Magnon-mediated interlayer coupling in an all-antiferromagnetic junction

The interlayer coupling mediated by fermions in ferromagnets brings about parallel and anti-parallel magnetization orientations of two magnetic layers, resulting in the giant magnetoresistance, which forms the foundation in spintronics and accelerates the development of information technology. However, the interlayer coupling mediated by another kind of quasi-particle, boson, is still lacking. Here we demonstrate such a static interlayer coupling at room temperature in an antiferromagnetic junction Fe2O3/Cr2O3/Fe2O3, where the two antiferromagnetic Fe2O3 layers are functional materials and the antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 layer serves as a spacer. The N\'eel vectors in the top and bottom Fe2O3 are strongly orthogonally coupled, which is bridged by a typical bosonic excitation (magnon) in the Cr2O3 spacer. Such an orthogonally coupling exceeds the category of traditional collinear interlayer coupling via fermions in ground state, reflecting the fluctuating nature of the magnons, as supported by our magnon quantum well model. Besides the fundamental significance on the quasi-particle-mediated interaction, the strong coupling in an antiferromagnetic magnon junction makes it a realistic candidate for practical antiferromagnetic spintronics and magnonics with ultrahigh-density integration.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure

Identification of Hyper-Methylated Tumor Suppressor Genes-Based Diagnostic Panel for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) in a Chinese Han Population

DNA methylation-based biomarkers were suggested to be promising for early cancer diagnosis. However, DNA methylation-based biomarkers for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), especially in Chinese Han populations have not been identified and evaluated quantitatively. Candidate tumor suppressor genes (N = 65) were selected through literature searching and four public high-throughput DNA methylation microarray datasets including 136 samples totally were collected for initial confirmation. Targeted bisulfite sequencing was applied in an independent cohort of 94 pairs of ESCC and normal tissues from a Chinese Han population for eventual validation. We applied nine different classification algorithms for the prediction to evaluate to the prediction performance. ADHFE1, EOMES, SALL1 and TFPI2 were identified and validated in the ESCC samples from a Chinese Han population. All four candidate regions were validated to be significantly hyper-methylated in ESCC samples through Wilcoxon rank-sum test (ADHFE1, P = 1.7 × 10-3; EOMES, P = 2.9 × 10-9; SALL1, P = 3.9 × 10-7; TFPI2, p = 3.4 × 10-6). Logistic regression based prediction model shown a moderately ESCC classification performance (Sensitivity = 66%, Specificity = 87%, AUC = 0.81). Moreover, advanced classification method had better performances (random forest and naive Bayes). Interestingly, the diagnostic performance could be improved in non-alcohol use subgroup (AUC = 0.84). In conclusion, our data demonstrate the methylation panel of ADHFE1, EOMES, SALL1 and TFPI2 could be an effective methylation-based diagnostic assay for ESCC

Game Theory-Based Analysis of Local Governments’ Behavioral Dissimilation in the Third-Party Soil Pollution Control under Chinese-Style Fiscal Decentralization

The participation of a third party of the environmental service enterprise theoretically increases the level and efficiency of soil pollution control in China. However, Chinese-style fiscal decentralization may have a negative impact on the behaviors of participants, especially the local government. First, this paper conducts a positioning analysis on participants of the third-party soil pollution control in China and discusses the behavioral dissimilation of the local government under fiscal decentralization. Second, taking the government’s third-party soil pollution control as a case, a two-party game model of the central government and the local government is established around the principal-agent relationship, and a tripartite game model of the central government, the local government, and the third-party enterprise is designed around the collusion between the local government and the third-party enterprise. The results show that Chinese-style fiscal decentralization may lead to the behavioral dissimilation of local governments, that is, they may choose not to implement or passively implement the third-party control, and choose to conspire with third-party enterprises. Improving the benefits from implementing the third-party control of local governments and third-party enterprises, enhancing the central government’s supervision probability and capacity, and strengthening the central government’s punishment for behavioral dissimilation are conducive to the implementation of the third-party soil pollution control. Finally, this study puts forward policy suggestions on dividing the administrative powers between the central and local government in third-party control, building appraisal systems for the local government’s environmental protection performance, constructing environmental regulation mechanisms involving the government, market and society, and formulating the incentive and restraint policies for the participants in the third-party soil pollution control

Measuring the Efficiency of Fiscal Policies for Environmental Pollution Control and the Spatial Effect of Fiscal Decentralization in China

This paper uses both fiscal expenditure policy and fiscal revenue policy as input indicators and selects environmental pollution control results reflecting different forms and sources of pollution as output indicators. The efficiency of fiscal policies for environmental pollution control (EFPE) of 30 provincial-level administrative divisions in China from 2007 to 2017 is measured by adopting the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. Then, the spatial effect of fiscal decentralization on EFPE is empirically analyzed by using the spatial lag model (SLM). The results show that EFPE values in China have been greatly improved overall since 2014. The change in technical efficiency (TE) is caused mainly by the change in pure technical efficiency (PTE). EFPE values have regional heterogeneity and convergence. The eastern region has clearly higher EFPE values than other regions. The growth rate of the low efficient region is greater than that of the high efficient region. Fiscal expenditure decentralization has a direct negative effect and spatial spillover effect on EFPE values, while fiscal revenue decentralization has a non-significant effect. Based on these results, this paper proposes the following policy implications: increasing the level of fiscal expenditure of environmental pollution control and improving the central transfer payment system for environmental protection; reforming the government performance assessment system and innovating the conditions of government expenditure on environmental pollution control; and promoting horizontal fiscal cooperation in cross-regional environmental governance

Does Fiscal Policy Promote Third-Party Environmental Pollution Control in China? An Evolutionary Game Theoretical Approach

To promote third-party environmental pollution control in China, it is necessary to dissect the mechanism of fiscal policy in third-party environmental pollution control. This study first discusses the acting paths of fiscal policies on third-party environmental pollution control in theory. A tripartite evolutionary game model involving the local government, the polluting enterprise, and the third-party enterprise is established. The replicator dynamics, evolutionary stability strategies, and numerical simulation of the behavior of the three participants are analyzed to further study the acting mechanism of fiscal policy in third-party environmental pollution control. In addition, the influences of other parameters on the implementation of third-party environmental pollution control are evaluated. The results show that the behaviors of the local government, the polluting enterprise, and the third-party enterprise influence each other. Furthermore, strengthening the relevant fiscal policy, reducing the risks of the polluting enterprise and third-party enterprise, and improving the benefit to the local government are conducive to promoting third-party environmental pollution control in China. Based on these results, this study proposes the following policy implications: formulating fiscal policies for third-party environmental pollution control, implementing fiscal policies in a dynamic and progressive manner, improving the market mechanism of third-party environmental pollution control, and strengthening the environmental performance assessment of the local government

Failure mechanism of PMI foam core sandwich beam in bending

Polymethacrylimide (PMI) foams have been widely applied in aerospace engineering as the core material of sandwich structures. This paper proposes a modified model to predict the constitutive relation of PMI foams and compares it to existing testing data. The study is then applied to the investigation of the failure mechanism of PMI foam core sandwich beams in bending. Corresponding bending tests were carried out where a complex failure process was observed through a high-speed camera. Numerical model of the foregoing sandwich beam is developed, in which the maximum principal stress criteria is used to predict damage propagation in PMI foam core. Both results from tests and numerical simulation validate the reliability of the theoretical prediction of the failure of PMI foam core sandwich beam using the proposed modified model of PMI foams. This study provides a theoretic tool for the design of sandwich structures with PMI foam core

Failure mechanism of PMI foam core sandwich beam in bending

Polymethacrylimide (PMI) foams have been widely applied in aerospace engineering as the core material of sandwich structures. This paper proposes a modified model to predict the constitutive relation of PMI foams and compares it to existing testing data. The study is then applied to the investigation of the failure mechanism of PMI foam core sandwich beams in bending. Corresponding bending tests were carried out where a complex failure process was observed through a high-speed camera. Numerical model of the foregoing sandwich beam is developed, in which the maximum principal stress criteria is used to predict damage propagation in PMI foam core. Both results from tests and numerical simulation validate the reliability of the theoretical prediction of the failure of PMI foam core sandwich beam using the proposed modified model of PMI foams. This study provides a theoretic tool for the design of sandwich structures with PMI foam core

Lactate Activates AMPK Remodeling of the Cellular Metabolic Profile and Promotes the Proliferation and Differentiation of C2C12 Myoblasts

Lactate is a general compound fuel serving as the fulcrum of metabolism, which is produced from glycolysis and shuttles between different cells, tissues and organs. Lactate is usually accumulated abundantly in muscles during exercise. It remains unclear whether lactate plays an important role in the metabolism of muscle cells. In this research, we assessed the effects of lactate on myoblasts and clarified the underlying metabolic mechanisms through NMR-based metabonomic profiling. Lactate treatment promoted the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts, as indicated by significantly enhanced expression levels of the proteins related to cellular proliferation and differentiation, including p-AKT, p-ERK, MyoD and myogenin. Moreover, lactate treatment profoundly regulated metabolisms in myoblasts by promoting the intake and intracellular utilization of lactate, activating the TCA cycle, and thereby increasing energy production. For the first time, we found that lactate treatment evidently promotes AMPK signaling as reflected by the elevated expression levels of p-AMPK and p-ACC. Our results showed that lactate as a metabolic regulator activates AMPK, remodeling the cellular metabolic profile, and thereby promoting the proliferation and differentiation of myoblasts. This study elucidates molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of lactate on skeletal muscle in vitro and may be of benefit to the exploration of lactate acting as a metabolic regulator