Nodeless superconductivity in the presence of spin-density wave in pnictide superconductors: The case of BaFe2−x_{2-x}Nix_{x}As2_{2}

The characteristics of Fe-based superconductors are manifested in their electronic, magnetic properties, and pairing symmetry of the Cooper pair, but the latter remain to be explored. Usually in these materials, superconductivity coexists and competes with magnetic order, giving unconventional pairing mechanisms. We report on the results of the bulk magnetization measurements in the superconducting state and the low-temperature specific heat down to 0.4 K for BaFe$_{2-x}$Ni$_{x}$As$_{2}$ single crystals. The {electronic} specific heat displays a pronounced anomaly at the superconducting transition temperature and a small residual part {at low temperatures in the superconducting state}. The normal-state Sommerfeld coefficient increases with Ni doping for $x$ = 0.092, 0.096, and 0.10, which illustrates the competition between magnetism and superconductivity. Our analysis of the temperature dependence of the superconducting-state specific heat and the London penetration depth provides strong evidence for a two-band $s$-wave order parameter. Further, the data of the London penetration depth calculated from the lower critical field follow an exponential temperature dependence, characteristic of a fully gapped superconductor. These observations clearly show that the superconducting gap in the nearly optimally doped compounds is nodeless.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

X-VoE: Measuring eXplanatory Violation of Expectation in Physical Events

Intuitive physics is pivotal for human understanding of the physical world, enabling prediction and interpretation of events even in infancy. Nonetheless, replicating this level of intuitive physics in artificial intelligence (AI) remains a formidable challenge. This study introduces X-VoE, a comprehensive benchmark dataset, to assess AI agents' grasp of intuitive physics. Built on the developmental psychology-rooted Violation of Expectation (VoE) paradigm, X-VoE establishes a higher bar for the explanatory capacities of intuitive physics models. Each VoE scenario within X-VoE encompasses three distinct settings, probing models' comprehension of events and their underlying explanations. Beyond model evaluation, we present an explanation-based learning system that captures physics dynamics and infers occluded object states solely from visual sequences, without explicit occlusion labels. Experimental outcomes highlight our model's alignment with human commonsense when tested against X-VoE. A remarkable feature is our model's ability to visually expound VoE events by reconstructing concealed scenes. Concluding, we discuss the findings' implications and outline future research directions. Through X-VoE, we catalyze the advancement of AI endowed with human-like intuitive physics capabilities.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures, selected for an Oral presentation at ICCV 2023. Project link: https://pku.ai/publication/intuitive2023iccv

Endoscopic Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis and Treatment Strategy Choice of Esophageal Leiomyoma

OBJECTIVES: Esophageal leiomyoma is the most common benign tumor of the esophagus, and it originates from mesenchymal tissue. This study analyzed the clinicopathological characteristics of esophageal leiomyoma and aimed to evaluate the role of endoscopic ultrasonography in the diagnosis and treatment selection for these lesions. METHODS: Two hundred and twenty-five patients who had suspected esophageal leiomyomas in endoscopic ultrasonography were enrolled at the Endoscopy Center of The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University from January 1st, 2009 to May 31th, 2015. The main outcomes included the demographic and morphological characteristics, symptoms, comparisons of diagnosis and treatment methods, adverse events, and prognosis. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-seven patients were diagnosed as having an esophageal leiomyoma by pathological examination. The mean patient age was 50.57±9.983 years. In total, 62.9% of the lesions originated from the muscularis mucosa, and the others originated from the muscularis propria. The median distance to the incisors was 30±12 cm. The median diameter was 0.72±0.99 cm. As determined by endoscopic ultrasonography, most existing leiomyomas were homogeneous, endophytic, and spherical. The leiomyomas from the muscularis mucosa were smaller than those from the muscularis propria and much closer to the incisors (

Advancements in the interventional therapy and nursing care on deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities

This review examines recent advancements in interventional treatments and nursing care for lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT), highlighting significant innovations and their clinical applications. It discusses the transition to novel anticoagulants such as Direct Oral Anticoagulants, which offer a safer profile and simplified management compared to traditional therapies. Mechanical interventions, including balloon angioplasty and venous stenting, are detailed for their roles in improving immediate and long-term vascular function in acute DVT cases. Furthermore, the use of image-guided techniques is presented as essential for enhancing the accuracy and safety of DVT interventions. Additionally, this study outlines advances in nursing care strategies, emphasizing comprehensive preoperative and postoperative evaluations to optimize patient outcomes. These evaluations facilitate tailored treatment plans, crucial for managing the complex needs of DVT patients. Long-term care strategies are also discussed, with a focus on patient education to ensure adherence to treatment protocols and to prevent recurrence. The synthesis aims to inform healthcare professionals about cutting-edge practices in DVT management, promoting a deeper understanding of how these advancements can be integrated into clinical practice. It also underscores the necessity for ongoing research to address challenges such as cost-effectiveness and patient compliance, ensuring that future treatments are both accessible and effective

Adjuvant treatment for patients with incidentally resected limited disease small cell lung cancer-a retrospective study.

Background With the exception of very early-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC), surgery is not typically recommended for this disease; however, incidental resection still occurs. After incidental resection, adjuvant salvage therapy is widely offered, but the evidence supporting its use is limited. This study aimed to explore proper adjuvant therapy for these incidentally resected SCLC cases. Methods Patients incidentally diagnosed with SCLC after surgery at the Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital in China from January 2005 to December 2014 were included in this study. The primary outcome was overall survival. Patients were classified into different group according to the type of adjuvant therapy they received and stratified by their pathological lymph node status. Patients' survival was analyzed using a Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression analysis. Results A total of 161 patients were included in this study. Overall 5-year survival rate was 36.5%. For pathological N0 (pN0) cases (n=70), multivariable analysis revealed that adjuvant chemotherapy (ad-chemo) was associated with reduced risk of death [hazard ratio (HR): 0.373; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.141-0.985, P=0.047] compared to omission of adjuvant therapy. For pathological N1 or N2 (pN1/2) cases (n=91), taking no adjuvant therapy cases as a reference, the multivariable analysis showed that ad-chemo was not associated with a lower risk of death (HR: 0.869; 95% CI: 0.459-1.645, P=0.666), while adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy (ad-CRT) was associated with a lower risk of death (HR: 0.279; 95% CI: 0.102-0.761, P=0.013). Conclusions Patients who incidentally receive surgical resection and are diagnosed with limited disease SCLC after resection should be offered adjuvant therapy as a salvage treatment. For incidentally resected pN0 cases, ad-chemo should be considered and for pN1/2 cases, ad-CRT should be received

Establishment and application of a rapid assay for GII.4/GII.17 NoV detection based on the combination of CRISPR/Cas13a and isothermal amplification

IntroductionNorovirus (NoV) is one of the most important agents responsible for viral acute gastroenteritis, among which GII.4 NoV is the predominant strain worldwide, and GII.17 NoV surpassed GII.4 in some epidemic seasons. Rapid and accurate gene recognition is essential for a timely response to NoV outbreaks.MethodsIn the present study, the highly conserved regions of GII.4 and GII.17 NoVs were identified in the junction of open reading frame (ORF) 1 and ORF2 and then amplified by isothermal recombinase-aided amplification (RAA), followed by the cleavage of CRISPR-Cas13a with screened CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) and RAA primers. The entire detection procedure could be completed within 40 min using a thermostat, and the results could be read out by the naked eye under a portable blue light transilluminator.DiscussionThe assay showed a high sensitivity of 97.96% and a high specificity of 100.0%. It offered a low limit of detection (LOD) of 2.5×100 copies/reaction and a coincidence rate of 96.75% in 71 clinical fecal samples. Overall, rapid and inexpensive detection of GII.4/GII.17 NoVs was established, which makes it possible to be used in areas with limited resources, particularly in low-income countries. Furthermore, it will contribute to assessing transmission risks and implementing control measures for GII.4/GII.17 NoVs, making healthcare more accessible worldwide

FAST observations of an extremely active episode of FRB 20201124A: IV. Spin Period Search

We report the properties of more than 800 bursts detected from the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source FRB 20201124A with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio telescope (FAST) during an extremely active episode on UTC September 25th-28th, 2021 in a series of four papers. In this fourth paper of the series, we present a systematic search of the spin period and linear acceleration of the source object from both 996 individual pulse peaks and the dedispersed time series. No credible spin period was found from this data set. We rule out the presence of significant periodicity in the range between 1 ms to 100 s with a pulse duty cycle $< 0.49\pm0.08$ (when the profile is defined by a von-Mises function, not a boxcar function) and linear acceleration up to $300$ m s$^{-2}$ in each of the four one-hour observing sessions, and up to $0.6$ m s$^{-2}$ in all 4 days. These searches contest theoretical scenarios involving a 1 ms to 100 s isolated magnetar/pulsar with surface magnetic field $<10^{15}$ G and a small duty cycle (such as in a polar-cap emission mode) or a pulsar with a companion star or black hole up to 100 M$_{\rm \odot}$ and $P_b>10$ hours. We also perform a periodicity search of the fine structures and identify 53 unrelated millisecond-timescale "periods" in multi-components with the highest significance of 3.9 $\sigma$. The "periods" recovered from the fine structures are neither consistent nor harmonically related. Thus they are not likely to come from a spin period. We caution against claiming spin periodicity with significance below $\sim$ 4 $\sigma$ with multi-components from one-off FRBs. We discuss the implications of our results and the possible connections between FRB multi-components and pulsar micro-structures.Comment: Accepted by Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA

Improving myopia awareness via school-based myopia prevention health education among Chinese students

AIM: To investigate the myopia awareness level, knowledge, attitude, and skills at baseline and to implement and evaluate the efficacy of myopia prevention health education among Chinese students. METHODS: A total of 1000 middle school students from 2 middle schools were invited to participate in the study, and myopia prevention health education was conducted. The students were assessed at baseline, followed by a survey. The efficacy of health education was evaluated using the self-comparison method pre- and post-health education. RESULTS: The study included 957 and 850 pre- and post-health education participants, respectively. The baseline knowledge of all respondents on myopic symptoms (87.5%), myopia is a risk of eyes (72.9%), myopia prevention (91.3%), myopia increases with age (86.7%), performing periodic eye examinations (92.8%), and one first, one foot, and one inch (84.8%) significantly increased after health education (P&#x003C;0.001 for all). However, the percentage of students who still did not think it necessary to take breaks after 30-40min of continuous near work was 27.0%. The opinion that “myopia can be cured” was still present in 38.3%. CONCLUSION: Implementing school-based myopia prevention health education improves knowledge, attitudes, and skills regarding myopia among Chinese middle school students