathways in rice under submergence.

The rice SUB1A-1 gene, which encodes a group VII ethylene response factor (ERFVII), plays a pivotal role in rice survival under flooding stress, as well as other abiotic stresses. In Arabidopsis, five ERFVII factors play roles in regulating hypoxic responses. A characteristic feature of Arabidopsis ERFVIIs is a destabilizing N terminus, which functions as an N-degron that targets them for degradation via the oxygen-dependent N-end rule pathway of proteolysis, but permits their stabilization during hypoxia for hypoxia-responsive signaling. Despite having the canonical N-degron sequence, SUB1A-1 is not under N-end rule regulation, suggesting a distinct hypoxia signaling pathway in rice during submergence. Herein we show that two other rice ERFVIIs gene, ERF66 and ERF67, are directly transcriptionally up-regulated by SUB1A-1 under submergence. In contrast to SUB1A-1, ERF66 and ERF67 are substrates of the N-end rule pathway that are stabilized under hypoxia and may be responsible for triggering a stronger transcriptional response to promote submergence survival. In support of this, overexpression of ERF66 or ERF67 leads to activation of anaerobic survival genes and enhanced submergence tolerance. Furthermore, by using structural and protein-interaction analyses, we show that the C terminus of SUB1A-1 prevents its degradation via the N-end rule and directly interacts with the SUB1A-1 N terminus, which may explain the enhanced stability of SUB1A-1 despite bearing an N-degron sequence. In summary, our results suggest that SUB1A-1, ERF66, and ERF67 form a regulatory cascade involving transcriptional and N-end rule control, which allows rice to distinguish flooding from other SUB1A-1-regulated stresses.

SecMDGM: Federated Learning Security Mechanism Based on Multi-Dimensional Auctions.

As a newly emerging distributed machine learning technology, federated learning has unique advantages in the era of big data. We explore how to motivate participants to experience auctions more actively and safely. It is also essential to ensure that the final participant who wins the right to participate can guarantee relatively high-quality data or computational performance. Therefore, a secure, necessary and effective mechanism is needed through strict theoretical proof and experimental verification. The traditional auction theory is mainly oriented to price, not giving quality issues as much consideration. Hence, it is challenging to discover the optimal mechanism and solve the privacy problem when considering multi-dimensional auctions. Therefore, we (1) propose a multi-dimensional information security mechanism, (2) propose an optimal mechanism that satisfies the Pareto optimality and incentive compatibility named the SecMDGM and (3) verify that for the aggregation model based on vertical data, this mechanism can improve the performance by 2.73 times compared to that of random selection. These are all important, and they complement each other instead of being independent or in tandem. Due to security issues, it can be ensured that the optimal multi-dimensional auction has practical significance and can be used in verification experiments.

Aggregation-Enhanced Sonodynamic Activity of Phthalocyanine-Artesunate Conjugates.

The clinical prospect of sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has not been fully realized due to the scarcity of efficient sonosensitizers. Herein, we designed phthalocyanine-artesunate conjugates (e.g. ZnPcT4 A), which could generate up to ca. 10-fold more reactive oxygen species (ROS) than the known sonosensitizer protoporphyrin IX. Meanwhile, an interesting and significant finding of aggregation-enhanced sonodynamic activity (AESA) was observed for the first time. ZnPcT4 A showed about 60-fold higher sonodynamic ROS generation in the aggregated form than in the disaggregated form in aqueous solutions. That could be attributed to the boosted ultrasonic cavitation of nanostructures. The level of the AESA effect depended on the aggregation ability of sonosensitizer molecules and the particle size of their aggregates. Moreover, biological studies demonstrated that ZnPcT4 A had high anticancer activities and biosafety. This study thus opens up a new avenue the development of efficient organic sonosensitizers.

Electrostatic-Induced Crystal-Rearrangement of Porous Organic Cage Membrane for CO2 Capture.

Porous Organic Cages (POCs) with tunable tailoring chemistry properties and polymer-like processing conditions are of great potential for molecular selective membranes, but it remains challenging in the assembly of high crystalline POCs with regular nanochannels for effective molecular sieving. Here we report an electrostatic-induced crystal-rearrangement strategy for the design of a POC membrane with heterostructure. Due to electrostatic attraction, ionic liquid molecules induced cage molecules to rearrange into a sub-10 nm uniform and defect-free crystal layer, which displayed competitive CO2 separation performance. The optimized hetero-structured membrane exhibited an attractive CO2 /N2 separation selectivity of over 130, which was superior to the state-of-the-art membranes, accompanied with excellent long-term and thermal shock stability. This strategy provides a new inspiration for the preparation of crystal-rearranged membranes with regular channels for gas molecule sieving.

High-Efficiency CO2 /N2 Separation Enabled by Rotation of Electrostatically Anchored Flexible Ligands in Metal-Organic Framework.

Metal organic frameworks (MOF) are of great potential for molecular separation, but the ligand rotation flexibility makes them remain challenging in the construction of fixed nanochannels for precise sieving. Here we report an electrostatic-anchoring strategy to fix the rotation of 2-methylimidazole (2-MIM) ligand in ZIF-8. Electrostatic inducer trifluoroacetate anchored at and blocked the six-membered windows of ZIF-8, and meanwhile induced the positive 2-MIM rotated from initial 49° to 68°, thus opening neighbored four-membered windows with a constant size of 3.4 Å. The obtained ZIF-8 significantly enhanced the CO2 /N2 adsorption selectivity from 14.02 to 332.86. Further membrane-based separation exhibited an outstanding CO2 /N2 selectivity of up to 137 with a desired permeability of 286 Barrer, which exceeded the 2019 upper bound. This strategy provides a new inspiration for fixing the ligand rotation in soft MOF for desired precise molecular sieving.

High-order exceptional point based optical sensor.

Exceptional points (EPs) could potentially enhance the sensitivity of an optical sensing system by orders of magnitude. Higher-order EP systems, having more complex physics, can further boost this parameter. In this paper, we investigate the response order of high-order non-Hermitian systems and provide a guideline for designing a sensor with high response order. Based on this design rule, we propose and demonstrate an optical sensor with a fourth-order response, and analyze its associated properties. The four resonant wavelengths of our optical sensor simultaneously collapse at a high-order exceptional point in the parameter space, providing a fourth root relation between the amount of wavelength splitting and the amplitude of the perturbation. A large sensitivity enhancement factor over 100, is observed when the wavelength splitting is compared with traditional single resonator-based sensors under small perturbation conditions.