For reusable rockets, the precision landing on Earth is very challenging. In atmospheric reentry flight, the rockets are subjected to disturbing conditions, mainly including engine thrust fluctuation, aerodynamic uncertainty, and winds, which severely decrease landing accuracy and fuel efficiency. Although the reusable rockets have achieved successful landing and recovery in recent years, the disturbance rejection issue of endoatmospheric powered descent guidance has not been systematically addressed in the field of advanced guidance and control, highlighting an important aspect of ongoing research.

Standing detonation engines have emerged as the prime power source for highspeed vehicles. While current detonation flow field designs have demonstrated their effectiveness, several hurdles still remain. These include the limited geometric utilization of the combustion chamber and the lack of seamless integration with existing highspeed aerodynamic designs. Selecting the right basic detonation flow field is paramount to enhancing the performance and refining the geometric design of standing detonation vehicles.

Multiphase composition design and entropy engineering control are promising strategies to improve the properties of ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTCs). In this study, spark plasma sintering was used to prepare fully dense dual-phase (Zr, Hf, Ta)B₂-(Zr, Hf, Ta)C ceramics from self-synthesized equimolar medium-entropy diboride and carbide powders. The obtained ceramics comprised two distinct solid solution phases, the Zr-rich diboride phase and the Ta-rich carbide phase, indicating metal element exchange occurred between the starting equimolar medium-entropy diboride and carbide during sintering. The chemical driving force originating from the metal element exchange during the sintering process is considered to promote the densification process of the ceramics. The metal element exchange between the medium-entropy diboride and carbide phase significantly increased Young’s modulus of the dual-phase ceramics. Owing to the mutual grain-boundary pinning effect, fine-grained dual-phase ceramics were obtained. The dual-phase medium-entropy 50 vol.% (Zr, Hf, Ta)B₂-50 vol.% (Zr, Hf, Ta)C ceramics with the smallest grain size exhibited the highest hardness of 22.4 ± 0.2 GPa. It is inferred that optimized comprehensive properties or performance of dual-phase high-entropy or medium-entropy UHTCs can be achieved by adjusting both the volume content and the metal element composition of the corresponding starting powders of diborides and carbides.

Quorum sensing (QS) is a bacterial density-dependent gene expression mechanism that involves the binding of receptors and autoinducers to govern pathogenic bacteria (swarming, swimming, and biofilm formation) by producing virulence factors, which can diminish antibiotic efficacy. This novel concept may broaden the usage of antibiotics while preventing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans. So in this investigation, the authors developed, synthesized, and evaluated β-nitrostyrenes derivatives to identify a new class of Quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) against S. marcescens. Through QS inhibitory screening of β-nitrostyrene derivatives, m-NPe was identified as a potent QSI against S. marcescens, and it could be employed in clinical trials to partially restore or increase drug sensitivity. Therefore, m-NPe has the potential to be developed as an effective and efficient QSI and antibiofilm agent for treating microbial infection and can evolve as an alternative clinical drug in the future.

Microwave dielectric ceramics, as the core component of fabrication of passive electronic devices, are widely used in numerous fields such as filters, dielectric antennas, and microwave communications . For high-frequency communication, microwave dielectric ceramics with low relative permittivity (ε_r) are preferable due to their ability to decrease signal latency and facilitate the manufacturing of passive components. Additionally, microwave dielectric ceramics that are ideal for making passive components should have a temperature coefficient of resonance (τ_f) as near to zero as feasible and a high quality factor (high Q×f, that is, low dielectric loss tanδ = 1/Q). Vanadium-based zircon ceramics hold potential application prospects in the next generation of wireless communications due to their low dielectric constant and adjustable temperature coefficient of resonant frequency at microwave frequencies. However, achieving ultra-low dielectric loss still poses a significant challenge.

A research team conducted a study to improve robots' performance in multiple peg-in-hole assembly in adapting to different working scenarios, including different object geometry and pose. Using a flexible and reusable sequential control policy framework, they explored how to apply artificial intelligence technology more efficiently in industrial scenarios. Their sequential control policy framework demonstrated higher training efficiency with faster convergence and a higher success rate compared to the single control policy for long-term multiple peg-in-hole assembly tasks.

The host antimicrobial immune response relies on a complex interplay of molecular mechanisms to effectively combat microbial infections. Herein, we investigate the functional role of Cullin-3 (Cul3), one critical constituent of cullin-RING ubiquitin ligases, in the Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) antimicrobial immune defense. We show that silencing of Cul3 leads to a decreased induction of antimicrobial peptides and high mortality in adult flies after bacterial infection. Through biochemical approaches, we demonstrate that Cul3 predominantly relies on its BTB-binding domain and neddylation domain to physically associate with death-associated inhibitor of apoptosis 2 (Diap2). Importantly, Cul3 ameliorates the Diap2-mediated ubiquitination of death-related ced-3/Nedd2-like caspase (Dredd), a process essential for robust immune deficiency signaling upon bacterial infection. Taken together, our findings highlight a previously unrecognized regulatory axis of Cul3/Diap2/Dredd in the fly antimicrobial immune defense, providing potential insights into therapeutic strategies for combating bacterial infections in humans.

The notion of employing detonation to enhance aerospace propulsion systems has been explored for several decades. In a recent breakthrough, a novel detonation engine known as the Ram-Rotor Detonation Engine has emerged. This innovative engine integrates the processes of propellant compression, detonation combustion, and expansion within a single rotor, enabling it to markedly enhance propulsion efficiency across a broad range of flight Mach numbers.