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The problem of model counting, also known as #SAT, is to compute the number of models or satisfying assignments of a given Boolean formula $F$. Model counting is a fundamental problem in computer science with a wide range of applications. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in using hashing-based techniques for approximate model counting that provide $(\varepsilon, \delta)$-guarantees: i.e., the count returned is within a $(1+\varepsilon)$-factor of the exact count with confidence at least $1-\delta$. While hashing-based techniques attain reasonable scalability for large enough values of $\delta$, their scalability is severely impacted for smaller values of $\delta$, thereby preventing their adoption in application domains that require estimates with high confidence. The primary contribution of this paper is to address the Achilles heel of hashing-based techniques: we propose a novel approach based on rounding that allows us to achieve a significant reduction in runtime for smaller values of $\delta$. The resulting counter, called RoundMC, achieves a substantial runtime performance improvement over the current state-of-the-art counter, ApproxMC. In particular, our extensive evaluation over a benchmark suite consisting of 1890 instances shows that RoundMC solves 204 more instances than ApproxMC, and achieves a $4\times$ speedup over ApproxMC., Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, to be published in CAV23

Aliovalent doping has been adopted to optimize the electrical properties of semiconductors, while its impact on the phonon structure and propagation is seldom paid proper attention to. This work reveals that aliovalent doping can be much more effective in reducing the lattice thermal conductivity of thermoelectric semiconductors than the commonly employed isoelectronic alloying strategy. As demonstrated in the heavy-band NbFeSb system, a large reduction of 65% in the lattice thermal conductivity is achieved through only 10% aliovalent Hf-doping, compared to the 4 times higher isoelectronic Ta-alloying. It is elucidated that aliovalent doping introduces free charge carriers and enhances the screening, leading to the giant softening and deceleration of optical phonons. Moreover, the heavy dopant can induce the avoided-crossing of acoustic and optical phonon branches, further decelerating the acoustic phonons. These results highlight the significant role of aliovalent dopants in regulating the phonon structure and suppressing the phonon propagation of semiconductors.

The health beliefs and practices regarding cervical cancer screening among women in the mountainous and Terai region of Nepal were investigated and examined for the differences. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with a purposive sample of 216 in mountainous and 294 in Terai. The interview tools were a socio-demographic scale, a Nepalese Health Belief Model Scale for Cervical Cancer followed by the Screening Test. Chi-square test, binary logistic regression, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the screening rate was low for both regions with a significant difference in the benefit of screening and health motivation. Being older and having a positive family history of cervical cancer were shown to be predictors screening practice. Women from both groups preferred female doctors for screening. Culturally appropriate educational interventions focused on the benefits and obstacles of screening is needed to improve the beliefs of cervical cancer and screening and increase the screening rate. Nurses need to be aware of health beliefs regarding cervical cancer during cervical screening and education.

The past decade has witnessed a surge of interest in practical techniques for projected model counting. Despite significant advancements, however, performance scaling remains the Achilles' heel of this field. A key idea used in modern counters is to count models projected on an \emph{independent support} that is often a small subset of the projection set, i.e. original set of variables on which we wanted to project. While this idea has been effective in scaling performance, the question of whether it can benefit to count models projected on variables beyond the projection set, has not been explored. In this paper, we study this question and show that contrary to intuition, it can be beneficial to project on variables beyond the projection set. In applications such as verification of binarized neural networks, quantification of information flow, reliability of power grids etc., a good upper bound of the projected model count often suffices. We show that in several such cases, we can identify a set of variables, called upper bound support (UBS), that is not necessarily a subset of the projection set, and yet counting models projected on UBS guarantees an upper bound of the true projected model count. Theoretically, a UBS can be exponentially smaller than the smallest independent support. Our experiments show that even otherwise, UBS-based projected counting can be more efficient than independent support-based projected counting, while yielding bounds of very high quality. Based on extensive experiments, we find that UBS-based projected counting can solve many problem instances that are beyond the reach of a state-of-the-art independent support-based projected model counter.

In the palletizing task, the three-dimensional size of the stack directly affects the working distance (i.e., depth) of the manipulator in the Z-axis direction. In order to complete the palletizing task accurately and reliably and realize human-computer interaction, it is necessary to obtain the three-dimensional structural characteristics of the pallet in real time. Therefore, this paper proposes a three-dimensional reconstruction of the single image of the grab based on the palletizing task. Firstly this paper converts the RGB image of the stack to a grayscale image, then uses the Canny method to detect the edge of the corresponding grayscale image, and uses the Hough line detection algorithm to extract the straight line in the edge image. By analyzing the characteristics of the straight line cluster. A stack is divided into three groups of straight lines in the horizontal, vertical, and vertical directions according to the angle characteristics of the straight line. The RANSAC algorithm is used to analyze and obtain the best linear model of the straight line in each direction. And the minimum distance method is used to solve the vanishing points in the three directions of horizontal, vertical and vertical, and then the internal and external parameters of the camera are calibrated according to the attributes of the vanishing points. A fast and high-precision rectangle detection algorithm is used to detect the coordinates of the vertices of the cuboid. In particular, the size of each cuboid part is consistent and known, so this paper combines the camera’s internal and external parameters with the geometric characteristics of the stack can get the length, width, and height and visual model of a real-time changing stack during the palletizing task. The experimental results show that this algorithm can well build a three-dimensional wireframe model of the stack, and realize the three-dimensional visualization of the model. The maximum error of the reconstructed model is 0.950, the minimum error is 0, and the average error is 0.217; the maximum length The error is 0.560, the minimum error is 0, and the average error is 0.187; the maximum error of the width is 0.950, the minimum error is 0.064, and the average error is 0.461; the maximum error of the height is 0.420, the minimum error is 0, and the average error is 0.14; the robot Z axis The maximum error of the working distance (i.e. depth) in the direction is 0.24, the minimum error is 0, and the average error is 0.08, which meets our actual modeling requirements.

Interleukin-13 plays a critical role in mediating many biological processes responsible for allergic inflammation. Mast cells express Il13 mRNA and produce IL-13 protein in response to antigenic stimulation. Enhancers are essential in promoting gene transcription and are thought to activate transcription by delivering essential accessory co-factors to the promoter to potentiate gene transcription. However, enhancers mediating Il13 have not been identified. Furthermore, which Il13 enhancers detect signals triggered by antigenic stimulation have not yet been defined. In this study, we identified potential mouse Il13 enhancers using histone modification monomethylation at lysine residue 4 on histone 3 (H3K4me1) ChIP-seq and acetylation at lysine residue 27 on histone 3 (H3K27ac) ChIP-seq. We used Omni-ATAC-seq to determine which accessible regions within the potential Il13 enhancers that responded to IgE receptor crosslinking. We also demonstrated that the transcription factor (TF) cluster consisting of the NFATC2, STAT5, GATA2, AP1, and RUNX1 binding sites at the proximal Il13 enhancer, the TF cluster consisting of the EGR2-binding site at the distal Il13 E+6.5 enhancer, are critical in sensing the signals triggered by antigenic stimulation. Those enhancers, which are responsive to antigenic stimulation and constitutively active, cooperate to generate greater transcriptional outputs. Our study reveals a novel mechanism underlying how antigenic stimulation induces robust Il13 mRNA expression in mouse mast cells.

Wei Jiang,1 Xiaofei Deng,1 Ting Zhu,1 Yuya Wei,1 Zhen Lei,1 Meimei Guo,2 Jiong Yang2 1Department of Ultrasound, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen 518052, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Gastroenterology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen 518052, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Wei JiangDepartment of Ultrasound, Shenzhen Nanshan District People’s Hospital, No. 89, Taoyuan Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen 518052, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13026628099Email jwszdr@126.comBackground: Identification of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) associated with hepatolithiasis (HL) is difficult. There is no effective method to discriminate CCA associated with HL (HL-CCA) from HL currently.Objective: To explore the value of clinical data, ultrasonic characteristics and miRNA expression level in the identification of HL-CCA.Methods: Thirty-one patients with HL-CCA in Huazhong University of Science and Technology Union Shenzhen Hospital were enrolled in the observation group, while 40 patients with HL alone were included in the control group. The clinical data, ultrasonic characteristics, and miRNA expression level of the two groups were recorded and analyzed to explore the potential indicators for the identification of HL-CCA.Results: The accuracy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of HL-CCA was low (54.84%). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that liver abscess (P=0.021), indistinct border demarcation (P=0.015), non-homogenous echotexture (P=0.019), missed portal vein around lesion (P=0.032), miRNA-21 (P=0.018) and miRNA-221 (P=0.009) were the potential indicators for the identification of HL-CCA. The combined diagnosis based on logistic regression contained liver abscess, border demarcation, echotexture, portal vein around lesion, miRNA-21 and miRNA-221. The results showed that the accuracy of combined diagnosis identifying HL-CCA was the most accurate (AUC=0.911), which was significantly greater than the AUC of miRNA-21 or miRNA-221 individually (P< 0.05), with a sensitivity and specificity of 77.42% and 97.50%, respectively.Conclusion: Patients with HL-CCA show high incidence of hepatic abscess and elevated miRNA-21 and miRNA-221 expression level. The ultrasonic features are more likely to show indistinct border demarcation, non-homogenous echotexture, and missed portal vein around lesion. The combined diagnosis is more accurate in the identification of HL-CCA.Keywords: cholangiocarcinoma, hepatolithiasis, microRNA, differential diagnosis, combined diagnosis, ultrasound

Taking advantages of both azide and cyanide bridges in magnetism and synthesis, an azido–cyanide mixed-bridged octanuclear [FeIII4NiII4] SMM of [{(enbzpy)Ni2(μ1,1-N3)2·(DMF)}{Tp*Fe(CN)3}2]2·2DMF·14...

Rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) are very promising for large-scale grid energy storage applications owing to their low cost, environmentally benign constituents, excellent safety, and relatively high energy density. Their usage, however, is largely hampered by the fast capacity fade. The complexity of the reactions has resulted in long-standing ambiguities of the chemical pathways of Zn/MnO 2 system. In this study, we find that both H + /Zn 2+ intercalation and conversion reactions occur at different voltages and that the rapid capacity fading can clearly be ascribed to the rate-limiting and irreversible conversion reactions at a lower voltage. By limiting the irreversible conversion reactions at â1.26 V, we successfully demonstrate ultrahigh power and long life that are superior to most of the reported ZIBs or even some lithium-ion batteries.

Two-dimensional (2D) monolayer phosphorene, a 2D system with quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) excitons, provides a unique 2D platform for investigating the dynamics of excitons in reduced dimensions and fundamental many-body interactions. However, on the other hand, the quasi-1D excitonic nature can limit the luminescence quantum yield significantly. Here, we report exciton brightening in monolayer phosphorene achieved via the dimensionality modification of excitons from quasi-1D to zero-dimensional (0D), through the transference of monolayer phosphorene samples onto defect-rich oxide substrate deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The resultant interfacial luminescent local states lead to exciton localization and trigger efficient photon emissions at a new wavelength of ~920 nm. The luminescence quantum yield of 0D-like localized excitons is measured to be at least 33.6 times larger than that of intrinsic quasi-1D free excitons in monolayer phosphorene. This is primarily due to the reduction of non-radiative decay rate and the possibly enhanced radiative recombination probability. Owing to the large trapping energy, this new photon emission from the localized excitons in monolayer phosphorene can be observed at elevated temperature, which contrasts markedly with defect-induced photon emission from transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductor monolayers that can only be observed at cryogenic temperatures. Our findings introduce new avenues for the development of novel photonic devices based on monolayer phosphorene, such as near-infrared lighting devices that are operable at elevated temperature. More importantly, 2D phosphorene with quasi-1D free excitons and 0D-like localized excitons provides a unique platform to investigate the fundamental phenomena in the ideal 2D-1D-0D hybrid system.

The resistance of the anodic PbO film formed on lead at 0.9 V (vs. Hg/Hg2SO4) in 4.5 mol/dm3 H2SO4 was measured using alternating-current impedance method. The resistance of the anodic PbO film was found to be close to that of the interstitial liquid among the PbO particles in the film, suggesting mat the interstitial liquid may serve as the major passage for ion transportation during the film growth.

Filled skutterudite is a typical thermoelectric material with high thermoelectric figure of merit at intermediate temperatures. One of the important features is the low lattice thermal conductivity (L) caused by the low frequency vibrations of filler atoms in the oversized void cages. In the past decades, it has been still under debate whether the underlying phonon scattering mechanism should be considered to be resonant scattering or enhanced three-phonon process. To clarify the role played by the filler atoms in reducing the lattice thermal conductivity, we study the microscopic dynamical process of filler and related interactions by means of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) and temperature dependent effective potential (TDEP) technique. Firstly, we simulate the dynamical trajectories of fully filled skutterudite YbFe4Sb12 at different temperatures through AIMD. In this approach, the nonlinear guest-host interactions at finite temperatures are taken into consideration naturally from dynamical trajectories. Then, we extract the effective temperature-dependent harmonic and anharmonic interatomic force constants (IFCs) by TDEP method through the statistical analyses of both trajectories and forces. The atomic participation ratios and lifetimes of phonon modes are calculated based on the effective IFCs. The results demonstrate that the local vibration modes of Yb couple with acoustic branches and reduce the lifetimes of the lattice phonons significantly. However, the calculated L, which is on the assumption that the filler interacts with lattice phonons through three-phonon collision, still deviates from the experimental result. In order to rationalize the discrepancy, we analyze the correlation properties between different Yb atoms by velocity coherence in atomic dynamical motions. The localized and independent vibration characteristic of Yb is found in this analysis. This implies that the motions of Yb atoms deviate from the periodic and collective vibration excitation paradigm of phonon. Therefore, the mechanism for how filler atoms scatter lattice phonon and enhance thermal resistance is beyond three-phonon scattering process. We thus introduce resonant scattering into the lifetimes of Yb-dominant localized vibration modes, and so-calculated L is in a good agreement with the experimental data. Overall, we come to a conclusion that both the phonon-phonon interaction and the resonant scattering due to the localized oscillators cause the low lattice thermal conductivity of YbFe4Sb12.

Monolayer phosphorene provides a unique two-dimensional (2D) platform to investigate the fundamental dynamics of excitons and trions (charged excitons) in reduced dimensions. However, owing to its high instability, unambiguous identification of monolayer phosphorene has been elusive. Consequently, many important fundamental properties, such as exciton dynamics, remain underexplored. We report a rapid, noninvasive, and highly accurate approach based on optical interferometry to determine the layer number of phosphorene, and confirm the results with reliable photoluminescence measurements. Furthermore, we successfully probed the dynamics of excitons and trions in monolayer phosphorene by controlling the photo-carrier injection in a relatively low excitation power range. Based on our measured optical gap and the previously measured electronic energy gap, we determined the exciton binding energy to be ~0.3 eV for the monolayer phosphorene on SiO2/Si substrate, which agrees well with theoretical predictions. A huge trion binding energy of ~100 meV was first observed in monolayer phosphorene, which is around five times higher than that in transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayer semiconductor, such as MoS2. The carrier lifetime of exciton emission in monolayer phosphorene was measured to be ~220 ps, which is comparable to those in other 2D TMD semiconductors. Our results open new avenues for exploring fundamental phenomena and novel optoelectronic applications using monolayer phosphorene., Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1412.6701, arXiv:1411.6124

The Cu3SbSe4 compound is an environmentally friendly and low-cost medium-temperature thermoelectric material, which is featured by its low thermal conductivity. The disadvantage of this compound lies in its intrinsic poor electrical transport property. In order to improve the electrical conductivity of Cu3SbSe4, in this work we are to increase its carrier concentration by one to two orders of magnitude though elemental doping. The sample composition of Cu2.95GaxSb1-xSe4 is designed to increase the hole carrier concentration by introducing Cu vacancies and substituting Ga3+ for Sb5+. The Cu2.95GaxSb1-xSe4 (x=0, 0.01, 0.02 and 0.04) samples are prepared by melting-quench method. The X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that the obtained samples are of single-phase with the tetragonal famatinite structure, and the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy results show that the actual compositions of the samples are very close to their nominal compositions. The effect of Ga doping on the thermoelectric performance of Cu3SbSe4 compound is investigated systematically by electrical and thermal transport property measurements. According to our experimental results, the hole concentration of the sample is efficiently increased by substituting Sb with a small amount of Ga (x=0.01), which can not only substantially improve the electrical conductivity but also suppress the intrinsic excitation of the sample. The maximum power factor reaches 10 μW/cm·K2 at 625 K for the Ga doped sample with x=0.01, which is nearly twice as much as that of the sample free of Ga. Although the carrier concentration further increases with increasing Ga content, the hole mobility decreases dramatically with the Ga content increasing due to the increased hole effective mass and point defect scattering. Thus, the electrical transport properties of the samples deteriorate at higher Ga content, and the maximum power factors for the samples with x=0.02 and 0.04 reach 9 and 8 μW/cm·K2 at 625 K, respectively. The lattice thermal conductivities of the samples basically comply with the T-1 relationship, suggesting the phonon U-process is the dominant scattering mechanism in our samples. For the samples with x=0 and 0.01, the lattice thermal conductivities at high temperature deviate slightly from the T-1 curve due to the presence of intrinsic excitation. However, these deviations are eliminated for the samples with x=0.02 and 0.04 because the bipolar effect is effectively suppressed with the increasing of Ga content. Thus, Ga doping can reduce the bipolar thermal conductivity at high temperature by increasing the hole carrier concentration. Furthermore, the point defects introduced by Ga doping can also enhance the scattering of high-frequency phonons, leading to slightly reduced lattice thermal conductivities of Ga-doped samples at higher temperature. Finally, a maximum ZT value of 0.53 at 664 K is achieved in Ga-doped sample, which is 50% higher than that of the sample free of Ga.

Background : In 2008 Wuhan University Medical School in China proposed to reform its curriculum by adapting the curriculum of the University of Chicago Medical School. Description : An assessment of Wuhan University Medical School's traditional curriculum conducted in 2009 informed the reform directions, which included course integration, use of clinical cases, improved relevance of basic sciences to clinical medicine, reduction of lecture time, increase in group and independent learning, and the use of formative assessments. Fifty student volunteers per year were chosen to participate in the reform, and the rest remained in the traditional curriculum. Evaluation : A student survey was conducted in 2011 to evaluate the reform by comparing the attitudes of those in the reform and standard curricula. Conclusions : The reform met the needs of the school, was generally well received, improved satisfaction in reform participants, and had a positive impact on students. Areas needing improvement were also identi...

To investigate the number of peripheral blood CD5(+) B cells and their ability of secreting IL-10 in patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).Peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated from 57 pre-treated, 40 post-treated ITP patients and 25 controls using Ficoll-Hypaque density centrifugation and then stained with PE-CD5/FITC-CD19 for flow cytometric analysis. After 24-hour culture, lymphocytes were stained with APC-IL-10 for intracellular cytokine detection. ELISA assay was employed to determine IL-10 concentration in supernatants.The percentage and absolute number of CD5(+) B cells in peripheral blood from pre-treated ITP patients were significantly higher than that from normal controls (3.75 ± 2.37)% vs (2.10 ± 1.08)%, P0.01; (6.29 ± 5.77)× 10(7)/L vs (3.06 ± 1.90)× 10(7)/L, P0.01. CD5(+) B cells expressed more intracellular IL-10 than other lymphocyte subsets both in ITP patients and normal controls. The percentages of IL-10(+) cells within CD5(+) B cells in pre-treated ITP patients and normal controls were (29.51 ± 20.73)% and(15.90 ± 9.58)%, respectively(P0.01). Intracellular mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of IL-10 in CD5(+) B cells was 27.95 ± 13.99 in pre-treated patients, which was significantly higher than that in controls (P0.01). In contrast, IL-10 concentration in supernatants was (173.05 ± 102.50) ng/L in pre-treated ITP group, which was lower than that (230.61 ± 76.96) ng/L in controls. In patients who achieved remission, the number of CD5(+) B cells decreased to level comparable to normal controls. While intracellular IL-10 MFI of CD5(+) B cells in post-treated ITP patients remained as high as in pre-treated ones, the IL-10 concentration in supernatants increased to level similar to controls.The significantly increased number of CD5(+) B cells and accumulated IL-10 in CD5(+) B cells suggested impaired IL-10 secretion in ITP patients. The number and the ability of secreting IL-10 of CD5(+) B cells could be restored after effective treatments in patients with ITP.

Starting from a CNNIC report and a survey investigation, the article shows the importance of promoting e-learning for college students and its potentiality. As E-learning has developed with new ideas such as equal Learning, the article further analyzes the psychological characteristics of college students and their influence on the current e-learning promotion. The argument has put forward s social psychological perspective on the study of e-learning development in universities.