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Private set intersection (PSI) has important application value, however, current quantum PSI protocols are either unsuitable for multi-party scenarios or inefficient. Recently, Imran (arXiv:2303.17196v3, 2023) proposed two quantum secure multi-party greatest common divisor (GCD) protocols that can be used for PSI, but with the downside of information leakage and resource consumption. In this paper, we propose a novel quantum secure multi-party GCD protocol that has higher security and lower complexity. To hide privacy, each party randomly selects a coefficient within a range determined by his input integer, and with the assistance of a semi-honest third party TP, all parties secretly calculate the linear combination of their inputs under these coefficients. Once enough linear combinations are collected, TP calculates the GCD of these combinations, which is equal to the GCD of all input integers. To verify the honesty of participants, a quantum zero-knowledge proof sub-protocol is designed. Analysis shows that our GCD protocol is correct and has security against malicious attacks. Moreover, its complexity is polynomial level and lower than Imran's. Furthermore, we demonstrate the scalability of our GCD protocol in private set operations, such as private set intersection, private set intersection cardinality, private multi-set intersection, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently discovered Yangchang deposit in Zhenxiong County, Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province is an ultra-large-scaled buried phosphate deposit. Previous research on this deposit mainly focused on the metallogeny, while the study of sedimentary geochemistry and the paleoenvironment is lacked. More importantly, the inorganic (δ13Ccarb) and organic (δ13Corg) carbon isotopes as well as their relationships in the early Cambrian were rarely reported. In this study, three drill cores (ZK001, ZK0701, ZK1512) in Yangchang phosphate deposit were selected for high-resolution investigations of δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg. Both δ13Ccalb and δ13Corg show negative shifts in the top Pre-cambrian Dengying Formation and the bottom of its overlying Zhujiaqing Formation, which is consistent with the global Basal Cambrian Carbon Isotopic Excursion (BACE), likely due to the oxidation of organic carbon reservoir. However, we did not find significant positive shifts in the overlying strata (i. e., Zhujiaqing Carbon Isotopic Excursion, ZHUCE), which may be caused by sedimentary hiatus given that the Yangchang phosphate deposit is mostly intra-clastic phosphorus-rich deposits. Nevertheless, we propose that this phosphate deposit was mainly formed during the Fortunian according to the comparison between the δ13Ccarb in the three drill cores and the composite profile of δ13Ccarb in South China. The comparisons for the δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg values in the drill cores ZK001 and ZK0701, show that the average value of the ΔCcarb.org(difference between δ13Ccalb and δ13Corg) is 28.%‰ and 22.2‰ in the Dengying Formation, and these values change to 31.7‰ and 31.7‰ at the bottom of the Zhujiaqing Formation, and 29.6‰ and 29.8‰, in the middle and upper of the Zhujiaqing Formation, respectively. We propose that the decoupled δ13Ccarb and δ13Corg occurring in the middle of the Zhujiaqing Formation may be caused by the increased primary productivity or buried organic carbon. In summary, the high-resolution paired inorganic and organic carbon isotopes in this work indicate the formation time of Yangchang phosphate deposit and shed light on associated paleo-environmental changes, which also support the regional stratigraphic correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Herein, we present a unified chemical synthesis of three subgroups of cephalotaxus diterpenoids. Key to the success lies in adopting a synthetic strategy that is inspired by biosynthesis but is opposite in nature. By employing selective one‐carbon introduction and ring expansion operations, we have successfully converted cephalotane‐type C18 dinorditerpenoids (using cephanolide B as a starting material) into troponoid‐type C19 norditerpenoids and intact cephalotane‐type C20 diterpenoids. This synthetic approach has enabled us to synthesize cephinoid H, 13‐oxo‐cephinoid H, 7‐oxo‐cephinoid H, fortalpinoid C, 7‐epi‐fortalpinoid C, cephanolide E, and 13‐epi‐cephanolide E. Furthermore, through the development of an intermolecular asymmetric Michael reaction between β‐oxo esters and β‐substituted enones, we have achieved the enantioselective synthesis of advanced intermediates within our synthetic sequence, thus formally realizing the asymmetric total synthesis of the cephalotaxus diterpenoids family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we present a unified chemical synthesis of three subgroups of cephalotaxus diterpenoids. Key to the success lies in adopting a synthetic strategy that is inspired by biosynthesis but is opposite in nature. By employing selective one‐carbon introduction and ring expansion operations, we have successfully converted cephalotane‐type C18 dinorditerpenoids (using cephanolide B as a starting material) into troponoid‐type C19 norditerpenoids and intact cephalotane‐type C20 diterpenoids. This synthetic approach has enabled us to synthesize cephinoid H, 13‐oxo‐cephinoid H, 7‐oxo‐cephinoid H, fortalpinoid C, 7‐epi‐fortalpinoid C, cephanolide E, and 13‐epi‐cephanolide E. Furthermore, through the development of an intermolecular asymmetric Michael reaction between β‐oxo esters and β‐substituted enones, we have achieved the enantioselective synthesis of advanced intermediates within our synthetic sequence, thus formally realizing the asymmetric total synthesis of the cephalotaxus diterpenoids family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long‐term atmospheric water vapour hydrogen (δ2H), oxygen (δ18O) and deuterium excess (d‐excess) can provide unique insights into the land‐atmosphere coupling processes. The in‐situ measurements of atmospheric water vapour δ2H, δ18O and d‐excess were conducted above a reed wetland of Liaodong Bay (2019–2020). We found significant inter‐annual variations in atmospheric water vapour isotopes between the two growing (May–September) seasons. The δ2H, δ18O and d‐excess of atmospheric water vapour exhibited different seasonal and diurnal cycles concerning the vertical measurement heights, especially in 2019. The isotopic differences of atmospheric water vapour among vertical measurement heights were more evident in the daytime. Rainfall events directly impacted the diurnal patterns of water vapour isotopes, and the influences depended on rainfall intensities. However, only weak correlations existed between water vapour isotopes and local meteorological factors (R2 = 0.01–0.16, p < 0.001), such as water vapour concentration (w), Relative Humidity (RH) and surface air temperature (Ta). Based on the back‐air trajectory analyses, the spatial–temporal dynamics of atmospheric water vapour isotopes are highly synchronized with monsoon activities. Different water vapour sources influence the water vapour isotope in this region and the higher d‐excess value is related to the intense convection brought by the monsoon. High‐resolution measurements of atmospheric water vapour isotopes will improve our understanding of the hydrological cycles in coastal areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Neutrophils are important participants in the innate immune response. They rapidly and efficiently identify and clear infectious agents by expressing large numbers of membrane receptors. Upon tissue injury or pathogen invasion, neutrophils are the first immune cells to reach the site of injury and participate in the inflammatory response. Materials and methods: A thorough search on PubMed related to neutrophil death or clearance pathways was performed. Conclusion: Inflammatory response and tissue damage can be aggravated when neutrophils are not removed rapidly from the site of injury. Recent studies have shown that neutrophils can be cleared through a variety of pathways, including non-inflammatory and inflammatory death, as well as reverse migration. Non-inflammatory death pathways include apoptosis and autophagy. Inflammatory death pathways include necroptosis, pyroptosis and NETosis. This review highlights the basic properties of neutrophils and the impact of their clearance pathways on the inflammatory response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Aim The objective of this study was to understand the occupational protective behaviors of newly recruited nurses and explore the influencing factors. Methods: A convenience sampling method was used to select newly recruited nurses in our hospital from July 2018 to November 2019. The survey was conducted using the general information questionnaire, work attitude scale (Wa), and occupational protective behavior scale. Results: The total score of occupational protective behaviors of 150 newly enrolled nurses was 18.94 ± 3.59. There was a significant negative correlation between work attitude score and occupational protective behaviors (r = -0.324, p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that gender, previous participation in nursing skill-based competitions, experience of needlestick injuries before recruit, work attitude score, average daily sleep time (p < 0.05) were independent factors influencing occupational protective behaviors. Conclusions: The overall occupational protective awareness of newly enrolled nurses is relatively weak and needs to be further improved. The group's ability to improve occupational protective behaviors may be positively impacted through increased adaptability, improved sleep, active participation in nursing skill-based competitions, strengthening guidance and education on occupational protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Privacy-preserving geometric intersection (PGI) is an important issue in Secure multiparty computation (SMC). The existing quantum PGI protocols are mainly based on grid coding, which requires a lot of computational complexity. The phase-encoded query method which has been used in some Quantum SMC protocols is suitable to solve the decision problem, but it needs to apply high dimensional Oracle operators. In this paper, we use the principle of phase-encoded query to solve an important PGI problem, namely privacy-preserving two-party circle intersection. We study the implementation of Oracle operator in detail, and achieve polynomial computational complexity by decompsing it into quantum arithmetic operations. Performance analysis shows that our protocol is correct and efficient, and can protect the privacy of all participants against internal and external attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. This systematic review aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of telerehabilitation on family caregivers of stroke survivors. Background. After discharge from the hospital, family caregivers of stroke survivors faced physical and psychological stress. Telerehabilitation seems crucial for family caregivers. However, the impact of telerehabilitation on family caregivers' health outcomes remains to be studied. Evaluation. Six databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsycINFO) were searched up to June 16th, 2022, without language restrictions. The Revised Cochrane Risk-of-bias Tool for Randomized Trials was used to assess the quality of included studies. The GRADEpro (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation Profile) tools were applied to assess the synthesized evidence quality. The subgroup analysis was performed according to the intervention formats. Statistical analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.3, and the publication bias was calculated by Stata 14.0. Key Issue(s). A total of 16 studies containing 992 caregivers were pooled in this systematic review. Telerehabilitation significantly improved the caregiver burden (SMD = −0.18, 95% CI = −0.35∼−0.02, P = 0.03 , moderate-quality evidence), knowledge (SMD = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.03∼1.47, P = 0.04 , very low-quality evidence), and competence (SMD = 1.35, 95% CI = 0.82∼1.88, P < 0.001 , very low-quality evidence) but not depression (SMD = −0.04, 95% CI = −0.3∼0.21, P = 0.74 , moderate-quality evidence), anxiety (MD = 0.68, 95% CI = −0.68∼2.04, P = 0.32 , low-quality evidence), and self-efficacy (SMD = −0.30, 95% CI = −1.22∼0.61, P = 0.52 , very low-quality evidence) in family caregivers of stroke survivors. The subgroup analysis demonstrated that multi-form telerehabilitation (SMD = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.32∼2.40, P < 0.001) was significantly effective in improving caregiving competence. Conclusion. Telerehabilitation can effectively reduce the caregiver burden as well as improve the knowledge and competence of stroke caregivers. Implications for Nursing Management. The emergence of telerehabilitation can help relieve caregivers' stress and provide a new form for nursing managers to make discharge plans for stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful use of stable isotopes (δ2H and δ18O) in ecohydrological studies relies on the accurate extraction of unfractionated water from different types of soil samples. Cryogenic vacuum distillation (CVD) is a common laboratory‐based technique used for soil water extraction; however, the reliability of this technique in reflecting soil water δ2H and δ18O is still of concern.This study examines the reliability of a newly developed automatic cryogenic vacuum distillation (ACVD) system. We further assessed the impacts of extraction parameters (i.e. extraction time, temperature and vacuum) and soil properties on the recovery of soil water δ2H and δ18O for the ACVD and traditional cryogenic vacuum distillation (TCVD) systems. Finally, we investigated the potential influence of CVD (ACVD and TCVD) technique on the prediction of plant water uptake through a sensitivity analysis.Both ACVD and TCVD similarly extracted water from the rewetted soils, but none of the CVD systems successfully recovered the isotopic signatures of doped water from soil materials. Mean δ2H offsets of extracted soil water were −2.6 ± 1.3‰ and −2.4 ± 1.7‰ for ACVD and TCVD, respectively, while mean δ18O offsets were −0.16 ± 0.14‰ and −0.39 ± 0.37‰. The isotopic offsets of CVD systems were positively correlated with soil clay content, and negatively correlated with soil water content. Using corrected soil data (with CVD offsets) could improve the prediction of plant water uptake based on its high correlation with the environmental factors.This study identifies the isotopic offsets of CVD systems (i.e. ACVD and TCVD) and provides possible solutions for better predicting plant water sources. Even though, the wide use of CVD techniques probably induce noticeable uncertainties in the prediction of plants water uptake depths. The dataset of soil water extraction in this study will have implications for the technological development of CVD techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical forests are characterized by vast biomass, complex structures and mega-biodiversity. However, the adaptation processes of these forests to seasonal water availability are less understood, especially those located in the monsoonal and mountainous regions of tropical Southeast Asia. This study used four representative tropical forests spanning from 2° N to 22° N in continental Southeast Asia to address dry-condition photosynthesis at the seasonal scale. We first provided novel and reliable estimations of ecosystem photosynthesis (gross primary production; GPP) seasonality at all four sites. As expected, both evergreen and deciduous seasonal forests exhibited higher GPPs during the rainy season than during the dry season. A bimodal pattern corresponding to solar radiation occurred in the GPP of the perhumid forest. The surface conductance (G s) was consistently lower both in the dry season and during dry spells (DSPs) than during the wet season and non-dry spells. However, this did not prevent GPP from increasing alongside increasing irradiance in the perhumid forest, suggesting that other ecosystem physiological properties, for example, the light-saturated photosynthetic rate, must have increased, thus surpassing the effect of G s reduction. Thus, perhumid forests could be defined as light-demanding ecosystems with regard to their seasonal dynamics. Seasonal forests are water-stressed ecosystems in the dry season, as shown by the reductions in GPP, G s and related ecosystem physiological properties. At all four forest sites, we observed a lack of consistent adaptive strategy to fit the water seasonality due to the diversity in leaf phenology, soil nutrient availability, root depth and other potential factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, near-infrared Au-grating/MoS2/Au hot-electron photodetectors (HEPDs) with magnetic polaritons (MPs) beneath the top Au grating strips are designed and proposed. The MPs are formed by the near-field coupling between the grating and the bottom Au film, which achieves a light absorption greater than 99.5% at 1550 nm for the HEPDs. The simulations show that the absorption wavelength can be tuned independently and widely to cover the whole short wavelength infrared band by adjusting width of the grating strips, and the near-perfect absorption characteristics can be maintained. Then, dual-frequency HEPDs with two different grating strip widths in one cycle of the Au-grating are designed. Without external bias, the theoretical responsivities as high as 11.2 mA W−1 at 1200 nm and 6.2 mA W−1 at 1550 nm are achieved for the HEPDs by a three-step electrical model. In addition, a modulation distance between the two absorption peak positions of the HEPDs could be larger than 1100 nm. This provides a new idea for the realization of high-responsivity near-infrared HEPDs for arbitrary dual-band detection, which has great potential in modern optical communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recently, Sato et al. proposed an public verifiable blind quantum computation (BQC) protocol by inserting a third-party arbiter. However, it is not true public verifiable in a sense, because the arbiter is determined in advance and participates in the whole process. In this paper, a public verifiable protocol for measurement-only BQC is proposed. The fidelity between arbitrary states and the graph states of 2-colorable graphs is estimated by measuring the entanglement witnesses of the graph states, so as to verify the correctness of the prepared graph states. Compared with the previous protocol, our protocol is public verifiable in the true sense by allowing other random clients to execute the public verification. It also has greater advantages in the efficiency, where the number of local measurements is O (n 3 log n) and graph states' copies is O (n 2 log n) . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the home quarantine on pregnancy outcomes of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) patients during the COVID-19 outbreak. The complete electronic medical records of patients with GDM with home quarantine history were collected and classified into the home quarantine group from 24 February 2020 to 24 November 2020. The same period of patients with GDM without home quarantine history were included in the control group from 2018 to 2019. The pregnant outcomes of the home quarantine and control groups were systematically compared, such as neonatal weight, head circumference, body length, one-minute Apgar score, fetal macrosomia, and pre-term delivery. A total of 1358 patients with GDM were included in the analysis, including 484 in 2018, 468 in 2019, and 406 in 2020. Patients with GDM with home quarantine in 2020 had higher glycemic levels and adverse pregnancy outcomes than in 2018 and 2019, including higher cesarean section rates, lower Apgar scores, and higher incidence of macrosomia and umbilical cord around the neck. More importantly, the second trimester of home quarantine had brought a broader impact on pregnant women and fetuses. Home quarantine has aggravated the condition of GDM pregnant women and brought more adverse pregnancy outcomes during the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, we suggested governments and hospitals strengthen lifestyle guidance, glucose management, and antenatal care for patients with GDM with home quarantine during public health emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time series forecasting provides a vital basis for the control and management of various systems. The time series data in the real world are usually strongly nonstationary and nonlinear, which increases the difficulty of reliable forecasting. To fully utilize the learning capability of machine learning in time series forecasting, an adaptive broad echo state network (ABESN) is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the broad learning system (BLS) is used as a framework, and the reservoir pools in the echo state network (ESN) are introduced to form the broad echo state network (BESN). Secondly, for the problem of information redundancy in the reservoir structure in BESN, an adaptive optimization algorithm for the BESN structure based on the pruning algorithm is proposed. Thirdly, an adaptive optimization algorithm of hyperparameters based on the nonstationary test index is proposed. In brief, the structure and hyperparameter optimization algorithms are studied to form the ABESN based on the proposed BESN model in this paper. The ABESN is applied to the data forecasting of air humidity and electric load. The experiments show that the proposed ABESN has a better learning ability for nonstationary time series data and can achieve higher forecasting accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time series prediction is crucial for advanced control and management of complex systems, while the actual data are usually highly nonlinear and nonstationary. A novel broad echo state network is proposed herein for the prediction problem of complex time series data. Firstly, the framework of the broad echo state network with cascade of mapping nodes (CMBESN) is designed by embedding the echo state network units into the broad learning system. Secondly, the number of enhancement layer nodes of the CMBESN is determined by proposing an incremental algorithm. It can obtain the optimal network structure parameters. Meanwhile, an optimization method is proposed based on the nonstationary statistic metrics to determine the enhancement layer. Finally, experiments are conducted both on the simulated and actual datasets. The results show that the proposed CMBESN and its optimization have good prediction capability for nonstationary time series data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Liu and Yin (Int. J. Theor. Phys. 60, 2074-2083 (2021)) proposed a two-party private set intersection protocol based on quantum Fourier transform. We find the participant can deduce the other party’s private information, which violates the security requirement of private set computation. In order to solve this problem, an improved private set intersection protocol based on Hadamard gate is proposed. Firstly, the more feasible Hadamard gates are used to perform on the original n qubits instead of the quantum Fourier transform, which may reduce the difficulty of implementation. In addition, through the exclusive OR calculation, the participant’s private information is randomly chosen and encoded on the additional n qubits, which prevents participants from obtaining the result of the difference set Sdiff, and then avoids the internal leakage of private information. Finally, the correctness and security analysis are conducted to show the proposed protocol can guarantee the correctness of computation result as well as resist outside attacks and participant internal attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the utility of rapid medical trio exome sequencing (ES) for prenatal diagnosis using the skeletal dysplasia as an exemplar.Method: Pregnant women who were referred for genetic testing because of ultrasound detection of fetal abnormalities suggestive of a skeletal dysplasia were identified prospectively. Fetal samples (amniocytes or cord blood), along with parental blood, were send for rapid copy number variations testing and medical trio ES in parallel.Results: Definitive molecular diagnosis was made in 24/27 (88.9%) cases. Chromosomal abnormality (partial trisomy 18) was detected in one case. Sequencing results had explained the prenatal phenotype enabling definitive diagnoses to be made in 23 cases. There were 16 de novo dominant pathogenic variants, four dominant pathogenic variants inherited maternally or paternally, two recessive conditions with pathogenic variants inherited from unaffected parents, and one X-linked condition. The turnaround time from receipt of samples in the laboratory to reporting sequencing results was within 2 weeks.Conclusion: Medical trio ES can yield very timely and high diagnostic rates in fetuses presenting with suspected skeletal dysplasia. These definite diagnoses aided parental counseling and decision making in most of cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularized application of micropile for slope reinforcement, there are many kinds of pile section form, such as single steel bar, multisteel bar, and tube. In order to obtain the theoretical calculation model of horizontal capacity of micropiles with different types, numerical simulations for two common conditions, namely, soil-soil and soil-rock, were carried out to study micropile reinforced slope's deformation and failure regulation. The dominated indicator for micropile horizontal capacity was acquired. By using the equivalence principle, four kinds of micropiles' capacity calculation model were deduced. Then, FEM numerical analysis was used for validation. The results show that the flexural capacity of micropile is a critical and dominated indicator which should be considered seriously in slope reinforcement design. When the ultimate flexural capacity is reached, the displacement of micropile reinforced slope will increase rapidly. The primary factor affecting the flexural capacity of micropiles is pile diameter, followed by section reinforcement ratio. The calculation results of the calculation model of flexural capacity proposed in this paper are close to those of numerical ones and are safer. The calculation model can provide reference for micropile selecting and slope reinforcement design, especially for quick design of emergency engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soil beneath a wind turbine withstands not only environmental impacts but also continuous vibrations transmitted from the superstructure. This paper presents an experimental study of the deterioration characteristics of shear strengths of residual soils affected by drying-wetting cycles and continuous vibrations. A series of triaxial tests were performed on compacted residual soil specimens after various drying-wetting cycles and vibrations. The influences of drying-wetting cycles and vibrations on the shear strengths of residual soils with different compaction degrees were analyzed. The results demonstrate that the shear strength and cohesion of compacted residual soils decreased as the number of drying-wetting cycles increased, and they tended to be stable after three drying-wetting cycles. The angle of internal friction decreased linearly with the reduction of compaction degree but was generally not affected by drying-wetting cycles. The shear strength of compacted residual soils also decreased because of continuous vibrations. After 10000 vibrations, the strength was stabilized gradually. Both the cohesion and angle of internal friction showed dynamic attenuation phenomenon. Finally, a modified Mohr–Coulomb strength equation considering the effects of drying-wetting cycles and vibrations was established. This equation could be used to predict the shear strength of compacted residual soils and further estimate the embedded depth of wind turbine foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, the electron–hole wave function overlaps as well as the carrier confinement are both improved by an inversely graded Al‐composition design in the multiple‐quantum‐well (MQW) active region of deep‐ultraviolet light‐emitting diodes (DUV–LEDs). Simulation results show that at a current of 250 mA, the light output power (LOP) of the DUV–LEDs with graded composition MQWs has achieved a remarkable enhancement of 38.7% as compared to that with conventional MQWs, and the efficiency droop is significantly reduced from 32.2% to 9.3%. The enhanced performance is attributed to the increased wave function overlap of the electrons and holes due to the alleviated polarization electric field. Furthermore, the depth of quantum wells (QWs) is increased by the increased polarization‐induced charges and results in a better carrier confinement in the well layers. In addition, the LOP is further enhanced by 20.5% and the efficiency droop is reduced to 6.2% by engineering the last quantum barrier in the graded MQWs, which is attributed to the further reduction in the electron leakage. The proposed structure provides a valuable guideline for the high‐efficiency DUV–LEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layered LiMO2 (M = Ni, Co, and Mn) is a type of promising cathode materials for high energy density and high work voltage lithium-ion batteries. However, the poor rate performance and low power density hinder its further applications. The capacity fade is related to the structural transformation in the layered LiMO2. In this work, the structural changes of bi-material cathode composed of mesoporous graphene and layered LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 (NCM) were studied via in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD). During different C-rate charge–discharge test at the voltage range of 2.5–4.1 V, the composite cathode of NCM−graphene (NCM−G) reveals better rate performances than pure NCM cathode. The NCM−G composite electrode displays a higher rate capability of 76.7 mAh·g−1 at 5C rate, compared to the pure NCM cathode of 69.8 mAh·g−1 discharge capacity. The in situ XRD results indicate that a reversible phase transition from hexagonal H1 to hexagonal H2 occurs in layered NCM material during 1C charge–discharge process. With the current increasing to 2C/5C, the structure of layered NCM material for both electrodes reveals few changes during charge and discharge processes, which indicates the less utilization of NCM component at high C-rates. Hence, the improved rate performance for bi-material electrode is attributed to the highly conductive mesoporous graphene and the synergistic effect of mesoporous graphene and NCM material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endophytes may depend on degrading the plant cell wall with cellulases for their survival. Therefore, cellulase produced by endophytes may be useful in releasing the active ingredient of medicinal plants. Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant widely used in China and baicalin is one of its main active ingredients. In this study, fresh S. baicalensis Georgi was used to isolate endophytes, Congo red staining was used to screen cellulase-producing strains, and HPLC was used to determine the content of baicalin in S. baicalensis Georgi. As a result, a highly active strain of endophyte capable of the extraction of high levels of baicalin was obtained. The strain was named HG-5 and identified as Bacillus sp. Scanning electron microscopy analysis confirmed that the enzyme better promotes the dissolution of plant active ingredients. After optimizing the enzyme production and extraction processes, we found that when compared with the traditional extraction method, the baicalin yield was increased 79.31% after extraction with the HG-5 enzyme. The current study provides a novel approach and method for the use of endophyte cellulase to improve the extraction of compounds from medicinal plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zebrafish models were used to study the bioactivity of compound B 1 b , which showed that this cyclopeptide had good angiogenic and antiepileptic effects. 2, compound B 1 b pretreatment of PTZ-induced seizures in zebrafish can reduce excessive movement, speed of movement, and total distance of movement. The isolated compounds were identified through NMR data analysis and high-resolution mass spectrometry as cyclo(L-Pro-D-Tyr) ( B 1 b ), lumichrome ( B 2 b ), 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid ( B 3 b ), 3-indolcarbaldehyde ( B 4 b ), indole-3-carboxylic acid ( B 5 b ), indole-2,3-dione ( B 6 b ), I p i -hydroxybenzaldehyde ( B 7 b ), and I N i -(phenylmethyl)carbamic acid ( B 8 b ). Fraction 8 (128.2 mg) was similarly purified by HPLC (H SB 2 sb O-MeOH, 50:50) to obtain three fractions (Fr. 8-1 (13.3 mg), Fraction 8-2 (compound B 3 b , 36.0 mg), and Fr. 8-3 (21.2 mg). [Extracted from the article]

This paper proposed an efficient method for analyzing the quasi-static interaction between the pipe pile and multilayered saturated soft soils. A pipe pile is simplified into a 1D compression bar and then discretized into a number of elements. The interaction forces on the inner and outer interfaces between the pipe pile and soft soils are integrated by the trapezoidal rule. Based on the precise integration solution of multilayered saturated soft soils with a fractional viscoelastic model, the flexibility matrix of the soil under a vertical annular load is formed. According to the force equilibrium and displacement compatibility on the pile–soil interfaces, the coupling interaction equations are established and solved. The correctness of the proposed method is verified by comparing the calculated results with those of the existing literature. Numerical examples are discussed to evaluate the effects of the viscoelasticity of soils, pipe wall thickness, pile length–radius ratio, pile–soil modulus ratio, and soil stratification on the interaction between pipe piles and soft soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop a high‐resolution paleoclimate proxy record facilitating adaptation measures on drought impacts, we constructed a regional composite tree‐ring chronology of teak (Tectona grandis) by combining three local site chronologies from southern Myanmar. Our regional tree‐ring record is strongly correlated with the November–April self‐calibrated Palmer drought severity index and enabled us to reconstruct drought variability for the period 1802–2016. The reconstruction explained 46.5% of the actual self‐calibrated Palmer drought severity index variance. Over the past two centuries, we detected one extreme (1812) and six severe drought years (1810, 1811, 1816, 1852, 1887, and 1980). Dry periods coincided with six major famines that occurred in India. Spatial correlation analyses revealed that drought occurrence is linked to broader‐scale atmospheric circulations of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, especially during the positive phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Our reconstruction provides a useful historical perspective for assessing adaptation measures intent on mitigating future drought impacts in Myanmar. Plain Language Summary: We developed a 226‐year‐long ring‐width regional chronology of teak by combining three site chronologies from southern Myanmar. Teak growth is mainly controlled by moisture availability during the dry season, making teak a suitable species for assessing drought variation in southern Myanmar. We reconstructed a 215‐year drought history and find prolonged droughts occurred in 1808–1823, 1837–1843, 1863–1876, 1883–1891, 1895–1901, 1908–1912, 1922–1930, 1941–1945, 1952–1963, 1976–1994, and 2010–2015. We also found a strong association between drought variability in southern Myanmar and sea surface temperatures in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon. The results are useful to devise necessary policies and strategies for coping with the adverse impacts of drought and protecting the livelihoods of regional populations. Key Points: The radial growth of teak in southern Myanmar is mainly limited by moisture availability during the dry seasonDry episodes in the past 200 years in southern Myanmar coincided with six major famines in India and other regional drought reconstructionsDrought variations in southern Myanmar may be linked to large‐scale climate drivers, mainly tropical SST variations and El Niño events [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Privacy-preserving price e-negotiation (3PEN) is an important topic of secure multi-party computation (SMC) in the electronic commerce field, and the key point of its security is to guarantee the privacy of seller's and buyer's prices. In this study, a novel and efficient quantum solution to the 3PEN problem is proposed, where the oracle operation and the qubit comparator are utilized to obtain the comparative results of buyer's and seller's prices, and then quantum counting is executed to summarize the total number of products which meets the trading conditions. Analysis shows that our solution not only guarantees the correctness and the privacy of 3PEN, but also has lower communication complexity than those classical ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New thoughts are warranted to develop efficient diagnosis and optimal therapeutics to combat unstable angina (UA)/myocardial infarction (MI). Therefore, the gene data of patients with UA or MI were used in this study to identify the optimal pathways which can provide comprehensive information for UA/MI development. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between UA and MI were detected using LIMMA package, and pathway enrichment analysis was conducted for the DEGs, based on the DAVID tool, to detect the significant pathways. Then, differential co-expression network (DCN) and sub-DCN for the DEGs were constructed. Subsequently, informative pathways were extracted using guilt-by-association (GBA) principle relying on the area under the curve (AUC), and the pathway categories with AUC >0.8 were defined as the informative pathways. Finally, we selected the optimal pathways based on the traditional pathway analysis and the sub-DCN-based-GBA pathway prediction method. A total of 203 and 266 DEGs were identified from the expression profile of blood of MI samples comparing with UAs in the time-point 1 and time-point 2 groups. Moreover, 7 and 10 informative pathway terms were identified based on AUC>0.8. Significantly, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, as well as MAPK signaling pathway were the common optimal pathways in the two groups. Calcium signaling pathway was unique to the whole blood of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) taken at 30 days post-ACS. In conclusion, the optimal pathways (MAPK signaling pathway, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, and calcium signaling pathway) might play important roles in the progression of UA/MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitride-based near-ultraviolet (NUV) flip-chip (FC) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) with n-contact full-via-holes (FVH) structure have been fabricated by a two-step insulating layer (IL) method. Comparing with the conventional one-step IL method, the NUV FCLEDs manufactured by two-step IL method exhibit a reduction of 0.19 V in forward voltage and an enhancement of 36.2% in the wall-plug efficiency (WPE). In addition, the WPE of two-step IL NUV FCLEDs was enhanced by 108% as compared to that of the one-step IL FCLEDs on flat sapphire substrate. The current density distribution simulation shows a low current density and uniform distribution for the FCLEDs with FVH structure. The enhanced performance could be attributed to the PSS extraction structure and the more uniform current distribution at the active region due to the uniformly distributed via-holes. The results indicate that the proposed two-step IL method is an effective way to achieve high-power and high-efficiency FCLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitride-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were fabricated based on initial patterned sapphire substrate by thin film (TF) and flip-chip (FC) techniques. An enhancement of 7.7% in light output power was first obtained by optimizing the p-type contact layer. Then, periodic patterned surface was optimized by wet etching after removal of the sapphire substrate, and the light output power of the TFFC-LEDs was enhanced by 19.8% as compared to that of the TFFC-LEDs with original patterned surface. The device performance characteristic including illuminant pattern, emission wavelength movement and junction temperature variation of the optimized TFFC-LEDs were shown as compared with commercialized LEDs. The results indicate that the TFFC-LEDs possess uniform current distribution and lower junction temperature, thus show promising applications in various areas such as automotive lighting, illegal capture and solid-state lighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two quantum key agreement protocols using Bell states and Bell measurement were recently proposed by Shukla et al. (Quantum Inf. Process. 13(11), 2391-2405, 2014). However, Zhu et al. pointed out that there are some security flaws and proposed an improved version (Quantum Inf. Process. 14(11), 4245-4254, 2015). In this study, we will show Zhu et al.'s improvement still exists some security problems, and its efficiency is not high enough. For solving these problems, we utilize four Pauli operations { I, Z, X, Y} to encode two bits instead of the original two operations { I, X} to encode one bit, and then propose an efficient and secure arbitrary N-party quantum key agreement protocol. In the protocol, the channel checking with decoy single photons is introduced to avoid the eavesdropper's flip attack, and a post-measurement mechanism is used to prevent against the collusion attack. The security analysis shows the present protocol can guarantee the correctness, security, privacy and fairness of quantum key agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-party semi-quantum key agreement (SQKA) protocol based on delegating quantum computation (DQC) model is proposed by taking Bell states as quantum resources. In the proposed protocol, the participants only need the ability of accessing quantum channel and preparing single photons {|0〉, |1〉, |+〉, |−〉}, while the complicated quantum operations, such as the unitary operations and Bell measurement, will be delegated to the remote quantum center. Compared with previous quantum key agreement protocols, this client-server model is more feasible in the early days of the emergence of quantum computers. In order to prevent the attacks from outside eavesdroppers, inner participants and quantum center, two single photon sequences are randomly inserted into Bell states: the first sequence is used to perform the quantum channel detection, while the second is applied to disorder the positions of message qubits, which guarantees the security of the protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information leakage problem in the efficient bidirectional quantum secure direct communication protocol with single photons in both polarization and spatial-mode degrees of freedom is pointed out. Next, a way to revise this protocol to a truly secure one is given. We hope people pay more attention to the information leakage problem in order to design truly secure quantum communication protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a study of the satellite module layout problem (SMLP), which is a three-dimensional (3D) layout optimization problem with performance constraints that has proved to be non-deterministic polynomial-time hard (NP-hard). To deal with this problem, we convert it into an unconstrained optimization problem using a quasi-physical strategy and the penalty function method. The energy landscape paving (ELP) method is a class of Monte-Carlo-based global optimization algorithm that has been successfully applied to solve many optimization problems. ELP can search for low-energy layouts via a random walk in complex energy landscapes. However, when ELP falls into the narrow and deep valleys of an energy landscape, it is difficult to escape. By putting forward a new update mechanism of the histogram function in ELP, we obtain an improved ELP method which can overcome this drawback. By incorporating the gradient method with local search into the improved ELP method, a new global search optimization method, nELP, is proposed for SMLP. Two representative instances from the literature are tested. Computational results show that the proposed nELP algorithm is an effective method for solving SMLP with performance constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fog is an important supplemental source of water in regions with heavy fog and little rainfall. In the present study, we used the stable isotope content of xylem water to investigate the dry season water source partition between soil and fog water of two evergreen tree species ( Cleistanthus sumatranus and Lasiococca comberi), two deciduous tree species ( Mayodendron igneum and Lagerstroemia tomentosa), two liana species ( Acacia pennata and Combretum latifolium) and understory seedlings of three tree species ( C. sumatranus, L. comberi and Celtis philippensis) in a tropical karst forest in southern Yunnan, China. The soil gravimetric water content (GWC) and volumetric water content (VWC), pre-dawn leaf water potential (Ψpre-dawn) and leaf water absorbance were also measured. There were no significant differences in both GWC and VWC among 10 to 100 cm depths in the dry season. In the dry season 2009, Ψpre-dawn of the two evergreen tree species and the understory seedlings down to −4.5 to −6.3 MPa, and which were significantly lower than those of a normal dry season. The proportion that fog contributed to xylem water ranged from 15.8% (understory seedling of C. sumatranus) to 41.3% (liana species C. latifolium). After immersing in water for 3 h, leaves of all the studied species absorbed a significant volume of water. Our results reveal that the woody plants in the tropical karst forest of Xishuangbanna use fog water as an important supplement in the dry season, with more fog water being used by lianas than by trees. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel multiparty quantum sealed-bid auction protocol using the single photons as the message carrier of bids is proposed, followed by an example of three-party auction. Compared with those protocols based on the entangled states (GHZ state, EPR pairs, etc.), the present protocol is more economic and feasible within present technology. In order to guarantee the security and the fairness of the auction, the decoy photon checking technique and an improved post-confirmation mechanism with EPR pairs are introduced, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The penetration of mobile phones is nearly saturated in both developing and developed regions. In such a circumstance, how to prevent subscriber churn has become an important issue for today's telecom operators, as the cost to acquire a new subscriber is much higher than that to retain an existing subscriber. In this paper, we propose to leverage the power of big data to mitigate the problem of subscriber churn and enhance the service quality of telecom operators. As the information hub, telecom operators have accumulated a huge volume of valuable data on subscriber behaviors, service usage, and network operations. To enable efficient big data processing, we first build a dedicated distributed cloud infrastructure that integrates both online and offline processing capabilities. Second, we develop a complete churn analysis model based on deep data mining techniques, and utilize inter-subscriber influence to improve prediction accuracy. Finally, we use real datasets obtained from a large telecom operator in China to verify the accuracy of our churn analysis models. The dataset contains the information of over 3.5 million subscribers, which generate over 600 million call detail records (CDRs) per month. The empirical results demonstrate that our proposed method can achieve around 90% accuracy for T + 1 testing periods and identify subscribers with high negative influence successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a non-geodesic cyclic evolution scheme to produce and measure the geometric phase in an S U (3) interferometer. In contrast to those existing schemes, we let U(2)-invariant states evolve in the parameter space non-geodetically. During the evolution, the geometric phase shift accumulated, at the same time the dynamical phase can be cancelled when the evolution path is appropriately designed. We note that our scheme can be conveniently extended to the S U( N) case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reinvestigating the chemical constituents of the roots of Xanthium sibiricum led to the isolation of a new naphthoquinone (1), together with 13 known compounds (2–14). Their structures were elucidated by using spectroscopic analyses, including HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR, and by comparing their NMR data with those of related compounds. Compound 1 showed moderate antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus tetragenus and Staphylococcus aureus, while 6 and 12 showed stronger antibacterial activity than the positive control ciprofloxacin against E. coli, with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 0.17 and 0.35 μg/mL, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]