Shape-influenced non-reciprocal transport of magnetic skyrmions in nanoscale channel

Skyrmions, with their vortex-like structures and inherent topological protection, play a pivotal role in developing innovative low-power memory and logic devices. The efficient generation and control of skyrmions in geometrically confined systems are crucial for the development of skyrmion-based spintronic devices. In this study, we focus on investigating the non-reciprocal transport behavior of skyrmions and their interactions with boundaries of various shapes. The shape of the notch structure in the nanotrack significantly affects the dynamic behavior of magnetic skyrmions. Through micromagnetic simulation, the non-reciprocal transport properties of skyrmions in nanowires with different notch structures are investigated in this work.

Does community-based health insurance affect lifestyle and timing of treatment seeking behavior?Evidence from Ethiopia

Objectives This paper aims to investigate the effects of enrollment in the Ethiopian community-based health insurance(CBHI)scheme on household preventive care activities and the timing of treatment-seeking behavior for illness symptoms.There is growing concern about the financial sustainability of CBHI schemes in developing countries.However,few empirical studies have identified potential contributors,including ex-ante and ex-post moral hazards.Methods We implement a household fixed-effect panel data regression model,drawing on three rounds of household survey data collected face to face in districts where CBHI scheme is operational and in districts where it is not operational in Ethiopia.Results The findings show that enrolment in CBHI does not significantly influence household behaviour regarding preventive care activities such as water treatment before drinking and handwashing before meals.However,CBHI significantly increases delay in treatment-seeking behaviour for diseases symptoms.Particularly,on average,we estimate about 4-6 h delay for malaria symptoms,a little above 4 h for tetanus,and 10-11 h for tuberculosis among the insured households.Conclusions While there is evidence that CBHI improve the utilization of outpatient or primary care services,our study suggests that insured members may wait longer before visiting health facilities.This delay could be partly due to moral hazard problems,as insured households,particularly those from rural areas,may consider the opportunity costs associated with visiting health facilities for minor symptoms.Overall,it is essential to identify the primary causes of delays in seeking medical services and implement appropriate interventions to encourage insured individuals to seek early medical attention.

Effectiveness of Adherence to Standardized Hypertension Management by Primary Health Care Workers in China:a Cross-sectional Survey 3 Years after the Healthcare Reform

The standardized hypertension management provided by primary health care workers is an important part of China＇s recent health care reform efforts. Investigating 5,116 hypertensive patients from a cross-sectional survey conducted by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012, this study found that adherence to standardized hypertension management is associated with positive effects on hypertension- related knowledge, healthy lifestyle behavior, antihypertensive medical treatments, and blood pressure control. It will be necessary to provide primary health care workers with sufficient training and reasonable incentives to ensure the implementation and effectiveness of hypertension management.

Low temperature microwave-assisted vs conventional pyrolysis of various biomass feedstocks

A comparison between conventional pyrolysis and a novel developed low-temperature microwave-assisted pyrolysis methodology has been performed for the valorisation of a range of biomass feedstocks including waste residues. Microwave pyrolysis was found to efficiently deliver comparable evolution of bio-gases in the system as compared with conventional pyrolysis at significantly reduced temperatures （120-180 ℃vs 250-400 ℃）. The gas obtained from microwave-assisted pyrolysis was found to contain CO2, CH4 and CO as major components as well

Risk stratification for ST segment elevation myocardial infarction in the era of primary percutaneous coronary intervention

Acute coronary syndromes presenting with ST elevation are usually treated with emergency reperfusion/revascularisation therapy. In contrast current evidence and national guidelines recommend risk stratification for non ST segment elevation myocardial infarction(NSTEMI) with the decision on revascularisation dependent on perceived clinical risk. Risk stratification for STEMI has no recommendation. Statistical risk scoring techniques in NSTEMI have been demonstrated to improve outcomes however their uptake has been poor perhaps due to questions over their discrimination and concern for application to individuals who may not have been adequately represented in clinical trials. STEMI is perceived to carry sufficient risk to warrant emergency coronary intervention [by primary percutaneous coronary intervention(PPCI)] even if this results in a delay to reperfusion with immediate thrombolysis. Immediate thrombolysis may be as effective in patients presenting early, or at low risk, but physicians are poor at assessing clinical and procedural risks and currently are not required to consider this. Inadequate data on risk stratification in STEMI inhibits the option of immediate fibrinolysis, which may be cost-effective. Currently the mode of reperfusion for STEMI defaults to emergency angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention ignoring alternative strategies. This review article examines the current risk scores and evidence base for risk stratification for STEMI patients. The requirements for an ideal STEMI risk score are discussed.

Ultrastructural characters of a Physarum melleum on living leaves of Dendrobium candidum in China

A known species, Physarum melleum, was found fruiting on living leaves of Dendrobium candidum, which was collected in China in 2004. Its morphological characters were revealed by light microscopy (LM), environmental scanning elec- tron microscopy (ESEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Character variations were distinguished by its olive-yellow peridium and its always thinner capillitium containing globulose granular material between the large calcareous nodes. The cal- cium carbonate granules, deposited on stalks, peridium and hypothallus as well as within stalks, were globose and smooth.

Tuning the selectivity of natural oils and fatty acids/esters deoxygenation to biofuels and fatty alcohols:A review

The chemical transformation of natural oils provides alternatives to limited fossil fuels and produces compounds with added value for the chemical industries.The selective deoxygenation of natural oils to diesel-ranged hydrocarbons,bio-jet fuels,or fatty alcohols with controllable selectivity is especially attractive in natural oil feedstock biorefineries.This review presents recent progress in catalytic deoxygenation of natural oils or related model compounds(e.g.,fatty acids)to renewable liquid fuels(green diesel and bio-jet fuels)and valuable fatty alcohols(unsaturated and saturated fatty alcohols).Besides,it discusses and compares the existing and potential strategies to control the product selectivity over heterogeneous catalysts.Most research conducted and reviewed has only addressed the production of one category;therefore,a new integrative vision exploring how to direct the process toward fuel and/or chemicals is urgently needed.Thus,work conducted to date addressing the development of new catalysts and studying the influence of the reaction parameters(e.g.,temperature,time and hydrogen pressure)is summarized and critically discussed from a green and sustainable perspective using efficiency indicators(e.g.,yields,selectivity,turnover frequencies and catalysts lifetime).Special attention has been given to the chemical transformations occurring to identify key descriptors to tune the selectivity toward target products by manipulating the reaction conditions and the structures of the catalysts.Finally,the challenges and future research goals to develop novel and holistic natural oil biorefineries are proposed.As a result,this critical review provides the readership with appropriate information to selectively control the transformation of natural oils into either biofuels and/or value-added chemicals.This new flexible vision can help pave the wave to suit the present and future market needs.

Analysis of community question-answering issues via machine learning and deep learning:State-of-the-art review

Over the last couple of decades,community question-answering sites(CQAs)have been a topic of much academic interest.Scholars have often leveraged traditional machine learning(ML)and deep learning(DL)to explore the ever-growing volume of content that CQAs engender.To clarify the current state of the CQA literature that has used ML and DL,this paper reports a systematic literature review.The goal is to summarise and synthesise the major themes of CQA research related to(i)questions,(ii)answers and(iii)users.The final review included 133 articles.Dominant research themes include question quality,answer quality,and expert identification.In terms of dataset,some of the most widely studied platforms include Yahoo!Answers,Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow.The scope of most articles was confined to just one platform with few cross-platform investigations.Articles with ML outnumber those with DL.Nonetheless,the use of DL in CQA research is on an upward trajectory.A number of research directions are proposed.

Encyclopedia of Autographa californica Nucleopolyhedrovirus Genes

The Autographa californica multiple capsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) was the first baculovirus for which the complete nucleotide sequence became known. Since then 15 years lapsed and much research has been performed to elucidate putative functions of the annotated open reading frames of this virus and this endeavour is still ongoing. AcMNPV is the most well-known and well-studied baculovirus species, not in the least for its application as a vector for the high-level expression of foreign genes in insect cells. This article is the first monograph of a single baculovirus and gives a current overview of what is known about the 151 AcMNPV ORFs, including (putative) function and temporal and spatial presence of transcripts and protein. To date 60 ORFs have a proven function, another 19 ORFs have homologs for which functions are known in other baculoviruses and 72 ORFs are still enigmatic. This paper should assist the reader in quickly finding the essentials of AcMNPV.

Industrial layout reconstruction, the role of local government and variation of pollution distribution in China

In recent years, high-polluting industries have been gradually shifted from the eastern developed regions to the central and western underdeveloped regions in China. Certain environmental regulations have been in place accordingly in various regions, but the pollution in the central and western regions has risen sharply. Based on the data of interprovincial panel in China from 2006 to 2015, this paper calculates high-pollution industry dynamic agglomeration index, environmental pollution agglomeration index and relative environmental regulation intensity index, and uses Generalized Method of Moments to carry out the regression analyses of the whole samples,regional heterogeneity and temporal heterogeneity. The results show that there is an inverted Ushaped relationship between relative environmental regulation and environmental pollution concentration in China. The concentration degrees of industrial wastewater pollution and industrial waste gas pollution are deepened, which are mainly caused by the transfer of highly polluting industries. However, the concentration of industrial solid waste pollution caused by the transfer is not obvious. Furthermore, the deepening of industrialization intensifies the concentration of regional environmental pollution. Environmental Kuznets Curve does exist in China,but it is not significant. The increase of labor cost and quality will reduce the concentration of environmental pollution.

Parameter Deviation Effect Study of the Power Generation Unit on a Doubly-Fed Induction Machine-based Shipboard Propulsion System

To lower the difficulty of fault protection,a doubly-fed induction machine based shipboard propulsion system(DFIM-SPS)that is partially power decoupled is presented.In such an intrinsically safe SPS architecture,a synchronous generator(SG)is employed for power generation,and the accuracy of the parameters of power generation unit(PGU)plays an important role in SPS stable operation.In this paper,the PGU parameter deviations are studied to evaluate the effects on system performance.The models of salient-pole SG,type DC1A excitation system(EXS)and DFIM are illustrated first.Besides,the corresponding control scheme is explained.For the 16 important parameters of PGU,up to 40%of parameter deviations are applied to implement parameter sensitivity analysis.Then,simulation studies are carried out to evaluate the parameter deviation effects on system performance in detail.By defining three parameter deviation effect indicators(PDEIs),the effects on the PGU output variables,which are the terminal voltage and output active power,are studied.Moreover,the increasing rates of PDEIs with different degrees of parameter deviations for the key parameters are analyzed.Furthermore,the overall system performance is investigated for the two most influential PGU parameters.This paper provides some vital clues on SG and EXS parameter identification for DFIM-SPS.

Optimization of a laser plasma-based x-ray source according to WDM absorption spectroscopy requirements

X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a well-accepted diagnostic for experimental studies of warm dense matter.It requires a short-lived X-ray source of sufficiently high emissivity and without characteristic lines in the spectral range of interest.In the present work,we discuss how to choose an optimum material and thickness to get a bright source in the wavelength range 2A–6A(∼2 keV to 6 keV)by considering relatively low-Z elements.We demonstrate that the highest emissivity of solid aluminum and silicon foil targets irradiated with a 1-ps high-contrast sub-kJ laser pulse is achieved when the target thickness is close to 10μm.An outer plastic layer can increase the emissivity even further.

Tropical forest canopies and their relationships with climate and disturbance： results from a global dataset of consistent field-based measurements

Background： Canopy structure, defined by leaf area index （LAI）, fractional vegetation cover （FCover） and fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation （fAPAR）, regulates a wide range of forest functions and ecosystem services. Spatially consistent field-measurements of canopy structure are however lacking, particularly for the tropics. Methods： Here, we introduce the Global LAI database： a global dataset of field-based canopy structure measurements spanning tropical forests in four continents （Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas）. We use these measurements to test for climate dependencies within and across continents, and to test for the potential of anthropogenic disturbance and forest protection to modulate those dependences. Results： Using data collected from 887 tropical forest plots, we show that maximum water deficit, defined across the most arid months of the year, is an important predictor of canopy structure, with all three canopy attributes declining significantly with increasing water deficit. Canopy attributes also increase with minimum temperature, and with the protection of forests according to both active （within protected areas） and passive measures （through topography）. Once protection and continent effects are accounted for, other anthropogenic measures （e.g. human population） do not improve the model. Conclusions： We conclude that canopy structure in the tropics is primarily a consequence of forest adaptation to the maximum water deficits historically experienced within a given region. Climate change, and in particular changes in drought regimes may thus affect forest structure and function, but forest protection may offer some resilience against this effect.

Visualization of atomic scale reaction dynamics of supported nanocatalysts during oxidation and ammonia synthesis using in-situ environmental(scanning) transmission electron microscopy

Reaction dynamics in gases at operating temperatures at the atomic level are the basis of heterogeneous gas-solid catalyst reactions and are crucial to the catalyst function.Supported noble metal nanocatalysts such as platinum are of interest in fuel cells and as diesel oxidation catalysts for pollution control,and practical ruthenium nanocatalysts are explored for ammonia synthesis.Graphite and graphitic carbons are of interest as supports for the nanocatalysts.Despite considerable literature on the catalytic processes on graphite and graphitic supports,reaction dynamics of the nanocatalysts on the supports in different reactive gas environments and operating temperatures at the single atom level are not well understood.Here we present real time in-situ observations and analyses of reaction dynamics of Pt in oxidation,and practical Ru nanocatalysts in ammonia synthesis,on graphite and related supports under controlled reaction environments using a novel in-situ environmental(scanning) transmission electron microscope with single atom resolution.By recording snapshots of the reaction dynamics,the behaviour of the catalysts is imaged.The images reveal single metal atoms,clusters of a few atoms on the graphitic supports and the support function.These all play key roles in the mobility,sintering and growth of the catalysts.The experimental findings provide new structural insights into atomic scale reaction dynamics,morphology and stability of the nanocatalysts.

Cryptanalysis and Improvement of a Chaotic Map-Control-Based and the Plain Image-Related Cryptosystem

Due to the characteristics of chaotic systems,different cryptosystems based on chaos have been proposed to satisfy the security of multimedia data.A plain image-related chaotic algorithm is proposed by Luo et al.with high speed and efficiency.Security weaknesses of the cryptosystem are studied in this paper.It is found that the important secret key information is leaked because an important parameter can be obtained after an inverse operation in the last step of the cryptosystems without secret key.Meanwhile,the value zero is processed improperly in quantification algorithm.Based on the weaknesses,chosen plaintext attack on the cryptosystem is proposed,by which,an important parameter,equivalent to secret key,can be calculated with a specific chosen plain image.With the obtained parameter,the plain image of any ciphered image,encrypted by the cryptosystem,can be recovered.Then,an improvement is proposed to solve the problems after modifying the quantification algorithm.It is from the experiments that chosen plaintext attack is valid and improved algorithm possesses better performance.

Self-embedding Image Watermarking based on Combined Decision Using Pre-offset and Post-offset Blocks

To detect and recover random tampering areas,a combined-decision-based self-embedding watermarking scheme is proposed herein.In this scheme,the image is first partitioned into 2×2 size blocks.Next,the high 5 bits of a block’s average value is embedded into its offset block.The tampering type of block is detected by comparing the watermarks of its pre-offset and post-offset blocks.The theoretical analysis and experiments demonstrate that the proposed scheme not only has a lower ratio of false detection but also better performance with regard to avoiding random tampering.

Potential and Determinants of Carbon Storage of Freshwater Swamp Forests in the Niger Delta

There has been an increase in carbon assessments across global ecosystems, but some ecosystem types remain woefully understudied-freshwater swamp forests are one such ecosystem. Results of the above ground carbon estimates are derived from 16, one-hectare forest plots divided evenly across four forest sites. Results on carbon storage are compared with results on forest use and ownership from interviews with communities living in the area. Since forest use determined the composition, structure and the capacity of the ecosystem to sequester carbon;its above ground carbon decreased from the undisturbed forest plots to the disturbed (modified) sites across the sites. Forest units under communal ownership demonstrated possibilities of actualizing targeted/ restricted use of tree species, as well as targeted carbon storage capacities. Even though joint ownership and management schemes are likely to regulate the use of the ecosystem, and possibly enhance better carbon sequestration, achieving this still seems elusive due to a long existing land tenure system and generational inheritance of (forest) lands across the region. Carbon sequestration across the region will remain under threat unless suitable awareness on forest management is backed up with alternative sources of livelihood, incentives and compensation to the custodians of the forest resources.

Equation Discovery for Financial Forcasting in Context of Islamic Banking

This paper describes an equation discovery approach based on machine learning using LAGRAMGE as an equation discovery tool, with two sources of input, a dataset and model presented in context-free grammar. The approach is searching a large range of po- tential equations by a specific inodel. The parameters of the equation are fitted to find the best equations. The experiments are illustratedwith commodity prices from the London Metal Exchange for the period of January-October 2009. The outputs of the experiments are a large mumber of equations; some of the equations display that the predicted prices are following the market trends in perfect patterns.

Re-entrant-Groove-Assisted VLS Growth of Boron Carbide Five-Fold Twinned Nanowires

We report a preferential growth of boron carbide nanowires with a five-fold twinned internal structure. The nanowires are found to grow catalytically via iron boron nanoparticles, but unusually the catalytic particle is in contact with the low-energy surfaces of boron carbide with V-shaped contact lines. We propose that this catalytical growth may be caused by preferential nucleation at the re-entrant grooves due to the twinning planes, followed by rapid spreading of atomic steps. This is consistent with the observed temperature dependence of the five-fold twinned nanowire growth.