Tuning the metal insulator transition (MIT) behavior of VO2 film through the interfacial strain is effective for practical applications. However, the mechanism for strain-modulated MIT is still under ...debate. Here we directly record the strain dynamics of ultrathin VO2 film on TiO2 substrate and reveal the intrinsic modulation process by means of synchrotron radiation and first-principles calculations. It is observed that the MIT process of the obtained VO2 films can be modulated continuously via the interfacial strain. The relationship between the phase transition temperature and the strain evolution is established from the initial film growth. From the interfacial strain dynamics and theoretical calculations, we claim that the electronic orbital occupancy is strongly affected by the interfacial strain, which changes also the electron–electron correlation and controls the phase transition temperature. These findings open the possibility of an active tuning of phase transition for the thin VO2 film through the interfacial lattice engineering.
Creating oxide interfaces with precise chemical specificity at the atomic layer level is desired for the engineering of quantum phases and electronic applications, but highly challenging, owing ...partially to the lack of in situ tools to monitor the chemical composition and completeness of the surface layer during growth. Here we report the in situ observation of atomic layer-by-layer inner potential variations by analysing the Kikuchi lines during epitaxial growth of strontium titanate, providing a powerful real-time technique to monitor and control the chemical composition during growth. A model combining the effects of mean inner potential and step edge density (roughness) reveals the underlying mechanism of the complex and previously not well-understood reflection high-energy electron diffraction oscillations observed in the shuttered growth of oxide films. General rules are proposed to guide the synthesis of atomically and chemically sharp oxide interfaces, opening up vast opportunities for the exploration of intriguing quantum phenomena at oxide interfaces.
The beam splitters are essential optical components that are widely used in various optical instruments. The robustness of beam splitters is very necessary to all-optical networks. Here we report the ...design of the topologically protected beam splitter, whose splitting ratio can change flexibly to an arbitrary ratio, such as 50:50, 33:67, 25:75, based on the two-dimensional silicon photonic crystal slab. By using the 50:50 beam splitter, all major logic gates (OR, AND, NOT, XOR, NAND, XNOR, and NOR) are suitably designed with the linear interference approach. Additionally, these devices exhibit robustness even though some disorders exist. It is expected that these robust and compact devices are potentially applicable in optical computing and signal processing.
Previous mass screening studies have shown that IgA antibodies against Epstein–Barr Virus (EBV) can facilitate early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the impact of EBV-antibody ...screening for NPC-specific mortality remains unknown.
A prospective, cluster randomized, controlled trial for NPC screening (PRO-NPC-001) was conducted in 3 selected towns of Zhongshan City and 13 selected towns of Sihui City in southern China beginning in 2008. Serum samples of the screening group were tested for two previously selected anti-EBV antibodies. Subjects with serological medium risk were subsequently retested annually for 3 years, and those with serological high risk were referred to otorhinolaryngologists for diagnostic check-up. An interim analysis was carried out to evaluate the primary end points of the NPC-specific mortality and the early diagnostic rate, and the secondary end point of the NPC incidence, through linkage with the database of Zhongshan City.
Among 70 296 total subjects, 29 413 screened participants (41.8% of the total subjects) in the screening group and 50 636 in the control group, 153 (43.3 per 100 000 person-year), 62 (55.3 per 100 000 person-year) and 99 (33.1 per 100 000 person-year) NPC cases were identified. The early diagnostic rates of NPC were significantly higher in the participants (79.0%, P < 0.0001) and the screening group (45.9%, P < 0.0001) compared with the control group (20.6%). Although no differences were found between NPC-specific mortality of the screening group and the control group relative risk (RR)= 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37–1.79, lower NPC-specific mortality was noticed among participants from the screening group versus the control group (RR = 0.22, 95% CI 0.09–0.49).
IgA antibodies against EBV can identify high-risk population and was effective in screening for early asymptomatic NPC. Although the mortality reduction was not significant in the primary end point, we noted encouraging evidence of a mortality reduction in screening participants in this interim analysis.
NCT00941538.
Using 6.32 fb–1 of electron-positron collision data recorded by the BESIII detector at center-of-mass energies between 4.178 and 4.226 GeV, we present the first search for the decay $D^{+}_{s}$ → ...a0(980)0e+νe, a0(980)0 → π0η, which could proceed via a0(980) – f0(980) mixing. No significant signal is observed. An upper limit of 1.2 × 10–4 at the 90% confidence level is set on the product of the branching fractions of $D^{+}_{s}$ → a0(980)0e+νe and a0(980)0 → π0η decays.
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•Global supply chain in terms of embodied carbon emissions is studied.•Intermediate trade of embodied carbon emissions is 2.3 times as much as final trade.•China’s carbon trade ...deficit is twice the trade surplus of the United States.•Mainland China’s final trade deficit is 1.2 times its intermediate trade deficit.•India’s embodied carbon emissions are projected to double from 2012 to 2040.
By differentiating intermediate trade from final trade, this paper combines typical statistics for the world economy in 2012 to explore the transfer of embodied carbon emissions via the global supply chain and the related trade imbalance. The emission transfer embodied in interregional trade is in magnitude around 40% of global direct carbon emissions. The global intermediate trade volume of embodied carbon emissions is estimated to be 2.3 times as much as the final trade volume. While Mainland China obtains a considerable economic trade surplus, its carbon trade deficit is about twice the carbon trade surplus of the United States. Mainland China’s final trade deficit is around 1.2 times as much as its intermediate trade deficit of embodied carbon emissions. EU27, the United States, ASEAN and Japan serve as the major contributors to China’s intermediate and final trade deficits. For the United States, its intermediate carbon trade surplus is almost equal to its final trade surplus. The United States gains a carbon surplus with most of its trading partners in both intermediate and final trades. A future scenario analysis in terms of carbon emission projection is conducted. While the direct and embodied carbon emissions of the United States and Japan are estimated to change slightly from 2012 to 2040, India’s carbon emissions are projected to experience a twofold increase during the period. In the long term, though with ups and downs, the economic globalization will be inevitably moving forward, leading to a highly sliced-up global supply chain and increasingly delicate regional specialization as well as frequent intermediate trade between regions. It is suggested that nations and regions should follow this trend and adapt themselves to the global value chain by carefully assessing their roles in intermediate and final trades in terms of both currency and embodied carbon emissions.
The decays ψ2(3823 ) → γχc0,1,2, π+π− J/ψ, π0π0J/ψ , ηJ/ψ, and π0J/ψ are searched for using the reaction e+e− → π+π− ψ2 (3823) in a 19 fb−1 data sample collected at center-of-mass energies between ...4.1 and 4.7 GeV with the BESIII detector. The process ψ2(3823) → γχc1 is observed in a 9 fb−1 data sample in the center-of-mass energy range 4.3–4.7 GeV, which confirms a previous observation but with a higher significance of 11.8 σ , and evidence for ψ2(3823) → γχc2 is found with a significance of 3.2 σ for the first time. The branching-fraction ratio ... is determined. No significant ψ2 (3823) signals are observed for any of the other decay channels. Upper limits of branching-fraction ratios for ψ2(3823 ) → π+π− J/ψ , π0π0 J/ψ, ηJ/ψ , π0 J/ψ, γ χc0 relative to ψ2 (3823) → γχc1 are reported. The process e+e− → π0π0ψ2 (3823) is also searched for, and we find evidence for the process with a significance of 4.3 σ . The average cross-section ratio σ (e+e− → π0π0ψ2 (3823)) σ (e+e− → π+π− ψ2 (3823)) is also determined. (ProQuest: ... denotes formula omited.).
We study the process e^{+}e^{-}→Λ_{c}^{+}Λover ¯_{c}^{-} at twelve center-of-mass energies from 4.6119 to 4.9509 GeV using data samples collected by the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. The ...Born cross sections and effective form factors (|G_{eff}|) are determined with unprecedented precision after combining the single and double-tag methods based on the decay process Λ_{c}^{+}→pK^{-}π^{+}. Flat cross sections around 4.63 GeV are obtained and no indication of the resonant structure Y(4630), as reported by Belle, is found. In addition, no oscillatory behavior is discerned in the |G_{eff}| energy dependence of Λ_{c}^{+}, in contrast to what is seen for the proton and neutron cases. Analyzing the cross section together with the polar-angle distribution of the Λ_{c}^{+} baryon at each energy point, the moduli of electric and magnetic form factors (|G_{E}| and |G_{M}|) are extracted and separated. For the first time, the energy dependence of the form factor ratio |G_{E}/G_{M}| is observed, which can be well described by an oscillatory function.
Ischemia‐reperfusion injury (IRI), an innate immunity‐driven local inflammation, remains the major problem in clinical organ transplantation. T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (TIM‐3)–Galectin‐9 ...(Gal‐9) signaling regulates CD4+ Th1 immune responses. Here, we explored TIM‐3–Gal‐9 function in a clinically relevant murine model of hepatic cold storage and orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). C57BL/6 livers, preserved for 20 h at 4°C in UW solution, were transplanted to syngeneic mouse recipients. Up‐regulation of TIM‐3 on OLT‐infiltrating activated CD4+ T cells was observed in the early IRI phase (1 h). By 6 h of reperfusion, OLTs in recipients treated with a blocking anti‐TIM‐3 Ab were characterized by: (1) enhanced hepatocellular damage (sALT levels, liver Suzuki's histological score); (2) polarized cell infiltrate towards Th1/Th17‐type phenotype; (3) depressed T cell exhaustion markers (PD‐1, LAG3); and (4) elevated neutrophil and macrophage infiltration/activation. In parallel studies, adoptive transfer of CD4+ T cells from naïve WT, but not from TIM‐3 Tg donors, readily recreated OLT damage in otherwise IR‐resistant RAG−/− test recipients. Furthermore, pre‐treatment of mice with rGal‐9 promoted hepatoprotection against preservation‐association liver damage, accompanied by enhanced TIM‐3 expression in OLTs. Thus, CD4+ T cell‐dependent “negative” TIM‐3 costimulation is essential for hepatic homeostasis and resistance against IR stress in OLTs.
TIM‐3–Gal‐9 negative T cell costimulation promotes hepatic homeostasis and cytoprotection against innate immune‐driven ischemia reperfusion injury in mouse liver transplants.
To reflect an important aspect of the water footprint of thermal power in China, this study as an extension of a previous work (Wu et al., 2018a) uncovers the high amount of industrial water use ...induced by plant infrastructure of a typical coal-fired power generation system. The systems process method is used by combining process analysis and water intensities obtained from systems input-output analysis. Industrial water use induced by plant infrastructure is accounted to be several times greater than previous estimates, and approximate to or much larger than that induced by fuel mining, preparation and transport in total. For per unit of electricity output, the water use by plant infrastructure amounts to 8.4% of the direct freshwater withdrawal for the majority of supercritical thermal power plants equipped with wet tower cooling, and even up to 38% of the freshwater withdrawal for some plants with air tower cooling. The annual water use induced by coal-fired power generation infrastructure in China is estimated to be 0.6%, 7%, and 23% of the annual freshwater withdrawal by China, Japan, and United Kingdom, respectively. The outcome provides a benchmark for policy makers to measure and curb the upstream water use by plant infrastructure.
•The remarkable water footprint is revealed for coal-fired plant infrastructure.•A hybrid of process analysis and systems input-output analysis is used.•The industrial water use induced is several times greater than previous estimates.•The water use induced is comparable to the direct freshwater withdrawal.•Implications are clarified for effective policy-making on water conservation.
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