Southeast University

About: Southeast University is a education organization based out in Nanjing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: MIMO & Control theory. The organization has 66363 authors who have published 79434 publications receiving 1170576 citations. The organization is also known as: SEU.

Single Molybdenum Atom Anchored on N-Doped Carbon as a Promising Electrocatalyst for Nitrogen Reduction into Ammonia at Ambient Conditions

Abstract: Ammonia (NH3) is one of the most important industrial chemicals owing to its wide applications in various fields. However, the synthesis of NH3 at ambient conditions remains a coveted goal for chemists. In this work, we study the potential of the newly synthesized single-atom catalysts, i.e., single metal atoms (Cu, Pd, Pt, and Mo) supported on N-doped carbon for N2 reduction reaction (NRR) by employing first-principles calculations. It is found that Mo1-N1C2 can catalyze NRR through the enzymatic mechanism with an ultralow overpotential of 0.24 V. Most importantly, the removal of the produced NH3 is rapid with a free-energy uphill of only 0.47 eV for the Mo1-N1C2 catalyst, which is much lower than that for ever-reported catalysts with low overpotentials and endows Mo1-N1C2 with excellent durability. The coordination effect on activity is further evaluated, showing that the experimentally realized active site, single Mo atom coordinated by one N atom and two C atoms (Mo-N1C2), possesses the highest cataly...

Effect of cement substitution by limestone on the hydration and microstructural development of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC)

Abstract: The effect of limestone on the hydration and microstructural development of ultra high performance concrete (UHPC) with different levels of replacement (34%, 54% and 74% by volume) was investigated. Up to 54% replacement of cement by limestone the mixes showed better workability and higher compressive strength (170 MPa at 56 days for 54% addition) compared to a classical mix (155 MPa) with no limestone replacement. The kinetics of hydration were compared for different replacement levels using isothermal calorimetry. The phase development was quantified by X-ray diffraction with Rietveld method combined with thermal gravimetric analysis. The pore structure was examined by mercury intrusion porosimetry. The composition of hydration products was determined by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The results showed that the hydration degree of the cement is increased from 39% for classical UHPC to 66% for the UHPC with 54% of limestone.

Breaking Reciprocity with Space-Time-Coding Digital Metasurfaces.

Abstract: Metasurfaces are artificially engineered ultrathin structures that can finely tailor and control electromagnetic wavefronts. There is currently a strong interest in exploring their capability to lift some fundamental limitations dictated by Lorentz reciprocity, which have strong implications in communication, heat management, and energy harvesting. Time-varying approaches have emerged as attractive alternatives to conventional schemes relying on magnetic or nonlinear materials, but experimental evidence is currently limited to devices such as circulators and antennas. Here, the recently proposed concept of space-time-coding digital metasurfaces is leveraged to break reciprocity. Moreover, it is shown that such nonreciprocal effects can be controlled dynamically. This approach relies on inducing suitable spatiotemporal phase gradients in a programmable way via digital modulation of the metasurface-elements' phase repsonse, which enable anomalous reflections accompanied by frequency conversions. A prototype operating at microwave frequencies is designed and fabricated for proof-of-concept validation. Measured results are in good agreement with theory, hence providing the first experimental evidence of nonreciprocal reflection effects enabled by space-time-modulated digital metasurfaces. The proposed concept and platform set the stage for "on-demand" realization of nonreciprocal effects, in programmable or reconfigurable fashions, which may find several promising applications, including frequency conversion, Doppler frequency illusion, optical isolation, and unidirectional transmission.

The pro-metastasis effect of circANKS1B in breast cancer

Abstract: Recent studies indicate that circular RNA (circRNA) plays a pivotal role in cancer progression. Here, we sought to investigate its role in breast cancer. CircANKS1B (a circRNA originated from exons 5 to 8 of the ANKS1B gene, hsa_circ_0007294) was identified by RNA-sequencing and validated by qRT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. Clinical breast cancer samples were used to evaluate the expression of circANKS1B and its associations with clinicopathological features and prognosis. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments in cell lines and mouse xenograft models were performed to support clinical findings and elucidate the function and underlying mechanisms of circANKS1B in breast cancer. CircANKS1B was significantly up-regulated in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) compared with non-TNBC tissues and cell lines. Increased circANKS1B expression was closely associated with lymph node metastasis and advanced clinical stage and served as an independent risk factor for overall survival of breast cancer patients. Functional studies revealed that circANKS1B promoted breast cancer invasion and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo by inducing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), while had no effect on breast cancer growth. Mechanistically, circANKS1B abundantly sponged miR-148a-3p and miR-152-3p to increase the expression of transcription factor USF1, which could transcriptionally up-regulate TGF-β1 expression, resulting in activating TGF-β1/Smad signaling to promote EMT. Moreover, we found that circANKS1B biogenesis in breast cancer was promoted by splicing factor ESRP1, whose expression was also regulated by USF1. Our data uncover an essential role of the novel circular RNA circANKS1B in the metastasis of breast cancer, which demonstrate that therapeutic targeting of circANKS1B may better prevent breast cancer metastasis.