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The correlation between diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) is well established. Insulin resistance (IR) is considered a primary contributor to elevated CAD risk in diabetic individuals. The triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index serves as a straightforward surrogate marker for insulin resistance. However, few studies have explored their correlations with myocardial infarction and CAD severity. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the association between the TyG index and the occurrence of myocardial infarction, as well as the severity of coronary artery disease. We conducted a retrospective study involving 3865 consecutive patients who underwent coronary angiography at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine. Of these, 1724 patients were diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Demographic, biochemical, clinical, and angiographic data were gathered. A robust correlation exists between the TyG index and CAD subtypes, suggesting its potential as an independent clinical diagnostic marker. Moreover, the TyG index exhibited a significant positive correlation with disease severity, as assessed by the Gensini score. Elevated TyG index was associated with an increased predisposition to severe CAD, as indicated by the Gensini score, and myocardial infarction, even after adjusting for well-established cardiovascular risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inbreeding depression refers to the reduced performance arising from increased homozygosity, a phenomenon that is the reverse of heterosis and exists among plants and animals. As a natural self-pollinated crop with strong heterosis, the mechanism of inbreeding depression in rice is largely unknown. To understand the genetic basis of inbreeding depression, we constructed a successive inbreeding population from the F2 to F4 generation and observed inbreeding depression of all heterotic traits in the progeny along with the decay of heterozygosity in each generation. The expected depression effect was largely explained by 13 QTLs showing dominant effects for spikelets per panicle, 11 for primary branches, and 12 for secondary branches, and these loci constitute the main correlation between heterosis and inbreeding depression. However, the genetic basis of inbreeding depression is also distinct from that of heterosis, such that a biased transmission ratio of alleles for QTLs with either dominant or additive effects in four segregation distortion regions would result in minor effects in expected depression. Noticeably, two-locus interactions may change the extent and direction of the depression effects of the target loci, and overall interactions would promote inbreeding depression among generations. Using an F2:3 variation population, the actual performance of the loci showing expected depression was evaluated considering the heterozygosity decay in the background after inbreeding. We found inconsistent or various degrees of background depression from the F2 to F3 generation assuming different genotypes of the target locus, which may affect the actual depression effect of the locus due to epistasis. The results suggest that the genetic architecture of inbreeding depression and heterosis is closely linked but also differs in their intrinsic mechanisms, which expand our understanding of the whole-genome architecture of inbreeding depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trans-laminar fracture is an important topic for engineering composites. In this study, trans-laminar fracture initiation in quasi-isotropic carbon/epoxy laminates made of non-crimp fabrics was examined using in situ fast synchrotron X-ray radiography and ex situ X-ray computed tomography. The maximum split lengths were measured by in situ radiography and were compared with the predicted values in a detailed FE model using cohesive elements. Ex situ computed tomography scans were also conducted to confirm that no fibre breakage occurs before the final load drop in the experiments. In situ and ex situ observations are complementary for the understanding of damage initiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reinforcement learning (RL) has achieved remarkable advancements in navigation tasks in recent years. However, tackling multi-goal navigation tasks with sparse rewards remains a complex and challenging problem due to the long-sequence decision-making involved. Such multi-goal navigation tasks inherently incorporate a hybrid action space, where the robot needs to select a navigation endpoint first before executing primitive actions. To address the problem of multi-goal navigation with sparse rewards, we introduce a novel hierarchical RL framework named Hierarchical RL with Multi-Goal (HRL-MG). The main idea of HRL-MG is to divide and conquer the hybrid action space, splitting long-sequence decisions into short-sequence decisions. The HRL-MG framework is composed of two main modules: a selector and an actuator. The selector employs a temporal abstraction hierarchical architecture designed to specify a desired end goal based on the discrete action space. Conversely, the actuator utilizes a continuous goal-oriented hierarchical architecture developed to enact continuous action sequences to reach the desired end goal specified by the selector. In addition, we incorporate a dynamic goal detection mechanism, grounded in hindsight experience replay, to mitigate the challenges posed by sparse reward landscapes. We validated the algorithm’s efficacy on both the discrete environment Maze_2D and the continuous robotic environment MuJoCo ‘Ant’. The results indicate that HRL-MG significantly outperforms other methods in multi-goal navigation tasks with sparse rewards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the characterization and first laser operation of ceramic Yb:LuScO3 in a thin-disk oscillator. The optical performance achieved with a ceramic Yb:LuScO3 disk is compared to the one obtained with an existing ceramic Yb:Lu2O3 disk for reference. The characterization covers the measurement of the fluorescence spectra, the fluorescence lifetimes, and nomarsky imaging. The investigation on the laser operation covers the measurement of resonator losses, output powers, and thermal behavior during continuous-wave operation in a multimode thin-disk oscillator. An average output power of 149 W and a slope efficiency of 51.8% were achieved with the ceramic Yb:LuScO3 disk which reached a maximum surface temperature of about 150 °C. At the same temperature level, a disk made of the already established ceramic Yb:Lu2O3 delivered 957 W of output power with a slope efficiency of 75.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a robust fault-tolerant sliding mode controller is proposed for a class of non-homogeneous Euler–Bernoulli beams which contains controller time-varying fault, external unknown spatiotemporally varying disturbance, and parametric uncertainties. Furthermore, to reduce the number of correspondence between the controller and the actuator, two event-triggered mechanisms are incorporated into the controller design. The sliding surface designed ensures that the system is uniformly ultimately bounded and robust to the parameter uncertainties in model. In addition, the Euler–Bernoulli beam can be used as a model for the flexible wind turbine tower. Numerical simulations are shown to illustrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed control method. The simulation results show that in the presence of unknown faults and parametric uncertainties, the proposed controller can still effectively suppress the vibration of the tower, while the event-triggered mechanism significantly reduces the communications burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In type-II Weyl semimetals (WSMs), the tilting of the Weyl cones leads to the coexistence of electron and hole pockets that touch at the Weyl nodes. These electrons and holes experience the Berry curvature generated by the Weyl nodes, leading to an anomalous Hall effect that is highly sensitive to the Fermi level position. Here we have identified field-induced ferromagnetic MnBi2-xSbxTe4 as an ideal type-II WSM with a single pair of Weyl nodes. By employing a combination of quantum oscillations and high-field Hall measurements, we have resolved the evolution of Fermi-surface sections as the Fermi level is tuned across the charge neutrality point, precisely matching the band structure of an ideal type-II WSM. Furthermore, the anomalous Hall conductivity exhibits a heartbeat-like behavior as the Fermi level is tuned across the Weyl nodes, a feature of type-II WSMs that was long predicted by theory. Our work uncovers a large free carrier contribution to the anomalous Hall effect resulting from the unique interplay between the Fermi surface and diverging Berry curvature in magnetic type-II WSMs.The authors study the field-induced ferromagnetic state of MnBi2-xSbxTe4 by quantum oscillations and high-field Hall effect measurements. They confirm a single pair of type-II Weyl nodes, the long-sought “ideal” Weyl semimetal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exciton polaritons are quasiparticles of photons coupled strongly to bound electron-hole pairs, manifesting as an anti-crossing light dispersion near an exciton resonance. Highly anisotropic semiconductors with opposite-signed permittivities along different crystal axes are predicted to host exotic modes inside the anti-crossing called hyperbolic exciton polaritons (HEPs), which confine light subdiffractionally with enhanced density of states. Here, we show observational evidence of steady-state HEPs in the van der Waals magnet chromium sulfide bromide (CrSBr) using a cryogenic near-infrared near-field microscope. At low temperatures, in the magnetically-ordered state, anisotropic exciton resonances sharpen, driving the permittivity negative along one crystal axis and enabling HEP propagation. We characterize HEP momentum and losses in CrSBr, also demonstrating coupling to excitonic sidebands and enhancement by magnetic order: which boosts exciton spectral weight via wavefunction delocalization. Our findings open new pathways to nanoscale manipulation of excitons and light, including routes to magnetic, nonlocal, and quantum polaritonics. Hyperbolic exciton polaritons (HEPs) are anisotropic light-matter excitations with promising applications, but their steady-state observation is challenging. Here, the authors report experimental evidence of HEPs in a van der Waals magnet, CrSBr, via cryogenic infrared near-field microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the direct comparison of single-crystal and ceramic Yb3+:Lu203 gain media with respect to emission spectra, fluorescence lifetime, depolarization, and laser performance in a continuous-wave thin-disk laser oscillator. The most efficient laser operation was achieved with a single-crystal disk in multimode operation with a slope efficiency of 72.1% and an average output power of 997 W. At the same temperature level, a ceramic disk delivered 861 W with a slope efficiency of 68.6%. In fundamental-mode operation, the highest average power of 360 W and highest optical efficiency of 41.3% were obtained with a ceramic disk. For the single-crystal disk, the fundamental-mode output power was limited to 113 W at an optical efficiency of 29%, potentially due to stress within the crystal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integer quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect is a lattice analogue of the quantum Hall effect at zero magnetic field1–3. This phenomenon occurs in systems with topologically non-trivial bands and spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking. Discovery of its fractional counterpart in the presence of strong electron correlations, that is, the fractional QAH effect4–7, would open a new chapter in condensed matter physics. Here we report the direct observation of both integer and fractional QAH effects in electrical measurements on twisted bilayer MoTe2. At zero magnetic field, near filling factor ν = −1 (one hole per moiré unit cell), we see an integer QAH plateau in the Hall resistance Rxy quantized to h/e2 ± 0.1%, whereas the longitudinal resistance Rxx vanishes. Remarkably, at ν = −2/3 and −3/5, we see plateau features in Rxy at 3 2 h / e 2 ± 1 % and 5 3 h / e 2 ± 3 % , respectively, whereas Rxx remains small. All features shift linearly versus applied magnetic field with slopes matching the corresponding Chern numbers −1, −2/3 and −3/5, precisely as expected for integer and fractional QAH states. Additionally, at zero magnetic field, Rxy is approximately 2h/e2 near half-filling (ν = −1/2) and varies linearly as ν is tuned. This behaviour resembles that of the composite Fermi liquid in the half-filled lowest Landau level of a two-dimensional electron gas at high magnetic field8–14. Direct observation of the fractional QAH and associated effects enables research in charge fractionalization and anyonic statistics at zero magnetic field.Transport measurements in twisted bilayer MoTe2 reveal quantized Hall resistance plateaus and composite Fermi liquid-like behaviour under zero magnetic field, constituting a direct observation of integer and fractional quantum anomalous Hall effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay between spontaneous symmetry breaking and topology can result in exotic quantum states of matter. A celebrated example is the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state, which exhibits an integer quantum Hall effect at zero magnetic field owing to intrinsic ferromagnetism1–3. In the presence of strong electron–electron interactions, fractional QAH (FQAH) states at zero magnetic field can emerge4–8. These states could host fractional excitations, including non-Abelian anyons—crucial building blocks for topological quantum computation9. Here we report experimental signatures of FQAH states in a twisted molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2) bilayer. Magnetic circular dichroism measurements reveal robust ferromagnetic states at fractionally hole-filled moiré minibands. Using trion photoluminescence as a sensor10, we obtain a Landau fan diagram showing linear shifts in carrier densities corresponding to filling factor v = −2/3 and v = −3/5 ferromagnetic states with applied magnetic field. These shifts match the Streda formula dispersion of FQAH states with fractionally quantized Hall conductance of σ x y = − 2 3 e 2 h and σ x y = − 3 5 e 2 h , respectively. Moreover, the v = −1 state exhibits a dispersion corresponding to Chern number −1, consistent with the predicted QAH state11–14. In comparison, several non-ferromagnetic states on the electron-doping side do not disperse, that is, they are trivial correlated insulators. The observed topological states can be electrically driven into topologically trivial states. Our findings provide evidence of the long-sought FQAH states, demonstrating MoTe2 moiré superlattices as a platform for exploring fractional excitations.Signatures of fractional quantum anomalous Hall states at zero magnetic field are observed in a fractionally filled moiré superlattice in a molybdenum ditelluride twisted bilayer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a low-floor bit-mapping (LFBM) scheme for bit-interleaved coded modulation (BICM) systems to meet more stringent quality of service requirements of 5G and beyond. For high-efficiency transmissions, we consider the 5G low-density parity-check codes with high-order 2m-quadrature amplitude modulations (QAMs). The proposed LFBM scheme overcomes plenty of trapping sets induced by the bit interleaver, which focuses on the waterfall performance too aggressively. When the high-order QAM is used, the row-column interleaver specified by the 5G standard is such a bit interleaver. The LFBM scheme only optimizes the rule of mapping an m-bit tuple output by the row-column interleaver to a modulation symbol, rather than the entire bit interleaver. Therefore, the optimized bit mapper is actually an m-bit permutation module concatenated with the original bit interleaver employed in the current 5G BICM systems. The simulation results confirm that the LFBM scheme can lower the error floor of the 5G BICM system by approximately two orders of magnitude, while with negligible performance loss in the waterfall region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has been called a Global Health Emergency worldwide. According to their available resources, developed and developing countries' public and private sectors are fighting against this pandemic. This paper examines how effective the Public–Private Partnership (PPP) strategies under the Chinese government response to control this COVID-19. The study takes the Chinese government and private sector's collective efforts for analysis and discussion from January 01 to October 31, 2020. Applying linear regression revealed that public governance strategies have worked to control this pandemic's severity and frequency. The results also show that despite the negative COVID-19 graph, the Chinese government has remained consistent in health and stringency measures. Furthermore, in cooperation with private sectors, China's emergency management has built two makeshift hospitals in 12 days and 5G technology implementation; Health Code application and volunteer works illustrate sharing governance by PPP. The study advises that by keeping in mind the strategy of PPP in China, other countries should also involve private sectors to mitigate emergency issues like COVID-19 for fast and effective outcomes and ask for assistance from the Chinese government and follow their quarantine and prudent policies to control this contagious disease. It further suggests that governments should engage private sectors before draft effective emergency preparedness policies to fight against future calamities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Kidokoro et al. found that protein complex LNK3,4-RVE4,8 and LNK1,2-RVE4,8 of the circadian clock modulates plant cold- and high-temperature tolerance, respectively. Here, we reviewed the discovery of LNKs, the dynamically formed morning-phased clock complexes, and their critical role on endogenous circadian rhythms. In addition, we summarized the research work on LNKs with the interacting proteins RVEs, CCA1 in temperature responses and discussed how the circadian clock confer increased fitness via gating the rhythmic expression of their target genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling quantum materials with light is of fundamental and technological importance. By utilizing the strong coupling of light and matter in optical cavities1–3, recent studies were able to modify some of their most defining features4–6. Here we study the magneto-optical properties of a van der Waals magnet that supports strong coupling of photons and excitons even in the absence of external cavity mirrors. In this material—the layered magnetic semiconductor CrSBr—emergent light–matter hybrids called polaritons are shown to substantially increase the spectral bandwidth of correlations between the magnetic, electronic and optical properties, enabling largely tunable optical responses to applied magnetic fields and magnons. Our results highlight the importance of exciton–photon self-hybridization in van der Waals magnets and motivate novel directions for the manipulation of quantum material properties by strong light–matter coupling.In the layered magnetic semiconductor CrSBr, emergent light–matter hybrids (polaritons) increase the spectral bandwidth of correlations between the magnetic, electronic and optical properties, enabling largely tunable optical responses to applied magnetic fields and magnons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a graph G and integers a i ≥ 1 , the expression G → (a 1 , ... , a r) v means that for any r-coloring of the vertices of G there exists a monochromatic a i -clique in G for some color i ∈ { 1 , ... , r } . The vertex Folkman numbers are defined as F v (a 1 , ... , a r ; H) = min { | V (G) | : G is H-free and G → (a 1 , ... , a r) v } , where H is a graph. Such vertex Folkman numbers have been extensively studied for H = K s with s > max { a i } 1 ≤ i ≤ r . If a i = a for all i, then we use notation F v (a r ; H) = F v (a 1 , ... , a r ; H) . Let J k be the complete graph K k missing one edge, i.e. J k = K k - e . In this work we focus on vertex Folkman numbers with H = J k , in particular for k = 4 and a i ≤ 3 . A result by Nešetřil and Rödl from 1976 implies that F v (3 r ; J 4) is well defined for any r ≥ 2 . We present a new and more direct proof of this fact. The simplest but already intriguing case is that of F v (3 , 3 ; J 4) , for which we establish the upper bound of 135 by using the J 4 -free process. We obtain the exact values and bounds for a few other small cases of F v (a 1 , ... , a r ; J 4) when a i ≤ 3 for all 1 ≤ i ≤ r , including F v (2 , 3 ; J 4) = 14 , F v (2 4 ; J 4) = 15 , and 22 ≤ F v (2 5 ; J 4) ≤ 25 . Note that F v (2 r ; J 4) is the smallest number of vertices in any J 4 -free graph with chromatic number r + 1 . Most of the results were obtained with the help of computations, but some of the upper bound graphs we found are interesting by themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a promising technology to enable effective multi-modal transmission over wireless channels, semantic communication has attracted a lot of attention from academics and industries. Different from Shannon’s information theory, based on common background knowledge provided by the knowledge base, the goal of semantic communication is transmitting intended useful information from the transmitter and recovered by the receiver at the semantic level. However, the existing studies on semantic communication rarely emphasize the essence and the usage of the knowledge base. In this paper, we propose a knowledge-enhanced semantic communication (KESC) system, where the knowledge base is cloud-edge-device collaborative cached. To solve the problem that float-type symbols are difficult to transmit directly through a radio frequency (RF) system, we adopt orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to transmit semantic vectors directly without some traditional signal processing techniques in semantic information transmission, and the semantic pilot is designed to assist semantic reception. Furthermore, we formulate a multi-encoder transformer based neural network model for the KESC system to support text transmission (KESC-T), where the decoder is implemented with a knowledge graph to enhance the performance of semantic decoding. Besides, we define knowledge-enhanced efficiency (KEE) to measure the gain in semantic recovery accuracy brought by per unit of knowledge. Simulation results demonstrate that the recovery accuracy of our proposed KESC outperforms the compared scheme, especially in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or resource-constrained scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we demonstrate a SESAM mode-locked Tm:CaYLuAlO4 (a-cut) laser in the 2-μm spectral range. A birefringent filter (BF) is employed to shift the emission wavelength above 2 μm to support the stable mode locking through avoiding the structured water vapor absorption. Pulses as short as 288 fs are generated with a central wavelength of 2037 nm and an average power of 166 mW at a repetition rate of ~ 77.6 MHz. Moreover, wavelength tunable femtosecond laser with a tuning range from 2031.8 to 2081.1 nm is realized simply by rotating the birefringent filter around its surface normal. This work experimentally shows that birefringent filter is a simple and low-cost way to support the stable mode locking of Tm-bulk femtosecond lasers with an emission peak in the water vapor absorption region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic systems possess versatile magnetic order and can host tunable magnons carrying spin angular momenta. Recent advances show angular momentum can also be carried by lattice vibrations in the form of chiral phonons. However, the interplay between magnons and chiral phonons as well as the details of chiral phonon formation in a magnetic system are yet to be explored. Here, we report the observation of magnon-induced chiral phonons and chirality selective magnon-phonon hybridization in a layered zigzag antiferromagnet (AFM) FePSe3. With a combination of magneto-infrared and magneto-Raman spectroscopy, we observe chiral magnon polarons (chiMP), the new hybridized quasiparticles, at zero magnetic field. The hybridization gap reaches 0.25 meV and survives down to the quadrilayer limit. Via first principle calculations, we uncover a coherent coupling between AFM magnons and chiral phonons with parallel angular momenta, which arises from the underlying phonon and space group symmetries. This coupling lifts the chiral phonon degeneracy and gives rise to an unusual Raman circular polarization of the chiMP branches. The observation of coherent chiral spin-lattice excitations at zero magnetic field paves the way for angular momentum-based hybrid phononic and magnonic devices. Phonons are the collective excitations of the lattice of a material, and can, in the case of chiral phonons, carry angular momentum, allowing for strong coupling to the magnetic properties of the material. Here, Cui, Bostrom and co-authors observe chiral magnon polarons, the hybridized quasiparticles of chiral phonons and magnons, in the van der Waals antiferromagnet FePSe3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Research into residual strength after lightning strike is increasing within the literature. However, standard test methods for measuring residual compressive strength after lightning strikes do not exist. For the first time, a systematic experimental study is undertaken to evaluate modifications necessary to standard Compression After Impact (CAI) specimen geometry and test jig design to induce specimen failure at the lightning damage region. Four laboratory generated lightning strike currents with peak amplitudes ranging from 25 to 100 kA have been studied. Test set-up modifications were made considering the scale of the lightning damage and its potential proximity to specimen edges. Specimen geometry and anti-buckling guides were adjusted for each peak current to induce specimen failure at the lightning damage. The Compression After Lightning (CAL) strength was 28% lower than the pristine CAI strength even at a relatively low peak current of 25 kA. This study shows that the standard CAI test setup has the potential for CAL application, however, careful modifications are required depending on the peak amplitude of the applied lightning current waveform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe1+yTe1−xSex is characterized by its complex magnetic phase diagram and highly orbital-dependent band renormalization. Despite this, the behavior of nematicity and nematic fluctuations, especially for high tellurium concentrations, remains largely unknown. Here we present a study of both B1g and B2g nematic fluctuations in Fe1+yTe1−xSex (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.53) using the technique of elastoresistivity measurement. We discovered that the nematic fluctuations in two symmetry channels are closely linked to the corresponding spin fluctuations, confirming the intertwined nature of these two degrees of freedom. We also revealed an unusual temperature dependence of the nematic susceptibility, which we attributed to a loss of coherence of the dxy orbital. Our results highlight the importance of orbital differentiation on the nematic properties of iron-based materials. Despite a significant amount of research, there are still many unknowns about the underlying mechanisms of the superconductivity in Fe-based superconductors, in particular the roles of magnetism and nematicity. Here, the authors investigate the compositional dependence of the nematic susceptibility in Fe1+yTe1−xSex and the interplay between nematic and spin fluctuations, as well as the effect of orbital differentiation on nematic instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-dimensional chiral interface channels can be created at the boundary of two quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) insulators with different Chern numbers. Such a QAH junction may function as a chiral edge current distributer at zero magnetic field, but its realization remains challenging. Here, by employing an in-situ mechanical mask, we use molecular beam epitaxy to synthesize QAH insulator junctions, in which two QAH insulators with different Chern numbers are connected along a one-dimensional junction. For the junction between Chern numbers of 1 and −1, we observe quantized transport and demonstrate the appearance of the two parallel propagating chiral interface channels along the magnetic domain wall at zero magnetic field. For the junction between Chern numbers of 1 and 2, our quantized transport shows that a single chiral interface channel appears at the interface. Our work lays the foundation for the development of QAH insulator-based electronic and spintronic devices and topological chiral networks. Quantum anomalous Hall junctions show great promise for advancing next-generation electronic circuits. Here, the authors demonstrate a scalable method for synthesizing heterostructures of magnetic topological insulators with regions of distinct Chern numbers and characterize the chiral interface modes that emerge at the interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Chern insulator is a two-dimensional material that hosts chiral edge states produced by the combination of topology with time reversal symmetry breaking. Such edge states are perfect one-dimensional conductors, which may exist not only on sample edges, but on any boundary between two materials with distinct topological invariants (or Chern numbers). Engineering of such interfaces is highly desirable due to emerging opportunities of using topological edge states for energy-efficient information transmission. Here, we report a chiral edge-current divider based on Chern insulator junctions formed within the layered topological magnet MnBi2Te4. We find that in a device containing a boundary between regions of different thickness, topological domains with different Chern numbers can coexist. At the domain boundary, a Chern insulator junction forms, where we identify a chiral edge mode along the junction interface. We use this to construct topological circuits in which the chiral edge current can be split, rerouted, or switched off by controlling the Chern numbers of the individual domains. Our results demonstrate MnBi2Te4 as an emerging platform for topological circuits design.Topological materials hold great promise for dissipationless information transmission. Here, the authors create Chern insulator junctions between domains with different Chern numbers in MnBi2Te4 to realize the basic operation of a topological circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent discoveries of two-dimensional (2D) magnets1–6 and their stacking into van der Waals structures7–11 have expanded the horizon of 2D phenomena. One exciting application is to exploit coherent magnons12 as energy-efficient information carriers in spintronics and magnonics13,14 or as interconnects in hybrid quantum systems15–17. A particular opportunity arises when a 2D magnet is also a semiconductor, as reported recently for CrSBr (refs. 18–20) and NiPS3 (refs. 21–23) that feature both tightly bound excitons with a large oscillator strength and potentially long-lived coherent magnons owing to the bandgap and spatial confinement. Although magnons and excitons are energetically mismatched by orders of magnitude, their coupling can lead to efficient optical access to spin information. Here we report strong magnon–exciton coupling in the 2D A-type antiferromagnetic semiconductor CrSBr. Coherent magnons launched by above-gap excitation modulate the exciton energies. Time-resolved exciton sensing reveals magnons that can coherently travel beyond seven micrometres, with a coherence time of above five nanoseconds. We observe these exciton-coupled coherent magnons in both even and odd numbers of layers, with and without compensated magnetization, down to the bilayer limit. Given the versatility of van der Waals heterostructures, these coherent 2D magnons may be a basis for optically accessible spintronics, magnonics and quantum interconnects.Excitons in the electronvolts range are found to couple strongly to coherent magnons in hundreds of microelectronvolts in an atomically thin two-dimensional antiferromagnetic semiconductor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Phase-pure two-dimensional Fe_xGeTe_2 magnets with near-room temperature T_C" published in the journal Nano Research. The correction is related to the author affiliations listed in the article. The corrected list of authors includes Govindan Kutty Rajendran Nair, Zhaowei Zhang, Fuchen Hou, Ali Abdelaziem, Xiaodong Xu, Steve Wu Qing Yang, Nan Zhang, Weiqi Li, Chao Zhu, Yao Wu, Heng Weiling, Lixing Kang, Teddy Salim, Jiadong Zhou, Lin Ke, Junhao Lin, Xingji Li, Weibo Gao, and Zheng Liu. The correction notice provides the correct author affiliations and contact information for Xingji Li, Weibo Gao, and Zheng Liu. The article was published in 2024 and can be accessed using the provided DOI. [Extracted from the article]

Many-body interactions between carriers lie at the heart of correlated physics. The ability to tune such interactions would allow the possibility to access and control complex electronic phase diagrams. Recently, two-dimensional moiré superlattices have emerged as a promising platform for quantum engineering such phenomena1–3. The power of the moiré system lies in the high tunability of its physical parameters by adjusting the layer twist angle1–3, electrical field4–6, moiré carrier filling7–11 and interlayer coupling12. Here we report that optical excitation can highly tune the spin–spin interactions between moiré-trapped carriers, resulting in ferromagnetic order in WS2 /WSe2 moiré superlattices. Near the filling factor of −1/3 (that is, one hole per three moiré unit cells), as the excitation power at the exciton resonance increases, a well-developed hysteresis loop emerges in the reflective magnetic circular dichroism signal as a function of magnetic field, a hallmark of ferromagnetism. The hysteresis loop persists down to charge neutrality, and its shape evolves as the moiré superlattice is gradually filled, indicating changes of magnetic ground state properties. The observed phenomenon points to a mechanism in which itinerant photoexcited excitons mediate exchange coupling between moiré-trapped holes. This exciton-mediated interaction can be of longer range than direct coupling between moiré-trapped holes9, and thus magnetic order arises even in the dilute hole regime. This discovery adds a dynamic tuning knob to the rich many-body Hamiltonian of moiré quantum matter13–19.A study reveals light as a new dynamic knob to control ferromagnetic order in moiré superlattices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to explore the correlation between circular RNA_0000190 (circ_0000190) and microRNA-767-5p (miR-767-5p), and their correlations with biochemical indices, risk stratification, treatment response, and survival in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Methods: Bone marrow (BM) plasma cells of 86 MM patients (during standard diagnostic procedures) and 30 healthy donors (HDs) (examination of the eligibility for BM transplantation) were obtained, among which circ_0000190 and miR-767-5p expressions were detected using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. In MM patients, Durie‐Salmon stage and International Staging System (ISS) stage were assessed. Clinical responses (including complete response (CR) and objective response rate (ORR)) were assessed. The progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated. Results: Circ_0000190 was decreased, but miR-767-5p was increased in MM patients compared with HDs. Circ_0000190 was negatively correlated with miR-767-5p in both HDs and MM patients. In MM patients, circ_0000190 was negatively correlated with ISS stage, serum creatinine, beta-2-microglobulin, and lactate dehydrogenase but was positively correlated with albumin. Whereas an opposite trend in miR-767-5p was observed. Regarding clinical response, circ_0000190 had the value for predicting increased ORR, while miR-767-5p had the value for predicting decreased CR and ORR. Circ_0000190 high expression was correlated with better PFS and OS, while miR-767-5p high expression was correlated with worse PFS and OS. Multivariate Cox's analyses revealed circ_0000190 high expression as an independent factor predicting better OS. Conclusion: Circ_0000190 and its target miR-767-5p are dysregulated, and they are related to risk stratification and prognosis in MM patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interplay between band topology and magnetism can give rise to exotic states of matter. For example, magnetically doped topological insulators can realize a Chern insulator that exhibits quantized Hall resistance at zero magnetic field. While prior works have focused on ferromagnetic systems, little is known about band topology and its manipulation in antiferromagnets. Here, we report that MnBi2Te4 is a rare platform for realizing a canted-antiferromagnetic (cAFM) Chern insulator with electrical control. We show that the Chern insulator state with Chern number C = 1 appears as the AFM to canted-AFM phase transition happens. The Chern insulator state is further confirmed by observing the unusual transition of the C = 1 state in the cAFM phase to the C = 2 orbital quantum Hall states in the magnetic field induced ferromagnetic phase. Near the cAFM-AFM phase boundary, we show that the dissipationless chiral edge transport can be toggled on and off by applying an electric field alone. We attribute this switching effect to the electrical field tuning of the exchange gap alignment between the top and bottom surfaces. Our work paves the way for future studies on topological cAFM spintronics and facilitates the development of proof-of-concept Chern insulator devices. Exotic states emerge from the interplay between band topology and ferromagnetism, but it remains less known in canted-antiferromagnetic phase. Here, the authors realize a canted-antiferromagnetic Chern insulator in atomically-thin MnBi2Te4 with electrical control of chiral-edge state transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excitons are elementary optical excitation in semiconductors. The ability to manipulate and transport these quasiparticles would enable excitonic circuits and devices for quantum photonic technologies. Recently, interlayer excitons in 2D semiconductors have emerged as a promising candidate for engineering excitonic devices due to their long lifetime, large exciton binding energy, and gate tunability. However, the charge-neutral nature of the excitons leads to weak response to the in-plane electric field and thus inhibits transport beyond the diffusion length. Here, we demonstrate the directional transport of interlayer excitons in bilayer WSe2 driven by the propagating potential traps induced by surface acoustic waves (SAW). We show that at 100 K, the SAW-driven excitonic transport is activated above a threshold acoustic power and reaches 20 μm, a distance at least ten times longer than the diffusion length and only limited by the device size. Temperature-dependent measurement reveals the transition from the diffusion-limited regime at low temperature to the acoustic field-driven regime at elevated temperature. Our work shows that acoustic waves are an effective, contact-free means to control exciton dynamics and transport, promising for realizing 2D materials-based excitonic devices such as exciton transistors, switches, and transducers up to room temperature. Excitons in 2D semiconductors suffer from a weak response to in-plane electric fields, inhibiting their transport beyond the diffusion length. Here, the authors demonstrate the directional, long-range transport of interlayer excitons in bilayer WSe2 driven by the propagating potential traps induced by surface acoustic waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaculture is becoming the primary source of seafood for human diets, and farmed fish aquaculture is one of its fastest growing sectors. The industry currently faces several challenges including infectious and parasitic diseases, reduced viability, fertility reduction, slow growth, escapee fish and environmental pollution. The commercialization of the growth-enhanced AquAdvantage salmon and the CRISPR/Cas9-developed tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) proffers genetic engineering and genome editing tools, e.g. CRISPR/Cas, as potential solutions to these challenges. Future traits being developed in different fish species include disease resistance, sterility, and enhanced growth. Despite these notable advances, off-target effect and non-clarification of trait-related genes among other technical challenges hinder full realization of CRISPR/Cas potentials in fish breeding. In addition, current regulatory and risk assessment frameworks are not fit-for purpose regarding the challenges of CRISPR/Cas notwithstanding that public and regulatory acceptance are key to commercialization of products of the new technology. In this study, we discuss how CRISPR/Cas can be used to overcome some of these limitations focusing on diseases and environmental release in farmed fish aquaculture. We further present technical limitations, regulatory and risk assessment challenges of the use of CRISPR/Cas, and proffer research strategies that will provide much-needed data for regulatory decisions, risk assessments, increased public awareness and sustainable applications of CRISPR/Cas in fish aquaculture with emphasis on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnets with out-of-plane (OOP) magnetic anisotropy are potential candidates for realizing the next-generation memory devices with ultra-low power consumption and high storage density. However, a scalable approach to synthesize 2D magnets with OOP anisotropy directly on the complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible substrates has not yet been mainly explored, which hinders the practical application of 2D magnets. This work demonstrates a cascaded space confined chemical vapor deposition (CS-CVD) technique to synthesize 2D FexGeTe2 ferromagnets. The weight fraction of iron (Fe) in the precursor controls the phase purity of the as-grown FexGeTe2. As a result, high-quality Fe3GeTe2 and Fe5GeTe2 flakes have been grown selectively using the CS-CVD technique. Curie temperature (TC) of the as-grown FexGeTe2 can be up to ∼ 280 K, nearly room temperature. The thickness and temperature-dependent magnetic studies on the Fe5GeTe2 reveal a 2D Ising to 3D XY behavior. Also, Terahertz spectroscopy experiments on Fe5GeTe2 display the highest conductivity among other FexGeTe2 2D magnets. The results of this work indicate a scalable pathway for the direct growth and integration of 2D ternary magnets on CMOS-based substrates to develop spintronic memory devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to find a good coupling feature extraction method to effectively analyze resting state EEG signals (rsEEG) of amnestic mild cognitive impairment(aMCI) with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) and normal control (NC) with T2DM. A method of EEG signal coupling feature extraction based on weight permutation conditional mutual information (WPCMI) was proposed in this research. With the WPCMI method, coupling feature strength of two time series in Alpha1, Alpha2, Beta1, Beta2 and Gamma bands for aMCI with T2DM and NC with T2DM could be extracted respectively. Then selected three frequency bands coupling feature matrix with the help of multi-spectral image transformation method to map it as spectral image characteristics. And finally classified these characteristics through the convolution neural network method(CNN). For aMCI with T2DM and NC with T2DM, the highest classification accuracy of 96%, 95%, 95% could be achieved respectively in the combination of three frequency bands (Alpha1, Alpha2, Gamma), (Beta1, Beta2 and Gamma) and (Alpha2, Beta1, Beta2). This WPCMI method highlighted the coupling dynamic characteristics of EEG signals, and its classification performance was better than all previous methods in aMCI with T2DM diagnosis field. WPCMI method could be used as an effective biomarker to distinguish EEG signals of aMCI with T2DM and NC with T2DM. The coupling feature extraction method used in this paper provided a new perspective for the EEG analysis of aMCI with T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design and control of material interfaces is a foundational approach to realize technologically useful effects and engineer material properties. This is especially true for two-dimensional (2D) materials, where van der Waals stacking allows disparate materials to be freely stacked together to form highly customizable interfaces. This has underpinned a recent wave of discoveries based on excitons in stacked double layers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), the archetypal family of 2D semiconductors. In such double-layer structures, the elegant interplay of charge, spin and moiré superlattice structure with many-body effects gives rise to diverse excitonic phenomena and correlated physics. Here we review some of the recent discoveries that highlight the versatility of TMD double layers to explore quantum optics and many-body effects. We identify outstanding challenges in the field and present a roadmap for unlocking the full potential of excitonic physics in TMD double layers and beyond, such as incorporating newly discovered ferroelectric and magnetic materials to engineer symmetries and add a new level of control to these remarkable engineered materials.This Review discusses the exciton physics of transition metal dichalcogenides, focusing on moiré patterns and exciton many-body physics, and outlines future research directions in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theme of the environmental upgrades and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations is "Better Environment, Better tomorrow." This study uses regulatory quality (RgQ) and energy consumption per capita (EC) as explanatory variables and foreign direct investment (FDI) as an integrating variable with RgQ and EC and examines their impacts on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2001 to 2018 in panel Asian economies. The findings indicate that EC negatively impacts GHG emissions, while RgQ positively promotes the reduction of GHG emissions in Asia. In addition, FDI has an integrating role, as sufficient FDI inflows significantly enhance clean energy use and EC efficiency. Such inflows also support and improve Asia's regulation quality by upgrading standardization investments and technology deployment to enhance institutional quality and achieve SDGs. FDI inflows have thus been vital in environment upgrading in Asia and regional sustainable environmental development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This correction notice is for an article titled "Hyperbolic exciton polaritons in a van der Waals magnet" published in Nature Communications. The correction addresses an error in the reference list order, where references 47 and 48 were switched with references 49 and 50. The correction has been made in both the PDF and HTML versions of the article. The authors who contributed equally to the article are Francesco L. Ruta, Shuai Zhang, and Yinming Shao, along with several other authors listed in the correction notice. [Extracted from the article]

We report on the characterization and first laser operation of ceramic Yb:LuScO3 in a thin-disk oscillator. The optical performance achieved with a ceramic Yb:LuScO3 disk is compared to the one obtained with an existing ceramic Yb:Lu2O3 disk for reference. The characterization covers the measurement of the fluorescence spectra, the fluorescence lifetimes, and nomarsky imaging. The investigation on the laser operation covers the measurement of resonator losses, output powers, and thermal behavior during continuous-wave operation in a multimode thin-disk oscillator. An average output power of 149 W and a slope efficiency of 51.8% were achieved with the ceramic Yb:LuScO3 disk which reached a maximum surface temperature of about 150 °C. At the same temperature level, a disk made of the already established ceramic Yb:Lu2O3 delivered 957 W of output power with a slope efficiency of 75.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe1+yTe1−xSex is characterized by its complex magnetic phase diagram and highly orbital-dependent band renormalization. Despite this, the behavior of nematicity and nematic fluctuations, especially for high tellurium concentrations, remains largely unknown. Here we present a study of both B1g and B2g nematic fluctuations in Fe1+yTe1−xSex (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.53) using the technique of elastoresistivity measurement. We discovered that the nematic fluctuations in two symmetry channels are closely linked to the corresponding spin fluctuations, confirming the intertwined nature of these two degrees of freedom. We also revealed an unusual temperature dependence of the nematic susceptibility, which we attributed to a loss of coherence of the dxy orbital. Our results highlight the importance of orbital differentiation on the nematic properties of iron-based materials. Despite a significant amount of research, there are still many unknowns about the underlying mechanisms of the superconductivity in Fe-based superconductors, in particular the roles of magnetism and nematicity. Here, the authors investigate the compositional dependence of the nematic susceptibility in Fe1+yTe1−xSex and the interplay between nematic and spin fluctuations, as well as the effect of orbital differentiation on nematic instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the role of digital-government (DG), government utilization, and regional integration on public health services (PHS) by considering E-government and globalization. This study takes public services fragility as a proxy for public health services. In contrast, E-government development as a DG globalization index (GI) has been taken as a proxy of regional integration, and government expenditures (GE) as a fiscal state capacity. The study employed a two-step system generalized method of moments estimation for the sample of 45-panel Asian economies from 2006-to-2022. The results reveal that DG substantially impacted and improved the PHS in Asian economies in the past decade. Moreover, regional integration added fuel to this progression and substantially influenced the PHS. However, GE adversely affects the PHS due to lousy governance and leakage of target spending. Furthermore, the novel DG integration with GE and GI promoted PHS and reduced health fragility through better resource utilization and technology deployment. It also reveals that DG helps in reducing the loopholes of GE and makes the resource implementation transparent and effective, which impacts the PHS. It concludes that these interactions with public policies play a prominent role in comprehensive coverage and healthcare accessibility in Asia through technology deployment with prudent administration strategies. It’s a novel study that integrates digitalization with regional integration and government expenditures from an Asian perspective by considering PHS, which made this study helpful for policy drafting during the COVID-19 pandemic and proposed a better framework to deal with future calamities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laparoscopic bariatric surgery has become the gold standard for the treatment of morbidly obese patients. This experimental study aimed to develop a new, anatomically relevant, high-fidelity simulator to train advanced laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB). An anatomical model similar to human abdominal organs was established using ex vivo porcine organs as materials. A three-dimensional (3D) printer was applied to print the laparoscopic simulation training box, including the placement of the model base, diaphragm fixators, and training box–height adjustment device. A total of six experts simulated LRYGB surgery and evaluated the model’s face, content validity, and realism of surgical technique through a questionnaire. The simulator was highly realistic in appearance, anatomy, touch, instrumentation, and core surgical procedures. All participants recommended the application of this model in bariatric surgery training. Compared with the actual operation, this model has enough fidelity and is easy to reproduce, which provides effective support for future surgical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circadian clock, a time-keeping mechanism, drives nearly 24-h self-sustaining rhythms at the physiological, cellular, and molecular levels, keeping them synchronized with the cyclic changes of environmental signals. The plant clock is sensitive to external and internal stress signals that act as timing cues to influence the circadian rhythms through input pathways of the circadian clock system. In order to cope with environmental stresses, many core oscillators are involved in defense while maintaining daily growth in various ways. Recent studies have shown that a hierarchical multi-oscillator network orchestrates the defense through rhythmic accumulation of gene transcripts, alternative splicing of mRNA precursors, modification and turnover of proteins, subcellular localization, stimuli-induced phase separation, and long-distance transport of proteins. This review summarizes the essential role of circadian core oscillators in response to stresses in Arabidopsis thaliana and crops, including daily and seasonal abiotic stresses (low or high temperature, drought, high salinity, and nutrition deficiency) and biotic stresses (pathogens and herbivorous insects). By integrating time-keeping mechanisms, circadian rhythms and stress resistance, we provide a temporal perspective for scientists to better understand plant environmental adaptation and breed high-quality crop germplasm for agricultural production., (© 2022. The Author(s).)