Wind-Wave Synergistic Triboelectric Nanogenerator: Performance Evaluation Test and Potential Applications in Offshore Areas.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can effectively collect low-frequency, disordered mechanical energy and are therefore widely studied in the field of ocean energy collection. Most of the rotary TENGs studied so far tend to have insufficient rotation, resulting in slow charge transfer rates in low-frequency ocean environments. For this reason, in this paper, we propose a wind-wave synergistic triboelectric nanogenerator (WWS-TENG). It is different from the traditional rotary TENGs based on free-standing mode in that its power generation unit has two types of rotors, and the two rotors rotate in opposite directions under the action of wind energy and wave energy, respectively. This type of exercise can more effectively collect energy. The WWS-TENG has demonstrated excellent performance in sea wind and wave energy harvesting. In the simulated ocean environment, the peak power can reach 13.5 mW under simulated wind-wave superposition excitation; the output of the WWS-TENG increased by 49% compared to single-wave power generation. The WWS-TENG proposal provides a novel means of developing marine renewable energy, and it also demonstrates broad application potential in the field of the self-powered marine Internet of Things (IoT).

Asymmetric-backed multi-frequency ultrasonic transducer for conformal tumor ablation.

OBJECTIVE: Minimally invasive ultrasound ablation transducers have been widely studied. However, conventional designs are limited by the single working frequency, restricting their conformal ablation ability (i.e. ablation size and shape controllability). METHODS: New multi-frequency ultrasonic transducer design method is proposed based on the asymmetric backing layer, which divides the transducer into non-backing-layer region (i.e. front-piezoelectric region) and backing-layer region (i.e. front-piezoelectric-backing region) with multiple local thickness mode resonant frequencies. Ablation zone can be controlled by exciting the local resonance within or between the regions, and its control flexibility is further enhanced by driven under a multi-frequency modulation signal. Experiments and calculations are combined for verifying the proposal. RESULTS: The fabricated transducer with a Y-direction asymmetric backing layer shows five resonances, with two in each region and one resonance excited in both regions. Spatial ultrasound emission is demonstrated by acoustic measurements. Tissue ablation experiments verified spatial ablation zone control, and frequency modulation driving method enables the spatial transition of ablation zone from one region to the other, generating different ablation sizes and shapes. Finally, patient-specific simulations verified the effectiveness of conformal ablation. CONCLUSION: The proposed transducer enables flexible control of ablation zone. SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates a new method for conformal tumor ablation.

Wind-Speed-Adaptive Resonant Piezoelectric Energy Harvester for Offshore Wind Energy Collection.

This paper proposes a wind-speed-adaptive resonant piezoelectric energy harvester for offshore wind energy collection (A-PEH). The device incorporates a coil spring structure, which sets the maximum threshold of the output rotational frequency, allowing the A-PEH to maintain a stable output rotational frequency over a broader range of wind speeds. When the maximum output excitation frequency of the A-PEH falls within the sub-resonant range of the piezoelectric beam, the device becomes wind-speed-adaptive, enabling it to operate in a sub-resonant state over a wider range of wind speeds. Offshore winds exhibit an annual average speed exceeding 5.5 m/s with significant variability. Drawing from the characteristics of offshore winds, a prototype of the A-PEH was fabricated. The experimental findings reveal that in wind speed environments, the device has a startup wind speed of 4 m/s, and operates in a sub-resonant state when the wind speed exceeds 6 m/s. At this point, the A-PEH achieves a maximum open-circuit voltage of 40 V and an average power of 0.64 mW. The wind-speed-adaptive capability of the A-PEH enhances its ability to harness offshore wind energy, showcasing its potential applications in offshore wind environments.

Advances in far-infrared research: therapeutic mechanisms of disease and application in cancer detection.

Far infrared (FIR) irradiation is commonly used as a convenient, non-contact, non-invasive treatment for diseases such as myocardial ischemia, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. In this review, we focus on reviewing the potential therapeutic mechanisms of FIR and its cutting-edge applications in cancer detection. Firstly, we searched the relevant literature in the last decade for systematic screening and briefly summarized the biophysical properties of FIR. We then focused on the possible mechanisms of FIR in wound healing, cardiovascular diseases, and other chronic diseases. In addition, we review recent applications of FIR in cancer detection, where Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and infrared thermography provide additional diagnostic methods for the medical diagnosis of cancer. Finally, we conclude and look into the future development of FIR for disease treatment and cancer detection. As a high-frequency non-ionizing wave, FIR has the advantages of safety, convenience, and low cost. We hope that this review can provide biological information reference and relevant data support for those who are interested in FIR and related high-frequency non-ionizing waves, to promote the further application of FIR in the biomedical field.

Bionic Fish-Shaped Triboelectric-Electromagnetic Hybrid Generator via a Two-Stage Swing Mechanism for Water Flow Energy Harvesting and Condition Monitoring.

The water flow energy of rivers is an important renewable and clean energy that plays a vital role in human life but is challenging to harvest at low flow velocity. This work proposes a bionic fish-shaped triboelectric-electromagnetic hybrid generator (BF-TEHG) via a two-stage swing mechanism for harvesting water flow energy. It is designed to simulate the shape of fish, effectively improving its ability to utilize low-velocity water flow energy and enabling it to operate at a minimum flow rate of 0.24 m/s. Furthermore, the impact of motion parameters on electrical performance is studied. The triboelectric and electromagnetic power-generation units can generate peak powers of 0.55 and 0.34 mW in the simulated river environments with a flow velocity of 0.98 m/s. In applications, after being immersed in water for 40 days, the BF-TEHG maintains its electrical performance without reduction, indicating excellent water immersion durability. Therefore, this work proposes an efficient strategy to harvest low-velocity water flow energy and provides an acceptable candidate for monitoring water flow conditions.

Synthesis of Single Crystal 2D Cu2FeSnS4 Nanosheets with High-Energy Facets (111) as a Pt-Free Counter Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Two-dimensional Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS) nanosheets with exposed high-energy facets (111) have been synthesized by a facile, scalable, and cost-effective one-pot heating process. The CFTS phase formation is confirmed by both X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The formation mechanism of exposed high-energy facet CFTS growth is proposed and its electrochemical and photoelectrochemical properties are investigated in detail to reveal the origin of the anisotropic effect of the high-energy facets. Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) achieve a favorable power conversion efficiency of 5.92% when employing CFTS thin film as a counter electrode, suggesting its potential as a cost-effective substitute for Pt in DSSCs.

Exceptional Entanglement Phenomena: Non-Hermiticity Meeting Nonclassicality.

Non-Hermitian (NH) extension of quantum-mechanical Hamiltonians represents one of the most significant advancements in physics. During the past two decades, numerous captivating NH phenomena have been revealed and demonstrated, but all of which can appear in both quantum and classical systems. This leads to the fundamental question: what NH signature presents a radical departure from classical physics? The solution of this problem is indispensable for exploring genuine NH quantum mechanics, but remains experimentally untouched so far. Here, we resolve this basic issue by unveiling distinct exceptional entanglement phenomena, exemplified by an entanglement transition, occurring at the exceptional point of NH interacting quantum systems. We illustrate and demonstrate such purely quantum-mechanical NH effects with a naturally dissipative light-matter system, engineered in a circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture. Our results lay the foundation for studies of genuinely quantum-mechanical NH physics, signified by exceptional-point-enabled entanglement behaviors.

An Air Velocity Monitor for Coal Mine Ventilation Based on Vortex-Induced Triboelectric Nanogenerator.

Air velocity of coal mine ventilation is an important consideration that may cause serious damage. This paper proposes a simple, low cost and effective air velocity monitor (AVM) for coal mine ventilation. The AVM uses the lock-in characteristic of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) to sense the air velocity. Amplitude of the VIV is converted into frequency signal of a vortex-induced triboelectric nanogenerator (VI-TENG) to improve the durability. Structure of the AVM are designed, and parameters of the AVM are optimized with experiments. For the upper and lower air velocity thresholds of 3.1 and 3.6 m/s, the optimized flexible beam length, slider weight, electrode space and electrode width are 42.5 mm, 0.4 g, 0.2 mm and 0.5 mm, respectively. Experiments also show that the output frequency of the VI-TENG could represent the amplitude of VIV well with the correlation coefficient of 0.93. Durability test demonstrates that the AVM generates stable output frequency in 120,000 cycles. A prototype and its controller are fabricated. Wind tunnel tests of this prototype show that it can give alarm when the gas velocity goes above the upper threshold or below the lower threshold. The proposed AVM could be a good solution for simple and effective coal mine ventilation alarm.

High-power, low-noise Brillouin laser on a silicon chip.

We realize a chip-based Brillouin microlaser with remarkable features of high power and low noise using a microtoroid resonator. Our Brillouin microlaser is able to output a power of up to 126 mW with a fundamental linewidth down to 245 mHz. Additionally, in the course of Brillouin lasing we observe an intriguing power saturation-like effect, which can be attributed to complex thermo-optic-effect-induced mode mismatch between the pump and Brillouin modes. To have a quantitative understanding of this phenomenon, we develop a model by simultaneously considering Brillouin lasing and the thermo-optic effect occurring in the microcavity. Of importance, our theoretical results match well with experimentally measured data.

Self-pulsations in a microcavity Brillouin laser.

We demonstrate a new, to the best of our knowledge, kind of self-pulsation in a microcavity Brillouin laser. This specific self-pulsation is generated by the interplay between the Brillouin lasing and the thermo-optic effect in an optical microcavity. Intriguingly, the self-pulsation behaviors are simultaneously present in both forward input pump and backward Brillouin lasing emission. By developing a coupled-mode theory, our numerical simulations display an excellent agreement with the experimental results.

Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Ocean Wave Graded Energy Harvesting and Condition Monitoring.

Using triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) to harvest blue energy in the ocean is advanced technology at present. In wave environments, the wave magnitude is constantly changing, so designing a TENG that can adjust the energy harvesting ability is necessary. Herein, a graded energy harvesting triboelectric nanogenerator (GEH-TENG) is fabricated, in which double generation units can operate in different transmission states to adapt to wave changes. Under small waves, the GEH-TENG is in the primary transmission state. Once waves are large enough, it enters the secondary transmission state, realizing graded energy harvesting to enhance power generation performance. Experiments show that when the input frequency is 1.0 Hz and the amplitude is 120 mm, the GEH-TENG can generate 0.7 mJ of energy in a single operation cycle, which is 2.3 times of it without grading. Moreover, it can be placed on the shore to monitor ocean wave conditions. An idea of graded energy harvesting is proposed in this study, and the proposal provides useful guidance for practical applications of TENGs in ocean wave condition monitoring.

Quantitative Evaluation of Burn Injuries Based on Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy of Blood with a Seven-Parameter Equivalent Circuit.

A quantitative and rapid burn injury detection method has been proposed based on the electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of blood with a seven-parameter equivalent circuit. The degree of burn injury is estimated from the electrical impedance characteristics of blood with different volume proportions of red blood cells (RBCs) and heated red blood cells (HRBCs). A quantitative relationship between the volume portion HHCT of HRBCs and the electrical impedance characteristics of blood has been demonstrated. A seven -parameter equivalent circuit is employed to quantify the relationship from the perspective of electricity. Additionally, the traditional Hanai equation has been modified to verify the experimental results. Results show that the imaginary part of impedance ZImt under the characteristic frequency (fc) has a linear relationship with HHCT which could be described by ZImt = -2.56HHCT - 2.01 with a correlation coefficient of 0.96. Moreover, the relationship between the plasma resistance Rp and HHCT is obtained as Rp = -7.2HHCT + 3.91 with a correlation coefficient of 0.96 from the seven -parameter equivalent circuit. This study shows the feasibility of EIS in the quantitative detection of burn injury by the quantitative parameters ZImt and Rp, which might be meaningful for the follow-up clinical treatment for burn injury.

Sub-Hertz resonance by weak measurement.

Weak measurement (WM) with state pre- and post-selection can amplify otherwise undetectable small signals and thus has potential in precision measurement applications. Although frequency measurements offer the hitherto highest precision due to the stable narrow atomic transitions, it remains a long-standing interest to develop new schemes to further escalate their performance. Here, we demonstrate a WM-enhanced correlation spectroscopy technique capable of narrowing the resonance linewidth down to 0.1 Hz in a room-temperature atomic vapour cell. The potential of this technique for precision measurement is demonstrated through weak magnetic-field sensing. By judiciously pre- and post-selecting frequency-modulated input and output optical states in a nearly orthogonal manner, a sensitivity of 7 fT Hz-1/2 at a low frequency near DC is achieved using only one laser beam with 15 µW of power. Additionally, our results extend the WM framework to a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian and shed new light on metrology and bio-magnetic field sensing.

Controllable coupling between an ultra-high-Q microtoroid cavity and a graphene monolayer for optical filtering and switching applications.

Whispering-gallery-mode optical microresonators have found impactful applications in various areas due to their remarkable properties such as ultra-high quality factor (Q-factor), small mode volume, and strong evanescent field. Among these applications, controllable tuning of the optical Q-factor is vital for on-chip optical modulation and various opto-electronic devices. Here, we report an experimental demonstration with a hybrid structure formed by an ultra-high-Q microtoroid cavity and a graphene monolayer. Thanks to the strong interaction of the evanescent wave with the graphene, the structure allows the Q-factor to be controllably varied in the range of 3.9 × 105 ∼ 6.2 × 107 by engineering optical absorption via changing the gap distance in between. At the same time, a resonant wavelength shift of 32 pm was also observed. Besides, the scheme enables us to approach the critical coupling with a coupling depth of 99.6%. As potential applications in integrated opto-electronic devices, we further use the system to realize a tunable optical filter with tunable bandwidth from 116.5 MHz to 2.2 GHz as well as an optical switch with a maximal extinction ratio of 31 dB and response time of 21 ms.

Anti-Parity-Time Symmetric Optical Four-Wave Mixing in Cold Atoms.

Non-Hermitian optical systems with parity-time (PT) symmetry have recently revealed many intriguing prospects that outperform conservative structures. The previous works are mostly rooted in complex arrangements with controlled gain-loss interplay. Here, we demonstrate anti-PT symmetry inherent in the nonlinear optical interaction based upon forward optical four-wave mixing in a laser-cooled atomic ensemble with negligible linear gain and loss. We observe that the pair of frequency modes undergo a nontrivial anti-PT phase transition between coherent power oscillation and optical parametric amplification in presence of a large phase mismatch.

Quantitative detection and evaluation of thrombus formation based on electrical impedance spectroscopy.

Thrombus formation is quantitatively measured and evaluated by the electrical impedance spectroscopy method in this study, which confirms the possibility for the application of a promising non-invasive thrombus detection method. The impedance parameter Z*(t) of blood from the electrical impedance spectroscopy is utilized to elaborate the impedance performance of blood during thrombus formation process. Experimental results indicate that the impedance Z*(t) of blood has regular variations under the formation of thrombus, which could be divided into three stages. Modified Hanai equation is proposed to quantitatively expound the three stages of impedance Z*(t) variation. The amount of fibrin and thrombus clot is founded to be accounted for the impedance variation of blood, which confirms the feasibility and theoretical basis of the non-invasive and on-line thrombus bio-detection technology for patients with serious cardiovascular disease.

Quantitative Measurement and Evaluation of Red Blood Cell Aggregation in Normal Blood Based on a Modified Hanai Equation.

The aggregation of red blood cells (RBCs) in normal blood (non-coagulation) has been quantitatively measured by blood pulsatile flow based on multiple-frequency electrical impedance spectroscopy. The relaxation frequencies fc under static and flowing conditions of blood pulsatile flow are utilized to evaluate the RBC aggregation quantitatively with the consideration of blood flow factors (RBC orientation, deformation, thickness of electrical double layer (EDL)). Both porcine blood and bovine blood are investigated in experiments, for the reason that porcine blood easily forms RBC aggregates, while bovine blood does not. The results show that the relaxation frequencies fc of porcine blood and bovine blood present opposite performance, which indicates that the proposed relaxation frequency fc is efficient to measure RBCs aggregation. Furthermore, the modified Hanai equation is proposed to quantitatively calculate the influence of RBCs aggregation on relaxation frequency fc. The study confirms the feasibility of a high speed, on-line RBC aggregation sensing method in extracorporeal circulation systems.

Linear relationship between cytoplasm resistance and hemoglobin in red blood cell hemolysis by electrical impedance spectroscopy & eight-parameter equivalent circuit.

We have developed a non-invasive rapid and real-time red blood cell (RBC) hemolysis detection method which is a more accurate for point of care testing of hemolysis in various medical settings. An eight-parameter equivalent circuit is employed to quantify the release of hemoglobin (Hb) and the cytoplasm from RBC into the blood plasma. RBC hemolysis is induced by adding different volume fractions of distilled water into the blood. The cytoplasm released following RBC hemolysis is estimated from the experimental values. A strong relationship between RBC hemolysis and change in the electrical characteristics of blood has been demonstrated. The cytoplasm resistance (Rc) shows a linear relationship with the Hb. This relationship between Rc and Hb is described by the equation Rc = 0.2203Hb + 2.4775, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9905.

Demonstration of a chip-based optical isolator with parametric amplification.

Despite being fundamentally challenging in integrated (nano)photonics, achieving chip-based light non-reciprocity becomes increasingly urgent in signal processing and optical communications. Because of material incompatibilities in conventional approaches based on the Faraday effect, alternative solutions have resorted to nonlinear processes to obtain one-way transmission. However, dynamic reciprocity in a recent theoretical analysis has pinned down the functionalities of these nonlinear isolators. To bypass such dynamic reciprocity, we here demonstrate an optical isolator on a silicon chip enforced by phase-matched parametric amplification in four-wave mixing. Using a high-Q microtoroid resonator, we realize highly non-reciprocal transport at the 1,550 nm wavelength when waves are injected from both directions in two different operating configurations. Our design, compatible with current complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) techniques, yields convincing isolation performance with sufficiently low insertion loss for a wide range of input power levels. Moreover, our work demonstrates the possibility of designing chip-based magnetic-free optical isolators for information processing and laser protection.

Hepatocellular carcinoma with bile duct tumor thrombus: a clinicopathological analysis of factors predictive of recurrence and outcome after surgery.

Although hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with bile duct tumor thrombus (BDTT) is a rare entity, most patients experience tumor recurrence even after curative resection and the prognosis remains dismal. This study aimed to analyze the clinicopathological risk factors for recurrence and poor outcome after surgical treatment of HCC with BDTT.Clinicopathological data of 37 patients with HCC and BDTT who underwent surgical treatment from July 2005 to June 2012 at the authors' hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Prognostic factors and potential risk factors for recurrence were assessed by Cox proportional hazard model and binary logistic regression model, respectively.Among the 37 patients, anatomical and nonanatomical liver resection was performed in 26 and 11 patients, respectively. The resection was considered curative in 19 patients and palliative in 18 patients. Also, 21 cases had tumor recurrence after operation and 7 cases of them were reoperated. Multivariate binary logistic regression model revealed that surgical curability was the only independent risk factor associated with postoperative tumor recurrence (P = 0.034). In addition, postoperative overall survival rates at 1, 2, and 3 years were 64.2%, 38.9%, and 24.3%, respectively. Cox multivariate analysis indicated that surgical curability and tumor recurrence were independent prognostic factors for both overall survival and recurrence-free survival (P < 0.05).Although patients with HCC and BDTT had a relatively high rate of early recurrence after surgery, relatively favorable long-term outcome after curative hepatic resection could be achieved. Therefore, extensive and curative surgical treatment should be recommended when complete resection can be achieved and liver functional reserve is satisfactory.