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Resonant tunneling (RT) originally refers to electron tunneling through the resonant states of double-barrier potentials with a series of sharply peaked transmission coefficients (close to unity) at certain energies. Electron RT can be used to design promising electronic devices such as RT diode. If the quantum well states are spin-dependent, the electron RT would exhibit spin-polarized or spin-selective properties, as observed in the double magnetic tunnel junctions with a thin intercalary ferromagnetic layer. As a result of the quantum wave–particle duality, RT can be further expanded to magnons—the quanta of spin waves, which opens up a new avenue of research—magnon RT. Because of the bosonic nature and macroscopic quantum coherence, the magnon RT may occur in a wide spectrum and temperature range (room temperature and above room temperature), while the electron RT typically occurs around the Fermi level and at low temperature or around room temperature. Here, we review the recent advances in RT physics of electron and magnon, and outline possible device implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional thinking of designing materials with low lattice thermal conductivity κL is usually associated with chemical and structural complexity. Here, we proposed a new strategy for establishing the interaction strength between the nested cation and the anionic framework as a control knob for tuning κL in two orders of magnitude in isostructural half-Heusler compounds. A synthesized cubic and light-weight 8-electron half-Heusler compound, namely, MgCuSb, exhibits glass-like thermal conductivity in both magnitude and temperature dependence that seems to contradict common understanding while common 18-electron counterparts are known for high κL. Our studies reveal that both the native strong anharmonicity induced by the tension effect of atomic filling and a low-energy shearing vibration mode triggered by weak Mg–Cu bonding are responsible for the unusual suppressed phonon conduction in MgCuSb. Finally, an analytic model is constructed by machine learning method to predict phonon conduction of both 8- and 18-electron half-Heusler compounds in a unified way, which demonstrates that the interaction between cations and anions is universal by means of adjusting the thermal conductivity of this material family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tunneling electroresistance (TER) ratio is an important device merit of ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) and multiferroic tunnel junction (MFTJ) devices. Here, through first-principles calculations, we propose an efficient way to achieve a sizable TER effect through the interface engineering in both SrRuO3/PbTiO3/FeO/Fe and SrRuO3/PbTiO3/CoO/Co MFTJs. It is found that the interfacial FeO or CoO layer can significantly modify the band alignment between PbTiO3 barrier and electrodes through its large depolarization field, causing the insulating–metallic transition of PbTiO3 barrier upon polarization reversal. As a result, the tunneling resistance changes significantly, leading to a giant TER effect of 105%. Our results suggest a practical way to enhance the TER effect in MFTJs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar-blind photodetectors based on wide bandgap semiconductors have attracted great interest recently. Perovskite rare-earth nickelates like RNiO3 are stable p-type semiconductors with adjustable physical properties. This paper reports a high-performance solar-blind photodetector made of PrxSm1−xNiO3/Nb:SrTiO3 heterojunctions utilizing a lateral photovoltaic effect. A high position sensitivity of up to 879.4 mV/mm and a fast relaxation time of 0.6 μs were observed with 266 nm laser irradiation under 3 Suns. The transverse diffusion model of photogenerated carriers can explain the lateral photovoltaic effect well. Furthermore, an optical communication system transmission was developed from the junction. The fast relaxation time and high position sensitivity make the rare-earth nickelates a promising candidate for a self-powered high-performance solar-blind detector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of lateral cervical region (LCR) lymphadenectomy as a preventative procedure for stage CN0 papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).Methods: From December 2019 to October 2021, 108 patients with CN0 stage PTC hospitalized to our general surgery department were recruited. After analysis, the clinical data of these patients were separated into two groups: 57 cases were in the Surgical + lymphatic dissection group and 51 instances were in the surgical group. Total thyroidectomy with central node dissection (TTCD) was carried out on the surgical group, whereas intraoperative ultrasound (IOUS) for prophylactic LCR lymph nodes dissection was carried out on the basis of TTCD in the Surgical + lymphatic dissection group. The postoperative complications, cervical lymph node metastases and recurrent reoperation were analyzed in both groups.Results: In the Surgical + lymphatic dissection group, the rate of lymph node metastasis (LNM) identified by IOUS in the LCR of PTC was 29.82% (17/57). In the central group with >2 lymph node metastases compared to the central group with < 2 lymph node metastases, the rate of LCR LNM was considerably greater (20% vs. 43%). Between the two groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of postoperative complications (P > 0.05). At the 1-year postoperative follow-up, the recurrence rate in the surgical group was 13.73%, whereas there was no recurrence in the Surgical + lymphatic dissection group.Conclusions: The recurrence/reoperation rate of PTC in individuals with stage CN0 can be decreased by IOUS guided prophylactic lymph node dissection in the LCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracking body and hand motions in 3D space is essential for social and self-presence in augmented and virtual environments. Unlike the popular 3D pose estimation setting, the problem is often formulated as egocentric tracking based on embodied perception (e.g., egocentric cameras, handheld sensors). In this article, we propose a new data-driven framework for egocentric body tracking, targeting challenges of omnipresent occlusions in optimization-based methods (e.g., inverse kinematics solvers). We first collect a large-scale motion capture dataset with both body and finger motions using optical markers and inertial sensors. This dataset focuses on social scenarios and captures ground truth poses under self-occlusions and body-hand interactions. We then simulate the occlusion patterns in head-mounted camera views on the captured ground truth using a ray casting algorithm and learn a deep neural network to infer the occluded body parts. Our experiments show that our method is able to generate high-fidelity embodied poses by applying the proposed method to the task of real-time egocentric body tracking, finger motion synthesis, and 3-point inverse kinematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality genetic maps play important roles in QTL mapping and molecular marker-assisted breeding. Tea leaves are not only important vegetative organs but are also the organ for harvest with important economic value. However, the key genes and genetic mechanism of regulating leaf area have not been clarified. In this study, we performed whole-genome resequencing on "Jinxuan," "Yuncha 1" and their 96 F1 hybrid offspring. From the 1.84 Tb of original sequencing data, abundant genetic variation loci were identified, including 28,144,625 SNPs and 2,780,380 indels. By integrating the markers of a previously reported genetic map, a high-density genetic map consisting of 15 linkage groups including 8,956 high-quality SNPs was constructed. The total length of the genetic map is 1,490.81 cM, which shows good collinearity with the genome. A total of 25 representative markers (potential QTLs) related to leaf area were identified, and there were genes differentially expressed in large and small leaf samples near these markers. GWAS analysis further verified the reliability of QTL mapping. Thirty-one pairs of newly developed indel markers located near these potential QTLs showed high polymorphism and had good discrimination between large and small leaf tea plant samples. Our research will provide necessary support and new insights for tea plant genetic breeding, quantitative trait mapping and yield improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secure downlink transmission in massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems has sparked great research enthusiasm. However, the secrecy of uplink transmission is equally important although relatively less attention has been dedicated to. In this paper, we show that a multi-antenna eavesdropper could potentially reduce the secrecy rate of legitimate communications severely through channel estimation in the training phase and coherent detection in the payload data transmission phase. To safeguard uplink transmission, an artificial noise (AN)-assisted scheme is proposed. Specifically, the optimization problem that aims to optimize the power allocation between AN and data symbols in the sense of maximizing the secrecy rate is formulated. We investigate optimal power allocation strategies for two distinct cases. That is, the base station and the eavesdropper know the channel state information to the users, and the opposite case. In each case, we further consider whether the accurate position of the eavesdropper is known to the users. Due to the complexity of the cost function, a closed-form solution is intractable. As a result, the bisection method is employed to obtain the numerical results. The impacts of the non-idealities, including the channel estimation error and the uncertainty of eavesdropper's position, on the power allocation strategy are discussed. Finally, extensive simulations are carried out to validate our proposed algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the independent risk factors for cervical lymph node metastasis (CLNM) in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and establish a prediction model via conventional ultrasound (US) and contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Methods: A total of 275 patients with single PTC, who were admitted to our hospital from January 2016 to December 2018, were enrolled in this study. The clinical characteristics and features of the tumor on conventional US and CEUS were retrospectively analyzed. A binary logistic regression model was established, and the diagnostic efficacy of conventional US and CEUS was compared. Results: The binary logistic regression analysis showed that age younger than 38 years, size of 10.0 mm or greater, solid composition, peak of the nodule interior of 28.3750 or greater, and area under the curve (AUC) of the peripheral ring of less than 3.2500 were independent risk factors of CLNM (P <.05, for all). Prediction model: Logit (p) = −4.135 + 1.040 (age) + 1.920 (size) + 1.769 (composition) + 1.230 (peak of nodule interior) + 0.812 (AUC of peripheral ring). The model positively predicted CLNM at a value of L > −0.199. The AUC, sensitivity, and negative predictive value of the receiver operating characteristic curve for the model were 0.727, 71.7%, and 75.2%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of conventional US (Z = −2.403; P =.016; Z = −5.330; P <.001; and Z = −2.390; P =.017). The specificity of the model was 73.7%, which was lower than that of conventional US (Z = 3.508; P <.001). Conclusions: The preoperative prediction model established via conventional US and CEUS may be helpful to evaluate CLNM in patients with PTC and determine the appropriate treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A photoanode fabricated with agglomerated zinc stannate nanoparticles was applied to dye sensitized solar cells (DSCs) based on cobalt complex mediators. The resultant devices yield an impressive power conversion efficiency of 8.1% under 100 mW cm−2 (AM1.5) light irradiation, which demonstrates the feasibility of use of zinc stannate photoanodes in iodine-free DSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capability of time‐shifting‐based phase difference method against noise can be considerably improved with the increase of the translation coefficient. However, the anti‐noise performance of the traditional method is limited due to the wrapped phase problem. In order to obtain high accuracy of estimate, this paper proposes an improved phase interpolation estimator which is derived in terms of the time‐shifting‐based phase difference method. First, the estimator utilizes three segments of signal in the time domain to build two sets of frequency estimate. Then the absolute difference of the frequency estimate between the two sets can be calculated. Subsequently, four frequency estimates with minimal absolute difference are selected. Finally, the one in four frequencies owning maximum energy is selected as the final frequency estimate. Simulation results show that the improved algorithm can overcome the wrapped phase problem to some extent and can achieve better noise immunity than traditional algorithms. © 2019 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autophagy, characterized by the elevator of autophagy-related gene 14 (ATG14) and the dysregulation of autophagy-related proteins, contributes to the cisplatin (DDP) resistance in ovarian cancer. Forkhead box protein P1 (FOXP1), which is a well-defined transcription factor, is reported to have the oncogenic effect on ovarian cancer. This study aims to identify the effect of miR-29c-3p/FOXP1/ATG14 pathway in regulating autophagy and DDP resistance in ovarian cancer. The expressions of miR-29c-3p, FOXP1, ATG14 and autophagy-related proteins were detected in DDP-sensitive ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV3 and A2780) and DDP-resistant cell lines (SKOV3/DDP and A2780/DDP). Cell viability was detected using the MTT assay. The therapeutic effect of miR-29c-3p overexpression was observed in the xenograft model of nude mice.Compared with DDP-sensitive cells, miR-29c-3p was decreased in DDP-resistant cells, and an enhancement of FOXP1, ATG14, autophagy, and drug resistance was shown in DDP-resistant cells. The anti-resistant effect of miR-29c-3p was observed as overexpressing miR-29c-3p inhibited cell viability of DDP-resistant cells. Moreover, FOXP1 was a target of miR-29c-3p, which was confirmed by the luciferase reporter assay, and ATG14 was transactivated by FOXP1, which was confirmed by the ChIP assay. Overexpression of miR-29c-3p increased DDP sensitivity by downregulating FOXP1/ATG14 in vitro. The tumor volume was reduced after the injection of miR-29c-3p-overexpressing SKOV3/DDP cells in vivo. Overexpression of miR-29c-3p inhibited autophagy and DDP resistance partly via downregulating FOXP1/ATG14 pathway, suggesting miR-29c-3p as a novel target in overcoming DDP resistance in ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the characteristics of breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) on real‐time grayscale contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging and the diagnostic value of CEUS in DCIS. Methods: A total of 127 histopathologically confirmed DCIS lesions and 124 fibroadenomas (FAs; controls) were subjected to conventional ultrasound and CEUS. Next, the CEUS findings of DCIS and FA lesions, including morphologic features and quantitative parameters, were analyzed. Results: Binary logistic regression was used to identify the independent risk factors from DCIS and FA lesions detected by CEUS. Contrast‐enhanced ultrasound revealed significant differences between DCIS and FA. The wash‐in time, enhancement mode, enhancement intensity, blood perfusion defects, peripheral high enhancement, enhancement scope, intratumoral vessels and their courses and dilatation degree, and penetrating vessels on CEUS were identified as features correlated with DCIS (P <.05). Moreover, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was developed, and the area under receiver operating characteristic curve of each index was generated, including the wash‐in time, enhancement intensity, blood perfusion defects, enhancement scope, penetrating vessels, arrival time, and peak intensity (P <.05; area under the curve, >0.6). Conclusions: The contrast‐enhancement patterns and DCIS parameters appeared different from FA lesions, thus suggesting that CEUS can be very useful in distinguishing DCIS from FA lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: State-of-the-art techniques for surgical data analysis report promising results for automated skill assessment and action recognition. The contributions of many of these techniques, however, are limited to study-specific data and validation metrics, making assessment of progress across the field extremely challenging. Methods: In this paper, we address two major problems for surgical data analysis: First, lack of uniform-shared datasets and benchmarks, and second, lack of consistent validation processes. We address the former by presenting the JHU-ISI Gesture and Skill Assessment Working Set (JIGSAWS), a public dataset that we have created to support comparative research benchmarking. JIGSAWS contains synchronized video and kinematic data from multiple performances of robotic surgical tasks by operators of varying skill. We address the latter by presenting a well-documented evaluation methodology and reporting results for six techniques for automated segmentation and classification of time-series data on JIGSAWS. These techniques comprise four temporal approaches for joint segmentation and classification: hidden Markov model, sparse hidden Markov model (HMM), Markov semi-Markov conditional random field, and skip-chain conditional random field; and two feature-based ones that aim to classify fixed segments: bag of spatiotemporal features and linear dynamical systems. Results: Most methods recognize gesture activities with approximately 80% overall accuracy under both leave-one-super-trial-out and leave-one-user-out cross-validation settings. Conclusion: Current methods show promising results on this shared dataset, but room for significant progress remains, particularly for consistent prediction of gesture activities across different surgeons. Significance: The results reported in this paper provide the first systematic and uniform evaluation of surgical activity recognition techniques on the benchmark database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Surgical tasks are performed in a sequence of steps, and technical skill evaluation includes assessing task flow efficiency. Our objective was to describe differences in task flow for expert and novice surgeons for a basic surgical task. Methods: We used a hierarchical semantic vocabulary to decompose and annotate maneuvers and gestures for 135 instances of a surgeon’s knot performed by 18 surgeons. We compared counts of maneuvers and gestures, and analyzed task flow by skill level. Results: Experts used fewer gestures to perform the task (26.29; 95% CI = 25.21 to 27.38 for experts vs. 31.30; 95% CI = 29.05 to 33.55 for novices) and made fewer errors in gestures than novices (1.00; 95% CI = 0.61 to 1.39 vs. 2.84; 95% CI = 2.3 to 3.37). Transitions among maneuvers, and among gestures within each maneuver for expert trials were more predictable than novice trials. Conclusions: Activity segments and state flow transitions within a basic surgical task differ by surgical skill level, and can be used to provide targeted feedback to surgical trainees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a system for real-time hand-tracking to drive virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) experiences. Using four fisheye monochrome cameras, our system generates accurate and low-jitter 3D hand motion across a large working volume for a diverse set of users. We achieve this by proposing neural network architectures for detecting hands and estimating hand keypoint locations. Our hand detection network robustly handles a variety of real world environments. The keypoint estimation network leverages tracking history to produce spatially and temporally consistent poses. We design scalable, semi-automated mechanisms to collect a large and diverse set of ground truth data using a combination of manual annotation and automated tracking. Additionally, we introduce a detection-by-tracking method that increases smoothness while reducing the computational cost; the optimized system runs at 60Hz on PC and 30Hz on a mobile processor. Together, these contributions yield a practical system for capturing a user's hands and is the default feature on the Oculus Quest VR headset powering input and social presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The longitudinal nonreciprocal charge transport (NCT) in crystalline materials is a highly nontrivial phenomenon, motivating the design of next generation two-terminal rectification devices (e.g., semiconductor diodes beyond PN junctions). The practical application of such devices is built upon crystalline materials whose longitudinal NCT occurs at room temperature and under low magnetic field. However, materials of this type are rather rare and elusive, and theory guiding the discovery of these materials is lacking. Here, we develop such a theory within the framework of semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory. By symmetry analysis, we classify the complete 122 magnetic point groups with respect to the longitudinal NCT phenomenon. The symmetry-adapted Hamiltonian analysis further uncovers a previously overlooked mechanism for this phenomenon. Our theory guides the first-principles prediction of longitudinal NCT in multiferroic ϵ-Fe&#95;{2}O&#95;{3} semiconductor that possibly occurs at room temperature, without the application of external magnetic field. These findings advance our fundamental understandings of longitudinal NCT in crystalline materials, and aid the corresponding materials discoveries.

Solar-blind photodetectors based on wide bandgap semiconductors have recently attracted a lot of interest. Nickel-containing spinel phase oxides, such as NiAl 2 O 4 , are stable p-type semiconductors. This paper describes a multifunctional solar-blind photodetector based on a NiAl 2 O 4 /4H-SiC heterojunction that utilizes photovoltaic effects. The position sensitivity reaches a value of 1589.7 mV/mm under 405 nm laser illumination, while the relaxation times of vertical photovoltaic (VPV) effect and lateral photovoltaic (LPV) effect under 266 nm laser illumination are only 0.32 and 0.42 μs, respectively. This junction was used to create a space optical communication system with sunlight having little effect on its optoelectronic properties. The ultrafast photovoltaic relaxation time makes NiAl 2 O 4 /4H-SiC a promising candidate for self-powered high-performance solar-blind detectors.

Background: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common endocrine malignancy. Skip metastases of PTCs are easily misdiagnosed before surgery, and it could lead to re-operation and affect the prognosis. Although there are a few studies about nomograms for predicting central lymph node metastases (CLNM) or lateral lymph node metastases (LLNM) of PTCs, there are few studies about nomograms for skip metastases. Based on the clinical and ultrasonographic characteristics of patients with PTCs, the aim of our study was to investigate the risk factors and establish a nomogram for predicting the risk of skip metastases in PTCs., Methods: This study enrolled 218 PTCs patients with lateral cervical lymph node metastases and their data were analyzed retrospectively. According to the postoperative pathological results, the patients were divided into skip-positive group and skip-negative group. In order to establish the nomogram, univariate and multivariate analyses were used to estimate risk factors of skip metastases. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, internal calibration plot and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate the nomogram model's efficacy., Results: There were statistical differences between skip-positive group and skip-negative group in tumor location, the maximum diameter (D) and capsule invasion (P<0.05). No statistical differences were observed in sex, age, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, multifocality, anteroposterior diameter/transverse diameter (A/T) ratio, shape, margin, microcalcification, intra-nodular vascularity and preoperative serum thyroglobulin (Tg) (P≥0.05). The risk factors of skip metastases in PTCs were D ≤10 mm, location in the upper portion and capsule invasion. The area under the curve (AUC) of nomogram was 0.877, the accuracy was 85.32%, the sensitivity was 60.98%, and the specificity was 90.96%. The calibration curve and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test showed that the consistency between the nomogram and the actual observation was good. The DCA showed that most PTC patients might benefit from the predictive nomogram model., Conclusions: A nomogram for predicting skip metastases in PTCs may be useful in clinical diagnosis and treatment., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://gs.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/gs-23-376/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Gland Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: It is well-known that different populations and animals, even experimental animals with the same rearing conditions, differ in their susceptibility to obesity. The disparity in gut microbiota could potentially account for the variation in susceptibility to obesity. However, the precise impact of gut microbiota on gut metabolites and its subsequent influence on susceptibility to obesity remains uncertain., Methods: In this study, we established obesity-prone (OP) and obesity-resistant (OR) mouse models by High Fat Diet (HFD). Fecal contents of cecum were examined using 16S rDNA sequencing and untargeted metabolomics. Correlation analysis and MIMOSA2 analysis were used to explore the association between gut microbiota and intestinal metabolites., Results: After a HFD, gut microbiota and gut metabolic profiles were significantly different between OP and OR mice. Gut microbiota after a HFD may lead to changes in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a variety of branched fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (FAHFAs) and a variety of phospholipids to promote obesity. The bacteria g&#95;Akkermansia (Greengene ID: 175696) may contribute to the difference in obesity susceptibility through the synthesis of glycerophosphoryl diester phosphodiesterase (glpQ) to promote choline production and the synthesis of valyl-tRNA synthetase (VARS) which promotes L-Valine degradation. In addition, gut microbiota may affect obesity and obesity susceptibility through histidine metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism and protein digestion and absorption pathways., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wen, Luo, Qiu, Chen, Huang, Lv, Wang, Li, Tao, Yang, Li, He, He, Yang, Yu, Xiao, Zhao, Zou, Lu and Gu.)

Objective: To explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of qualitative and quantitative parameters for differentiating differentiated thyroid cancers from benign nodules., Method: A total of 290 thyroid nodules that were pathologically confirmed were enrolled in this study. The univariate analysis was performed for the clinical characteristics and CEUS qualitative and quantitative parameters of the inside and peripheral zone of nodules, including age, gender, nodule size, intensity of enhancement, homogeneity, wash-in and wash-out patterns, margin after CEUS, ring enhancement, peak intensity, sharpness, time to peak(TP), and area under the curve(AUC), and the meaningful indicators in the single-factor analysis were further included in multivariate logistic regression analysis., Results: Multivariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in age (p=0.031), nodule size (p<0.001), heterogeneous enhancement (p<0.001), hypo-enhancement (p=0.001), unclear margin after CEUS(p=0.007), inside peak (p<0.001), and outside sharpness(p<0.001) between benign and malignant nodules. However, there were no significant differences in gender, ring enhancement, wash-in, wash-out, outside TP, outside AUC between benign and malignant thyroid nodules (P>0.05, for all)., Conclusion: CEUS might be useful in the differential diagnosis of differentiated thyroid cancers and benign nodules, which could provide a certain basis for clinical treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Fan, Tao, Zhan, Li, Kuang, Zhao and Zhou.)

CsPbBr 3 , an inorganic halide perovskite, has attracted great interest in recent years due to its excellent photoelectric properties. In this paper, we report a high-performance position-sensitive detector and laser communication sensor based on a CsPbBr 3 /4H-SiC heterojunction that effectively exploits the lateral photovoltaic (LPV) effect. The X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectra, and photoluminescence data indicate that a high-quality CsPbBr 3 film has been successfully obtained using pulsed laser deposition. The thickness of the CsPbBr 3 film is shown to play a key role in the open-circuit voltage and linear LPV. A large position sensitivity (up to 827 mV/mm) of the LPV with a fast relaxation time is observed. Moreover, the shortest relaxation time of only 0.34 μs for 532 nm laser irradiation among counterparts is achieved in the detector under consideration. Furthermore, the position sensitivity and relaxation time of the LPV in the CsPbBr 3 /4H-SiC heterojunction show a weak dependence on the laser wavelength from 266 to 532 nm. The robust characteristics of fast relaxation time and high position sensitivity of the LPV make the CsPbBr 3 junction a promising candidate for both laser communication sensors and self-powered high-performance position-sensitive detectors.

Objective: To explore the effect of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) on patients with heart failure and further explore the impact of IMT on patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction., Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang and VIP databases were systematically searched. Randomized controlled trials of inspiratory muscle training in patients with heart failure were included. Revman 5.3 software was used to calculate the weighted mean difference (MD) of the combined effect size. The effects of IMT on the maximum oxygen uptake (peakVO2), maximum inspiratory pressure ( PI max ), ventilation efficiency ( V E / VCO 2 ), six-minute walking distance (6MWD), forced expiratory volume (FEV 1 ), forced vital capacity (FVC) and quality of life in patients with heart failure were compared and analyzed., Results: After systematic retrieval and screening, 17 studies were included in this study, and the quality of the included studies was good. The results showed that IMT could increase peakVO2 (MD 2.53; 95% CI 1. 54, 3. 51; P < 0.0001) and PI max (MD 17.25; 95% CI 13. 75, 20. 75; P < 0.00001); improve the V E /VCO 2 (MD -4.22; 95% CI -6.78, -1.66; P = 0.001) and significantly improve the quality of life in patients with heart failure (MD -13.34; 95% CI -20.42, -6.26; P = 0.0002). However, the effect of IMT on 6MWD in patients with heart failure was not statistically significant (MD 74.45; 95% CI -12.88,161.79; P = 0.09), and the effect on lung function (FEV 1 and FVC) was also not statistically significant ( P = 0.08; P = 0.86). IMT had a more significant positive effect on peakVO2 (MD 2.98; 95% CI 1.63, 4.34; P < 0.0001) and quality of life (MD -14.52; 95% CI -18.53, -10.52; P < 0.00001) in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Descriptive analysis suggested that IMT may positively affect dyspnoea in patients with heart failure. In addition, the choice of evaluation scale may affect the evaluation results of quality of life and dyspnoea., Conclusion: IMT has a significant positive effect on respiratory status in patients with heart failure, but different dyspnoea and quality of life evaluation scales can affect the final evaluation results., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Li, Tao, Huang, Li and Zhao.)

This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the features of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of renal masses that cannot be detected by conventional ultrasound (CUS). The data of 264 patients who underwent CEUS for renal lesions from January 2016 to December 2019 were retrieved. Of these, 16 patients with renal masses which were not detected by CUS were included in the final analysis. The corresponding characteristics of CEUS were evaluated, including intensity of enhancement, homogeneity, wash-in and wash-out patterns, and perilesional rim-like enhancement. Of the 16 patients, 10 patients had clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and 6 patients had urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis (UCRP). Compared with the location on non-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan, all tumors were detected on CEUS. Most (7/10) of the ccRCCs appeared as hyperenhancement, homogeneous enhancement, synchronous-in, and no perilesional rim-like enhancement. Most (4/6) of the UCRPs appeared as isoenhancement, slow-in, fast-out, and no perilesional rim-like enhancement. CEUS may be helpful in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of renal tumors which were not observed on CUS, and it might be an alternative method for some patients when contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cannot be performed., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Tao, Fan, Zhan, Li, Lu, Yang, Ma and Zhou.)

Composite multiferroics containing ferroelectric and ferromagnetic components often have much larger magnetoelectric coupling compared to their single-phase counterparts. Doped or alloyed HfO 2 -based ferroelectrics may serve as a promising component in composite multiferroic structures potentially feasible for technological applications. Recently, a strong charge-mediated magnetoelectric coupling at the Ni/HfO 2 interface has been predicted using density functional theory calculations. Here, we report on the experimental evidence of such magnetoelectric coupling at the Ni/Hf 0.5 Zr 0.5 O 2 (HZO) interface. Using a combination of operando XAS/XMCD and HAXPES/MCDAD techniques, we probe element-selectively the local magnetic properties at the Ni/HZO interface in functional Au/Co/Ni/HZO/W capacitors and demonstrate clear evidence of the ferroelectric polarization effect on the magnetic response of a nanometer-thick Ni marker layer. The observed magnetoelectric effect and the electronic band lineup of the Ni/HZO interface are interpreted based on the results of our theoretical modeling. It elucidates the critical role of an ultrathin NiO interlayer, which controls the sign of the magnetoelectric effect as well as provides a realistic band offset at the Ni/HZO interface, in agreement with the experiment. Our results hold promise for the use of ferroelectric HfO 2 -based composite multiferroics for the design of multifunctional devices compatible with modern semiconductor technology.