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The digital economy is regarded as the new economy in the 21st century, and transportation infrastructure is the key driving force of traditional economic growth. However, there are still fewer studies on both. In this paper, 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region are studied from 2011 to 2020. Regression using the generalized spatial least squares method confirms the facilitating effect of transportation infrastructure on the digital economy. For every 1% rise in the construction level, the digital economy improves by 0.016. Among them, enhancing the attractiveness of the core industries of the digital economy for innovation, entrepreneurial activities, and investment is an important facilitating mechanism. Further, we find that transportation infrastructure's facilitating role is enhanced after crossing the threshold of digitalization. In addition, upgrading industrial structure (rationalization and advancement) strengthens this role. The above findings reveal the relationship between transportation infrastructure and the digital economy in China and provide a scientific basis for emerging economies to seek transportation planning policymaking and digital economy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise force measurement is critical to probe biological events and physics processes, spanning from molecular motor's motion to the Casimir effect, as well as the detection of gravitational waves. Yet, despite extensive technological developments, the three-dimensional nanoscale measurement of weak forces in aqueous solutions still faces major challenges. Techniques that rely on optically trapped nanoprobes are of significant potential but are beset with limitations, including probe heating induced by high trapping power, undetectable scattering signals and localization errors. Here we report the measurement of the long-distance interaction force in aqueous solutions with a minimum detected force value of 108.2 ± 510.0 attonewton. To achieve this, we develop a super-resolved photonic force microscope based on optically trapped lanthanide-doped nanoparticles coupled with nanoscale three-dimensional tracking-based force sensing. The tracking method leverages neural-network-empowered super-resolution localization, where the position of the force probe is extracted from the optical-astigmatism-modified point spread function. We achieve a force sensitivity down to 1.8 fN Hz–1/2, which approaches the nanoscale thermal limit. We experimentally measure electrophoresis forces acting on single nanoparticles as well as the surface-induced interaction force on a single nanoparticle. This work opens the avenue of nanoscale thermally limited force sensing and offers new opportunities for detecting sub-femtonewton forces over long distances and biomechanical forces at the single-molecule level. Super-resolved photonic force microscopy employs the fluorescence of lanthanide-doped nanoparticles as a force probe, enabling the measurement of sub-femtonewton forces with a sensitivity of 1.8 fN Hz–1/2, approaching the thermal limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uneven distribution of local superconducting properties can significantly impact the overall performance of REBa2Cu3O7-δ (REBCO or RE123) superconductor bulks. Through the modified top-seeded melt-texture growth method, we successfully prepared single-domain GdBa2Cu3O7-δ (GdBCO) superconductor bulks with (bulk A) and without (bulk B) a buffer layer, and investigated the relationship between superconducting properties and microstructure of the bulks in detail. Measurement results show that the maximum trapped flux density value of bulk A is 0.48 T, and that of bulk B is 0.5 T. The distribution of transition temperature (TC) and critical current density (JC) becomes more uniform along the c- and a/b-directions in bulk A. In bulk B, i.e., without a buffer layer, the JC varies greatly at different locations due to microstructural inhomogeneity. The buffer layer acting as a large seed can increase the growth rate, resulting in a decrease in the size and an increase in the concentration of Gd2BaCuO5 (Gd211) particles in the microstructure according to pushing/trapping and coarsening theory. The corresponding JC performance shows a certain improvement in all fields, which suggests that the buffer layer has a positive effect on the spatial uniformity of superconducting properties in superconductor bulks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical emission line diagnostics, which are a common tool for constraining the properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies, become progressively inaccessible at higher redshifts for ground-based facilities. Far-infrared (FIR) emission lines, which are redshifted into atmospheric windows that are accessible for ground-based submillimetre facilities, could provide ISM diagnostics alternative to optical emission lines. We investigated FIR line ratios involving [CII] λ158 μm, [OIII] λ88 μm, [OIII] λ52 μm, [NII] λ122 μm, and [NIII] λ57 μm using synthetic emission lines applied to a high-resolution (mgas = 883.4 M⊙) cosmological zoom-in simulation, including radiative transfer post-processing with the code KRAMSES-RT at z = 6.5. We find that the [CII]/[NII]122 ratio is sensitive to the temperature and density of photodissociation regions. It might therefore be a useful tool for tracing the properties of this gas phase in galaxies. We also find that [NII]/[NIII] is a good tracer of the temperature and that [OIII]52/[OIII]88 is a good tracer of the gas density of HII regions. Emission line ratios containing the [OIII] λ88 μm line are sensitive to high-velocity outflowing gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derived molecular gas fractions (fmol = Mmol/M*) and depletion times (τmol = Mmol/SFR) for 353 galaxies representative of the local star-forming population with 108.5 M⊙ < M* < 1010.5 M⊙ drawn from the ALLSMOG and xCOLDGASS surveys of CO(2−1) and CO(1−0) line emission. By adding constraints from low-mass galaxies and upper limits for CO non-detections, we find the median molecular gas fraction of the local star-forming population to be constant at log fmol = −0.99−0.19+0.22 log f mol = − 0. 99 − 0.19 + 0.22 $ \log f_{\mathrm{mol}}=-0.99^{+0.22}_{-0.19} $ , challenging previous reports of increased molecular gas fractions in low-mass galaxies. Above M* ∼ 1010.5 M⊙, we find the fmol versus M* relation to be sensitive to the selection criteria for star-forming galaxies. We tested the robustness of our results against different prescriptions for the CO-to-H2 conversion factor and different selection criteria for star-forming galaxies. The depletion timescale τmol weakly depends on M*, following a power law with a best-fit slope of 0.16 ± 0.03. This suggests that small variations in specific star formation rate (sSFR = SFR/M*) across the local main sequence of star-forming galaxies with M* < 1010.5 M⊙ are mainly driven by differences in the efficiency of converting the available molecular gas into stars. We tested these results against a possible dependence of fmol and τmol on the surrounding (group) environment of the targets by splitting them into centrals, satellites, and isolated galaxies, and find no significant variation between these populations. We conclude that the group environment is unlikely to have a large systematic effect on the molecular gas content of star-forming galaxies in the local Universe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is a crucial component of galaxy evolution, but thus far its physical properties are highly unconstrained. As of yet, no cosmological simulation has reached convergence when it comes to constraining the cold and dense gas fraction of the CGM. Such components are also challenging to observe directly, as they require sub-millimetre (sub-mm) instruments with a high sensitivity to extended and mostly diffuse emission. We present a state-of-the-art theoretical effort at modelling the [CII] 158 μm, [CI](1−0) 609 μm, [CI](2−1) 370 μm, CO(3−2) 867 μm, and [OIII] 88 μm line emissions that arise from the interstellar medium (ISM) and CGM of galaxies, with the goal of studying the contribution from different cold (T < 104 K) components of galaxy halos. We used the high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulation PONOS (mgas = 883.4 M⊙), which represents a typical star-forming galaxy system at z = 6.5, composed of a main disc with stellar mass M* = 2 × 109 M⊙ that is undergoing a major merger. We adopted different modelling approaches based on the photoionisation code CLOUDY. Our fiducial model uses radiative transfer post-processing with RAMSES-RT and KROME (KRAMSES-RT) to create more realistic far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation fields, which we then compared to other sub-grid modelling approaches adopted in the literature. We find significant differences in the luminosity and in the contribution of different gas phases and galaxy components between the different modelling approaches. [CII] is the least model-dependant gas tracer, while [CI](1−0) and CO(3−2) are very model-sensitive. In all models, we find a significant contribution to the emission of [CII] (up to ∼10%) and [OIII] (up to ∼21%) from the CGM. Our fiducial global radiative transfer (RT) model produces a lower density, T ∼ 104 K tail of [CII] emission that is not seen in the other more simplistic models and that resides entirely in the CGM, ionised by the FUV background and producing the extended halos observed in [CII] at high-z. Notably, [CII] and [OIII] trace different regions of the CGM: [CII] arises from an accreting filament and from the tidal tails connecting the main disc and its merging satellites, while [OIII] traces a puffy halo surrounding the main disc, probably linked to supernova feedback. We discuss our results in the context of sub-mm observations. Using simulated spectra and mock maps, we show that, despite the rather compact angular extent of PONOS's CGM, deep ALMA observations would not detect this component, even in [CII] which is the brightest available tracer. Instead, a next generation single-dish observatory such as the Atacama Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (AtLAST) could detect PONOS' CGM in [CII] at a high signal-to-noise ratio, and possibly even in [OIII]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexoelectricity, the coupling between electric polarization and strain gradients in dielectrics, attracts growing research interest because of its potential to replace/complement piezoelectricity in electromechanical applications. Thanks to the large dielectric permittivity, ferroelectrics exhibit enhanced flexoelectricity and usually serve as the functional ingredient in flexoelectric devices. However, ferroelectric flexoelectricity usually suffers from poor temperature stability, which adversely affects practical applications. In this work, compositional gradients are introduced into Ba1−xSrxTiO3 systems to enhance the temperature stability of flexoelectric behavior. Experimental results show that the drastic variations of flexoelectricity (up to 100 times) from 20 to 120 °C in single component ceramics (such as Ba0.67Sr0.33TiO3 and BaTiO3) can be significantly reduced in graded Ba1−xSrxTiO3 ceramics, in which the flexoelectric coefficient is in the range from 13 to 26 μC/m. The improved stability results from the engineered sequential Curie temperatures of individual layers in graded ceramics and the positive correlation between dielectric constant and flexoelectricity. Our work provides a method to enable the robust performance of flexoelectric devices in an ambient environment with large temperature fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of metallic nanoparticles has become an attractive strategy for increasing the efficiency of solar water splitting. However, the metal/semiconductor junction may introduce unwanted interfaces or surface species that reduce the SPR effect as well as compromising efficient charge transport. The processes of separation, transport, and transfer of charges in metal-based plasmonic photoelectrodes are highly sensitive to the nature of the coupling between metal/semiconductor/electrolyte and a comprehensive understanding of these interfaces is still lacking. In this work, we proposed the construction of hematite photoanodes modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and aluminum oxide with different arrangements, whose optimized coupling between the interfaces led to enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. Using a combination of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, well-established materials synthesis and x-ray spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and PEC characterization techniques, selected architecture design strategies are evaluated. The experimental results reveal that the direct contact between semiconductors and metals coated by the dielectric leads to an improvement in localized electric field at the interface upon the formation of hot electrons, boosting the generation and separation efficiencies of electron–hole pairs. The main role of the dielectric coating, which led to an ineffective surface state passivation, is to prevent the photooxidation of AuNPs. FDTD calculations are employed to investigate the spatial distribution of the electric-field intensity around the AuNPs deposited onto the hematite surfaces and to corroborate the local field enhancement effect. The outcome of this combined experimental-theoretical study reveals that engineering plasmonic interfaces is a powerful tool to design efficient photoanodes for plasmon-driven PEC water splitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A kind of monodispersed and flower-like polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanosphere, one of the most popular polymers without traditional fluorophore, has been successfully prepared by one-step method. Pristine PAN nanosphere exhibits fluorescent emission at 400 nm. Remarkably, after hydrolysis reaction of PAN nanosphere in alkaline aqueous solution, the maximum emission wavelength red-shifted from 400 nm to 465 nm. Furthermore, according to fluorescent lifetime decay and other data, we can hypothesize that the hydrolysed PAN sample contains different emissive species from pristine PAN nanosphere. Based on above results, a novel kind of white light phosphors is fabricated when introduced rhodamine 6G onto the rugged surface of flower-like PAN nanosphere. Our work suggests that the as-prepared PAN nanosphere exhibits great potential application in the field of optical material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid carbon dots (EDTA-CDs) with a strong fluorescence, were synthesized via a hydrothermal treatment. The temperature and time of hydrothermal process were found to be the critical factors on the fluorescence properties of EDTA-CDs. The results demonstrated that concomitant with increasing heating temperature (from 25 to 230°C) and prolonging heating time (from 0 to 20 h), the fluorescence intensity of EDTA-CDs significantly enhanced and the maximum wavelength moved towards the long wavelength region (from 400 nm to 450 nm). Importantly, EDTA-CDs exhibited excellent specificity, selectivity and biocompatibility, which could be successfully applied in determination of iron ions and bioimaging fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Quantifying the number of older adults that are food insecure in a specific geographic area is critical in developing and scaling public health prevention and response programs at the local level. However, current estimates of older adult food insecurity only consider financial constraints, following the same methodology as the general population, even though the drivers for older adults are different and multidimensional. This study aims to build a general approach to quantify the food-insecurity among older adults at the local level, using publicly available data that can be easily obtained across the country. Methods: 13 risk factors for food insecurity among older adults were identified leveraging existing studies, following the Social Ecological Model (SEM), and the weighted impact of each factor was determined. Publicly available data sources were identified for each factor, ZIP code level data was compared to national averages, and the weighted data for each factor were aggregated to determine the overall food insecurity at the local level. Results: Based on the averaged odds ratios across all the studies, of the 13 risk factors, beyond financial constraints, having a disability was the most impactful factor and distance to the nearest grocery store was the least impactful. A ZIP code level model of Honolulu County was developed as an example to demonstrate the approach, showing that food insecurity among older adults in the county was 2.5 times that which was reported from the Current Population Survey (16.5% versus 6.5%). Conclusion: This evidence-based model considered factors that impact food insecurity among older adults across all the spheres of the SEM. The drivers of food insecurity among older adults are different than the drivers for the general population, resulting in a higher percentage of older adults being food insecure than currently reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unhealthy food environments are major drivers of obesity and diet-related diseases(1). Improving the healthiness of food environments requires a widespread organised response from governments, civil society, and industry(2). However, current actions often rely on voluntary participation by industry, such as opt-in nutrition labelling schemes, school/workplace food guidelines, and food reformulation programmes. The aim of the REFORM study is to determine the effects of the provision of tailored support to companies on their nutrition-related policies and practices, compared to food companies that are not offered the programme (the control). REFORM is a two-country, parallel cluster randomised controlled trial. 150 food companies were randomly assigned (2:1 ratio) to receive either a tailored support intervention programme or no intervention. Randomisation was stratified by country (Australia, New Zealand), industry sector (fast food, other packaged food/beverage companies), and company size. The primary outcome is the nutrient profile (measured using Health Star Rating [HSR]) of foods and drinks produced by participating companies at 24 months post-baseline. Secondary outcomes include company nutrition policies and commitments, the nutrient content (sodium, sugar, saturated fat) of products produced by participating companies, display of HSR labels, and engagement with the intervention. Eighty-three eligible intervention companies were invited to take part in the REFORM programme and 21 (25%) accepted and were enrolled. Over 100 meetings were held with company representatives between September 2021 and December 2022. Resources and tailored reports were developed for 6 touchpoints covering product composition and benchmarking, nutrition labelling, consumer insights, nutrition policies, and incentives for companies to act on nutrition. Detailed information on programme resources and preliminary 12-month findings will be presented at the conference. The REFORM programme will assess if provision of tailored support to companies on their nutrition-related policies and practices incentivises the food industry to improve their nutrition policies and actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structural and mechanical properties of tissue and the interplay between them play a critical role in tissue function. We introduce the optomechanogram, a combined quantitative and qualitative visualization of spatially co-registered measurements of the microstructural and micromechanical properties of any tissue. Our approach relies on the co-registration of two independent platforms, second-harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy for quantitative assessment of 3D collagen-fiber microstructural organization, and nanoindentation (NI) for local micromechanical properties. We experimentally validate our method by applying to uterine cervix tissue, which exhibits structural and mechanical complexity. We find statistically significant agreement between the micromechanical and microstructural data, and confirm that the distinct tissue regions are distinguishable using either the SHG or NI measurements. Our method could potentially be used for research in pregnancy maintenance, mechanobiological studies of tissues and their constitutive modeling and more generally for the optomechanical metrology of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Semi‐allogeneic embryos are not rejected by the maternal immune system due to maternal–fetal immune tolerance. Progesterone (P) receptor (PR)‐expressing γδ T cells are present in healthy pregnant women. In the presence of P, these cells secrete an immunomodulatory protein called progesterone‐induced blocking factor (PIBF), which can facilitate immune escape and is important in preventing embryonic rejection. This work investigated the correlations of the expression of γδ T cells and their co‐stimulatory molecules T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT), programmed cell death 1 (PD‐1), inducible co‐stimulator (ICOS) and B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) with progesterone receptor (PR) and progesterone‐induced blocking factor (PIBF) in peripheral blood and decidual tissue in women with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA) and normal pregnant (NP) women. We confirmed that γδ T cell proportions and PIBF expression in the peripheral blood and decidua of URSA women decreased significantly, while PR expression in decidua decreased. However, TIGIT, PD‐1, ICOS and BTLA expression in γδ T cells in peripheral blood did not change, while TIGIT and PD‐1 expression in γδ T cells in decidua increased significantly. Under the action of PHA‐P (10 µg/ml), co‐blocking of TIGIT (15 µg/ml) and PD‐1 (10 µg/ml) antibodies further induced γδ T cell proliferation, but PIBF levels in the culture medium supernatant did not change. At 10−10 M P, γδ T cells proliferated significantly, and PIBF concentrations in the culture medium supernatant increased. γδ T cells co‐cultured with P, TIGIT and PD‐1 blocking antibodies showed the most significant proliferation, and PIBF concentrations in the culture medium supernatant were the highest. These results confirm that P is necessary for PIBF production. The TIGIT and PD‐1 pathways participate in γδ T cell proliferation and activation and PIBF expression and play important roles in maintaining pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to assess the feasibility of the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and clinical biomarkers in assessing the frailty in elder inpatients in China. Design: The study was a cross-sectional study. Setting and Participants: The study included 642 elder inpatients (295 females and 347 males) aged ≥65 years, from the Department of Geriatrics of Zhejiang Hospital between January 2018 and December 2019. Measurements: All participants underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment and blood tests. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between risk factors and frailty. Results: The average age of the participants was 82.72±8.06 years (range: 65–95 years) and the prevalence of frailty was 39.1% according to the CFS. Frail participants showed significantly lower short physical performance battery (SPPB), basic activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scores (all p<0.001), and lower hemoglobin, total protein and albumin levels (all P<0.05) than nonfrail participants. Frail participants had higher CRP, D-dimer and fibrinogen levels than nonfrail participants (all p<0.05). Univariate logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between frailty and age, comorbidity, polypharmacy, fall history, SPPB, ADL, and IADL scores, D-dimer, fibrinogen, hemoglobin, total protein and albumin levels (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI)= 1.151(1.042–1.272), P=0.006), SPPB scores (OR, 95% CI=0.901(0.601–1.350), P<0.001), and D-dimer (OR, 95% CI=4.857(2.182–6.983), P<0.001), fibrinogen (OR, 95% CI=2.665(0.977–4.254), P<0.001), hemoglobin (OR, 95% CI=0.837(0.725–0.963), P= 0.044), and albumin (OR, 95% CI=0.860 (0.776–1.188), P<0.001) levels were independently associated with frailty in all participants. Conclusion: Frailty in elder inpatients in China is characterized by older age, a lower SPPB scores, higher D-dimer and fibrinogen levels and lower hemoglobin and albumin levels. Functional decline and malnutrition may be the targets of frailty interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the polydopamine (PDA) coating layer was first applied to modify hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles and then the functional PDA/HA (pHA) composite nanoparticles were obtained. Subsequently, a 3-D porous thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) scaffold modified by two-stage pHA nanoparticles (pHA-TPU/pHA) was fabricated by vacuum-assisted solvent casting and ultrasonication-assisted methods. The results demonstrated that the pHA nanoparticles were successfully prepared and introduced into the pHA-TPU/pHA composite scaffold both internally and externally. The pHA-TPU/pHA composite scaffold had an excellent interconnected network structure with high porosity of 85.7% and large pore sizes ranging from 100-500 µm. The hydrophilicity and comprehensive mechanical properties of the pHA-TPU/pHA composite scaffold were significantly higher than those of the TPU scaffold due to the addition of the pHA nanoparticles. The attachment and viability of mouse embryonic osteoblast cells (MC3T3-E1) cultured on the pHA-TPU/pHA composite scaffold were also higher than those on the TPU scaffold. These results suggest that the functional pHA-TPU/pHA composite scaffold has superior mechanical and biological properties, which makes it potentially useful for tissue engineering scaffolds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well-known that it is crucial to insert either a single InGaN underlayer or an InGaN superlattice (SLS) structure (both with low InN content) as a pre-layer prior to the growth of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) served as an active region for a light-emitting diode (LED). So far, this growth scheme has achieved a great success in the growth of III-nitride LEDs on c-plane substrates, but has not yet been applied in the growth of any other orientated III-nitride LEDs. In this paper, we have applied this growth scheme in the growth of semi-polar (11–22) green LEDs, and have investigated the impact of the SLS pre-layer on the optical performance of semi-polar (11–22) green LEDs grown on patterned (113) silicon substrates. Our results demonstrate that the semi-polar LEDs with the SLS pre-layer exhibit an improvement in both internal quantum efficiency and light output, which is similar to their c-plane counterparts. However, the performance improvement is not so significant as in the c-plane case. This is because the SLS pre-layer also introduces extra misfit dislocations for the semi-polar, but not the c-plane case, which act as non-radiative recombination centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendrocalamus minor var. amoenus was analyzed for physiological and proteomic responses under drought stress. The adverse effects of drought on D. minor var. amoenus were primarily affected by gas exchange attributes such as photosynthesis (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), and transpiration rate (Tr) decreased as drought intensity increased. Among chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, actual photochemical efficiency of PSII (FPSII), electron transport rate (ETR), and non-photochemical quenching (qN) also decreased under increasing drought stress throughout the natural dehydration process (15-30 days). Moreover, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels increased significantly when subjected to short drought event and then decreased rapidly under severe drought stress. Using twodimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), we detected more than 500 protein spots; 41 significant differentially expressed protein spots were uncovered under drought stress. Following matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) identification and BLAST of these 41 proteins spots to an NCBI or Uniprot database, 33 differential protein spots were identified. In addition to determining a suitable protocol for protein extraction from D. minor var. amoenus (or other bamboo species), this study provides important information on signal transduction pathway changes under drought stress for exploring drought resistance candidate genes in bamboo species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benggang are characterized by deep-cut slopes with various shapes and depressions on the vast weathered crust slopes in southern China. The gully heads have been continuously collapsed and eroded to form a chair-like erosion landforms. It develops rapidly, and leads to large amounts of erosion, with the hazards of damaging land resources, destroying basic farmland, and deteriorating ecological environment. To study and manage Benggang, the primary task is to discover it. Traditional methods based on local in-situ investigations, which are not only labour-consuming but also inefficient. These methods are difficult to meet the needs of large-scale investigations of Benggang. This paper proposes a method for automatic Benggang recognition based on Ultra-High Resolution (UHR) DOM (Digital Orthophoto Map) and DSM (Digital Surface Model) obtained from UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) survey. This method adopts a Bag of Visual-Topographical Words (BoV-TW) model. The local features extracted from DOM and DSM are represented based on BoV-TW, and fused by Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Finally Support Vector Machine (SVM) is adopted as a supervised classifier to achieve high-precision automatic Benggang recognition. Experimental results prove that the total accuracy of our method can be maintained at about 95%, with recall and precision above 80% (the highest are 97.22% and 94.44%, respectively), which are significantly higher than the methods of using only DOM local features and using only BoV-TW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composition dependence of resistivity is studied in amorphous (Fe100-xCox)89-yZr7B4Cuy (0 ≤ x ≤ 50, y = 0, 1) alloys. The two-current model proposed by Mott for crystalline materials is extended to a disordered amorphous system where s-d scattering is dominant in electron conduction. A rigid-band assumption is made due to the small atomic number difference between Fe and Co. Band structures with a constant density of states (DOS), parabolic distributed DOS, and Gaussian distributed DOS were investigated to fit experimental data. The Gaussian distributed DOS was found to simulate the resistivity maximum and magnetic moment maximum in the Fe-rich region. The basic concepts presented here can potentially provide insight into the optimization of FeCo-based HITPERM alloys for applications at increased frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confined spin waves in single magnetic microstrips are investigated using a microwave photovoltage technique. Direct mapping of the spin wave evolution between surface, edge, and central modes is achieved by tuning the direction of the applied magnetic field. Both theoretical and numerical methods are used to study the evolution of the excitations and provide excellent agreement with the experimental results. The most prominent feature observed is a mode repulsing behavior which indicates mode hybridization in the dipole dominated part of the spin wave spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manipulation of the magnetoresistance mechanism-quantum interference effects (QIEs) is achieved by controlling the hole density in a La0.39Pr0.28Ca0.33MnO3-δ depletion layer with the application of different biases to the La0.39Pr0.28Ca0.33MnO3-δ/SrNbTiO3 p-n junction. The positive magnetoresistance (PMR) induced by QIEs has been tuned up to tenfold with a suitable bias voltage applied to this manganite/titanate p-n junction. Compared to the recent breakthrough achieved on Fe1-xCoxSi [N. Manyala et al., Nature (London) 404, 581 (2000)], the working temperature for QIEs has been increased from 30 to 150 K, and the maximal PMR ratio has been enhanced from 10% to 96% under 1 T at 25 K. The maximal PMR can be obtained by tuning the hole density via the bias voltage within 2 V. It is clearly demonstrated that the carrier density strongly affects the QIEs in the manganites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electroluminescence (EL) and I-V characteristics were studied in a series of p-i-n heterostructures based on the ferromagnetic semiconductor (Ga,Mn)As. The configurations of the samples are p+-(Ga,Mn)As/i-GaAs/n+-GaAs, with or without an additional GaAs layer (doped with Be, or doped with Si) inserted into the central i layer of the p-i-n structure. For comparison, we also grew a control sample with structure GaAs:Be/GaAs/GaAs:Be/GaAs/n+-GaAs, free of intentional Mn doping. The I-V characteristics measured on all samples show good rectifying properties. The observed EL spectra indicate, however, that different recombination processes are involved in different samples. In particular, recombination involving Mn-related centers is of two types: one associated with intentional Mn doping; and the other coming from unintentionally introduced background Mn. It is important to note that the contribution to the EL signal involving the unintentionally introduced Mn is nontrivial, as can be seen in the EL spectrum observed on the control sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report microphotoluminescence (μ-PL) mappings of CdZnTe wafers on micrometer and millimeter scales. The acquired PL spectra have been fitted to a model based on band-to-band transition including the contribution of localized states in the energy gap. The fitting yields energy gap E[sub g], which is correlated to the Zn fraction x in Cd[sub 1-x]Zn[sub x]Te. The statistics of large numbers of fitted E[sub g] reveal the inhomogeneity of the Zn composition while the map of E[sub g] gives the distribution of Zn atoms. The comparison between the PL mappings before and after epi-ready chemomechanical processing show a great improvement in homogeneity due to the removal of surface defects and damage by the processing. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of PL mapping in determining the Zn composition homogeneity and distribution in a CdZnTe wafer. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photoconductors based on V-grooved Al[sub 0.5]Ga[sub 0.5]As/GaAs multiple quantum wires (QWR) were fabricated. The geometric structure of the QWR was carefully characterized by transmission electron microscopy and spatially resolved microphotoluminescence measurements. Infrared response at 9.2 μm is observed from the photocurrent spectrum measured at 80 K. It is attributed as the intersubband transition in the quantum wire region. Due to the effective quantum confinement from the two (111)-surfaces forming the V groove, the overlapping between the ground state in the QWR and the one in the vertical quantum well is very small. This explains the weak photocurrent signal from the QWR photodetector. Theoretical design for a better wave function overlapping and optical coupling is outlined from the analysis of two-dimensional spatial distributions of the wave functions. © 2001 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the asymmetric double GaAs/AlGaAs V-grooved quantum wires, grown by low pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using photoluminescence spectroscopy. Selective treatment of the structure by ion implantation at different arsenic doses after growth; Reduction of the efficiency of the emissions from the implanted well regions.

Background and purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) genotype and sex together on longitudinal change in adjusted hippocampal volume [hippocampal volume:intracranial volume ratio (HpVR)] across the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum. Methods: At baseline, we included 372 individuals with normal cognition (NC), 738 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 271 patients with mild AD from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. We examined the effects of the APOE ε4 by sex interaction on longitudinal change in HpVR within the overall sample and within each diagnostic group. Results: Female gender was found to be associated with longitudinal reduction of HpVR in the NC and MCI groups, but not in the AD group. Similarly, APOE ε4 was associated with longitudinal reduction of HpVR in the NC and MCI groups, but not in the AD group. Further, female APOE ε4 carriers showed a greater longitudinal reduction of HpVR than their male counterparts in the NC group, but not in the MCI or AD group. However, due to the relatively short duration of follow‐up visits in patients with AD, further studies are needed to replicate these findings. Conclusion: Female APOE ε4 carriers show a greater longitudinal reduction of HpVR than their male counterparts in cognitively normal older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The correlation between the increased mean platelet volume and varicocele is controversial. Objectives: We designed this research to demonstrate the correlation relationship between varicocele and mean platelet volume by studying the changes of mean platelet volume in patients with varicocele before and after operation. Materials and methods: A total of 317 patients with left unilateral varicocele underwent operation, and 293 healthy adult males were enrolled in the study. We collected diagnostic data for preoperative patients through physical examination, color Doppler ultrasonography, and blood routine, and recorded the follow‐up data at 6 months after operation for varicocele. Platelet indices and the degree of varicocele or the diameter of spermatic vein correlation analysis were performed. Mean platelet volume values of preoperative and 6‐month postoperative were statistically evaluated. Results: We found that the degree of varicocele and the diameter of spermatic vein were positively correlated with mean platelet volume (p = 0.001 or p < 0.001). When the left unilateral varicocele patients and healthy subjects were compared, there was a significant increase in mean platelet volume (p = 0.003). Mean platelet volume values of 96 varicocele patients who were cured by operation for varicocele after 6 months were decreased significantly more than preoperative (p = 0.039), but 32 varicocele patients of 6‐month postoperative recurrence could not prove this change (p = 0.930). Discussion and conclusion: Our research proves that mean platelet volume was positively correlated with the degree of varicocele and the diameter of spermatic vein and varicocele patients showed significantly higher mean platelet volume than healthy subjects. The mean platelet volume of varicocele patients cured by operation for varicocele after 6 months was lower than before, but there was no difference in mean platelet volume between 6‐month postoperative recurrent patients with preoperative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the SPOT-5 images in 2004 and 2010 and SPOT-6 images in 2016 on the northern region of Hexi new town of Nanjing, the urban green space pattern of 2022 was predicted using the CA-Markov model. On this basis, four landscape indexes were used to analyze the evolution of green landscape pattern in the study area from 2004 to 2022. The results showed that the spatial accuracy of urban green space simulated by CA-Markov model was as high as 87.23%, and the Kappa index was 0.8533, which means high reliability. It is predicted that the scale of urban green space in the northern region of Hexi new town will continue to increase in 2016-2022, accounting for 17.28%, and the patch area of the dominant green space will keep increasing. The number of green patches NP and complexity LSI show a downward trend, the green landscape begins to become orderly, the fragmentation is lessening, the green space network system is gradually formed, and the spatial layout of urban green space tends to be reasonable. The simulation results can provide decision-making basis for the dynamic control of urban green space of Hexi new town of Nanjing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Increasingly, weeds have been taking on global distributions. With the proliferation of invasive weeds has come the challenge of managing these species over broad geographical regions, with diverse habitats and political jurisdictions. Here, we review the management of Mikania micrantha Kunth (Asteraceae; mile‐a‐minute) throughout its invaded range, extending through most of the Pacific islands and southern and south‐east Asia. Context matters when determining the best course of action for managing M. micrantha, as it has invaded a large variety of agricultural and natural systems. In Queensland, Australia and Florida, USA, M. micrantha has been targeted in relatively successful eradication campaigns, highlighting the importance of early detection and rapid response methods, while elsewhere in its invaded range, populations are either still increasing or showing limited signs of decline. An inter‐regional approach to research and management should incorporate successful management strategies employed throughout the invaded range including, but not limited to, chemical and cultural control practices, manual and mechanical control, classical biological control using the rust fungus Puccinia spegazzinii, plant–plant competition and integrated approaches utilising two or more control methods concurrently. Additional knowledge of M. micrantha genetics is required to determine if management approaches could be fine‐tuned for particular populations. Countries bordering the Mekong River formed a network in 2011 to co‐ordinate the management of invasive species such as M. micrantha. Expanding such a collaborative approach to other regions could further reduce populations of M. micrantha and limit its spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: To investigate the mtDNA variation and origin of maternal lineages in South American donkeys and to reassess the domestication of donkeys in northeast Africa, we analyzed sequences (489 bp of the D‐loop) from 323 domestic donkeys sampled from Peru, Brazil, Ethiopia and Egypt. Altogether, the 323 sequences displayed 53 different haplotypes (45 in Ethiopia, 14 in Egypt, eight in Peru and six in Brazil). Among the four populations, Egyptian donkeys possessed the highest haplotype diversity (0.910 ± 0.032), followed by Brazilian donkeys (0.879 ± 0.060). The Clade I haplotypes dominated in Peruvian donkeys (65%), whereas Clade II haplotypes dominated in Brazilian donkeys (67%). Estimates of FST values showed a high genetic differentiation between Peruvian and Brazilian donkey populations (FST = 0.4066), which could be explained by the complex introduction history of South American donkeys. Phylogeographic analysis indicates that northeast Africa could be the most probable domestication center for Clade I donkeys. Analysis of molecular variance confirmed a weak genetic structure in domestic donkey populations among four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa and South America). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To describe differences in the deep lateral orbital wall (specifically, trigone) between Chinese, Malay, Indian and Caucasian subjects Methods: Single-centre retrospective Computed Tomogram (CT)-based study; 20 subjects of each ethnicity were used from existing databases, matched for gender, average age and laterality. Subjects below 16 years of age were excluded. DICOM image viewing software CARESTREAM Vue PACS (Carestream Health Inc., USA) and OsiriX version 7.5 (Pixmeo., Switzerland) were used to measure deep lateral wall length, thickness and volume, as well as orbital depth and statistical analyses performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21 (IBM, USA). Results: In each group, there were 12 males (60%) and average age was not significantly different (p = 0.682–0.987). Using Chinese subjects as a reference, in Chinese, Malay, Indian and Caucasian subjects, mean trigone thickness was 13.68, 14.02, 11.60 (p < 0.001) and 13.80 mm, curved total wall length 45.23, 42.29 (p = 0.048), 41.91 (p = 0.020) and 45.00 mm, curved trigone length 23.03, 22.61, 17.19 (p = 0.011) and 18.76 mm (p = 0.030) and trigone volume 3120.97, 3221.01, 1613.66 (p < 0.001), 2498.46 mm3 (p = 0.059) respectively. Similarly, perpendicular orbital depth was 27.54, 24.97, 22.12 (p = 0.001) and 25.93 mm and diagonal orbital depth was 34.19, 33.27, 29.48 (p = 0.01) and 34.63 mm respectively. Conclusions: Indian and, to a lesser extent, Caucasian subjects have smaller trigones compared to their Chinese and Malay counterparts. Indian subjects also have shallower orbits and due care should be taken during decompression surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the diffusion theory, a gas–solid reaction model for gas hydrate formation from monosize ice powders was constructed and an effective diffusion coefficient through the gas hydrate shell was obtained by solving the diffusion equation. This model can be applied for a gas–solid reaction process with gas pressure drop during hydrate formation. Two cases termed as M1 and M2 were discussed and compared with each other. In the M1 case, the spherical particle geometry was assumed to be squeezed by adjacent particles. In the M2 case, the effect of adjacent particles on the object particle geometry was neglected. The results showed that the gas effective diffusion coefficient was a critical parameter for accurately simulating the reaction process, and it was found to vary during hydrate formation. In this model, the time-dependent gas effective diffusion coefficient was calculated by means of the measured gas pressure during hydrate formation, and the degrees of hydrate formation were obtained. In addition, the geometrical changes of the hydrate shell and ice powders were obtained during hydrate formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We outline a full-scale search for galaxies exhibiting double-peaked profiles of prominent narrow emission lines, motivated by the prospect of finding objects related to merging galaxies, and even dual active galactic nuclei candidates as by-product, from the Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) Data Release 4. We assemble a large sample of 325 candidates with double-peaked or strong asymmetric narrow emission lines, with 33 objects therein appearing optically resolved dual-cored structures, close companions, or signs of recent interaction on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey images. A candidate from LAMOST (J074810.95+281349.2) is also stressed here based on the kinematic and spatial decompositions of the double-peaked narrow emission line target, with analysis from the cross-referenced Mapping Nearby Galaxies at the Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey datacube. MaNGA enables us to constrain the origin of double peaks for these sources, and with the IFU data we infer that the most promising origin of double-peaked profiles for LAMOST J074810.95+281349.2 is the 'Rotation Dominated  + Disturbance' structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There remain great challenges in developing highly efficient electrocatalysts with both high activity and good stability for the ethanol oxidation reaction in alkaline media. Herein, two architectures of tri-metallic PdIrAu/C electrocatalysts are designed and the promoting effect of Au and Ir on Pd toward the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline media is investigated in detail. On the one hand, the tri-metallic Pd7Au7Ir/C electrocatalyst with a solid solution alloy architecture is less active relative to Pd7Ir/C and Pd/C while the stabilizing effect of Au leads to both a higher activity and a lower degradation percentage after 3000 cycles of the accelerated degradation test (ADT) on Pd7Au7Ir/C than those on Pd7Ir/C. On the other hand, the tri-metallic Pd7Ir@(1/3Au)/C electrocatalyst with a near surface alloy architecture delivers a much higher activity with an improvement up to 50.4% compared to Pd7Ir/C. It is speculated that for the tri-metallic Pd7Ir@(1/3Au)/C electrocatalyst, certain Au atoms are well designed on surfaces to introduce an electronic modification, thus leading to an anti-poisoning effect and improving the EOR activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents photoreflectance studies of poly 3-methyl thiophene as a function of doping level, temperature and light intensity. Spectral characteristics between the photodoped and electrodoped bipolaron; Analysis of electronic excitations in the polymers; Nature of the electromodulated spectra in the dry polymer in the absence of any external contact medium.

Measures the cyclotron resonance of two-dimensional electron gases on a modulation-doped field-effect transistor structure by the gate voltage ratio spectroscopy. Development of the epitaxy technology of semiconductors; Hamiltonian and level splitting for the resonant subband-Landau-level coupling (RSLC); Calculation of the subband and dipole matrix elements.

Presents a study which reported the photoluminescence studies of the strained CdTe/CdMnTe single quantum wells with large manganese of 0.367. Experimental procedures; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Provides information on a study that reported results of photothermal ionization spectroscopy for the shallow impurities in the InP layer grown by gas source molecular beam epitaxy. Methodology of the study; Results and discussion on the study; Conclusion.

Presents photoluminescence studies of InGaAs/InAlAs strained double quantum wells. Experimental details; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Presents a study that reported the dependence on the excitation power and temperature of the photoluminescence emission from a quaternary GaAlAsSb/AlGaAsSb strained multiple quantum wells. Details of the experiment; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Provides information on a study which detailed the observation of excitonic polariton and broadening of room-temperature exciton in strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum wells. Function of well width; Applications of the lattice-mismatched InGaAs/GaAs quantum well structures (QW); Features of room-temperature excitonic effects in QW; Advantage of the observation of sharp, well-resolved exciton peaks.

Deals with a study of the behavior of nitrogen and the formation of nitrogen-oxygen donors in nitrogen-doped Czochralski-silicon crystals by the electrical and infrared-absorption measurements in samples annealed in different conditions. Experimental details; Results and discussion.

Presents a study that examined the pressure coefficients of photoluminescence bands cadmium-manganese-tellurium (CdMnTe). Diagram of band structure and transitions for CdMnTe; Information on CdMnTe semimagnetic semiconductors.

Soft magnetic nanocomposites variants of FeCo-based (HTX002) alloys (Fe65Co35)81+xB12Nb4-xSi2Cu1, exhibiting high inductions (up to 1.9 T), low losses, and high temperature stability are studied for high frequency inductors and current sensors. For alloys with x=0, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3, we report field induced anisotropy, KU, after annealing at temperatures of 340-450 °C for 1 h in a 2 T transverse magnetic field. The anisotropy field, HK, measured by AC permeametry on toroidal cores, and by first order reversal curves on square sections of ribbon, decreases with annealing temperature and saturates at high annealing temperatures suggesting a nanostructure related anisotropy mechanism in which the amorphous phase exhibits a higher HK than the crystalline phase. A high saturation induction nanocrystalline phase and high HK amorphous phase were achieved by low temperature annealing resulting in a value of KU exceeding 14 ⨰103 erg/cm3, more than twice that reported previously for Fe-rich amorphous and nanocomposite alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the optical absorption and magneto-optical properties of quaternary Cd1-x-yMnxCoyTe crystals (x=0.37, 0≤y≤0.009) grown by the vertical Bridgman method. The presence of Co showed a significant enhancement of magneto-optical effects as compared to ternary Cd0.63Mn0.37Te system with the same Mn content. Four features were observed in magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra of these alloys, located near 1.37, 1.45, 1.82, and 2.13 eV. We present detailed temperature dependences of the position and intensity of these MCD features, and we discuss their possible origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present magnetotransport in a series of Ga1-xMnxAs (x∼0.014) films. Both ordinary and anomalous Hall resistivities are analyzed in high magnetic field (up to 18.0 T) at various temperatures. The unique scaling behavior n∼0.5 is found for the entire series, which is not compatible with existing scattering theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]