Deep reinforcement learning for process design: Review and perspective

The transformation toward renewable energy and feedstock supply in the chemical industry requires new conceptual process design approaches. Recently, deep reinforcement learning (RL), a subclass of machine learning, has shown the potential to solve complex decision-making problems and aid sustainable process design. However, its suitability...

Conceptual methods for synthesis of reactive distillation processes: recent developments and perspectives

Reactive distillation (RD) is a process intensification technique that offers major advantages over conventional technologies by enabling the integration of reaction and separation into a single apparatus. This integration introduces and exploits complex interaction between mass transfer, chemical reaction and hydrodynamics within an RD...

Plasma Device Functions and Tissue Effects in the Female Pelvis: A Systematic Review

Medical use of (non-)thermal plasmas is an emerging field in gynaecology. However, data on plasma energy dispersion remain limited. This systematic review presents an overview of plasma devices, fields of effective application, and impact of use factors and device settings on tissues in the female pelvis, including the uterus, ovaries, cervix,...

Recent advances in metasurface design and quantum optics applications with machine learning, physics-informed neural networks, and topology optimization methods

As a two-dimensional planar material with low depth profile, a metasurface can generate non-classical phase distributions for the transmitted and reflected electromagnetic waves at its interface. Thus, it offers more flexibility to control the wave front. A traditional metasurface design process mainly adopts the forward prediction algorithm,...

Breaking free: endocytosis and endosomal escape of extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural micro-/nanoparticles that play an important role in intercellular communication. They are secreted by producer/donor cells and subsequent uptake by recipient/acceptor cells may result in phenotypic changes in these cells due to the delivery of cargo molecules, including lipids, RNA, and proteins. The...

The 2023 terahertz science and technology roadmap

Terahertz (THz) radiation encompasses a wide spectral range within the electromagnetic spectrum that extends from microwaves to the far infrared (100 GHz-∼30 THz). Within its frequency boundaries exist a broad variety of scientific disciplines that have presented, and continue to present, technical challenges to researchers. During the past...

Nanoprobes for PET/MR Imaging

The development of clinical imaging techniques significantly improves diagnostic accuracy and provides guidance for personalized treatment of individuals. However, every single imaging modality has its distinct drawbacks that cannot fully fulfil the diagnosis requirement. Thus, rational combination of different imaging modalities can achieve...

Elucidation of the Charging Mechanisms and the Coupled Structural–Mechanical Behavior of Ti₃C₂T_x (MXenes) Electrodes by In Situ Techniques

The discovery of the Ti₃C₂T_x compounds (MXenes) a decade ago opened new research directions and valuable opportunities for high-rate energy storage applications. The unique ability of the MXenes to host various mono- and multivalent cations and their high stability in different electrolyte environments...

Nanowire-based integrated photonics for quantum information and quantum sensing

At the core of quantum photonic information processing and sensing, two major building pillars are single-photon emitters and single-photon detectors. In this review, we systematically summarize the working theory, material platform, fabrication process, and game-changing applications enabled by state-of-the-art quantum dots in nanowire...

Molecular dynamics simulation on bulk bitumen systems and its potential connections to macroscale performance: Review and discussion

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation plays an effective role in predicting the critical properties and explaining the macroscale phenomenon at the nanoscale. This review summarized the application cases of MD simulations in various bitumen systems, considering aging, modification, and rejuvenation factors. Meanwhile, the potential relationships...

Review on the diffusive and interfacial performance of bituminous materials: From a perspective of molecular dynamics simulation

The cohesive and adhesive performances of bituminous materials significantly affect the service life of asphalt pavement. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulation method has been proved as an effective tool to predict the thermodynamics parameters of different multisubstance and multi-phase bitumen models during different diffusion, self-healing,...

New innovations in pavement materials and engineering: A review on pavement engineering research 2021

Sustainable and resilient pavement infrastructure is critical for current economic and environmental challenges. In the past 10 years, the pavement infrastructure strongly supports the rapid development of the global social economy. New theories, new methods, new technologies and new materials related to pavement engineering are emerging....

ESD Reviews: Climate feedbacks in the Earth system and prospects for their evaluation

Earth system models (ESMs) are key tools for providing climate projections under different scenarios of human-induced forcing. ESMs include a large number of additional processes and feedbacks such as biogeochemical cycles that traditional physical climate models do not consider. Yet, some processes such as cloud dynamics and ecosystem...