We address new measurements of Cabibbo-suppressed semileptonic D$+\atop{s}$ decays using 3.19 fb-1 of e+e- annihilation data sample collected at a center-of-mass energy of 4.178 GeV with the BESIII ...detector at the BEPCII collider. Our results include branching fractions $\mathcal{B(D^+_s→K^0e^+v_e)}$ = (3.25 ± 0.38(stat.) ± 0.16(syst.))×10-3 and $\mathcal{B(D^+_s→K*^0e^+v_e)}$ = (2.37±0.26(stat.)±0.20(syst.))×10-3 which are much improved relative to previous measurements, and the first measurements of the hadronic form-factor parameters for these decays. For D$+\atop{s}$→K0e+ve, we obtain f+(0) = 0.720 ± 0.084(stat.) ± 0.013(syst.), and for D$+\atop{s}$→K*0e+ve, we find form-factor ratios rV = V (0)/A1(0) = 1.67 ± 0.34(stat.) ± 0.16(syst.) and r2 = A2(0)/A1(0) = 0.77 ± 0.28(stat.) ± 0.07(syst.).
Unconventional oscillationsAt sufficiently low temperatures, superconductors expel an applied magnetic field. However, if the topology of the superconductor is nontrivial—for example, if there is a ...hole in the sample—there can be a nonzero magnetic flux inside the hole. This flux can only take certain discrete values, and the superconducting critical temperature has maxima at the corresponding values of the magnetic field. Li et al. studied these so-called Little-Parks oscillations in superconducting rings made out of polycrystalline thin films of β-Bi2Pd. They found that the phase of the oscillations was shifted by π compared with oscillations observed in most superconductors, as predicted for certain unconventional pairing symmetries.Science, this issue p. 238Magnetic flux quantization is one of the defining properties of a superconductor. We report the observation of half-integer magnetic flux quantization in mesoscopic rings of superconducting β-Bi2Pd thin films. The half-quantum fluxoid manifests itself as a π phase shift in the quantum oscillation of the superconducting critical temperature. This result verifies unconventional superconductivity of β-Bi2Pd and is consistent with a spin-triplet pairing symmetry. Our findings may have implications for flux quantum bits in the context of quantum computing.
Background: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is common after stroke, but it is unclear whether it should be treated. Objective: To conduct a randomised controlled trial of continuous positive airway ...pressure (CPAP) after stroke. Methods: Patients with stroke with ⩾30 apnoeas and hypopnoeas per hour ((A+H)/h) with predominant obstructive sleep apnoea or hypopnoea were randomised to either CPAP treatment or conservative treatment for 8 weeks. Outcomes were measured blind to treatment allocation at 8 weeks and 6 months after the stroke. The primary outcome was physical function on the Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living Scale. Results: Of 658 patients with stroke screened, only 71 (10.7%) were eligible and consented to a sleep study 14–19 days after stroke. 66 patients completed the sleep study (21 women; mean age 72 years), 33 (50%) had ⩾30 (A+H)/h that were predominantly obstructive. 15 were randomised to CPAP treatment and 15 to conventional treatment. Despite intensive efforts, objective use of CPAP was poor, averaging 1.4 h a night. CPAP treatment resulted in no significant improvements (p>0.1) in the primary outcome or in neurological function or sleepiness, and in poorer health status on some measures. Conclusions: This trial showed no benefit from CPAP treatment, the relevance of the observed detrimental effects is questionable. Even in our highly selected patients with stroke, use of CPAP was poor. At present, CPAP treatment should be advocated for patients with stroke only if they have symptoms of SDB.
A generalizable algorithm is proposed for the design optimization of synchronous reluctance machine rotors. Single-barrier models are considered to reduce the algorithm's computational complexity and ...provide a relative comparison for rotors with different slots-per-pole combinations. Two objective values per sampled design (average and ripple torques) are computed using 2-D finite-element analysis simulations. Non-linear regression or surrogate models are trained for the two objectives through a Bayesian regularization backpropagation neural network. A multi-objective genetic algorithm is used to find the validated Pareto front solutions. An analytical ellipse constraint is then suggested to encapsulate optimal solutions. Compared with a direct sampling approach, this restriction captures an optimal region within the double-barrier space for further torque ripple reduction.
Biochar can be an effective carrier for microbial inoculants because of its favourable properties promoting microbial life. In this review, we assess the effectiveness of biochar as a microbial ...carrier for agricultural and environmental applications. Biochar is enriched with organic carbon, contains nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as nutrients, and has a high porosity and moisture-holding capacity. The large number of active hydroxyl, carboxyl, sulfonic acid group, amino, imino, and acylamino hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups are effective for microbial cell adhesion and proliferation. The use of biochar as a carrier of microbial inoculum has been shown to enhance the persistence, survival and colonization of inoculated microbes in soil and plant roots, which play a crucial role in soil biochemical processes, nutrient and carbon cycling, and soil contamination remediation. Moreover, biochar-based microbial inoculants including probiotics effectively promote plant growth and remediate soil contaminated with organic pollutants. These findings suggest that biochar can serve as a promising substitute for non-renewable substrates, such as peat, to formulate and deliver microbial inoculants. The future research directions in relation to improving the carrier material performance and expanding the potential applications of this emerging biochar-based microbial immobilization technology have been proposed.
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•Biochar is an ideal microbial carrier due to its properties favoring microbial life.•Co-location of carbon and nutrients in biochar promotes microbial colonization.•Biochar-based inoculants enhance plant growth even in hostile environments.•Biochar-immobilized microbes help in the remediation of contaminated soils.•Biochar replaces commercially used non-renewable microbial carrier substrates.
Wheat cultivars 'TAM 111' and 'TAM 112' have been dominantly grown in the Southern U.S. Great Plains for many years due to their high yield and drought tolerance. To identify the molecular basis and ...genetic control of drought tolerance in these two landmark cultivars, RNA-seq analysis was conducted to compare gene expression difference in flag leaves under fully irrigated (wet) and water deficient (dry) conditions. A total of 2254 genes showed significantly altered expression patterns under dry and wet conditions in the two cultivars. TAM 111 had 593 and 1532 dry-wet differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and TAM 112 had 777 and 1670 at heading and grain-filling stages, respectively. The two cultivars have 1214 (53.9%) dry-wet DEGs in common, which agreed with their excellent adaption to drought, but 438 and 602 dry-wet DEGs were respectively shown only in TAM 111 and TAM 112 suggested that each has a specific mechanism to cope with drought. Annotations of all 2254 genes showed 1855 have functions related to biosynthesis, stress responses, defense responses, transcription factors and cellular components related to ion or protein transportation and signal transduction. Comparing hierarchical structure of biological processes, molecule functions and cellular components revealed the significant regulation differences between TAM 111 and TAM 112, particularly for genes of phosphorylation and adenyl ribonucleotide binding, and proteins located in nucleus and plasma membrane. TAM 112 showed more active than TAM 111 in response to drought and carried more specific genes with most of them were up-regulated in responses to stresses of water deprivation, heat and oxidative, ABA-induced signal pathway and transcription regulation. In addition, 258 genes encoding predicted uncharacterized proteins and 141 unannotated genes with no similar sequences identified in the databases may represent novel genes related to drought response in TAM 111 or TAM 112. This research thus revealed different drought-tolerance mechanisms in TAM 111 and TAM 112 and identified useful drought tolerance genes for wheat adaption. Data of gene sequence and expression regulation from this study also provided useful information of annotating novel genes associated with drought tolerance in the wheat genome.
The in-situ formation of TiC/Ti composite coating was achieved by induction cladding (IC) approach. The powder mixture of 70 at% Ti and 30 at% graphite were preplaced on a Ti6Al4V substrate and ...irradiated with a high frequency induction heating coil in Ar atmosphere. The cladded coating exhibited a practically dense and pore-free microstructure with metallurgical adherence to the substrate. Fine titanium carbides (TiC) were uniformly formed in the coating, which were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis. Two temperature peaks within the coating indicates the induction cladding process is different from the point heating sources. Dissolution-precipitation mechanism is used to explain the formation of the composite coating and the in situ synthesis of the TiC particle reinforcements. The nanoindentation hardness of the TiC particles is about 22 GPa, which makes the microhardness of the composite coating (600 HV0.2) nearly twice the microhardness of the Ti6Al4V substrate (340 HV0.2). The hardness evolution of the composite coating is evaluated by the rule of mixtures and the predicted results are consistence with the measured ones.
•In situ synthesized TiC/Ti composite coating is achieved by induction cladding.•The coating has smooth surface, dense structure, high hardness and good bond.•Formation mechanisms of the coating and the in situ TiC particles are discussed.•Nano/micro mechanical properties of different phases in the coating are studied.•Hardness evolution of the in situ coating agrees well with the Rule of Mixtures.
Study objective: To develop a self administered Chinese (mainland) version of the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) for use in health related quality of life measurements in China. Design: A three ...stage protocol was followed including translation, tests of scaling construction and scoring assumptions, validation, and normalisation. Setting: 1000 households in 18 communities of Hangzhou. Participants: 1688 respondents recruited by multi-stage mixed sampling. Main results: The assumption of equal intervals was violated for the vitality and mental health scales. The recoded item values were used to calculate scale scores. The clustering and ordering of item means was the same as that of the source and other two Chinese versions. The items in each scale had similar standard deviations except those in the physical functioning, boduily pain, social functioning scales. The item hypothesised scale correlations were identical for all except the social functioning and vitality scales. Convergent validity and discriminant validity were satisfactory for all except the social functioning scale. Cronbach’s α coefficients ranged from 0.72 to 0.88 except 0.39 for the social functioning scale and 0.66 for the vitality scale. Two weeks test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from 0.66 to 0.94. Factor analysis identified two principal components explaining 56.3% of the total variance. The Chinese SF-36 could distinguish known groups. Conclusions: This study suggested that the Chinese (mainland) version of the SF-36 functioned in the general population of Hangzhou, China quite similarly to the original American population tested. Caution is recommended in the interpretation of the social functioning and vitality scales pending further studies.
Objectives
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning difficulties (LDs) are proposed as 2 overlapping disorders. The objective of this study was to investigate the handwriting ...performance in ADHD and comorbid ADHD‐LD adolescents.
Methods
The study examined the Chinese and English handwriting performance and sensorimotor skills of 32 ADHD, 12 ADHD‐LD, and their matched controls.
Results
Participants with ADHD had comparable writing time and speed, but the readability was lower than their controls. Participants with ADHD‐LD had lower writing speeds in both Chinese and English handwriting than their controls. The ADHD and ADHD‐LD groups also showed larger variations in either speed or pen pressure than their controls. Chinese handwriting assessment effectively classified ADHD and ADHD‐LD with good sensitivity and positive predictive value.
Conclusions
Clinicians should be aware of the fundamental difference between the 2 disorders and make good use of handwriting assessment as a reference to deliver effective therapies and trainings.
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