Electronic structure and Magnetism in BaMn2_2As2_2 and BaMn2_2Sb2_2

We study the properties of ThCr$_2$Si$_2$ structure BaMn$_2$As$_2$ and BaMn$_2$Sb$_2$ using density functional calculations of the electronic and magnetic as well experimental measurements on single crystal samples of BaMn$_2$As$_2$. These materials are local moment magnets with moderate band gap antiferromagnetic semiconducting ground states. The electronic structures show substantial Mn - pnictogen hybridization, which stabilizes an intermediate spin configuration for the nominally $d^5$ Mn. The results are discussed in the context of possible thermoelectric applications and the relationship with the corresponding iron / cobalt / nickel compounds Ba(Fe,Co,Ni)$_2$As$_2$

Ab Initio Phonon Dispersions for PbTe

We report first principles calculations of the phonon dispersions of PbTe both for its observed structure and under compression. At the experimental lattice parameter we find a near instability of the optic branch at the zone center, in accord with experimental observations.This hardens quickly towards the zone boundary. There is also a very strong volume dependence of this mode, which is rapidly driven away from an instability by compression. These results are discussed inrelation to the thermal conductivity of the material.Comment: 3 figures; typos corrected. Figure 1 replaced to correct labe

Whole-genome sequencing of <em>Oryza brachyantha</em> reveals mechanisms underlying <em>Oryza</em> genome evolution

The wild species of the genus Oryza contain a largely untapped reservoir of agronomically important genes for rice improvement. Here we report the 261-Mb de novo assembled genome sequence of Oryza brachyantha. Low activity of long-terminal repeat retrotransposons and massive internal deletions of ancient long-terminal repeat elements lead to the compact genome of Oryza brachyantha. We model 32,038 protein-coding genes in the Oryza brachyantha genome, of which only 70% are located in collinear positions in comparison with the rice genome. Analysing breakpoints of non-collinear genes suggests that double-strand break repair through non-homologous end joining has an important role in gene movement and erosion of collinearity in the Oryza genomes. Transition of euchromatin to heterochromatin in the rice genome is accompanied by segmental and tandem duplications, further expanded by transposable element insertions. The high-quality reference genome sequence of Oryza brachyantha provides an important resource for functional and evolutionary studies in the genus Oryza

Sciences for The 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST)

The Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST) is a dedicated photometric survey facility under construction jointly by the University of Science and Technology of China and Purple Mountain Observatory. It is equipped with a primary mirror of 2.5m in diameter, an active optical system, and a mosaic CCD camera of 0.73 Gpix on the main focus plane to achieve high-quality imaging over a field of view of 6.5 square degrees. The installation of WFST in the Lenghu observing site is planned to happen in the summer of 2023, and the operation is scheduled to commence within three months afterward. WFST will scan the northern sky in four optical bands (u, g, r, and i) at cadences from hourly/daily to semi-weekly in the deep high-cadence survey (DHS) and the wide field survey (WFS) programs, respectively. WFS reaches a depth of 22.27, 23.32, 22.84, and 22.31 in AB magnitudes in a nominal 30-second exposure in the four bands during a photometric night, respectively, enabling us to search tremendous amount of transients in the low-z universe and systematically investigate the variability of Galactic and extragalactic objects. Intranight 90s exposures as deep as 23 and 24 mag in u and g bands via DHS provide a unique opportunity to facilitate explorations of energetic transients in demand for high sensitivity, including the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational-wave events detected by the second/third-generation GW detectors, supernovae within a few hours of their explosions, tidal disruption events and luminous fast optical transients even beyond a redshift of 1. Meanwhile, the final 6-year co-added images, anticipated to reach g about 25.5 mag in WFS or even deeper by 1.5 mag in DHS, will be of significant value to general Galactic and extragalactic sciences. The highly uniform legacy surveys of WFST will also serve as an indispensable complement to those of LSST which monitors the southern sky.Comment: 46 pages, submitted to SCMP

Entrustable Professional Activities in General Practice: Applications and Prospects

The concept of entrustable professional activities (EPAs) was initiated by a medical professor in the Netherlands in 2005 with the aim of enhancing the implementation of competency-based medical education (CBME) in clinical practice. After more than ten years of development, great progress has been made in EPAs (mainly for training and assessment) in a variety of medical specialties in many countries, which has influenced general practice significantly. Some countries such as Canada, Australia and the U.S. have been developing their own EPAs in general practice, which can be applied to the supervision and assessment of trainees, and the entrustment decisions of supervisors. To our best knowledge, limited research in China has been focused on the EPAs, let alone their applications in general practice. We analysed the research developments, potential challenges and prospects of EPAs in general practice, hoping to provide evidence for future research in China

Spatial and temporal changes of heavy metal concentrations in mosses and its indication to the environments in the past 40 years in the city of Shanghai, China

The mosses have been widely used as bioindicators to investigate pollution and changes of heavy metals in different countries and regions. For a better understanding of the environmental changes in the past 40 years in Shanghai, one of the largest cities in the world, we studied the spatial and temporal changes of five heavy metal depositions in two species of the moss genus Haplocladium. By means of the atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) method, the concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn in the plants of moss Haplocladium samples collected from 16 sites in Shanghai in 1965, 1974-1976, 1978-1982, and 2005 were determined and shown in the color Isogram maps made with the computer program Arcmap 9.0. The trends of the heavy metal concentrations in selected sites including Sheshan Mt., Jin Shan Petrochemical Plant, and the four representative sites of Shanghai were analyzed with two-factor analysis of variance and linear regression analysis, respectively. The results showed that the concentrations of the five heavy metals at all sample sites increased distinctly from 1965 to 2005, especially after the 1980s. The increasing rate was Cr\u3e Cu\u3e Cd\u3e Pb\u3e Zn. The heavy metal concentrations were distinctly associated with local emission point sources and changes in emission levels, and the major emission sources in Shanghai were industry and traffic. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

RSKT07 Chairs RSFDGrC07 Chairs JRS07 Publicity Chairs

includes different concepts and approaches to information technologies. As a result, JRS07 covers a very wide area of information science. It is an exciting attempt because information is itself a very complex existence and, in order to understand it, integration of concepts on its different aspects is necessary. I deeply regret that I cannot participate myself in this event due to health problems. I hope and believe that many new and exciting ideas will be forged through the discussions and collaboration of the JRS07 participants. Sincerely yours