Strongly Interacting Bose-Fermi Mixtures: Mediated Interaction, Phase Diagram, and Sound Propagation.

Motivated by recent surprising experimental findings, we develop a strong-coupling theory for Bose-Fermi mixtures capable of treating resonant interspecies interactions while satisfying the compressibility sum rule. We show that the mixture can be stable at large interaction strengths close to resonance, in agreement with the experiment, but at odds with the widely used perturbation theory. We also calculate the sound velocity of the Bose gas in the ^{133}Cs-^{6}Li mixture, again finding good agreement with the experimental observations both at weak and strong interactions. A central ingredient of our theory is the generalization of a fermion mediated interaction to strong Bose-Fermi scatterings and to finite frequencies. This further leads to a predicted hybridization of the sound modes of the Bose and Fermi gases, which can be directly observed using Bragg spectroscopy.

PZT-Enabled MoS2 Floating Gate Transistors: Overcoming Boltzmann Tyranny and Achieving Ultralow Energy Consumption for High-Accuracy Neuromorphic Computing.

Low-power electronic devices play a pivotal role in the burgeoning artificial intelligence era. The study of such devices encompasses low-subthreshold swing (SS) transistors and neuromorphic devices. However, conventional field-effect transistors (FETs) face the inherent limitation of the "Boltzmann tyranny", which restricts SS to 60 mV decade-1 at room temperature. Additionally, FET-based neuromorphic devices lack sufficient conductance states for highly accurate neuromorphic computing due to a narrow memory window. In this study, we propose a pioneering PZT-enabled MoS2 floating gate transistor (PFGT) configuration, demonstrating a low SS of 46 mV decade-1 and a wide memory window of 7.2 V in the dual-sweeping gate voltage range from -7 to 7 V. The wide memory window provides 112 distinct conductance states for PFGT. Moreover, the PFGT-based artificial neural network achieves an outstanding facial-recognition accuracy of 97.3%. This study lays the groundwork for the development of low-SS transistors and highly energy efficient artificial synapses utilizing two-dimensional materials.

3D actuation of foam-core liquid metal droplets.

Precise manipulation of liquid metal (LM) droplets possesses the potential to enable a wide range of applications in reconfigurable electronics, robotics, and microelectromechanical systems. Although a variety of methods have been explored to actuate LM droplets on a 2D plane, versatile 3D manipulation remains a challenge due to the difficulty in overcoming their heavy weight. Here, foam-core liquid metal (FCLM) droplets that can maintain the surface properties of LM while significantly reducing the density are developed, enabling 3D manipulation in an electrolyte. The FCLM droplet is fabricated by coating LM on the surface of a copper-grafted foam sphere. The actuation of the FCLM droplet is realized by electrically inducing Marangoni flow on the LM surface. Two motion modes of the FCLM droplet are observed and studied and the actuation performance is characterized. Multiple FCLM droplets can be readily controlled to form 3D structures, demonstrating their potential to be further developed to form collaborative robots for enabling wider applications.

A two-part, single-arm, multicentre, phase I study of zanubrutinib, a selective Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in Chinese patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies.

This single-arm, multicentre, phase I study is the first study of zanubrutinib, a potent, specific, irreversible Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, in Chinese patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell malignancies. The objectives were to evaluate safety and preliminary anti-tumour activity. Forty-four patients received zanubrutinib 320 mg once daily (QD) (n = 10) or 160 mg twice daily (BID) (n = 34) until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. 29.5% of patients received zanubrutinib for at least two years. The most common adverse event (AE) and the most common grade 3 or higher AE was neutrophil count decreased (54.5% and 25.0% respectively). Two patients (4.5%) discontinued treatment due to AEs and one treatment-emergent AE led to death. All haemorrhagic events were grade 1-2 (except for one non-serious grade 3 purpura). No second primary malignancies, tumour lysis syndrome, or atrial fibrillation/flutter occurred. The overall response rate was 52.3% (complete response rate, 18.2%). Patients with all cancer subtypes benefited from treatment. BTK C481S/R or L528W mutations were found in zanubrutinib-progressive patients. The safety/efficacy profiles of patients treated with 320 mg QD and 160 mg BID were comparable and similar daily area under the curve (AUC) was achieved. Overall, zanubrutinib was well tolerated and either of these two regimens is clinically practical. Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03189524, on 16 June 2017, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03189524).

Ultrasensitive Antibiotic Perceiving Based on Aptamer-Functionalized Ultraclean Graphene Field-Effect Transistor Biosensor.

Antibiotics are powerful tools to treat bacterial infections, but antibiotic pollution is becoming a severe threat to the effective treatment of human bacterial infections. The detection of antibiotics in water has been a crucial research area for bioassays in recent years. There is still an urgent need for a simple ultrasensitive detection approach to achieve accurate antibiotic detection at low concentrations. Herein, a field-effect transistor (FET)-based biosensor was developed using ultraclean graphene and an aptamer for ultrasensitive tetracycline detection. Using a newly designed camphor-rosin clean transfer (CRCT) scheme to prepare ultraclean graphene, the carrier mobility of the FET is found to be improved by more than 10 times compared with the FET prepared by the conventional PMMA transfer (CPT) method. Based on the FET, aptamer-functionalized transistor antibiotic biosensors were constructed and characterized. A dynamic detection range of 5 orders of magnitude, a sensitivity of 21.7 mV/decade, and a low detection limit of 100 fM are achieved for the CRCT-FET biosensors with good stability, which are much improved compared with the biosensor prepared by the CPT method. The antibiotic sensing and sensing performance enhancement mechanisms for the CRCT-FET biosensor were studied and analyzed based on experimental results and a biosensing model. Finally, the CRCT-FET biosensor was verified by detecting antibiotics in actual samples obtained from the entrances of Bohai Bay.

Architecturing 1D-2D-3D Multidimensional Coupled CsPbI2 Br Perovskites toward Highly Effective and Stable Solar Cells.

Despite the rapid development of CsPbIx Br3- x (0 ≤ x ≤ 3) inorganic perovskite solar cells, associated with their superior thermal stability, their low moisture stability limits their commercial deployment. In this study, 1D-2D-3D multidimensional coupled perovskites are prepared by means of an in situ self-integration approach. This pioneering method allows incorporating thus far unreported 1D-Tpy2 Pb3 I6 and 2D-TpyPb3 I6 (Tpy; terpyridine) perovskites. Heterojunction perovskites demonstrate superior stability against water in comparison with control 3D CsPbI2 Br, which is related to the hydrophobicity of low-dimension (LD) perovskites. Remarkably, the spontaneous involvement of LD perovskites can adjust/reconstruct the interfacial structure. This modification allows releasing the residual strain, establishing effective charge transfer channels that increase the carrier transport ability. Accordingly, 1D-2D-3D hybrid CsPbI2 Br perovskite solar cells demonstrate a stabilized power conversion efficiency as high as 16.1%, which represents a very significant improvement, by a factor of 43%, with respect to control 3D CsPbI2 Br perovskite solar cell. Equally importantly, the multidimensional coupled perovskite solar cells exhibit extraordinary stability, well above 1000 h in ambient atmosphere.

High Temperature Virial Expansion to Universal Quench Dynamics.

High temperature virial expansion is a powerful tool in equilibrium statistical mechanics. In this Letter we generalize the high temperature virial expansion approach to treat far-from-equilibrium quench dynamics. As an application of our framework, we study the dynamics of a Bose gas quenched from noninteracting to unitarity, and we compare our theoretical results with unexplained experimental results by the Cambridge group [Eigen et al., Nature 563, 221 (2018)]. We show that, during the quench dynamics, the momentum distribution decreases for the low-momentum part with kk^{*}, where k^{*} is a characteristic momentum scale separating the low- and the high-momentum regimes. We determine the universal value of k^{*}λ that agrees perfectly with the experiment, with λ being the thermal de Broglie wavelength. We also find a jump of the halfway relaxation time across k^{*}λ and the nonmonotonic behavior of energy distribution, both of which agree with the experiment. Finally, we address the issue whether the longtime steady state thermalizes or not, and we find that this state reaches a partial thermalization, namely, it thermalizes for the low-energy part with kλ≲1 but does not thermalize for the very high momentum tail with kλ≫1. Our framework can also be applied to quench dynamics in other systems.

Universal Dynamics of a Degenerate Bose Gas Quenched to Unitarity.

Motivated by an unexpected experimental observation from the Cambridge group, [Eigen et al., Nature 563, 221 (2018)], we study the evolution of the momentum distribution of a degenerate Bose gas quenched from the weakly interacting regime to the unitary regime. For the two-body problem, we establish a relation that connects the momentum distribution at a long time to a subleading term in the initial wave function. For the many-body problem, we employ the time-dependent Bogoliubov variational wave function and find that, in certain momentum regimes, the momentum distribution at long times displays the same exponential behavior found by the experiment. Moreover, we find that this behavior is universal and is independent of the short-range details of the interaction potential. Consistent with the relation found in the two-body problem, we also numerically show that this exponential form is hidden in the same subleading term of the Bogoliubov wave function in the initial stages. Conceptually, our results show that, for quench to the universal regime and coherent quantum dynamics afterward, the universal longtime behavior is hidden in the initial state.

Environmental Response of 2D Thermal Cloak under Dynamic External Temperature Field.

As a typical representative of transformation thermodynamics, which is the counterpart of transformation optics, the thermal cloak has been explored extensively while most current research focuses on the structural design instead of adaptability and practicability in a dynamic environment. The evaluation of energy processes involved in the thermal cloak under dynamic conditions are also lacking, which is essential to the engineering application of this functional structure. In this paper, based on the dynamic environment of a sinusoidal form with ambient amplitude, distribution density, phase, and temperature difference as variables, we evaluated the cloaking performance and environmental response of a 2D thermal cloak. Considering the heat dissipation and energy loss in the whole procedure, local entropy production rate and response entropy were introduced to analyze the different influences of each environmental parameter on the cloaking system. Moreover, we constructed a series of comprehensive schemes to obtain the fitting equation as well as an appropriate scope to apply the thermal cloak. The results are beneficial to the novel use of the concept of entropy and valuable for further improving the working efficiency and potential engineering applications of the thermal cloak.

Correction to: P_RNA_scaffolder: a fast and accurate genome scaffolder using paired-end RNAsequencing reads.

Following the publication of this article.

Progress in miRNA Detection Using Graphene Material-Based Biosensors.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, endogenous, noncoding RNAs that play critical roles in physiologic and pathologic processes and are vital biomarkers for several disease diagnostics and therapeutics. Therefore, rapid, low-cost, sensitive, and selective detection of miRNAs is of paramount importance and has aroused increasing attention in the field of medical research. Among the various reported miRNA sensors, devices based on graphene and its derivatives, which form functional supramolecular nanoassemblies of π-conjugated molecules, have been revealed to have great potential due to their extraordinary electrical, chemical, optical, mechanical, and structural properties. This Review critically and comprehensively summarizes the recent progress in miRNA detection based on graphene and its derivative materials, with an emphasis on i) the underlying working principles of these types of sensors, and the unique roles and advantages of graphene materials; ii) state-of-the-art protocols recently developed for high-performance miRNA sensing, including representative examples; and iii) perspectives and current challenges for graphene sensors. This Review intends to provide readers with a deep understanding of the design and future of miRNA detection devices.

P_RNA_scaffolder: a fast and accurate genome scaffolder using paired-end RNA-sequencing reads.

BACKGROUND: Obtaining complete gene structures is one major goal of genome assembly. Some gene regions are fragmented in low quality and high-quality assemblies. Therefore, new approaches are needed to recover gene regions. Genomes are widely transcribed, generating messenger and non-coding RNAs. These widespread transcripts can be used to scaffold genomes and complete transcribed regions. RESULTS: We present P_RNA_scaffolder, a fast and accurate tool using paired-end RNA-sequencing reads to scaffold genomes. This tool aims to improve the completeness of both protein-coding and non-coding genes. After this tool was applied to scaffolding human contigs, the structures of both protein-coding genes and circular RNAs were almost completely recovered and equivalent to those in a complete genome, especially for long proteins and long circular RNAs. Tested in various species, P_RNA_scaffolder exhibited higher speed and efficiency than the existing state-of-the-art scaffolders. This tool also improved the contiguity of genome assemblies generated by current mate-pair scaffolding and third-generation single-molecule sequencing assembly. CONCLUSIONS: The P_RNA_scaffolder can improve the contiguity of genome assembly and benefit gene prediction. This tool is available at http://www.fishbrowser.org/software/P_RNA_scaffolder .

Advances in the use of functional composites of ß-cyclodextrin in electrochemical sensors.

ß-Cyclodextrin (ß-CD) possess a hydrophobic inner cavity and a hydrophilic exterior surface. They exhibit excellent inclusion properties with the guest molecules that match cavity size, and ß-CD-based materials drew widespread attention in electrochemical sensors. The hydroxy groups at the edge of the cavity can form hydrogen bonds and undergo electrostatic and dipole-dipole interactions with other molecules. This review (with 109 refs.) reveals ß-CD-based detection mechanisms from the viewpoint of the size/shape-fit concept, and summarizes the current state of multiple electrochemical sensors based on the use of ß-CD and functionalized ß-CD such as carboxymethyl-ß-CD, mono-(6-ethanediamine-6-deoxy)-ß-CD, hydroxypropyl-ß-CD, thio-ß-cyclodextrin, and others. Graphical abstract Schematic diagram of cyclodextrin inclusion complex formation in aqueous solution, represents water molecules, represents guest molecule.

PEP_scaffolder: using (homologous) proteins to scaffold genomes.

MOTIVATION: Recovering the gene structures is one of the important goals of genome assembly. In low-quality assemblies, and even some high-quality assemblies, certain gene regions are still incomplete; thus, novel scaffolding approaches are required to complete gene regions. RESULTS: We developed an efficient and fast genome scaffolding method called PEP_scaffolder, using proteins to scaffold genomes. The pipeline aims to recover protein-coding gene structures. We tested the method on human contigs; using human UniProt proteins as guides, the improvement on N50 size was 17% increase with an accuracy of ∼97%. PEP_scaffolder improved the proportion of fully covered proteins among all proteins, which was close to the proportion in the finished genome. The method provided a high accuracy of 91% using orthologs of distant species. Tested on simulated fly contigs, PEP_scaffolder outperformed other scaffolders, with the shortest running time and the highest accuracy. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The software is freely available at http://www.fishbrowser.org/software/PEP_scaffolder/ CONTACT: lijt@cafs.ac.cnSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Visualizing the Efimov Correlation in Bose Polarons.

The Bose polaron is a quasiparticle of an impurity dressed by surrounding bosons. In few-body physics, it is known that two identical bosons and a third distinguishable particle can form a sequence of Efimov bound states in the vicinity of interspecies scattering resonance. On the other hand, in the Bose polaron system with an impurity atom embedded in many bosons, no signature of Efimov physics has been reported in the existing spectroscopy measurements to date. In this Letter, we propose that a large mass imbalance between a light impurity and heavy bosons can help produce visible signatures of Efimov physics in such a spectroscopy measurement. Using the diagrammatic approach in the virial expansion to include three-body effects from pair-wise interactions, we determine the impurity self-energy and its spectral function. Taking the ^{6}Li-^{133}Cs system as a concrete example, we find two visible Efimov branches in the polaron spectrum, as well as their hybridizations with the attractive polaron branch. We also discuss the general scenarios for observing the signature of Efimov physics in polaron systems. This work paves the way for experimentally exploring intriguing few-body correlations in a many-body system in the near future.

Gene Expression Variations of Red-White Skin Coloration in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio).

Teleosts have more types of chromatophores than other vertebrates and the genetic basis for pigmentation is highly conserved among vertebrates. Therefore, teleosts are important models to study the mechanism of pigmentation. Although functional genes and genetic variations of pigmentation have been studied, the mechanisms of different skin coloration remains poorly understood. The koi strain of common carp has various colors and patterns, making it a good model for studying the genetic basis of pigmentation. We performed RNA-sequencing for red skin and white skin and identified 62 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Most of them were validated with RT-qPCR. The up-regulated DEGs in red skin were enriched in Kupffer's vesicle development while the up-regulated DEGs in white skin were involved in cytoskeletal protein binding, sarcomere organization and glycogen phosphorylase activity. The distinct enriched activity might be associated with different structures and functions in erythrophores and iridophores. The DNA methylation levels of two selected DEGs inversely correlated with gene expression, indicating the participation of DNA methylation in the coloration. This expression characterization of red-white skin along with the accompanying transcriptome-wide expression data will be a useful resource for further studies of pigment cell biology.

A Microfluidic 3D-Tumor-Spheroid Model for the Evaluation of Targeted Therapies from Angiogenesis-Related Cytokines at the Single Spheroid Level.

Angiogenesis is a key player in drug resistance to targeted therapies for breast cancer. The average expression of angiogenesis-related cytokines is widely associated with the treatments of target therapies for a population of cells or spheroids, overlooking the distinct responses for individuals. In this work, a highly integrated microfluidic platform is developed for the generation of monodisperse multicellular tumor spheroids (MTSs), drug treatments, and the measurement of cytokines for individual MTSs in a single chip. The platform allows the correlation evaluation between cytokine secretion and drug treatment at the level of individual spheroids. For validation, quantities of six representative proangiogenic cytokines are tested against treatments with four model drugs at varying times and concentrations. By applying a linear regression model, significant correlations are established between cytokine secretion and the treated drug concentration for individual spheroids. The proposed platform provides a high-throughput method for the investigation of the molecular mechanism of the cytokine response to targeted therapies and paves the way for future drug screening using predictive regression models at the single-spheroid level.

RNA extraction-free reduced graphene oxide-based RT-LAMP fluorescence assay for highly sensitive SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Infectious diseases have always been a seriously endanger for human life and health. A rapid, accurate and ultra-sensitive virus nucleic acid detection is still a challenge to deal with infectious diseases. Here, a RNA extraction-free reduced graphene oxide-based reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (EF-G-RT-LAMP) fluorescence assay was developed to achieve high-throughput, rapid and ultra-sensitive SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection. The whole detection process only took ∼36 min. The EF-G-RT-LAMP assay achieves a detection limit of 0.6 copies µL-1 with a wide dynamic range of aM-pM. A large number (up to 384) of samples can be detected simultaneously. Simulated detection of the COVID-19 pseudovirus and clinical samples in nasopharyngeal swabs demonstrated a high-throughput, rapid and ultra-sensitive practical detection capability of the EF-G-RT-LAMP assay. The results proved that the assay would be used as a rapid, easy-to-implement approach for epidemiologic diagnosis and could be extended to other nucleic acid detections.

Aptamer-Loop DNA Nanoflower Recognition and Multicolor Fluorescent Carbon Quantum Dots Labeling System for Multitarget Living Cell Imaging.

Visualization of multiple targets in living cells is important for understanding complex biological processes, but it still faces difficulties, such as complex operation, difficulty in multiplexing, and expensive equipment. Here, we developed a nanoplatform integrating a nucleic acid aptamer and DNA nanotechnology for living cell imaging. Aptamer-based recognition probes (RPs) were synthesized through rolling circle amplification, which were further self-assembled into DNA nanoflowers encapsulated by an aptamer loop. The signal probes (SPs) were obtained by conjugation of multicolor emission carbon quantum dots with oligonucleotides complementary to RPs. Through base pairing, RPs and SPs were hybridized to generate aptamer sgc8-, AS1411-, and Apt-based imaging systems. They were used for individual/simultaneous imaging of cellular membrane protein PTK7, nucleolin, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules. Fluorescence imaging and intensity analysis showed that the living cell imaging system can not only specifically recognize and efficiently bind their respective targets but also provide a 5-10-fold signal amplification. Cell-cycle-dependent distribution of nucleolin and concentration-dependent fluorescence intensity of ATP demonstrated the utility of the system for tracking changes in cellular status. Overall, this system shows the potential to be a simple, low-cost, highly selective, and sensitive living cell imaging platform.