The excellent non-equilibrium characteristic of the nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge (NPDBD) plasma can overcome thermodynamically barriers of reactions in the dry reforming of methane (DRM), so that the NPDBD plasma coupled with catalyst provides an attractive alternative to the traditional catalytic method of the DRM. In this work, the one-dimensional fluid model, including 68 species and 276 reactions, is built up to numerically investigate the atmospheric-pressure CH₄/CO₂ plasma driven by the nanosecond pulsed power supply. Discharge current densities, discharge gap voltages, dissipated power densities, spatial averaged particle densities and spatial distributions of the high-density species, and generating reaction pathways of the significant species in CH₄, CO₂, and CH₄/CO₂ NPDBD plasmas at atmospheric pressure are systematically illustrated and discussed. The simulation results should be valuable for optimizations of both existing and emerging DRM approaches using the NPDBD plasma, the plasma-assisted catalyst, and other novel plasma-based fuel reforming technologies.

We demonstrate the generation of versatile mode-locked operations in an Er-doped fiber laser with an indium tin oxide (ITO) saturable absorber (SA). As an epsilon-near-zero material, ITO has been only used to fashion a mode-locked fiber laser as an ITO nanoparticle-polyvinyl alcohol SA. However, this type of SA cannot work at high power or ensure that the SA materials can be transmitted by the light. Thus, we covered the end face of a fiber with a uniform ITO film using the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technology to fabricate a novel ITO SA. Using this new type of SA, single-wavelength pulses, dual-wavelength pulses, and triple-wavelength multi-pulses were achieved easily. The pulse durations of these mode-locked operations were 1.67, 6.91, and 1 ns, respectively. At the dual-wavelength mode-locked state, the fiber laser could achieve an output power of 2.91 mW and a pulse energy of 1.48 nJ. This study reveals that such a proposed film-type ITO SA has excellent nonlinear absorption properties, which can promote the application of ITO film for ultrafast photonics.

H5N1 and H9N2 viruses are important causes of avian influenza in China. H5N1 is typically associated with severe to fatal disease in poultry, while H9N2 is usually associated with mild disease. Differences in viral virulence prompted us to investigate whether innate immune responses would be differentially regulated following infection by H5N1 and H9N2 viruses. To address this hypothesis, expression of a panel of innate immune-related genes including IFN-α, IFN-β, Mx1, OASL, ISG12, IFIT5, IRF7, USP18, SST, and KHSRP in immortal DF-1 cells following H5N1 and H9N2 infection was analyzed and compared by real-time quantitative RT-PCR. Cells infected by either virus overall exhibited a similar expression profile for four ISGs (Mx1, OASL, ISG12, and IFIT5), IFN-α, IFN-β, and SST gene. However, two immune-regulatory genes (IRF7 and KHSRP) were not responsive to highly pathogenic H5N1 infection but were strongly up-regulated in DF-1 cells infected with low pathogenic H9N2 infection. The subtype-dependent host response observed in this study offers new insights into the potential roles of IRF7 and KHSRP in control and modulation of the replication and virulence of different subtypes or strains of avian influenza A virus.

Ar/CF ₄ discharge plasma etching is a promising approach to achieving a high etch rate and anisotropic etching. A 1D fluid model is established to numerically study the effects of CF ₄ content on particle densities and reaction pathways in Ar/CF ₄ pulsed dielectric barrier discharge plasma at atmospheric pressure. The simulation results indicate that, with increasing CF ₄ content, Ar ⁺ densities decrease but the densities of other positive ions increase, and the electron densities do not undergo a dramatic change but the densities present an approximately linear increase. The densities of CF ₃ and F reach their maximums when the CF ₄ content is 70%. In Ar, the electron impacts with Ar are the essential reaction pathways to generate Ar ⁺ , Ar _m , and Ar ^* . In CF ₄ , the electron impacts with CF ₄ are the main paths to produce , , CF ⁺ , F ⁺ , , CF ₂ , F ₂ , , F ⁻ , CF ₃ , and F. Besides, → + F and + F → CF ₃ + F ⁻ produce part of and F ⁻ . Decomposition, recombination, and charge exchange reactions all contribute to the generation of CF ₃ and F. In the Ar/CF ₄ mixture, Ar + → CF ₃ + Ar ⁺ and CF ₄ + Ar ⁺ → + F + Ar produce a great deal of Ar ⁺ , , CF ₃ , and F. The contribution ratios of the reactions CF ₄ + e → CF ₃ + F ⁺ + 2e and F ⁻ + CF ⁺ → F + CF continuously increase with increasing CF ₄ content.