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It is of great significance to analyze the configuration of programs funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China using funding data in the field of preventive medicine from 2007 to 2021. The analysis mainly focused on the funding status of the program, funding amount, funded institutions and personnel. A total of 5 349 programs in the discipline of preventive medicine were funded over the last 15 years. The funding amount in this discipline accounted for a relatively low proportion in the total funding amount of the Department of Medical Sciences and this proportion also showed a decreasing trend. Non-infectious disease epidemiology, human nutrition, and health toxicology were the top three subdisciplines of all funded programs in preventive medicine. The proportion of programs led by young scholars was gradually rising over the years, and young scholars were playing an increasingly influential role in scientific research. The funding status among each subdiscipline and institution also varied. The results of this study reflected the thriving of preventive medicine. Meanwhile, some problems and dilemmas were also revealed in its current development. Hopefully, this study could provide valuable information for institutions and preventive medicine researchers to apply for National Natural Science Foundation, and promote the long-term development of preventive medicine in the future.分析国家自然科学基金预防医学领域各类型项目的资助情况具有重要意义。本研究汇总2007—2021年国家自然科学基金预防医学领域各类型项目的资助数据，主要针对各类型项目立项数、资助金额、受资助依托单位情况以及受资助人员情况等进行系统分析。15年间预防医学学科共计资助各类型项目5 349项，资助金额占医学科学部资助总金额比例较低，且有占比下降的趋势。非传染病流行病学、人类营养和卫生毒理是获得资助项目数排前3位的分支学科。青年科研人员近年来主持的项目占比逐渐增加，在科学研究中发挥的作用越来越大。各分支学科、各申报单位的情况也有较大差别。以上结果反映出预防医学学科目前的蓬勃发展态势，同时也暴露出当前预防医学学科基础研究中存在的问题，可为各研究单位、预防医学科技工作者未来申报国家自然科学基金项目提供参考，促进预防医学学科的长远发展。.

COVID-19 has brought a significant impact to the global health system, and also opportunities and challenges to epidemiological researches. Theoretical epidemiological models can simulate the process of epidemic in scenarios under different conditions. Therefore, modeling researches can analyze the epidemical trend of COVID-19, predict epidemical risks, and evaluate effects of different control measures and vaccine policies. Theoretical epidemiological modeling researches provide scientific advice for the prevention and control of infectious diseases, and play a crucial role in containing COVID-19 over the past year. In this study, we review the theoretical epidemiological modeling researches on COVID-19 and summarize the role of theoretical epidemiological models in the prevention and control of COVID-19, in order to provide reference for the combination of mathematical modeling and epidemic control.新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情的暴发给全球卫生体系带来巨大冲击，也为科学研究带来了机遇与挑战。理论流行病学模型可通过数学手段定量模拟不同情境和干预下的疫情发展动态，研究分析疫情流行趋势，并评估各类防控措施与疫苗策略的效果。理论流行病学模型研究为疫情防控提供科学理论依据，在这一年多的疫情防控中发挥了巨大作用。本研究对国内外针对新冠疫情开展的理论流行病学模型研究工作进行综述，总结理论流行病学模型在疫情防控应用方面的研究进展，为理论建模与疫情防控相结合提供参考。.

COVID-19 is a public health emergency currently. In this study, a scale-free network model is established based on the Spring Migration data in 2020.The cities is clustered into three different modules. The epidemic of the cities in the black module was the most serious, followed by the red and the cyan. The black module contains 9 cities in Zhejiang province and 8 cities in Guangdong province, most of them located in the southeast coastal economic belt. These cities should be the key cities for epidemic prevention and control.新型冠状病毒肺炎是当下重要的公共卫生问题。本文利用2020年农历春节前15天各城市流动人口数据建立无尺度网络模型，动态剪切树算法实现城市聚类，得到黑色、红色和青色三大城市模块。黑色模块内城市疫情最为严重，红色其次，青色最轻。黑色模块包含浙江省9座城市，广东省8座城市，且绝大部分位于东南沿海经济带，应作为疫情防控的重点城市。.

Shortcomings have been inherited in the traditional influenza early warning system, often expressed through the scope, accuracy on prediction and real-time performance of the monitor related programs. With the new round of scientific and technological revolution and the increasingly maturity of modern information system, related technology on influenza early warning has become the focus of research in this field, based on big data analysis technology. Using the traditional influenza surveillance and early warning system as reference, this paper summarizes the progress of influenza early warning research, based on the Internet, influencing factors, time and space trends, and risk assessment传统流感预警体系在监测范围、预测准确性和实时性等方面仍存在不足。随着新一轮科技革命的兴起，现代信息技术日趋成熟，以大数据分析为基础的流感预警技术已经成为研究焦点。本文以传统流感监测预警体系作为参照，从互联网、影响因素、时空趋势、风险评估4个角度总结基于大数据的流感预警研究进展，综述大数据在流感预警中的优势、不足及未来发展的趋势。.

Since the implementation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), it has achieved remarkable results in the field of HIV/AIDS treatment. However, when the treatment is applied to the population-level, the actual impact of ART on the HIV epidemic becomes a hot topic in the field. This paper will summarize the research on ART and HIV epidemic in recent years, and discuss the impact of ART on the trend of HIV epidemic, so as to provide scientific support and suggestions for the role of treatment is prevention.抗病毒治疗（ART）自实施以来，在HIV/AIDS治疗领域成效显著。然而，当治疗投入到人群水平时，ART对HIV疫情产生何种实际影响成为领域内新的热点话题。本文总结近年来有关ART和HIV疫情的研究，探讨ART所带来的HIV疫情趋势影响，旨在充分发挥其"治疗即预防"的作用。.

Since December 2019, the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan has spread rapidly due to population movement during the Spring Festival holidays. Since January 23rd, 2020, the strategies of containment and contact tracing followed by quarantine and isolation has been implemented extensively in mainland China, and the rates of detection and confirmation have been continuously increased, which have effectively suppressed the rapid spread of the epidemic. In the early stage of the outbreak of COVID-19, it is of great practical significance to analyze the transmission risk of the epidemic and evaluate the effectiveness and timeliness of prevention and control strategies by using mathematical models and combining with a small amount of real-time updated multi-source data. On the basis of our previous research, we systematically introduce how to establish the transmission dynamic models in line with current Chinese prevention and control strategies step by step, according to the different epidemic stages and the improvement of the data. By summarized our modelling and assessing ideas, the model formulations vary from autonomous to non-autonomous dynamic systems, the risk assessment index changes from the basic regeneration number to the effective regeneration number, and the epidemic development and assessment evolve from the early SEIHR transmission model-based dynamics to the recent dynamics which are mainly associated with the variation of the isolated and suspected population sizes.自2019年12月以来，武汉暴发的COVID-19疫情由于春节人口流动快速蔓延，自2020年1月23日起全国大范围实施围堵缓疫策略，并不断提高检测和检出率，有效地抑制了疫情快速蔓延的趋势。在COVID-19爆发的早期，如何利用数学模型并结合少量和实时更新的多源数据，对疫情进行风险分析，评估防控策略的有效性和时效性等具有非常重要的现实意义。本研究将结合前期研究基础，系统介绍如何依据疫情发展的不同阶段和数据的完善，逐步建立符合我国防控策略的COVID-19传播动力学模型，给出模型由自治到非自治，风险评估指标由基本再生数到有效再生数，疫情发展与评估由早期的SEIHR传播动力学决定到最终取决于隔离人群和疑似人群规模的演变等的重要研究思路。.

We report development and microwave characterization of rf SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) qubits, consisting of an aluminium-based Josephson junction embedded in a superconducting loop patterned from a thin film of TiN with high kinetic inductance. Here we demonstrate that the systems can offer small physical size, high anharmonicity, and small scatter of device parameters. The hybrid devices can be utilized as tools to shed further light onto the origin of film dissipation and decoherence in phase-slip nanowire qubits, patterned entirely from disordered superconducting films., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We experimentally study a circuit quantum acoustodynamics system, which consists of a superconducting artificial atom, coupled to both a two-dimensional surface acoustic wave resonator and a one-dimensional microwave transmission line. The strong coupling between the artificial atom and the acoustic wave resonator is confirmed by the observation of the vacuum Rabi splitting at the base temperature of dilution refrigerator. We show that the propagation of microwave photons in the microwave transmission line can be controlled by a few phonons in the acoustic wave resonator. Furthermore, we demonstrate the temperature effect on the measurements of the Rabi splitting and temperature induced transitions from high excited dressed states. We find that the spectrum structure of two-peak for the Rabi splitting becomes into those of several peaks, and gradually disappears with the increase of the environmental temperature $T$. The quantum-to-classical transition is observed around the crossover temperature $T_{c}$, which is determined via the thermal fluctuation energy $k_{B}T$ and the characteristic energy level spacing of the coupled system. Experimental results agree well with the theoretical simulations via the master equation of the coupled system at different effective temperatures., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures

To identify the clinical and pathological predictors of central lymph node metastasis (CLNM) in patients with clinically lymph node-negative papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC).Data pertaining to 541 clinically lymph node-negative PTMC patients who underwent thyroid surgery at the Shanghai General Hospital between January 2010 and December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. According to histopathological evidence of central lymph node involvement, patients were divided into central lymph node metastasis (CLNM)-positive and CLNM-negative groups; risk factors for CLNM were identified statistically.LNM was found in 148 (27.4%) patients. Gender (P = 0.002), age (P 0.001), tumor size (P 0.001), multifocality (P 0.001), and extrathyroidal extension (P 0.001) were significantly different between CLNM-positive and CLNM-negative groups. On multivariate analyses, male sex (odds ratio [OR] = 2.656), age45 years (OR = 4.184), tumor size0.575 cm (OR = 2.105), gross extrathyroidal extension (OR = 14.605) and multifocality (OR = 2.084) were independent risk factors for CLNM. Among patients who did not have any of these five risk factors, only 3.9% were found to have CLNM.A relatively high prevalence of CLNM was observed in patients with clinically lymph node-negative PTMC. CLNM was associated with male sex, younger age, larger tumor size, extrathyroidal extension and multifocal PTMC.

Single-photon sources of high efficiency are of great interest because they are the key elements in many prospective quantum technologies and applications. Based on our previous work, here we demonstrate a high-quality tunable microwave single-photon source based on transmon qubit with intrinsic emission efficiency more than 99%. To further confirm the single-photon property of the source, we study the single-photon interference in a Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) type setup and measure the correlation functions of the emission field using linear detectors with GPU-enhanced signal processing technique. The antibunching in second-order correlation function is clearly observed. The theoretical calculations agree well with the experimental results. Such a high-quality single-photon source may be used as a building block for quantum communication, simulation and information processing in microwave regime.

Exploring the properties and applications of topological quantum states is essential to better understand topological matter. Here, we theoretically study a quasi-one-dimensional topological atom array. In the low-energy regime, the atom array is equivalent to a topological superatom. Driving the superatom in a cavity, we study the interaction between light and topological quantum states. We find that the edge states exhibit topology-protected quantum coherence, which can be characterized from the photon transmission. This quantum coherence helps us to find a superradiance-subradiance transition, and we also study its finite-size scaling behavior. The superradiance-subradiance transition also exists in symmetry-breaking systems. More importantly, it is shown that the quantum coherence of the subradiant edge state is robust to random noises, allowing the superatom to work as a topologically protected quantum memory. We suggest a relevant experiment with three-dimensional circuit QED. Our study may have applications in quantum computation and quantum optics based on topological edge states.

Single-photon sources are of great interest because they are key elements in different promising applications of quantum technologies. Here we demonstrate a highly efficient tunable on-demand microwave single-photon source based on a transmon qubit with the intrinsic emission efficiency above 98$\%$. The high efficiency ensures a negligible pure dephasing rate and the necessary condition for generation of indistinguishable photons. We provide an extended discussion and analysis of the efficiency of the photon generation. To further experimentally confirm the single-photon property of the source, correlation functions of the emission field are also measured using linear detectors with a GPU-enhanced signal processing technique. Our results experimentally demonstrate that frequency tunability and negligible pure dephasing rate can be achieved simultaneously and show that such a tunable single-photon source can be good for various practical applications in quantum communication, simulations and information processing in the microwave regime., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

A bacterial consortium, constructed from the oil contaminated soil, mainly consisting of Pseudomonas sp., together with fertilizing, rice husk application, and plowing, was used for the field in situ bioremediation of oil contaminated site in Jianghan Oil field, where the temperature and humidity are very suitable for bioremediation. The variation of total petroleum hydrocarbon, n-alkanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the bioremediation process showed that more than 95% petroleum hydrocarbons could be efficiently removed. The composition analysis results demonstrated that n-alkanes with long carbon chain and PAHs with 5–6 rings were also degraded in the bioremediation process.

We experimentally study a vacuum-induced Autler-Townes doublet in a superconducting three-level artificial atom strongly coupled to a coplanar waveguide resonator and simultaneously to a transmission line. The Autler-Townes splitting is observed in the reflection spectrum from the three-level atom in a transition between the ground state and the second excited state when the transition between the two excited states is resonant with a resonator. By applying a driving field to the resonator, we observe a change in the regime of the Autler-Townes splitting from quantum (vacuum-induced) to classical (with many resonator photons). Furthermore, we show that the reflection of propagating microwaves in a transmission line could be controlled by different frequency single photons in a resonator., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures+supplementary materials

Aim Studies with metformin suggest a favourable change in β-cell function over sulphonylureas in the early course of obese type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but it remains unclear whether a similar effect is observed in non-obese individuals. Here we investigated the effects of metformin or glipizide gastrointestinal therapeutics system extended-release formulation (GITS) on β-cell function in non-obese patients with newly diagnosed T2DM. Methods A total of 160 newly diagnosed patients with fasting glucose 7.0–13.0 mmol/L and body mass index

An on-demand single-photon source is a key element in a series of prospective quantum technologies and applications. Here we demonstrate the operation of a tuneable on-demand microwave photon source based on a fully controllable superconducting artificial atom strongly coupled to an open-ended transmission line. The atom emits a photon upon excitation by a short microwave π-pulse applied through a control line. The intrinsically limited device efficiency is estimated to be in the range 65–80% in a wide frequency range from 7.75 to 10.5 GHz continuously tuned by an external magnetic field. The actual demonstrated efficiency is also affected by the excited state preparation, which is about 90% in our experiments. The single-photon generation from the single-photon source is additionally confirmed by anti-bunching in the second-order correlation function. The source may have important applications in quantum communication, quantum information processing and sensing., Microwave single photon sources are important for quantum applications, but their design often incorporates a resonator that fixes the frequency of the emitted photon. Here, the authors demonstrate a tuneable on-demand photon source based on an artificial atom asymmetrically coupled to two transmission lines.

To investigate the infection status of HCV in remunerated blood donors and risk factors in Jiangsu province.A Cross-sectional study was conducted among people aged50 years. Questionnaires were used to collect the information about their demographic characteristics and risk behaviors, and venous blood samples were collected from them to detect HCV anti-body, HCV-RNA and other biochemical indicators. EpiData and Stata were used for data entry and statistical analysis.The overall HCV sero-prevalence rates were 22.55% and 61.05% among remunerated blood donors. Data from multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that alanine aminotransferase(ALT)(adjusted OR=1.38, 95%CI: 1.18-1.62)and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)(adjusted OR=1.30, 95%CI: 1.10-1.54)were associated with the outcomes of HCV infection, and fasting plasma glucose(adjusted OR=1.17, 95%CI: 1.01-1.35)were associated with HCV RNA viral loads.The prevalence of HCV infection in remunerated blood donors was high, clinical ALT, AST and fasting plasma glucose levels were associated with the risk for HCV infection and HCV RNA viral load.

We demonstrate coherent dynamics of quantized magnetic fluxes in a superconducting loop with a weak link - a nanobridge patterned from the same thin NbN film as the loop. The bridge is a short rounded shape constriction, close to 10 nm long and 20 - 30 nm wide, having minimal width at its center. Quantum state control and coherent oscillations in the driven time evolution of the tunnel-junctionless system are achieved. Decoherence and energy relaxation in the system are studied using a combination of microwave spectroscopy and direct time-domain techniques. The effective flux noise behavior suggests inductance fluctuations as a possible cause of the decoherence., 5 pages, 3 figures

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) catalyzes the first reaction in phenylpropanoid pathway leading to the production of phenolic compounds with a wide range of biological functions. The cDNA encoding PAL was isolated from Phyllostachys edulis by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and by 5' and 3' rapid amplification of cDNA ends, and was designated as PePAL. The full length of PePAL was 2,503 bp which contained an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a peptide of 701 amino acids, with a theoretic isoelectric point of 6.49 and a calculated molecular mass of 75.7 kDa. PePAL was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and the recombinant proteins exhibited both PAL and tyrosine ammonia-lyase (TAL) activities. The optimum temperature and pH of the recombinant PePAL were 50 °C and 8.5-9.0, respectively. The K (m) and V (max) values for L-phenylalanine was calculated as 422 μM and 45.9 nM s⁻¹, while for L-tyrosine were 78 μM and 7.09 nM s⁻¹, respectively. Tissue-specific expression assay showed that PePAL expressed highest in stem and sheath, followed by leaf, and lowest in root. Though the accumulation of PePAL proteins was observed in all these four organs by Western blotting, the highest was detected in leaf. Immunohistochemistry study showed that PePAL was localized primarily in vascular bundles and part of sclerenchyma cells of leaf, sheath and root. These results suggested that PePAL had similar expression pattern and biochemical properties with PALs in other plants, which laid the basis for molecular engineering to improve the quality of bamboo products.PePAL was a protein with bifunctional enzyme activities of PAL and TAL as shown in vitro assays, and localized primarily in bamboo vascular bundles.

The major light-harvesting chlorophyll (Chl) a/b complexes of photosystem II (LHCIIb) play important roles in energy balance of thylakoid membrane. They harvest solar energy, transfer the energy to the reaction center under normal light condition and dissipate excess excitation energy under strong light condition. Many bamboo species could grow very fast even under extremely changing light conditions. In order to explain whether LHCIIb in bamboo contributes to this specific characteristic, the spectroscopic features, the capacity of forming homotrimers and structural stabilities of different isoforms (Lhcb1-3) were investigated. The apoproteins of the three isoforms of LHCIIb in bamboo are overexpressed in vitro and successfully refolded with thylakoid pigments. The sequences of Lhcb1 and Lhcb2 are similar and they are capable of forming homotrimer, while Lhcb3 lacks 10 residues in the N terminus and can not form the homotrimeric structure. The pigment stoichiometries, spectroscopic characteristics, thermo- and photostabilities of different reconstituted Lhcbs reveal that Lhcb3 differs strongly from Lhcb1 and Lhcb2. Lhcb3 possesses the lowest Qy transition energy and the highest thermostability. Lhcb2 is the most stable monomer under strong illumination among all the isoforms. These results suggest that in spite of small differences, different Lhcb isoforms in bamboo possess similar characteristics as those in other higher plants.

The (La0.7Ca0.3MnO3)1−x/(Er2O3)x composites with x=0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 15, 17, and 20% were prepared by a solid state reaction process. The magnetic and electrical transport properties of the composites were investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and the calculation of lattice parameters of La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) indicated that there is no reaction between La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 and Er2O3; especially, compared with pure LCMO, a new metal-insulator transition temperature (TP2) was observed at a lower temperature in some composites with x=1,2,3,4, and 7%, which may result from the existence of a new phase related to Er2O3 dopant at grain boundaries or surfaces of LCMO grains. An enhancement of low field magnetoresistance (LFMR) is obtained at temperature below 130 K for the composites with higher Er2O3 content, but the intrinsic CMR at TP1 decreased monotonously with increasing Er2O3 content. The increased LFMR results from the spin-dependent scattering and spin-polarized tunneling at the grain boundaries and the decreased intrinsic CMR due to the Double Exchange (DE) interaction between Mn3+ and Mn4+ ions.

We investigate the possibility of implementing perfect quantum information processing with Dicke-class state. It is shown that the symmetric Dicke state |DN(m)〉 only has the maximal bipartite entanglement of one ebit when N = 2m and generally it is not maximally entangled for all bipartitions. By adjusting the suitable weights and relative phases in the Dicke state |DN(m)〉, we present a class of asymmetric Dicke states \(|\overline D_N^{(m)}\rangle\) which have the maximal bipartite entanglement of q (1 ≤ q ≤ m) ebits. We also obtain the sufficient and necessary condition that the Dicke-class states \(|\overline D_{N}^{(m)}\rangle\) have the maximal bipartite entanglement. We illustrate our idea using the four-qubit Dicke state with two excitations. It is shown that our proposed Dicke-class states have distinct advantages over the symmetric Dicke state in perfect quantum information processing.

We have studied different quantum dynamics of superconducting nano-circuits with Josephson junctions. A dc SQUID, when it is strongly decoupled from the environment, demonstrates two-level and multilevel dynamics. We have realized a two qubits coupled circuit based on a dc SQUID in parallel with an asymmetric Cooper pair transistor (ACPT). The ACPT behaves as a charge qubit. Its asymmetry produces a strong tunable coupling with the dc SQUID which is used to realize entangled states between the two qubits and new read-out of the charge qubit based on adiabatic quantum transfer. We have measured the current---phase relations of different rhombi chains in the presence or absence of quantum fluctuations which confirm theoretical predictions.

A new type of hydrogen-bonded layer-by-layer (LBL) photoalignment film was fabricated and studied. The photosensitive hydrogen donor containing cinnamoyl groups (Poly (4-acryloyloxy)-cinnamic acid, PCA) was self-assembled with hydrogen accepter poly (4-vinylpyridine) (PVPy) in an organic solvent. Then a hydrogen-bonding-directed ultrathin film was formed. The uniformity and linear growth of the deposition procedure was proven by UV-Vis spectra and the interaction between PVPy and PCA was identified as hydrogen bonding using FT-IR spectroscopy. When linearly polarized ultraviolet light (LPUVL) irradiated the multilayer film, only the photosensitive double bond parallel to the polarization direction of LPUVL could be polymerized via [2+2] cycloaddition. After the irradiation an anisotropic film was prepared, and we used this anisotropic film as an alignment layer of nematic liquid crystals, and obtained uniform and stable alignment results.

Using different configurations of applied strong driving and weak probe fields, we find that only a single three-level superconducting quantum circuit (SQC) is enough to realize amplification, attenuation, and frequency conversion of microwave fields. Such a three-level SQC has to possess $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}$-type cyclic transitions. Different from the parametric amplification (attenuation) and frequency conversion in nonlinear optical media, the real energy levels of the three-level SQC are involved in the energy exchange when these processes are completed. We quantitatively discuss the effects of amplification (attenuation) and the frequency conversion for different types of driving fields. The values and conditions are obtained for the optimal gains for amplification (attenuation) and the optimal conversion efficiencies. Our study provides a method to amplify (attenuate) microwave, realize frequency conversion, and also lay a foundation for generating single or entangled microwave photon states using a single three-level SQC.

A single superconducting artificial atom provides a unique basis for coupling electromagnetic fields and photons hardly achieved with a natural atom. Bringing a pair of harmonic oscillators into resonance with transitions of the three-level atom converts atomic spontaneous processes into correlated emission dynamics. We demonstrate two-mode correlated emission lasing on harmonic oscillators coupled via the fully controllable three-level artificial atom. Correlation of two different color emissions reveals itself as equally narrowed linewiths and quench of their mutual phase-diffusion. The mutual linewidth is more than four orders of magnitude narrower than the Schawlow-Townes limit. The interference between the different color lasing fields demonstrates the two-mode fields are strongly correlated., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures + supplemenntary materials accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

This paper reports the fabrication and test of a high-T-c SQUID planar gradiometer which is patterned from YBCO thin film deposited on a SrTiO3 bicrystal substrate. The measurement of noise spectrum at 77K shows that the white noise at 200 Hz is about 1 x 10(-4)Phi(0)/root Hz. The minimal magnetic gradient is measured and the results suggest that the minimal magnetic gradient is 94 pT/m. The planar gradiometer is used in non-destructive evaluation (NDE) experiments to detect the artifacts in conducting aluminium plates by performing eddy current testing in an unshielded environment. The effect of the exciting coil dimension on the NDE results is investigated. By mapping out the induced field distribution, flaws about 10mm below the plate surface can be clearly identified.

Decentralized control is a practical control methodology for large-scale multivariable systems. This paper presents a LQR design methodology to design a state-feedback decentralized high-gain analog controller, which gives the desired decentralized performance of the controlled analog system. Then, a prediction-based decentralized low-gain digital controller is developed from the decentralized high-gain analog controller for the hybrid controlled system. As a result, the complexity and cost of hardware implementation of the controller can be significantly reduced. In order to improve the performance of the decentralized hybrid system, the evolutionary programming (EP) is employed to tune the observer-based decentralized tracker. Some examples are presented to illustrate the developed design methodology.

In this paper we consider two distant mesoscopic superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) rings A and B in the presence of two-mode squeezed vacuum state field, and aim to see the effect of the field on the correlation of supercurrents in the two rings. We know the degree of entanglement of the two-mode squeezed vacuum state increases with the squeezing parameter r. In this paper we find that the correlation of the supercurrents increases with the parameter r too, meaning that the correlation of the supercurrents increases with the degree of entanglement of the field.

The conformational space of 3-buten-2-ol (BUO), governed by the torsion angles φ1(OCCC) and φ2(HOCC(sp2)), was searched, and nine energy minima were located, using the B3LYP/6-31**G approach. Then, geometries of these nine and the vibrational characteristics of the four lowest energy forms were calculated. Experimental evidence of the latter four conformers in the gas phase was obtained from IR frequencies, band intensities, and band shapes measured at room temperature. Analysis of electron-diffraction intensities also measured at room temperature gave the following abundancies (with nomenclature pertinent to the S configuration): (+ac, −sc), 58%; (sp, −sc) and (sp, +sc) together, 32%; (−ac, +sc), 10%. The energy sequence as well as conformationally induced variations in bond lengths, valence angles, and OH frequencies could be rationalized by attractive (hyper)conjugative and repulsive steric effects operative in BUO. The intermediacy of BUO between allyl alcohol and 1-butene shows in the observation th...

Aim To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) coronary angiography with and without the application of a β-blocker. Materials and methods An exact binomial rendition of the bivariate mixed-effects regression model was used to synthesize diagnostic test data. Results The pooled sensitivity at the patient level was 0.98 [95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.97–0.99], and specificity 0.88 (95% CI: 0.84–0.91). The results showed that without heart rate control, the sensitivity and specificity at the patient level did not decrease ( p = 0.27 and 0.56, respectively). At the artery level, no significant differences in sensitivity and specificity for studies with and without heart rate control were detected ( p = 0.04 and 0.05, respectively). At the segment level, the specificity decreased without heart rate control ( p = 0.03), whereas the sensitivity was not influenced ( p = 0.63). The median radiation exposure was 2.6 mSv, with 1.6 mSv and 8 mSv for heart rate-controlled studies and uncontrolled studies, respectively. Conclusions DSCT coronary angiography without heart rate control has a similar excellent diagnostic performance at the patient level as that of heart rate control groups. However, controlling for heart rate to decrease radiation and to provide effective information for selecting the therapeutic strategy and risk stratification is recommended.

Studies with metformin suggest a favourable change in β-cell function over sulphonylureas in the early course of obese type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but it remains unclear whether a similar effect is observed in non-obese individuals. Here we investigated the effects of metformin or glipizide gastrointestinal therapeutics system extended-release formulation (GITS) on β-cell function in non-obese patients with newly diagnosed T2DM.A total of 160 newly diagnosed patients with fasting glucose 7.0-13.0 mmol/L and body mass index30 kg/m(2) from five centres in China were randomized to metformin or glipizide GITS for 24 weeks. Early insulin secretion [the ratio of area under the curve (AUC) of insulin to glucose during 0-30 min (InsAUC30 /GluAUC30 )] and insulin sensitivity [Matsuda index (ISIM )] were assessed during the standard meal tolerance test before and after therapy. Plasma glucagon-like peptide-1(GLP-1) and glucagon levels were also measured.Metformin improved InsAUC30 /GluAUC30 significantly (from 8.1 ± 0.6 pmol/mmol to 10.7 ± 0.7 pmol/mmol, p 0.05), comparable to results with glipizide GITS. In the metformin-treated lean (body mass index 25 kg/m(2) ) subgroup, the increase in ISIM was not significant, but the improvement in InsAUC30 /GluAUC30 was of great magnitude. Increased GLP-1 responses during meal tolerance test and decreased fasting glucagon level were observed after metformin treatment. Correlation analysis showed that the improvement of InsAUC30 /GluAUC30 was associated with the changes in HbA1c (r = -0.374, p = 0.000), ISIM (r = 0.356, p = 0.001), and ΔGLP-10-30 (r = 0.225, p = 0.02).Metformin improved β-cell function in non-obese subjects with newly diagnosed T2DM, which was partly independent of the change in insulin sensitivity in these subjects. This study provides evidence-based data to support metformin use in non-obese patients with T2DM as the first-line agent, which can improve both insulin sensitivity and β-cell function.

Three-wave mixing in second-order nonlinear optical processes cannot occur in atomic systems due to the electric-dipole selection rules. In contrast, we demonstrate that second-order nonlinear processes can occur in a superconducting quantum circuit (i.e., a superconducting artificial atom) when the inversion symmetry of the potential energy is broken by simply changing the applied magnetic flux. In particular, we show that difference- and sum-frequencies (and second harmonics) can be generated in the microwave regime in a controllable manner by using a single three-level superconducting flux quantum circuit (SFQC). For our proposed parameters, the frequency tunability of this circuit can be achieved in the range of about 17 GHz for the sum-frequency generation, and around 42 GHz (or 26 GHz) for the difference-frequency generation. Our proposal provides a simple method to generate second-order nonlinear processes within current experimental parameters of SFQCs., Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures

Summary A previously undescribed missense mutation was detected in the L12 domain of keratin 5 (K5) in a Chinese family with Weber–Cockayne epidermolysis bullosa simplex. Direct sequencing of the PCR products identified a single base substitution (983AG) that changes the aspartic acid residue at codon 328 to glycine in all affected family members, while no mutation was observed either in the healthy individual or 50 unrelated control samples. Asp328 of K5 is remarkably conserved among all type II keratins. D328G is the fourth mutation found to affect this residue in K5-related epidermolysis bullosa simplex, indicating the importance of Asp328 for K5 structure and the dramatic effect that fine changes can have on keratin intermediate filament integrity.

We investigate electronic delocalization and magnetic-flux-induced persistent current in the mesoscopic ring, which is constructed according to the nonsymmetric-dimer (NSD) model. The flux-dependent energy spectra, electronic wavefunctions, and persistent currents are theoretically obtained. It is demonstrated that due to the localization-delocalization transition of electrons, the electronic state in the NSD ring can be localized, extended, and the intermediate case between extended states and localized ones. The persistent current (PC) approaches the behavior of free electrons if the Fermi level is around the near-resonant energy. Otherwise, the PC is depressed dramatically. This conclusion could be generalized to other correlated-disordered systems.

We present an adiabatic geometric quantum computation strategy based on the non-degenerate energy eigenstates in (but not limited to) superconducting phase qubit systems. The fidelity of the designed quantum gate was evaluated in the presence of simulated thermal fluctuations in a superconducting phase qubits circuit and was found to be quite robust against random errors. In addition, it was elucidated that the Berry phase in the designed adiabatic evolution may be detected directly via the quantum state tomography developed for superconducting qubits. We also analyze the effects of control parameter fluctuations on the experimental detection of the Berry phase.