Electrical contact properties between Yb and few-layer WS2_2

Charge injection mechanism from contact electrodes into two-dimensional (2D) dichalcogenides is an essential topic for exploiting electronics based on 2D channels, but remains not well understood. Here, low-work-function metal ytterbium (Yb) was employed as contacts for tungsten disulfide (WS$_2$) to understand the realistic injection mechanism. The contact properties in WS$_2$ with variable temperature (T) and channel thickness (tch) were synergetically characterized. It is found that the Yb/WS$_2$ interfaces exhibit a strong pinning effect between energy levels and a low contact resistance (R_\rm{C}) value down to $5\,k\Omega\cdot\mu$m. Cryogenic electrical measurements reveal that R_\rm{C} exhibits weakly positive dependence on T till 77 K, as well as a weakly negative correlation with tch. In contrast to the non-negligible R_\rm{C} values extracted, an unexpectedly low effective thermal injection barrier of 36 meV is estimated, indicating the presence of significant tunneling injection in subthreshold regime and the inapplicability of the pure thermionic emission model to estimate the height of injection barrier

Ultrathin high-temperature ferromagnetic rare-earth films: GdScGe and GdScSi monolayers

Two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetism with robust room-temperature ferromagnetism has sparked intense interest for future miniature information storage devices. However, most 2D ferromagnetic materials have a low Curie temperature. Here, by using density functional theory, two rare-earth monolayers, the GdScSi monolayer and the GdScGe monolayer, were predicted, in which these two monolayers exhibit ferromagnetic orders with large magnetic moments of approximately 7 μB/Gd. Monte Carlo simulations predict Curie temperatures of approximately 470 K and 495 K for the 2D GdScSi monolayer and the GdScGe monolayer, respectively. The spin band calculations show that they are metal. In addition, these two monolayers exhibit dynamical, mechanical, and thermal stabilities. The combination of these novel magnetic properties makes these 2D ferromagnetic crystals promising candidates for high-efficiency spintronic applications

Epirubicin and gait apraxia: a real-world data analysis of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System database

Introduction: Epirubicin is widely used in many malignancies with good efficacy and tolerability. However, investigations about adverse events (AEs) using real-world information are still insufficient.Methods: We extracted Epirubicin-related reports submitted between the first quarter of 2014 and first quarter of 2023 from FAERS database. Four algorithms were utilized to evaluate whether there was a significant correlation between Epirubicin and AEs.Results: After de-duplicating, a total of 3919 cases were extracted. Among the 3919 cases, we identified 1472 AEs, 253 of which were found to be adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with Epirubicin. We analysed the occurrence of Epirubicin-induced ADRs and found several unexpected significant ADRs, such as hepatic artery stenosis, hepatic artery occlusion, intestinal atresia and so on. Interestingly, we found gait apraxia, a neurological condition, was also significantly associated with Epirubicin. To our knowledge, there haven't studies that have reported an association between gait disorders and the usage of epirubicin.Discussion: Our study identified new unexpected significant ADRs related to Epirubicin, providing new perspectives to the clinical use of Epirubicin

Epimorphin Regulates Bile Duct Formation via Effects on Mitosis Orientation in Rat Liver Epithelial Stem-Like Cells

Understanding how hepatic precursor cells can generate differentiated bile ducts is crucial for studies on epithelial morphogenesis and for development of cell therapies for hepatobiliary diseases. Epimorphin (EPM) is a key morphogen for duct morphogenesis in various epithelial organs. The role of EPM in bile duct formation (DF) from hepatic precursor cells, however, is not known. To address this issue, we used WB-F344 rat epithelial stem-like cells as model for bile duct formation. A micropattern and a uniaxial static stretch device was used to investigate the effects of EPM and stress fiber bundles on the mitosis orientation (MO) of WB cells. Immunohistochemistry of liver tissue sections demonstrated high EPM expression around bile ducts in vivo. In vitro, recombinant EPM selectively induced DF through upregulation of CK19 expression and suppression of HNF3α and HNF6, with no effects on other hepatocytic genes investigated. Our data provide evidence that EPM guides MO of WB-F344 cells via effects on stress fiber bundles and focal adhesion assembly, as supported by blockade EPM, β1 integrin, and F-actin assembly. These blockers can also inhibit EPM-induced DF. These results demonstrate a new biophysical action of EPM in bile duct formation, during which determination of MO plays a crucial role

Scour protection of submarine pipelines using rubber plates underneath the pipes

YesThis paper presents the results from laboratory experiments to investigate the protection of scour around submarine pipelines under unidirectional flow using a rubber plate placed underneath the pipes. The pressure difference on the two sides of the pipeline is the driving force to initiate the movement of sediment particles and can be obtained by force balance analysis. Experiments covering a wide range of incoming flow velocity, pipe diameter and plate length show that there exists a critical pressure difference over which the movement of sediment and, thus, scour takes place. Analysis of the experimental results demonstrates that this critical pressure difference is related to the pressure difference of the axial points between upstream and downstream of the pipe, which can be easily determined. This critical pressure difference is used to develop an empirical formula for estimating the critical length of the rubber plate, over which the sediment movement and scour will not take place. Good agreement between the experiments and calculated critical plate length using the proposed formula is obtained.National High-Tech Research and Development program of China (863 Program, Grant No.2008AA09Z309), National Nature Science Fund of China (Grant No.50879084, 51279071 and 51279189), the Open Funding from the State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan University (SKLH-OF-1306

Dephasing and dissipation in a source-drain model of light-harvesting systems

The energy transport process in natural-light-harvesting systems is investigated by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for a source–network–drain model incorporating the effects of dephasing and dissipation, owing to coupling with the environment. In this model, the network consists of electronically coupled chromophores, which can host energy excitations (excitons) and are connected to source channels, from which the excitons are generated, thereby simulating exciton creation from sunlight. After passing through the network, excitons are captured by the reaction centers and converted into chemical energy. In addition, excitons can reradiate in green plants as photoluminescent light or be destroyed by nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ). These annihilation processes are described in the model by outgoing channels, which allow the excitons to spread to infinity. Besides the photoluminescent reflection, the NPQ processes are the main outgoing channels accompanied by energy dissipation and dephasing. From the simulation of wave-packet dynamics in a one-dimensional chain, it is found that, without dephasing, the motion remains superdiffusive or ballistic, despite the strong energy dissipation. At an increased dephasing rate, the wave-packet motion is found to switch from superdiffusive to diffusive in nature. When a steady energy flow is injected into a site of a linear chain, exciton dissipation along the chain, owing to photoluminescence and NPQ processes, is examined by using a model with coherent and incoherent outgoing channels. It is found that channel coherence leads to suppression of dissipation and multiexciton super-radiance. With this method, the effects of NPQ and dephasing on energy transfer in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson complex are investigated. The NPQ process and the photochemical reflection are found to significantly reduce the energy-transfer efficiency in the complex, whereas the dephasing process slightly enhances the efficiency. The calculated absorption spectrum reproduces the main features of the measured counterpart. As a comparison, the exciton dynamics are also studied in a linear chain of pigments and in a multiple-ring system of light-harvesting complexes II (LH2) from purple bacteria by using the Davydov D1 ansatz. It is found that the exciton transport shows superdiffusion characteristics in both the chain and the LH2 rings

Research on Stability of Time-delay Force Feedback Teleoperation System Based on Scattering Matrix

The successful implementation of the robot teleoperation system has greatly improved the ability of remote robots. The force feedback technology is applied to the teleoperation system. On the one hand, the main operator manipulates the operator’s related movement information to the target robot; on the other hand, the main hand feeds back the force situation of the target robot in the remote control to the operator. From the robot under the control of the system can more accurately complete the task, with a higher work efficiency. Teleoperation system with force feedback function generally adopts bilateral control, the master and slave end of the system have a certain delay in the transmission process, it makes the stability of the system destroyed. This paper uses a two-port network to simulate the communications link of the teleoperation system as a lossless transmission line, solves the stability problem of teleoperation systems with force feedback in the presence of time delay effectively. Experimental simulation results show that this method can guarantee a higher stability of the system.

Impact of Climate Change on the Distribution of Three Rare Salamanders (<i>Liua shihi</i>, <i>Pseudohynobius jinfo</i>, and <i>Tylototriton wenxianensis</i>) in Chongqing, China, and Their Conservation Implications

The Wushan Salamander (Liua shihi), Jinfo Salamander (Pseudohynobius jinfo), and Wenxian Knobby Salamander (Tylototriton wenxianensis) are rare national Class II protected wild animals in China. We performed MaxEnt modeling to predict and analyze the potential distribution and trends of these species in Chongqing under current and future climate conditions. Species distribution data were primarily obtained from field surveys, supplemented by museum collections and the existing literature. These efforts yielded 636 records, including 43 for P. jinfo, 23 for T. wenxianensis, and 570 for L. shihi. Duplicate records within the same 100 m × 100 m grid cell were removed using ENMTools, resulting in 10, 12, and 58 valid distribution points for P. jinfo, T. wenxianensis, and L. shihi, respectively. The optimization of feature class parameters (FC) and the regularization multiplier (RM) were applied using R package “ENMeval 2.0” to establish the optimal model with MaxEnt. The refined models were applied to simulate the suitable distribution areas for the three species. The results indicate that the current suitable habitat area for L. shihi accounted for 9.72% of the whole region of the Chongqing municipality. It is projected that, by 2050, the proportion of suitable habitat will increase to 12.54% but will decrease to 11.98% by 2070 and further decline to 8.80% by 2090. The current suitable habitat area for P. jinfo accounted for 1.08% of the whole region of the Chongqing municipality, which is expected to decrease to 0.31%% by 2050, 0.20% by 2070, and 0.07% by 2090. The current suitable habitat area for T. wenxianensis accounted for 0.81% of the whole region of the Chongqing municipality, which is anticipated to decrease to 0.37% by 2050, 0.21% by 2070, and 0.06% by 2090. Human disturbance, climate variables, and habitat characteristics are the primary factors influencing the distribution of three salamander species in Chongqing. The proximity to roads significantly impacts L. shihi, while climate conditions mainly affect P. jinfo, and the distance to water sources is crucial for T. wenxianensis. The following suggestions were made based on key variables identified for each species: (1) For L. shihi, it is imperative to minimize human disturbances and preserve areas without roads and the existing vegetation within nature reserves to ensure their continued existence. (2) For P. jinfo, the conservation of high-altitude habitats is of utmost importance, along with the reduction in disturbances caused by roads to maintain the species’ ecological niche. (3) For T. wenxianensis, the protection of aquatic habitats is crucial. Additionally, efforts to mitigate the impacts of road construction and enhance public awareness are essential for the preservation of this species and the connectivity of its habitats