Search

Cobalt oxides are known for their excellent heat transfer properties. The main component of cobalt oxides is the CoO2 monolayer, which exhibits high-temperature superconductivity caused by strong electron–phonon coupling (EPC). We here systematically investigate the structural stability, electronic structure, and magnetism of the CoO2 monolayer using first-principles and Monte Carlo simulations. On this basis, we further study the changes in the spin energy gap, magnetic axis direction, and other properties of the CoO2 monolayer with the changes in carrier concentration. By appropriately doping the CoO2 monolayer with holes, the magnetic axis direction of the CoO2 monolayer can be reversed, thereby enhancing its potential application in the field of spin electronic devices. Monte Carlo simulation is used to study the regulation of different factors on the magnetothermal properties of the CoO2 monolayer. Through the analysis of physical parameters such as Curie temperature (TC) and bandgap, we find that the appropriate carrier concentration and magnetic field can not only regulate the magnetothermal properties of materials but also further improve the efficiency of materials in low-temperature environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tashisayi Li deposit was newly discovered in the eastern part of the Tashisayi batholith, located in the Altyn Tagh region of Northwest China. A Li-rich composite pegmatite-aplite dyke (γ02) displays superimposed relationships among different Li-bearing phases, including lepidolite-albite-quartz pegmatite (LAQ), spodumene-albite-quartz pegmatite (SAQ), and aplite. The timing and conditions of magmatism and Li mineralization in the Tashisayi remain enigmatic. The study involved field observations, U–(Th)–Pb dating of columbite-group minerals (CGM), zircon, and monazite, and geochemical analyses of CGM and quartz. U–Pb dating of CGM of the γ02 dyke revealed formation ages of 471.6±3.5 Ma (LAQ), 439.6±5.0 Ma (SAQ), and 416.3±4.8 Ma (aplite). Zircon U-Pb and monazite U-(Th)-Pb dating of biotite granite, pegmatitic aplite, and muscovite granite yielded ages of ca. 473 Ma, 439 Ma, and 425 Ma, respectively. The dating results indicate that the rare-metal pegmatites and granites in the Tashisayi area were emplaced during various periods from the Early Ordovician to Early Devonian, consistent with other rare-metal deposits in the Tugeman region. The textural and geochemical analyses on the CGM and quartz reveal that the LAQ, SAQ and aplite crystallized from highly evolved magmas under water-poor and relatively low temperature conditions, experiencing distinct evolution trend and forming processes. Additionally, both LAQ and SAQ were influenced by fluid or magma activities and the pegmatitic melt forming LAQ could enrich both Li and Sn. Extensive tectonic events in the Altyn Tagh Orogen, including ocean basin closure and continental collisions, promote the development of Li-rich granitic magmas. Thus, we argue that the multiple magmatic and Li mineralization events in the Tashisayi area are most likely originated from the melting of Proterozoic crustal materials, and the process was controlled by tectonic interactions between the Central Altyn, Southern Altyn, Northern Altyn, and Eastern Kunlun blocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting objects, particularly naval mines, on the seafloor is a complex task. In naval mine countermeasures (MCM) operations, sidescan or synthetic aperture sonars have been used to search large areas. However, a single sensor cannot meet the requirements of high-precision autonomous navigation. Based on the ORB-SLAM3-VI framework, we propose ORB-SLAM3-VIP, which integrates a depth sensor, an IMU sensor and an optical sensor. This method integrates the measurements of depth sensors and an IMU sensor into the visual SLAM algorithm through tight coupling, and establishes a multi-sensor fusion SLAM model. Depth constraints are introduced into the process of initialization, scale fine-tuning, tracking and mapping to constrain the position of the sensor in the z-axis and improve the accuracy of pose estimation and map scale estimate. The test on seven sets of underwater multi-sensor sequence data in the AQUALOC dataset shows that, compared with ORB-SLAM3-VI, the ORB-SLAM3-VIP system proposed in this paper reduces the scale error in all sequences by up to 41.2%, and reduces the trajectory error by up to 41.2%. The square root has also been reduced by up to 41.6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has actively internationalized its doctoral education by funding students to study abroad via the China Scholarship Council. Nevertheless, little is known about the scholarship recipients' perceptions of their study sojourn, especially those on short-term exchange programs. Based on 100 visiting doctoral students' study reports, the study employed a sentiment analysis and was guided by the ecological system theory to untangle how this cohort affectively evaluated academic and non-academic dimensions of the study sojourn as a multi-layered ecological system. Via a computer-based SKEP analysis, the study contributes new objective insights regarding the perceived nature of an overseas sojourn, which is predominantly positive. In particular, it reveals positive perceptions regarding the funder and institutional prestige, indicating that the recipients' increasing national pride may be harnessed as a soft pulling force for nation-building. This paper ends by offering implications that may potentially benefit doctoral education in China and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a vast body of scholarship delving into international students' educational experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about the doctoral group's perception from a sociomaterial perspective. Utilizing a group of Chinese international doctoral students while drawing on semi-structured interviews, the article unpacks what and how matter and human forces are entangled with one another as bricolages to shape a disrupted doctoral trajectory. It reveals that, within working and social spaces, human agency and non-human matter mediate, forge and produce a doctoral trajectory embedded within a complex lived experience of responding to shifting dynamics during the pandemic. It also shows how doctoral students aligned material and social assemblages to construct sociomaterial bricolages that facilitate a restoration of relative stability. The study contributes to the literature of international doctoral education with a nuanced disclosure of its navigation as a continual process of mobilization, negotiation and construction emerging from the performative flow of sociomaterial practices. It concludes that a doctoral trajectory represents network operations of experiencing and accounting for, not just what humans do with matter, but what matter does to human thinking and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International student mobility has traditionally witnessed a global South-North pattern. In recent years, a shift has occurred as the appeal of alternative geographies waxes, with Malaysia being an exemplar of inbound student mobility destination. To facilitate a deep probe of the under-researched global South-South student mobility, this study utilized a qualitative method to delve into 10 Chinese doctoral students' emic perceptions of their sojourn in Malaysia. Guided by a theoretical framework incorporating decolonization and recolonization, this study unpacks how these sociohistorical forces penetrate into and shape the students' preparation and navigation of a doctoral sojourn. Findings of the study reveal that while taking advantage of the Southern niche to yield commensurate benefits, thereby delegitimizing the Western supremacy, the students' make-do mentality and self-subjugating resistance inadvertently reinforce the Western dominance. Besides, these macro effects generate interlocking and conflicting affective consequences, instilling simultaneously positivity and inclusivity, inferiority, and anxiety. Altogether, decolonization and recolonization are concretely registered at the emotional level and bear a broader social significance. This article concludes with an alert and a call to address covert yet compelling inequalities in international student mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The N‐termini of proteins can regulate their degradation, and the same protein with different N‐termini may have distinct dynamics. Recently, it was found that N‐terminal glycine can serve as a degron recognized by two E3 ligases, but N‐terminal glycine was also reported to stabilize proteins. Here we developed a chemoenzymatic method for selective enrichment of proteoforms with N‐terminal glycine and integrated dual protease cleavage to further improve the enrichment specificity. Over 2000 unique peptides with protein N‐terminal glycine were analyzed from >1000 proteins, and most of them are previously unknown, indicating the effectiveness of the current method to capture low‐abundance proteoforms with N‐terminal glycine. The degradation rates of proteoforms with N‐terminal glycine were quantified along with those of proteins from the whole proteome. Bioinformatic analyses reveal that proteoforms with N‐terminal glycine with the fastest and slowest degradation rates have different functions and localizations. Membrane proteins with N‐terminal glycine and proteins with N‐terminal glycine from the N‐terminal methionine excision degrade more rapidly. Furthermore, the secondary structures, adjacent amino acid residues, and protease specificities for N‐terminal glycine are also vital for protein degradation. The results advance our understanding of the effects of N‐terminal glycine on protein properties and functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The N‐termini of proteins can regulate their degradation, and the same protein with different N‐termini may have distinct dynamics. Recently, it was found that N‐terminal glycine can serve as a degron recognized by two E3 ligases, but N‐terminal glycine was also reported to stabilize proteins. Here we developed a chemoenzymatic method for selective enrichment of proteoforms with N‐terminal glycine and integrated dual protease cleavage to further improve the enrichment specificity. Over 2000 unique peptides with protein N‐terminal glycine were analyzed from >1000 proteins, and most of them are previously unknown, indicating the effectiveness of the current method to capture low‐abundance proteoforms with N‐terminal glycine. The degradation rates of proteoforms with N‐terminal glycine were quantified along with those of proteins from the whole proteome. Bioinformatic analyses reveal that proteoforms with N‐terminal glycine with the fastest and slowest degradation rates have different functions and localizations. Membrane proteins with N‐terminal glycine and proteins with N‐terminal glycine from the N‐terminal methionine excision degrade more rapidly. Furthermore, the secondary structures, adjacent amino acid residues, and protease specificities for N‐terminal glycine are also vital for protein degradation. The results advance our understanding of the effects of N‐terminal glycine on protein properties and functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air suspension is one of the heart of electrified chassis, which plays a key role in vehicle ride comfort, driving stability and safety. In order to further improve the suspension performance to meet the demand of complex and changing road conditions, various new suspension structures have emerged. This paper inherits the advantages of electronically controlled air suspension and proposes a quasi-zero stiffness air suspension system combined with pneumatic negative stiffness mechanism. Aiming at the random uncertainty of the structural parameters of the suspension system due to manufacturing, use environment and wear, a robust controller for a semi-active quasi-zero stiffness air suspension based on polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) is designed. The quasi-zero stiffness air suspension alternative model is established by the coefficient state equation of PCE, and the state feedback control law considering the random parameter uncertainty is obtained based on the H2 control theory solution. Simulations and HiL tests are conducted to verify the effectiveness and real-time performance of proposed PCE-H2 controller. Simulation results show that the performance of PCE-H2 control law is better than that of the conventional H2. The HiL results also show that the PCE-H2 control law considering uncertainty is 3.2% less effective than the conventional H2 control law in overall performance of the suspension. Besides, the control effect of the PCE-H2 control law is 38.7% better in the performance maintenance of the semi-active suspension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sheath blight is one of the most important rice diseases and its control is generally achieved by the use of fungicides, but the economic and environmental costs involved have led to a search for alternative management approaches. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of eight defence inducers against the rice sheath blight pathogen, Rhizoctonia solani AG1‐IA. The results showed that 10 mM p‐aminobenzoic acid (PABA) and 3 mM vitamin B9 (VB9)‐treated plants had significantly lower disease indices, at 2.56 and 3.49, respectively, compared to the control at 5.36 in growth room conditions. The direct effect studies showed that PABA significantly suppressed fungal mycelial growth, sclerotial formation and hyphal regeneration ability. However, VB9 showed no effect on mycelial growth but promoted sclerotial formation and hyphal regeneration. Histological observation showed a decreased lesion size and lower amount of hyphal DNA in inducer‐treated leaves. Reverse transcription‐quantitative PCR revealed that OsPR1b was significantly induced by VB9 and the expression of OsPR5 was potentiated by PABA, which indicates that the salicylic acid pathway is possibly involved in VB9‐induced resistance, and the antifungal protein OsPR5 probably contributes partially to PABA protection against R. solani. Immediate control effects of PABA and VB9 were also found after disease establishment. Under greenhouse conditions, the control effects of PABA and VB9 were 29.8% and 40.5%, respectively. These findings reveal that the application of PABA and VB9 to complement plant resistance to sheath blight appears to be an effective strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a scarcity of scholarship that sheds light on international doctoral students' identity construction in quotidian encounters beyond the formal curriculum. In this autoethnographic study, based on my diary entries, via a socio-constructivist lens, I teased out my multidimensional identity construction by referring to situations, activities and relations embedded in daily experiences during my overseas study sojourn. My autoethnography reveals that how I make sense of my becoming and being as a Chinese sojourning in Australia for doctoral education transcends the experientiality of doing research alone, but incorporates gendered, sociocultural and professional facets within my past-present-future life trajectory. As I navigated these encounters, strategically mobilising my agency and utilising structural contexts towards the aim of achieving ontological security, I engaged in negotiating a transformative identity. The research calls for more studies in the future that explore the complexities and nuances of international doctoral students' identity construction in quotidian realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1D semiconductor wires have great potential in on‐chip integrated photonics systems. However, it is still challenging to efficiently integrate various semiconductor wires on a large scale for complex functional devices. This study reports a universal route to in‐plane integrate unidirectional metal halide perovskite CsPbBr3 wire arrays with Sb2Se3, PbSeand CdS wires on mica substrates, respectively. It is found that the growth of the unidirectional wire arrays is controlled by a synergistic effect of the promoted initial nucleation on the transferred heterogeneous wires and the thermodynamically favored epitaxy on mica. The optical characterizations show that the CsPbBr3 wire arrays can act as both the light emitting media and waveguide, where the emission in the CsPbBr3 wires can be efficiently guided into the backbone Sb2Se3 wire. Importantly, the constructed CsPbBr3 waveguide arrays/Sb2Se3 wire photodetector system shows 73.4 nA photocurrent with the on/off ratio of 111, by exciting the CsPbBr3 wires at 174 mW cm−2 of 405 nm laser. The frequency dependent photoresponse characterizations exhibit a response capability of 2000 Hz modulated laser pulse and a 3 dB frequency above 300 Hz, indicating the rapid response speed. This study promotes the application of semiconductor wires in on‐chip multifunctional integrated photonic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an effective ultra‐broadband absorber in long‐wavelength infrared is achieved by a metal‐insulator‐metasurface (MIM) stacked structure. This absorber exhibits an average absorption of 90% at wavelengths ranging from 8 to 14 µm and a maximum absorption rate of up to 97.1%. It is found that the performance is achieved by three mode combinations. The ultra‐broadband leveling absorber is to be polarization‐independent due to its geometrical symmetry. The absorption property can be controlled by the parameters of the triangle unit. It has great potential in many applications such as infrared detection and imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a significant concern for vehicle users as it can negatively impact their health and comfort. As such, effective vibration isolation is critical in vehicle suspension design. The ability of a vehicle suspension to isolate vibrations depends primarily on the suspension design and the type of springs used. One type of spring that has proven advantageous for vibration isolation is the air spring. Air springs can vary frequencies and adjust their stiffness in response to different loading conditions, making them ideal for meeting both suspension load-carrying and occupants' comfort requirements. Pneumatic (air) suspension has been in use in the automotive industry for several decades and has undergone significant advancements during this period. This paper presents a systematic review of pneumatic suspension since its inception. The review highlights different air spring modeling techniques, types of pneumatic suspension, and control methods. The study also discusses the functional flexibility of pneumatic suspension, its ability to offer a wide range of control options to drivers, and its broad application in almost all ranges of vehicles, including chassis, cabin, and seat suspension systems. In addition, this paper presents a summary of the pros and cons of pneumatic suspension and suggests future research directions. The advantages of pneumatic suspension include effective vibration isolation, improved ride comfort, and the ability to adjust suspension stiffness and ride height. On the other hand, the disadvantages include higher cost and complexity compared to other types of suspension. Overall, the findings of this review demonstrate that pneumatic suspension is a viable solution for vehicle suspension design, particularly in situations where vibration isolation and ride comfort are critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinization is detrimental to crop growth, agricultural yields, and environmental protection. Echinochloa frumentacea (Roxb.) Link is a pioneer species for the alteration of saline–alkali lands. In this paper, we examined the effects of intercropping between E. frumentacea and leguminous forages on saline land improvement in the saline–alkali soil of the Hetao-Ningxia Plain, China. We found that intercropping increased the diversity and richness of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) community in the rhizosphere soil of E. frumentacea. Glomus was the dominant genus in the saline–alkali soil of the Hetao-Ningxia Plain, where Glomeraceae, VTX00067, VTX000193, and VTX000165 were the dominant species. Intercropping improved the activities of soil urease, sucrase, alkaline phosphatase, and catalase. The hay yields of E. frumentacea were correlated positively with soil enzyme activities, Chao1 index, and ACE index, and negatively with total water-soluble salt content. Together, intercropping between E. frumentacea and leguminous forages enhances AMF diversity and soil enzyme activities, which provides an agricultural practice for improving sustainability of the agro-ecosystem in saline–alkali areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of chemical fertilizer along with organic fertilizer is an important agricultural practice that improves crop yield but also affects soil biogeochemical cycles. In this study, a maize field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of NPK fertilizer (NPK), organic fertilizer (OF), and their combination (NPK+OF) on soil chemical properties, bacterial and fungal community structures, and diversity compared the control (CK, without any fertilizer). The results showed that the application of OF and NPK-combined OF increased soil organic matter (OM), total N, total P, available N, available P, and available K levels. For alpha diversity analyses, the application of fertilizers led to decreases in soil bacterial and fungal Shannon indices (except for NPK in fungi). Compared with CK, NPK, OF, and NPK+OF fertilization treatments significantly increased the abundances of Acidobacteriota, Gemmatimonadota, and Basidiomycota. Network analysis showed that fertilization produced fewer connections among microbial taxa, especially in the combination of NPK and OF. A redundancy analysis combined with Mantel test further found that the soil OM, available N and P were the main soil-fertility factors driving microbial community variations. Therefore, using organic fertilizer or biological fertilizer combined with chemical fertilizer to improve the status of soil C, N, and P is a promising method to maintain the balance of soil microorganisms in maize field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an adaptive coordination control strategy for path-following of distributed drive autonomous electric vehicles (DDAEV). A model predictive control (MPC) algorithm is used to realize path-following through autonomous steering, where the prediction time is adaptive in relation to different driving conditions. Due to the dynamic characteristic of distributed drive vehicle, the differential torque control is also utilized based on the deviation of path to realize path-following. In order to make full use of the advantages of these two path-following methods, coordination control of autonomous steering and differential steering is adopted to improve the transient response speed, flexibility of steering system and path-following performance by setting moving weight coefficients based on neural network. Results of CarSim-Simulink co-simulation and real vehicle experiment both verify that the proposed coordination control can obtain steering flexibility, as well as tracking accuracy and reliability under various driving conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital microfluidics (DMF) is an emerging liquid-handling technology based on arrays of microelectrodes for the precise manipulation of discrete droplets. DMF offers the benefits of automation, addressability, integration and dynamic configuration ability, and provides enclosed picoliter-to-microliter reaction space, making it suitable for lab-on-a-chip biological analysis and applications that require high integration and intricate processes. A review of DMF bioassays with a special emphasis on those actuated by electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) force is presented here. Firstly, a brief introduction is presented on both the theory of EWOD actuation and the types of droplet motion. Subsequently, a comprehensive overview of DMF-based biological analysis and applications, including nucleic acid, protein, immunoreaction and cell assays, is provided. Finally, a discussion on the strengths, challenges, and potential applications and perspectives in this field is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the pathological loss of nigrostriatal dopaminergic neurons, which causes an insufficient release of dopamine (DA) and then induces motor and nonmotor symptoms. Hyperoside (HYP) is a lignan component with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective effects. In this study, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) and its active neurotoxic metabolite 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP+) were used to induce dopaminergic neurodegeneration. The results showed that HYP (100 µg/mL) reduced MPTP-mediated cytotoxicity of SH-SY5Y cells in vitro, and HYP [25 mg/(kg d)] alleviated MPTP-induced motor symptoms in vivo. HYP treatment reduced the contents of nitric oxide (NO), H2O2, and malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as the mitochondrial damage of dopaminergic neurons, both in vitro and in vivo. Meanwhile, HYP treatment elevated the levels of neurotrophic factors such as glial cell line–derived neurotrophic factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and recombinant cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor in vivo, but not in vitro. Finally, Akt signaling was activated after the administration of HYP in MPP+/MPTP-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration. However, the blockage of the Akt pathway with Akt inhibitor did not abolish the neuroprotective effect of HYP on DA neurons. These results showed that HYP protected the dopaminergic neurons from the MPP+- and MPTP-induced injuries, which did not rely on the Akt pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, a particular type of image-text retrieval task named Ternary Image-Text Retrieval (TITR) has drawn increasing attention. In this task, the total inputs of query and target consist of three components, rather than two inputs in the widely-studied retrieval case. The typical TITR scenarios include recipe retrieval (e.g. , ingredients text, instructions text and food images) and fashion search (e.g. , original images, text and modified images). A few recently proposed TITR methods mainly focus on learning the semantic correlations of two modality data by projecting them to the same embedding space to capture the alignment between image and text modalities. Nevertheless, two limitations still exist in these methods: 1) the underlying difference between data in the same modality (e.g. , ingredients and instructions) is neglected; and 2) the trilinear interaction among the three inputs is implicitly captured. To this end, we propose a novel fusion framework named T rilinear FU sion N etwork (TFUN) to utilize high-level associations between these three inputs simultaneously and learn an accurate cross-modal similarity function via bi-directional triplet loss explicitly, which is generic for the TITR task. To reduce the model complexity, we introduce the advanced method of tensor decomposition to ensure computational efficiency and accessibility. We also develop a three-stage hard triplet sampling scheme to ensure fast convergence. Extensive experiments on three large-scale TITR datasets Recipe1M, Fashion200k and FashionIQ demonstrate the superiority of our proposed TFUN model compared to the state-of-the-art approaches. The implementation code and additional instructions are provided at https://github.com/CFM-MSG/Code_TFUN. • The novel model TFUN captures the trilinear interaction of multimodal inputs. • The tensor decomposition algorithm tackles the high dimensionality issue. • The three-stage hard triplet sampling scheme improves the training efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some comet- and Hill-type families of nearly circular symmetric periodic orbits of the elliptic restricted three-body problem in the inertial frame are numerically explored by Broyden's method with a line search. Some basic knowledge is introduced for self-consistency. Set j / k as the period ratio between the inner and the outer orbits. The values of j / k are mainly 1 / j with 2 ≤ j ≤ 10 and j = 15 , 20 , 98 , 100 , 102 . Many sets of the initial values of these periodic orbits are given when the orbital eccentricity e p of the primaries equals 0.05. When the mass ratio μ = 0.5 , both spatial and planar doubly-symmetric periodic orbits are numerically investigated. The spacial orbits are almost perpendicular to the orbital plane of the primaries. Generally, these orbits are linearly stable when the j / k is small enough, and there exist linearly stable orbits when j / k is not small. If μ ≠ 0.5 , there is only one symmetry for the high-inclination periodic orbits, and the accuracy of the periodic orbits is determined after one period. Some diagrams between the stability index and e p or μ are supplied. For μ = 0.5 , we set j / k = 1 / 2 , 1 / 4 , 1 / 6 , 1 / 8 and e p ∈ [ 0 , 0.95 ] . For e p = 0.05 and 0.0489, we fix j / k = 1 / 8 and set μ ∈ [ 0 , 0.5 ] . Some Hill-type high-inclination periodic orbits are numerically studied. When the mass of the central primary is very small, the elliptic Hill lunar model is suggested, and some numerical examples are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sixth generation (6G) communication will use the terahertz (THz) frequency band, which requires flexible regulation of THz waves. For the conventional metallic metasurface, its electromagnetic properties are hard to be changed once after being fabricated. To enrich the modulation of THz waves, we report an all-optically controlled reconfigurable electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect in the hybrid metasurface integrated with a 10-nm thick MoTe2 film. The experimental results demonstrate that under the excitation of the 800 nm femtosecond laser pulse with pump fluence of 3200 μJ/cm2, the modulation depth of THz transmission amplitude at the EIT window can reach 77%. Moreover, a group delay variation up to 4.6 ps is observed to indicate an actively tunable slow light behavior. The suppression and recovery of the EIT resonance can be accomplished within sub-nanoseconds, enabling an ultrafast THz photo-switching and providing a promising candidate for the on-chip devices of the upcoming 6G communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into emic perceptions of Chinese international doctoral students' navigation of a disrupted study trajectory during the 2019 coronavirus pandemic. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with students and the conceptual framework of bioecological systems theory and needs-response agency, the article reveals a nuanced picture of how activities, relations and roles nested in a PhD study trajectory are impacted by and respond to the crisis. Specifically, the pandemic has instigated a ripple effect upon PhD study that is embedded within a complex system of person−environment factors in the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem. Confronting these changes and challenges, the students enact needs−response agency to cope with these impacts so as to restore stability. The study concludes with some practical implications for related stakeholders in the bioecological system to generate conditions and support for students to harness possibilities for growth amidst and beyond the health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to basalt and glass fibers, the production of inorganic fiber from industry solid wastes is an effective method to not only save natural resources but also recycle waste resources. Because the preparation of the fibers requires high temperature treatment, the production process is associated with high energy consumption and high carbon emissions. How to resolve these problems is a current research challenge in this field. Herein, we reviewed the study progress on these fibers and further discussed the key factors determining their characteristics, including chemical composition, melt structure, and viscosity of melt. In production, the matching of solid waste blends containing enough total content of SiO2 and Al2O3, and a suitable amount of MgO and CaO, is beneficial to the structure control of the melt. The study found that the melt consisted of Q2 and Q3; and that Q3 content more than Q2 was more suitable for fiber production and its performance improvement. Such a melt structure can be achieved by controlling the degree of depolymerization and the temperature. New ultrasonic technology can shorten the homogenization time; its application is hoped to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. These conclusions will offer important guidance for the development of inorganic fibers from industry solid wastes in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead‐free CsCu2I3 has attracted tremendous research interests for photonics and photoelectronics due to their nontoxicity, unique electronic structure, and excellent stability. However, it is still challenging to achieve large‐scale ordered arrays of CsCu2I3 micro/nanowires, which limits their functional applications in integrated optoelectronic devices. Herein, unidirectional CsCu2I3 wire arrays are achieved in centimeter scale through a modified microchannel‐assisted spatial confinement strategy, which can confine the precursor solution into the pre‐fabricated microchannel arrays in large area and control its evaporation. The microstructure characterizations reveal that the orthorhombic CsCu2I3 wires are grown along the c‐axis with high crystallinity. The control experiments and theoretical studies indicate that the initial CsCu2I3 nucleation at the front of the solution in the channels and the stable solute supply maintained by the movement of the coverslip determine the growth of the wires. The photodetectors based on the CsCu2I3 wires show a high responsivity (80 mA W−1 at 365 nm; 1.29 A W−1 at 330 nm) and fast response speed (trise/tdecay = 640 µs/7.1 ms). Furthermore, these CsCu2I3 wire arrays exhibit great potential in future flexible electronic and UV imaging applications. This work opens a new way to grow well‐aligned copper‐based halides nano/microwire arrays for the integrated optoelectronics applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Periodically modulated systems with parity symmetry have been extensively investigated in recent years and exhibited various novel phenomena and potential applications in quantum technologies. In this study, a pump‐probe structure is used to observe the influence of generalized parity on the alignment spectra of magnetic resonance in a periodically biharmonic modulated warm atomic cesium ensemble. The alignment spectra are symmetric when the generalized parity of modulated Floquet atomic ensemble is present. The breaking of spectral symmetry is accompanied by the absence of generalized parity. The influence of generalized parity on atomic alignment polarization distribution is analyzed based on the perspective of the angular‐momentum probability surface. A necessary and sufficient condition for generalized parity to maintain spectral symmetry is verified experimentally and theoretically, providing a new perspective to investigative complex periodic modulation system. The results are universally applicable to atomic and solid‐state systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near-inertial waves (NIWs) trapped in a propagating anticyclonic eddy (AE) are investigated along the eddy path at three areas spanning 660 km by using two mooring arrays and a cruise transect. In the upstream area, the reconstructed three-dimensional structure reveals that NIWs are concentrated within the eddy core with wave current amplitudes exceeding 0.2 m s−1; vertically, due to the critical layer effect caused by eddy baroclinicity, NIWs are trapped at depths around 200 and 315 m with frequencies estimated to be ω1 ≈ 0.918f and ω2 ≈ 0.985f, respectively. After the AE propagates southwestward for hundreds of kilometers, the NIWs of frequency ω1 are still detectable inside the AE, while NIWs of frequency ω2 are absent because of the equatorward migration of the AE on a beta plane. Meanwhile, the wave kinetic energy downstream is trapped closer to the eddy center in radial direction, with the wave amplitude decaying roughly in a Gaussian form along the eddy radius, and becomes more homogeneous in the azimuthal direction, showing a more regular trapping form in the three-dimensional view. Investigation on wind shows that trapped NIWs are likely to be generated by a typhoon but less affected by the wind during the eddy passage time. By an energy analysis, we find that enhanced wave dissipation near the critical layer is roughly balanced by the energy transfer from mean flows, and therefore the trapped wave kinetic energy is largely conserved during the long-distance migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of smart logistics, current small distribution centers have begun to use intelligent equipment to indirectly read bar code information on courier sheets to carry out express sorting. However, limited by the cost, most of them choose relatively low-end sorting equipment in a warehouse environment that is complex. This single information identification method leads to a decline in the identification rate of sorting, affecting efficiency of the entire express sorting. Aimed at the above problems, an express recognition method based on deeper learning and multi-information fusion is proposed. The method is mainly aimed at bar code information and three segments of code information on the courier sheet, which is divided into two parts: target information detection and recognition. For the detection of target information, we used a method of deeper learning to detect the target, and to improve speed and precision we designed a target detection network based on the existing YOLOv4 network, Experiments show that the detection accuracy and speed of the redesigned target detection network were much improved. Next for recognition of two kinds of target information we first intercepted the image after positioning and used a ZBAR algorithm to decode the barcode image after interception. The we used Tesseract-OCR technology to identify the intercepted three segments code picture information, and finally output the information in the form of strings. This deeper learning-based multi-information identification method can help logistics centers to accurately obtain express sorting information from the database. The experimental results show that the time to detect a picture was 0.31 s, and the recognition accuracy was 98.5%, which has better robustness and accuracy than single barcode information positioning and recognition alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The height of the water flowing fractured zone (HWFFZ) is the key parameter for safe coal mining under water bodies. In order to improve the accuracy of prediction model of the HWFFZ, the grey relational analysis (GRA) is used to quantitatively analyze the influencing factors of the HWFFZ, the main influencing factors of the HWFFZ under the condition of comprehensive mechanized mining and comprehensive top coal caving mining are selected scientifically, and these five factors that include mining depth, mining thickness, inclined length of working face, hard rock lithology proportion coefficient, and coal seam dip angle are selected as the discriminant indexes for predicting the HWFFZ. Nonlinear inertia weight adjustment, linear adjustments of local acceleration factor and global acceleration factor, and Gaussian mutation operation are introduced into particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to improve the performance of PSO algorithm. The modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO) algorithm is used to optimize the initial weights and thresholds of back propagation (BP) neural network, and the prediction model of the HWFFZ based on MPSO-BP neural network algorithm is established according to the measured data. The prediction results are compared with those of PSO-BP neural network model and empirical formulas, the results show that the prediction accuracy of MPSO-BP neural network prediction model is higher than that of PSO-BP neural network prediction model and empirical formulas, and its prediction mean relative error (MRE) is smallest. The model also has good application effect and certain guiding significance for actual production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keratinocyte migration is a crucial process during skin wound healing, and circular RNAs are associated with keratinocyte migration. The purpose of our study was to clarify the role of circ_0084443 in wound healing. The levels of circ_0084443, microRNA (miR)-17-3p, and forkhead box protein O4 (FOXO4) were examined by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. Cell migration was detected via wound scratch assay or transwell assay. The protein expression was measured using western blot. The binding analysis between miR-17-3p and circ_0084443 or FOXO4 was determined by dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNA Immunoprecipitation assay. TGF-β1 decreased the levels of circ_0084443 and FOXO4 while increased the miR-17-3p expression in keratinocytes by a concentration-dependent manner. Circ_0084443 acted as a miR-17-3p sponge and circ_0084443 overexpression alleviated TGF-β1-induced migration of keratinocytes by sponging miR-17-3p. FOXO4 was a target for miR-17-3p. The downregulation of miR-17-3p suppressed cell migration in TGF-β1-induced cells by increasing the FOXO4 level. Circ_0084443 positively regulated the FOXO4 expression by sponging miR-17-3p. Circ_0084443 suppressed the TGFβ signaling pathway by affecting the miR-17-3p/FOXO4 axis. These results exhibited that circ_0084443 suppressed the TGF-β1-induced keratinocyte migration by regulating the miR-17-3p/FOXO4 axis, suggesting the application potential of circ_0084443 in wound-healing-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle–Late Jurassic transition period is a critical period for the evolution of terrestrial vertebrates, but the global fossil record from this time is relatively poor. The Shishugou Fauna of this period has recently produced significant fossil remains of dinosaurs and other vertebrate groups, some representing the earliest known members of several dinosaurian groups and other vertebrate groups and some representing the best‐known specimens of their group. These discoveries are significant for our understanding of the origin and evolution of several vertebrate lineages. Radiometric dating indicates that the fauna is aged approximately 159–164 Ma. Comparisons with other similarly‐aged terrestrial faunas such as Shaximiao and Yanliao show both taxonomic similarities and differences between these faunas and indicate that the Junggar deposits might have preserved the most complete vertebrate fossil record for a Middle–Late Jurassic Laurasian terrestrial fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient interface management between diamond and metal is crucial for achieving optimal performance in metal-matrix/diamond composites. Here, the Ti coatings prepared at various pressures were deposited on diamond particles by DC magnetron sputtering. The microstructure and bonding strength of the resulting coatings were systematically investigated. The results showed that the microstructure of the Ti coatings depended on the deposition pressure. All coating surfaces had a granular morphology, and the augment of deposition pressure was favorable for refining the coatings' grains. The Ti coating prepared at 1.0 Pa was fine and uniform with no obvious defects, displaying the optimal deposition quality and bonding strength. Furthermore, it was found that the annealing temperature played a key role in the reaction between the Ti coating and the diamond. The TiC phase in the Ti-coated diamond particles exhibited a progressive increase with rising temperature, and the Ti-coated diamond underwent completely transformation into TiC-coated diamond at 1000 °C. The experimental results and molecular dynamics simulation revealed that the Ti coating reacted more violently with the diamond-(100) facet than it did with the diamond-(111) facet at high temperature. This work provided a new solution for interface management strategy of high-quality metal-matrix/diamond composites. [Display omitted] • The Ti coatings were deposited on diamond particles by DC magnetron sputtering. • The Dia-1.0 was fine and uniform with no obvious defects, displaying the optimal deposition quality and bonding strength. • MD simulations were utilized to model the reaction of Ti on diamond particle. • The growth mechanism of Ti coating on diamond particle and their reaction mechanism at high temperature were clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a combined passive graded metal foam and active mechanical rotation strategy is proposed to simultaneously solve the problem of slow melting rate and non-uniform phase change problem of the latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) technology. The enthalpy-porosity method and fixed grid structure are employed to numerically investigate the effects of porosity range, the number of graded layers, and the rotational angular velocity. Moreover, the response surface method (RSM) is further selected to optimize the structural parameters and obtain the function of melting performance and various factors. The result shows that there is an optimal porosity range and the total melting time decreases first and then increases with the increase of porosity range. When the porosity range is 12 % and the graded layer is three, it can shorten the melting time by 35.54 % and increase the thermal energy storage rate (TESR) by 51.57 %. In addition, the melting performance is gradually improved as the number of graded layers increases. The strengthening effect of graded metal foam with just four layers is close to that of the maximum layers considered in this paper. The trend of the influence of rotation speed on the melting performance of the LHTES unit is consistent with the porosity range, indicating the existence of the optimal rotational speed. The RSM optimization structure, with a 14.969 % porosity range, 5-layer graded number, and 2.267 rpm rotational speed, shortens the melting time by 42.42 % and increases the TESR by 62.75 % compared with the stationary case with uniform metal foam. This work verifies the effectiveness of active rotation coupling with passive graded porous structures, which could provide a new strengthening approach to enhance LHTES. • A strengthening strategy combining graded porous and rotation is proposed. • It realizes the synergistic enhancement of natural convection and heat conduction. • The effects of porosity range, graded layer, and rotational speed are considered. • The structural and rotary parameters are further optimized by the RSM. • Compared to the base case, the optimized case reduces melting time by 42.42 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to shorten searching time and reduce the quantity of redundant nodes in path planning, an improved A* algorithm was proposed. In the novel algorithm, compared with the A* algorithm, the octet neighborhood was replaced a rectangular boundary without obstacles. The map was explored in two directions from the starting point and the target point respectively. The exploration generated fewer nodes. Due to the enlargement of the search neighborhood and the rectilinear passage without obstacles in the rectangular region, the new algorithm used Euclidean distance as distance estimate. And a new operator was designed to seek the best search node to reduce the time complexity, so as to improve the efficiency of the algorithm. For improving the safety of mobile robot, the novel algorithm adopted adaptive cost function to improve the ability of road safety discrimination. A Slide-Rail corner adjustment method was designed to reduce unnecessary corners and improve the smoothness of the path. The simulation results showed that, compared with the traditional A* algorithm and various improved A* algorithms, the proposed algorithm can shorten the path length and searching time, reduce the number of turns, the total turning angles and search nodes. Compared to A*, the searching time was reduced by 64.76%, the total turning angles were reduced by 56.34%, and the search nodes were reduced by 82.76% averagely in test maps of this paper. Moreover, the average interval width in improved A* was 3.07 and was more than 1.5 times the average interval width in Rectangle Expansion A*. • The map was rectangle explored in two directions. • A new method was designed to seek the best search node. • the adaptive cost function was adopted to improve the safety. • A Slide-Rail corner adjustment method was designed to get smoother path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationships among the abundance of magnetofossils, the ensuing magnetic properties, and the controlling paleoenvironmental factors in marine sediments remain broadly unexplored. Here, we identify magnetofossils in core XB1 from the northwestern South China Sea (SCS) since end of the Last Glacial. Using rock magnetic and electron microscopic data, we propose a model that links the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility fabric and the abundance of magnetofossils. The magnetofossil concentration in sediments increases significantly during the 14.7–4.7 ka period, which in turns leads to inverse magnetic fabrics and near‐horizontal of the minimum magnetic susceptibility axes. Further, we show that the abundance of magnetofossils is linked to paleoenvironmental changes in the northwestern SCS. The production and preservation of magnetofossils during the 14.7–4.7 ka period are promoted by an intensified East Asian summer monsoon and sluggish deep‐water ventilation, while the paucity of magnetofossils after 4.7 ka is attributed to high oxygen content. Plain Language Summary: The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) is a useful magnetic property of rocks for a wide range of scientific questions. Typically, the sedimentary AMS fabric carried by coarser‐grained magnetic particles (i.e., multi‐domain, MD) exhibits an oblate shape with a horizontal maximum magnetic susceptibility axis. However, single‐domain (SD) magnetic particles (e.g., nano‐sized magnetofossil magnetites) complicate the AMS fabric, through their intrinsic inverse magnetic fabric with the minimum magnetic susceptibility axis aligned along the horizontal plane. For natural samples, quantification of the contributions of SD and MD particles to AMS is essential for accurate interpretation of the AMS. This paper puts forward a novel approach that links the AMS and the abundance of magnetofossils. By applying this new method to sediments from the South China Sea, we found that the inverse magnetic fabrics in the studied sediments are associated with high magnetofossils concentration, which can be affected by various factors including the East Asian monsoon, nutrient supply or deep‐water ventilation. Key Points: Values of the minimum susceptibility axis inclination are associated with the abundance of magnetofossilsThe magnetofossils can be quantified by the proportion of inverse component in sedimentsThe strong deep‐water ventilation hinders the production and preservation of magnetofossils in the South China Sea [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactive genetic algorithm (IGA) is an effective way to help users with product design optimization. However, in this process, users need to evaluate the fitness of all individuals in each generation. It will cause users' fatigue when users cannot find satisfactory products after multi-generation evaluations. To solve this problem, an improved interactive genetic algorithm (IGA-KDTGIM) is proposed, which combines K-dimensional tree surrogate model and a graphic interaction mechanism. In this algorithm, the K-dimensional tree surrogate model is built on the basis of users' historical evaluation information to assist the user's evaluation, so as to reduce the times of users' evaluation. At the same time, users are allowed to interact with the graphic interface to adjust the shape of the individual, so as to increase users' creation fun and to make the evolution direction of the population conform to users' expectations. The IGA-KDTGIM is applied to the 3D vase design system and independently experimented with IGA, IGA-KDT, and IGA-GIM, respectively. The average fitness, maximum average fitness, and evaluation times of statistical data were compared and analyzed. Compared with traditional IGA, the number of evaluations required by users decreased by 60.0%, and the average fitness of the population increased by 15.0%. The results show that this method can reduce the users' operation fatigue and improve the ability of finding satisfactory solutions to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pure BiFeO3 (BFO) and (Er, Mn) co-doped Bi1−xErxFe0.95Mn0.05O3 (x = 0, 0.05, and 0.10) nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol–gel method. The effect of (Er, Mn) co-doping on the structural and multiferroic properties of BFO nanoparticles were systematically investigated. The results showed that the value of x had a significant influence on the multiferroic properties of the synthesized nanoparticles. Compared with pure BFO sample, the leakage current density of all the (Er, Mn) co-doped samples is much smaller than that of pure BFO. The best magnetic properties are obtained in the x = 0.10 sample, where the remanent magnetization (Mr) is as high as 0.426 emu/g, and the coercive field (Hc) is up to 5.91 kOe. The present work provides an effective method to enhance the multiferroic properties of BFO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, generative adversarial network (GAN) has shown its strong ability on modeling data distribution via adversarial learning. Cross-modal GAN, which attempts to utilize the power of GAN to model the cross-modal joint distribution and to learn compatible cross-modal features, is becoming the research hotspot. However, the existing cross-modal GAN approaches typically 1) require labeled multimodal data of massive labor cost to establish cross-modal correlation; 2) utilize the vanilla GAN model that results in unstable training procedure and meaningless synthetic features; and 3) lack of extensibility for retrieving cross-modal data of new classes. In this article, we revisit the adversarial learning in existing cross-modal GAN methods and propose Joint Feature Synthesis and Embedding (JFSE), a novel method that jointly performs multimodal feature synthesis and common embedding space learning to overcome the above three shortcomings. Specifically, JFSE deploys two coupled conditional Wassertein GAN modules for the input data of two modalities, to synthesize meaningful and correlated multimodal features under the guidance of the word embeddings of class labels. Moreover, three advanced distribution alignment schemes with advanced cycle-consistency constraints are proposed to preserve the semantic compatibility and enable the knowledge transfer in the common embedding space for both the true and synthetic cross-modal features. All these add-ons in JFSE not only help to learn more effective common embedding space that effectively captures the cross-modal correlation but also facilitate to transfer knowledge to multimodal data of new classes. Extensive experiments are conducted on four widely used cross-modal datasets, and the comparisons with more than ten state-of-the-art approaches show that our JFSE method achieves remarkably accuracy improvement on both standard retrieval and the newly explored zero-shot and generalized zero-shot retrieval tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a constrained robust output feedback $\mathrm{{H}}\infty /\mathrm{{H}}_{2}$ control-based coordinated delay controller (ROHD) to deal with the controller area network (CAN) induced asynchronous delays which exist in the mode transition process (MTP) of a dual motor plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (DM-PHEV). Due to the multiple actuators of DM-PHEV and the limitation of network transmission rate, the control of MTP from electric driving mode (EM) to hybrid driving mode (HM) based on CAN bus inevitably induces random asynchronous delays. Firstly, the problem of MTP with CAN-induced delay is formulated and a mathematical model of MTP with asynchronous delays is built. In order to deal with the model uncertainty and the interference introduced by the measurement signals, ROHD controller is designed to achieve a fast, smooth and stable MTP in the presence of CAN-induced delays. Simulation and hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) test demonstrate that the torque demand and ride comfort of MTP with network-induced delays controlled by proposed controllers are better than those controlled by traditional robust controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to compare the effect of two barnyard millet varieties viz. Echinochloa frumentacea (L.) (HNJZ) and Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) var. austro-japonensis (BZ), on fertility and physicochemical properties of alkaline soil of Ningxia, China. Soil rhizosphere of BZ and HNJZ with three replicates (5 plants from each replicate) were collected for bacterial communities metagenomic profiling and six rhizosphere soil samples from each treatment for untargeted-metabolomic analysis. Results revealed significant (p < 0.05) improvement in soil fertility for both millet varieties at 0–20 cm depth than 20–40 cm by decreasing the alkalinity and pH, while increasing the organic matter. Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria were the most abundant phyla, whereas Megamonas, uncharacterized_Acidobacteria, and Halomonas were the most abundant genera. No difference in bacterial alpha diversity parameters was observed between HNJZ and BZ rhizospheres. Relative abundance of Cellvibrio and Devosia was increased (p < 0.05) in HNJZ, while Arenimonas, Gillisia, Sphingomonas, uncharacterized_Gammaproteobacteria, and Lysobacter were increased significantly (p < 0.05) in BZ rhizospheres. Beta diversity analysis revealed more diverse bacterial communities structure in HNJZ rhizosphere with higher Firmicutes ratio. Non-targeted metabolomic analysis revealed biosynthesis of alkaloids, histamine H2/H3 receptor agonists/antagonists, and arginine/proline metabolism as top three enriched KEGG pathways. The present study indicated that both millet varieties contributed to the reclamation of saline-alkali soil through reducing pH, total salts, and alkalinity while increasing the organic matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) plays a critical role in revealing genetic expression patterns at the single-cell level for cell type identification and rare transcript detection. Although there have been great advances in scRNA-seq methodologies, existing technologies still suffer from complexity and high cost, and an integrated platform for complete library construction is still lacking. Herein we describe Cilo-seq for high-performance scRNA-seq library construction in a single device with programmed and addressable droplet handling based on digital microfluidics. The platform is simultaneously accessible for convenient single-cell isolation, efficient nucleic acid amplification, low-loss nucleic acid purification and high-quality library preparation by leveraging specific interface design, tiny reaction volume, auxiliary magnetic field control and accurate droplet control. With a closed hydrophobic interface, the platform further reduces nucleic acid loss and exogenous background interference. Cilo-seq provides excellent detection sensitivity (1.4-fold improvement over tube-based methods), accuracy (R = 0.98) and cost efficiency (10-fold decrease in cost compared to tube-based methods), and holds great promise for studies of single-cell RNA biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual sound separation (VSS) aims to obtain each sound component from the mixed audio signals with the guidance of visual information. Existing works mainly capture the global-level audio-visual correspondence and exploit various visual features to enhance the appearance and motion features of visual modality. However, they commonly neglect the intrinsic properties of the audio modality, resulting in less effective audio feature extraction and unbalanced audio-visual correspondence. To tackle this problem, we propose a novel end-to-end framework termed Modeling Two-Stream Correspondence (MTSC) for VSS by explicitly extracting the timbre and content features in audio modality. The proposed MTSC method employs a two-stream architecture to enhance audio-visual correspondence for both the appearance-timbre and motion-content features. Moreover, with the advanced two-stream pipeline, more lightweight appearance and motion features for visual modality are exploited. Extensive experiments conducted on two benchmark musical instrument datasets demonstrate that with the above properties, our MTSC method remarkably outperforms seven state-of-the-art VSS approaches. The implementation code and extensive experimental results of the proposed MTSC method are provided at https://github.com/CFM-MSG/MTSC-VSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wireless sensor networks (WSN), the cluster head node receives and aggregates the information collected by the sensors and forwards it to the base station (BS). Appropriate cluster head nodes help reduce the energy consumed for information transmission and prolong the network's lifetime. The fish migration optimization (FMO) algorithm is an emerging meta-heuristic algorithm, that imitates the grayling foraging and breeding in nature. This paper proposes a modified FMO (modFMO) algorithm, which uses an opposition learning based on the elimination principle and Cauchy-based mutation to enhance the FMO algorithm. The improved modFMO is compared with some excellent algorithms on CEC 2014 function sets, and the Friedman ranks test demonstrates the effectiveness of the improvement. In this paper, the FMO algorithm and the modFMO algorithms with the centralized control algorithm are applied to select the optimal cluster head respectively. This paper takes the average energy consumption of the cluster head nodes as the objective function. Compared with other classic algorithms, the simulation results demonstrate that the modFMO algorithm can extend the lifetime of wireless networks, reduce energy consumption, improve information transmission efficiency and improved the ability of FMO algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low hardness and limited anti-wear of aluminum alloys pose obstacles to their stability and service life, especially in corrosive environments. Here, the amorphous CrAlN coating was first deposited on aluminum alloy by DC magnetron sputtering. The CrAlN coating with 30.2% nitrogen content was dense and prevented the intrusion of oxidation and corrosive fluids, thus greatly improving the anti-corrosion of the coating. The wear rate of the coated aluminum alloy in 3.5% NaCl solution decreased by three orders of magnitude. This work paves the way for constructing amorphous protective coatings on light alloys. [Display omitted] • The amorphous CrAlN coating was first deposited on Al alloy by DC magnetron sputtering. • The microstructure and properties of the amorphous CrAlN coating was dominated by the coating's nitrogen content. • The resulting coating presented a leading corrosion resistance as compared with reported literature. • The wear rate of the coating in 3.5% NaCl solution was three orders of magnitude lower than that of Al alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple sauropod-track-bearing horizons occur in the Middle Jurassic Shaqiaomu Formation, in the Chaya Group of Eastern Tibet. These add to the report of a previously described sauropod trackway, which is a famous tourist attraction and became part of a folkloric legend. From an ichnological point of view, multiple track-bearing levels are consistent with the previous report of sauropod tracks, but allow for recognition of nine other levels with a cumulative total of ~88 tracks from which eight recognisable trackways have been identified. These range in size (pes length) from 22.0 to 99.3 cm, with the larger ones all associated with the appropriately named Dajiaoyin (meaning 'large footprints') site. The presence of sauropod tracks in the finer grained argillaceous, lower energy deposits, is characteristic for terrestrial facies environments favoured by sauropods. The track-bearing layers belong to continental shelf sequences that form part of the Lower-Middle Jurassic forearc basin deposits in the southern Qiangtang subterrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent discovery of stable FeO2 under high pressures has aroused great interest in materials science, suggesting the existence of the 4+ oxidation state of late transition metals in their binary oxides. Compared with other cobalt and nickel compounds, reports on CoO2 and NiO2 are limited, and even the oxidation states of Co and Ni in CoO2 and NiO2 are the subject of debate in theoretical works. Herein, PbO2‐type CoO2 and pyrite‐type NiO2 are predicted using density functional theory calculations. The equations of state and relative enthalpies with known compounds are determined, showing that the PbO2‐type CoO2 and pyrite‐type NiO2 can be synthesized above 40 and 43 GPa, respectively. The calculations of elasticity and phonon spectra have confirmed their mechanical and dynamical stabilities at 0 GPa. The band structures and densities of states show that PbO2‐CoO2 is half metallic and pyrite‐NiO2 is semiconducting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kalatongke deposit is the largest Ni–Cu sulphide deposit in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) in northern Xinjiang. The tectonic setting of the Kalatongke deposit and the collision period of the Altai and East Junggar terranes remain controversial. This study involves petrological, geochemical, and geochronological evaluations of granitic porphyries in the Kalatongke. The granitic porphyries are divided into three types according to the characteristics of petrology and geochemistry, dated at ~339, ~325, and ~310 Ma. Type‐1 granitic porphyry exhibits evident syn‐collisional characteristics, with plagioclase phenocrysts extending in one direction. This type is metaluminous (A/CNK <1.1), characterized by low SiO2 and K2O contents, and depleted in Nb, Ta, P, and Ti. Type‐2 granitic porphyry is strongly peraluminous (A/CNK >1.1) and characterized by high SiO2 and Al2O3 but low Sr contents. Type‐3 granitic porphyry is also metaluminous (A/CNK <1.1) and has high SiO2 and K2O contents. The estimated crustal thickness of the Kalatongke area increased from 40 to 55 km from 339 to 310 Ma, thereby indicating that its existence within the collisional orogeny period. According to the estimated emplacement depth of the granitic and mafic intrusions, the crust had been thickening since then. During the late collision period, lithospheric detachment caused by terrane collision resulted in asthenospheric mantle upwelling and formed regional mafic intrusions along the Irtysh fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is one of the main abiotic factors that affect alfalfa yield. The identification of genes that control this complex trait can provide important insights for alfalfa breeding. However, little is known about how alfalfa responds and adapts to drought stress, particularly in cultivars of differing drought tolerance. In this study, the drought-tolerant cultivar Dryland 'DT' and the drought-sensitive cultivar WL343HQ 'DS' were used to characterize leaf and root physiological responses and transcriptional changes in response to water deficit. Under drought stress, Dryland roots (DTR) showed more differentially expressed genes than WL343HQ roots (DSR), whereas WL343HQ leaves (DSL) showed more differentially expressed genes than Dryland leaves (DTL). Many of these genes were involved in stress-related pathways, carbohydrate metabolism, and lignin and wax biosynthesis, which may have improved the drought tolerance of alfalfa. We also observed that several genes related to ABA metabolism, root elongation, peroxidase activity, cell membrane stability, ubiquitination, and genetic processing responded to drought stress in alfalfa. We highlighted several candidate genes, including sucrose synthase, xylan 1,4-beta-xylosidase, primary-amine oxidase, and alcohol-forming fatty acyl-CoA reductase, for future studies on drought stress resistance in alfalfa and other plant species. In summary, our results reveal the unique drought adaptation and resistance characteristics of two alfalfa genotypes. These findings, which may be valuable for drought resistance breeding, warrant further gene functional analysis to augment currently available information and to clarify the drought stress regulatory mechanisms of alfalfa and other plants. • Under drought, the drought-tolerant cultivar exhibited more differentially expressed genes than the drought-sensitive cultivar. • Alfalfa with long roots and thicker layer of wax seemed more drought tolerance. • Genes associated with carbon metabolism, amino acid metabolism, hormones, and secondary genes were differentially expressed under drought stress. • The drought-tolerant cultivar exhibited higher expression of genes encoding cellulose, wax, and root elongation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite widespread discourse subordinating the female PhD as a third gender in the Chinese media, little is known about how this cohort conceptualises themselves, especially in an international context. Based on a qualitative investigation into 10 Chinese female doctoral students in Australia, this study examines their enactment of agency in international academic mobility. Drawing on the notions of "agency in mobility" and in-betweenness, this article shows that Chinese female PhD students demonstrate three forms of agency. Their agency influences how they judge, utilise, produce and imagine relations, symbols and activities in the in-between space, which in turn gives shape to their enactment of agency. This study challenges the validity of the idea that the Chinese female PhD is a sexless third gender and illuminates the dynamic reciprocity between agency and the in-betweenness in shaping their transformative doctoral student identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]