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Conventional Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD) technology is unable to function statically at the predicted temperatures of deep formations exceeding 200 °C in wells reaching depths of 10,000 m. It is limited to measuring downhole engineering parameters through purely mechanical means, such as inclination. However, the accurate long-distance transmission of drilling fluid pulse signals poses a significant bottleneck, restricting the application of these mechanical measurement methods. To address these issues, this paper develops and designs an algorithm to identify and analyze the amplitude characteristics of deep well mud signals. By employing a signal coding algorithm, a signal processing analysis method, and a signal feature recognition algorithm based on grey correlation degree, we construct a signal recognition method capable of decoding mud amplitude encoded signals. Key techniques such as filtering, smoothing, and feature extraction are utilized in the signal processing, and the proposed method’s effectiveness is verified through the analysis of collected signals. Furthermore, long-distance simulation analysis software is developed to evaluate waveform distortion during extended transmission, confirming the feasibility of the recognition algorithm. Laboratory experiments demonstrate that this algorithm can accurately recognize and demodulate signals generated by mechanical inclinometer structures, providing a novel decoding method for signal transmission in deep and ultra-deep wells.

In this paper, we discuss a problem of the influence of quantum-mechanical measurements of a process on the implementation of this process. We consider the quantum-mechanical problem of observing the process of particle transition through a potential barrier accompanied by quantum emission of a quantum two-level system. We show that the processes occurring during quantum-mechanical measurements of the particle have some analogies with processes of development of intelligence

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168138.].

A capacitive force sensor is one of the electronics components used in several electronic devices and applications. An improvement of sensing characteristics of the sensor, for example sensitivity and response time, becomes an interesting research topic. The alternative approach to enhance the sensitivity and response time of polydimethylsiloxane‐based capacitive force sensors is proposed by introducing poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulphonate, a conductive polymer, into polydimethylsiloxane active layer. Two sensors using different active layers, (i) polydimethylsiloxane (conventional sensor) and (ii) poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulphonate mixed polydimethylsiloxane (modified sensor), were fabricated and characterised to reveal the sensing enhancement. Interestingly, the modified sensor shows the significant increase in the sensitivity from 0.7 to 1.14 kPa–1 (+62.86%) and the shortening response time from 1.55 to 0.43 s (−72.26%) with respect to the conventional sensor. In addition, the deterioration in elastic behaviour and the faster charge–discharge behaviour observed from the poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulphonate mixed polydimethylsiloxane film indicate the better deformation and charge transport than that from polydimethylsiloxane film. Therefore, it can be concluded that the conductive poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate additive plays the role of mechanical and electrical modification of the polydimethylsiloxane active layer leading to the enhancement in sensitivity and response time of the polydimethylsiloxane‐based capacitive force sensor.

Epithelial monolayers are two-dimensional cell sheets which compartmentalize the body and organs of multicellular organisms. Their morphogenesis during development or pathology results from patterned endogenous and exogenous forces and their interplay with tissue mechanical properties. In particular, bending of epithelia is thought to result from active torques generated by the polarization of myosin motors along their apicobasal axis. However, the contribution of these out-of-plane forces to morphogenesis remains challenging to evaluate because of the lack of direct mechanical measurement. Here we use epithelial curling to characterize the out-of-plane mechanics of epithelial monolayers. We find that curls of high curvature form spontaneously at the free edge of epithelial monolayers devoid of substrate in vivo and in vitro. Curling originates from an enrichment of myosin in the basal domain that generates an active spontaneous curvature. By measuring the force necessary to flatten curls, we can then estimate the active torques and the bending modulus of the tissue. Finally, we show that the extent of curling is controlled by the interplay between in-plane and out-of-plane stresses in the monolayer. Such mechanical coupling emphasizes a possible role for in-plane stresses in shaping epithelia during morphogenesis.

Glass transition is one of the unresolved critical issues in solid-state physics and materials science, during which a viscous liquid is frozen into a solid or structurally arrested state. On account of the uniform arrested mechanism, the calorimetric glass transition temperature ( T g ) always follows the same trend as the dynamical glass transition (or α -relaxation) temperature ( T α ) determined by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Here, we explored the correlations between the calorimetric and dynamical glass transitions of three prototypical high-entropy metallic glasses (HEMGs) systems. We found that the HEMGs present a depressed dynamical glass transition phenomenon, i.e ., HEMGs with moderate calorimetric T g represent the highest T α and the maximum activation energy of α -relaxation. These decoupled glass transitions from thermal and mechanical measurements reveal the effect of high configurational entropy on the structure and dynamics of supercooled liquids and metallic glasses, which are associated with sluggish diffusion and decreased dynamic and spatial heterogeneities from high mixing entropy. The results have important implications in understanding the entropy effect on the structure and properties of metallic glasses for designing new materials with plenteous physical and mechanical performances. Here the authors study thermodynamic and dynamic glass transition of high entropy metallic glasses. Results show retarded α-relaxation and distinct crystallization resistance attributed to their sluggish diffusion and high-entropy mixing that is different from the traditional metallic glasses.

Single crystals are typically brittle, inelastic materials. Such mechanical responses limit their use in practical applications, particularly in flexible electronics and optical devices. Here we describe single crystals of a well-known coordination compound--copper(II) acetylacetonate--that are flexible enough to be reversibly tied into a knot. Mechanical measurements indicate that the crystals exhibit an elasticity similar to that of soft materials such as nylon, and thus display properties normally associated with both hard and soft matter. Using microfocused synchrotron radiation, we mapped the changes in crystal structure that occur on bending, and determined the mechanism that allows this flexibility with atomic precision. We show that, under strain, the molecules in the crystal reversibly rotate, and thus reorganize to allow the mechanical compression and expansion required for elasticity and still maintain the integrity of the crystal structure.

Localized sources of morphogens, called signalling centres, play a fundamental role in coordinating tissue growth and cell fate specification during organogenesis. However, how these signalling centres are established in tissues during embryonic development is still unclear. Here we show that the main signalling centre orchestrating development of rodent incisors, the enamel knot (EK), is specified by a cell proliferation-driven buildup in compressive stresses (mechanical pressure) in the tissue. Direct mechanical measurements indicate that the stresses generated by cell proliferation are resisted by the surrounding tissue, creating a circular pattern of mechanical anisotropy with a region of high compressive stress at its centre that becomes the EK. Pharmacological inhibition of proliferation reduces stresses and suppresses EK formation, and application of external pressure in proliferation-inhibited conditions rescues the formation of the EK. Mechanical information is relayed intracellularly through YAP protein localization, which is cytoplasmic in the region of compressive stress that establishes the EK and nuclear in the stretched anisotropic cells that resist the pressure buildup around the EK. Together, our data identify a new role for proliferation-driven mechanical compression in the specification of a model signalling centre during mammalian organ development. Shroff and colleagues report that cell proliferation induces localized mechanical compression in the tissue, driving the formation of the main mouse tooth signalling centre via differential YAP expression.

Living tissues show an extraordinary adaptiveness to strain, which is crucial for their proper biological functioning1,2. The physical origin of this mechanical behaviour has been widely investigated using reconstituted networks of collagen fibres, the principal load-bearing component of tissues3–5. However, collagen fibres in tissues are embedded in a soft hydrated polysaccharide matrix, which generates substantial internal stresses, and the effect of this on tissue mechanics is unknown6–8. Here, by combining mechanical measurements and computer simulations, we show that networks composed of collagen fibres and a hyaluronan matrix exhibit synergistic mechanics characterized by an enhanced stiffness and delayed strain stiffening. We demonstrate that the polysaccharide matrix has a dual effect on the composite response involving both internal stress and elastic reinforcement. Our findings elucidate how tissues can tune their strain-sensitivity over a wide range and provide a novel design principle for synthetic materials with programmable mechanical properties.Collagen networks go from soft to rigid when strained, but in tissue they exist in a soft matrix. An enhanced stiffness and delayed strain-stiffening is now revealed in the composite, which may explain the remarkable sensitivity of living tissue.

Diverse material classes exhibit qualitatively similar behavior when made viscous upon cooling toward the glass transition, suggesting a common theoretical basis. We used seven different measurement methods to determine the mechanical relaxation kinetics of a prototype molecular glass former over a temporal range of 13 decades and over a temperature range spanning liquid to glassy states. The data conform to time–temperature superposition for the main (alpha) process and to a scaling relation of schematic mode-coupling theory. The broadband mechanical measurements demonstrated have fundamental and practical applications in polymer science, geophysics, multifunctional materials, and other areas.