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We propose an alternative approach to Lüscher's formula for extracting two-body scattering phase shifts from finite volume spectra with no reliance on the partial wave expansion. We use an effective-field-theory-based Hamiltonian method in the plane wave basis and decompose the corresponding matrix elements of operators into irreducible representations of the relevant point groups. The proposed approach allows one to benefit from the knowledge of the long-range interaction and avoids complications from partial wave mixing in a finite volume. We consider spin-singlet channels in the two-nucleon system and pion-pion scattering in the ρ-meson channel in the rest and moving frames to illustrate the method for non-relativistic and relativistic systems, respectively. For the two-nucleon system, the long-range interaction due to the one-pion exchange is found to make the single-channel Lüscher formula unreliable at the physical pion mass. For S-wave dominated states, the single-channel Lüscher method suffers from significant finite-volume artifacts for a L = 3 fm box, but it works well for boxes with L > 5 fm. However, for P-wave dominated states, significant partial wave mixing effects prevent the application of the single-channel Lüscher formula regardless of the box size (except for the near-threshold region). Using a toy model to generate synthetic data for finite-volume energies, we show that our effective-field-theory-based approach in the plane wave basis is capable of a reliable extraction of the phase shifts. For pion-pion scattering, we employ a phenomenological model to fit lattice QCD results at the physical pion mass. The extracted P-wave phase shifts are found to be in a good agreement with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) are a promising substitute for indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent conductive films (TCFs). However, AgNWs suffer the insufficiencies in contact resistance between the nanowires and light loss. Here, graphene oxide and moth-eye-like antireflection nanostructure have been introduced to physically "weld" the AgNWs junctions and modulate the AR properties, respectively. The sandwich structure AgNWs TCFs achieved resistance of 26.26 Ω sq−1 and transmittance of 98.67%, exhibiting promoted photoelectronic performance compared with the pure AgNWs films. The stability of sandwich structure AgNWs TCFs was improved, and their wettability was also discussed with water contact angle changed from 92.55° to 69.18°, switched from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Though a simple solution process without mechanical or heat post-treatment, we proposed a stable sandwich structure to obviously improve the electrical and optical capabilities of AgNWs. The enhanced AgNWs TCFs with superior photoelectronic performance are believed to boost the practical applications and future development of AgNWs-based TCFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a facile one-step hydrothermal strategy to synthesize pyramid-like NiSe2 nanostructures, serving as electrode materials for battery-supercapacitor hybrid (BSH) devices. The NiSe2 nanopyramid electrode exhibits superior electrochemical performances, including a high specific capacity of 240.83 mAh g−1 at current density of 1 A g−1 and a low internal resistance of 0.85 Ω. The all-solid-state hybrid devices have been assembled with NiSe2 as the battery-type electrode and activated carbon as the capacitor-type electrode. The hybrid device exhibits a high energy density of 0.196 mWh cm−2 at power density of 1.60 mW cm−2. The internal resistance of 1.52 Ω further reveals the nature of low resistance and high conductivity for the hybrid devices. Connecting two hybrid devices in series is able to drive a red LED for more than 3 min after charging for 9 s. This work has demonstrated that the pyramid-like NiSe2 nanostructure is expected to be an ideal high specific capacity electrode for BSH devices, especially for all-solid-state energy storage devices and portable electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we investigate the chiral corrections to the magnetic moments of the spin- $$3\over 2$$ doubly charmed baryons systematically up to next-to-next-to-leading order with the heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. The numerical results are given up to next-to-leading order: $$\mu _{\varXi ^{*++}_{cc}}=2.61\mu _{N}$$ , $$\mu _{\varXi ^{*+}_{cc}}=-0.18\mu _{N}$$ , $$\mu _{\varOmega ^{*+}_{cc}}=0.17\mu _{N}$$ . As a by-product, we have also calculated the magnetic moments of the spin- $$3\over 2$$ doubly bottom baryons and charmed bottom baryons: $$\mu _{\varXi ^{*0}_{bb}}=2.83\mu _{N}$$ , $$\mu _{\varXi ^{*-}_{bb}}=-1.33\mu _{N}$$ , $$\mu _{\varOmega ^{*-}_{bb}}=-1.54\mu _{N}$$ , $$\mu _{\varXi ^{*+}_{bc}}=3.22\mu _{N}$$ , $$\mu _{\varXi ^{*0}_{bc}}=-0.84\mu _{N}$$ , $$\mu _{\varOmega ^{*0}_{bc}}=-1.09\mu _{N}$$ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HtrA2/Omi is a mammalian mitochondrial serine protease homologous to the E. coli HtrA/DegP gene products. Recently, HtrA2/Omi was found to have a dual role in mammalian cells, acting as an apoptosisinducing protein and being involved in maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis. By screening a human brain cDNA library with Aβ peptide as bait in a yeast two-hybrid system, we identified HtrA2/Omi as a binding partner of Aβ peptide. The interaction between Aβ peptide and HtrA2/Omi was confirmed by an immunoblot binding assay. The possible involvement of HtrA2/Omi in Aβ peptide metabolism was investigated. In vitro peptide cleavage assays showed that HtrA2/Omi did not directly promote the production of Aβ peptide at the β/γ-secretase level, or the degradation of Aβ peptide. However, overexpression of HtrA2/Omi in K269 cells decreased the production of Aβ40 and Aβ42 by up to 30%. These results rule out the involvement of HtrA2/Omi in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease. However, the fact that overexpression of HtrA2/Omi reduces the generation of Aβ40 and Aβ42 suggests that it may play some 0positive role in mammalian cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a quark level interaction, we give a unified description of the loosely bound molecular systems composed of the heavy flavor hadrons (D ¯ , D ¯ ∗) , (Λ c , Σ c , Σ c ∗) , and (Ξ c , Ξ c ′ , Ξ c ∗) . Using the P c states as inputs to fix the interaction strength of light quark-quark pairs, we reproduce the observed P cs and T cc + states and predict another narrow T cc ′ + state with quantum numbers [ D ∗ D ∗ ] J = 1 I = 0 . If we require a satisfactory description of the T cc + and P c states simultaneously, our framework prefers the assignments of the P c (4440) and P c (4457) as the [ Σ c D ¯ ∗ ] J = 1 / 2 I = 1 / 2 and [ Σ c D ¯ ∗ ] J = 3 / 2 I = 1 / 2 states, respectively. We propose the isospin criterion to explain naturally why the experimentally observed T cc , P c , and P cs molecular candidates prefer the lowest isospin numbers. We also predict the loosely bound states for the bottom di-hadrons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO) and nitrogen (N) deposition may induce changes in C:N ratios in plant tissues and mineral soil. However, the potential mechanisms driving the stoichiometric shifts remain elusive. In this study, we examined the responses of C:N ratios in both plant tissues and mineral soil to elevated CO and N deposition using data extracted from 140 peer-reviewed publications. Our results indicated that C:N ratios in both plant tissues and mineral soil exhibited consistent increases under elevated CO regimes whereas decreases in C:N ratios were observed in response to experimental N addition. Moreover, soil C:N ratio was less sensitive than plant C:N ratio to both global change scenarios. Our results also showed that the responses of stoichiometric ratios were highly variable among different studies. The changes in C:N ratio did not exhibit strong correlations with C dynamics but were negatively associated with corresponding changes in N content. These results suggest that N dynamics drive stoichiometric shifts in both plant tissues and mineral soil under both elevated CO and N deposition scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kidney cancer is the third most common malignancy of the urinary system, of which, kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) accounts for the vast majority. Runt-related transcription factors (RUNX) are involved in multiple cellular functions. However, the diverse expression patterns and prognostic values of RUNX genes in kidney cancer remained to be elucidated. In our study, we mined the DNA methylation, transcriptional and survival data of RUNX genes in patients with different kinds of kidney cancer through Oncomine, Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis, UALCAN, Kaplan–Meier Plotter, cBioPortal and LinkedOmics. We found that RUNX1 and RUNX3 were upregulated in KIRC tissues compared with those in normal tissues. The survival analysis results indicated a high transcription level of RUNX1 was associated with poor overall survival (OS) in KIRC patients. Furthermore, KIRC tumor tissues had significantly lower levels of RUNX1 promoter methylation than that in paracancerous tissues, with decreased DNA methylation of RUNX1 notably associated with poor OS in KIRC. In conclusion, our results revealed that RUNX1 may be a potential therapeutic target for treating KIRC, and RUNX1 promoter methylation level shows promise as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker, which laid a foundation for further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air density strongly constrains the characteristics of an airflow and the resulting flow of sand and therefore, it should not be neglected in sand transport models. Although the potential importance of air density is well known, most studies on threshold velocity, saltation trajectory, and dust emission have been conducted near sea level, at a "normal" atmospheric density. In this study, utilizing the observational data from 12 meteorological stations in the Tarim Basin (TB) from 2009 to 2018, we used air density as the basis to discuss the necessity of model parameter localization. It was found that there was a significant difference in the horizontal dust flux estimated using the normal and local air densities. Using the localized air density, we re-evaluated the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of the threshold velocity, horizontal dust flux, and wind erosion events in the TB and further quantified their distributions in all directions. The results demonstrated that the threshold velocity gradually increased from east to west and from north to south, with the maximum value occurring in the southwestern TB. The horizontal dust fluxes and wind erosion events could be classified into three types according to the seasonal variation characteristics; however, one of the main distribution characteristics was spring > summer > autumn > winter. Tazhong, Qiemo, and Ruoqiang are sand- and dust-incident frequent zones. Taking Minfeng when passing from Tazhong to Shaya as the line of demarcation, it was found that the horizontal dust fluxes and wind erosion events in the eastern region mostly occurred in the eastern direction, whereas those in the western region primarily occurred in the western direction. The results suggested that it was extremely important and necessary to localize the parameters in sand–dust models, which would also provide a more accurate climate background for the study of sand and dust in the TB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the hinterland of the Taklimakan Desert (TD), the diurnal and seasonal cycles of the air temperature (AT) and horizontal sand-dust flux (HSDF) were investigated, based on in situ data including sand saltation counts and meteorological parameters in the period 2008–2010. In particular, the relationship between AT and HSDF was determined. It was found that 74.7% of HSDF was observed between 10:00 and 20:00, and HSDF in spring and summer accounted for 92.3% of the annual flux. Further, the diurnal and annual cycles of HSDF and AT presented an exponential distribution, with correlation coefficients (R) of 0.97 and 0.93, respectively. Additionally, when AT was 0 °C or lower, the frequency of sand saltation was only 4.3%. The maximum sand saltation frequency was 70.1%, which occurred at 33–34 °C, while 67.6% of the total HSDF occurred at 24–34 °C. Finally, a Gauss equation was established over the TD: Q = 250.2 + 1368.5e−2 × [(T−30.8)/7.3]^2, with R = 0.90. Results revealed a strong correlation between HSDF and AT, indicating that AT should be noticeable in HSDF parameterization schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toward the fast development of portable devices, the lightweight, flexible, and even wearable energy storage devices are very required. One effective device is the graphene-based fiber supercapacitors. Here we present the core–shell Co3O4/graphene hybrid fibers by hydrothermal method for the first time, where Co3O4 directly grows on the surface of graphene forming excellent hierarchical nanostructures. The combination of the Co3O4 shell and graphene core evidently improves the capacitive behaviors of the hybrid fibers. The Co3O4/graphene hybrid fibers are lightweight, flexible, and wearable, showing ultrahigh electrochemical performances such as large specific capacitance of 236.8 F g−1 (196.3 mF cm−2) at current density of 0.2 A g−1, outstanding rate capability, and excellent cycling stability (72.7% retention after 10000 cycles). The high electrochemical performances reveal the great potential of core–shell Co3O4/graphene hybrid fibers as electrodes in the energy storage system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hybrid optoplasmonic amplifier, injection-seeded by an internally-generated Raman signal and operating in the visible (563-675 nm), is proposed and evidence for amplification is presented. Comprising a gain medium tethered to a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator with a protein, and a plasmonic surface, the optical system described here selectively amplifies a single (or a few) Raman line(s) produced within the WGM resonator and is well-suited for routing narrowband optical power on-a-chip. Over the past five decades, optical oscillators and amplifiers have typically been based on the buildup of the field from the spontaneous emission background. Doing so limits the temporal coherence of the output, lengthens the time required for the optical field intensity to reach saturation, and often is responsible for complex, multiline spectra. In addition to the spectral control afforded by injection-locking, the effective Q of the amplifier can be specified by the bandwidth of the injected Raman signal. This characteristic contrasts with previous WGM-based lasers and amplifiers for which the Q is determined solely by the WGM resonator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Novel graphene-based tunable plasmonic metamaterials featuring single and multiple transparency windows are numerically studied in this paper. The designed structures consist of a graphene layer perforated with quadrupole slot structures and dolmen-like slot structures printed on a substrate. Specifically, the graphene-based quadrupole slot structure can realize a single transparency window, which is achieved without breaking the structure symmetry. Further investigations have shown that the single transparency window in the proposed quadrupole slot structure is more likely originated from the quantum effect of Autler-Townes splitting. Then, by introducing a dipole slot to the quadrupole slot structure to form the dolmen-like slot structure, an additional transmission dip could occur in the transmission spectrum, thus, a multiple-transparency-window system can be achieved (for the first time for graphene-based devices). More importantly, the transparency windows for both the quadrupole slot and the dolmen-like slot structures can be dynamically controlled over a broad frequency range by varying the Fermi energy levels of the graphene layer (through electrostatic gating). The proposed slot metamaterial structures with tunable single and multiple transparency windows could find potential applications in many areas such as multiple-wavelength slow-light devices, active plasmonic switching, and optical sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphorus (P) deficiency is one of the major limiting factors in maize production in many developing countries. This experiment was conducted to evaluate multiple low-P tolerance criteria and identify the suitable maize germplasm for our future low-P tolerance breeding. A total of 456 diverse maize inbreds were evaluated for low-P tolerance at seedling stage using four shoot-related traits and six root-related traits measured under applied phosphorus (AP) and non-applied phosphorus (NAP) conditions. Analysis of variance revealed significant genetic variation among genotypes for all tested traits. Medium-to-high heritability estimates were obtained for most traits. Total dry weight (DW) was highly inheritable while the widely used root/shoot ratio had only an intermediate level of heritability. Based on the synthetic index (SI), the tested inbreds were classified into three groups representing low, moderate and high tolerance to low-P stress. Regression model built based on selection criteria for low-P tolerance explained 67.8 and 76.8 % of variation for DW under NAP and AP conditions, respectively. Using low-P tolerance index for DW and SI as selection criteria, 23 and 109 maize inbreds were identified as germplasm resources that were extremely tolerant and sensitive to low-P stress, respectively, which could be further used for genetic improvement of low-P tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]