Effects of Vanadium doping on BaFe2As2

We report an investigation of the structural, magnetic and electronic properties of Ba(Fe(1-x)V(x))2As2 using x-ray, transport, magnetic susceptibility and neutron scattering measurements. The vanadium substitutions in Fe sites are possible up to 40\%. Hall effect measurements indicate strong hole-doping effect through V doping, while no superconductivity is observed in all samples down to 2K. The antiferromagnetic and structural transition temperature of BaFe2As2 is gradually suppressed to finite temperature then vanishes at x=0.245 with the emergence of spin glass behavior, suggesting an avoided quantum critical point (QCP). Our results demonstrate that the avoided QCP and spin glass state which were previously reported in the superconducting phase of Co/Ni-doped BaFe2As2 can also be realized in non-superconducting Ba(Fe(1-x)V(x))2As2.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

MEDOE: A Multi-Expert Decoder and Output Ensemble Framework for Long-tailed Semantic Segmentation

Long-tailed distribution of semantic categories, which has been often ignored in conventional methods, causes unsatisfactory performance in semantic segmentation on tail categories. In this paper, we focus on the problem of long-tailed semantic segmentation. Although some long-tailed recognition methods (e.g., re-sampling/re-weighting) have been proposed in other problems, they can probably compromise crucial contextual information and are thus hardly adaptable to the problem of long-tailed semantic segmentation. To address this issue, we propose MEDOE, a novel framework for long-tailed semantic segmentation via contextual information ensemble-and-grouping. The proposed two-sage framework comprises a multi-expert decoder (MED) and a multi-expert output ensemble (MOE). Specifically, the MED includes several "experts". Based on the pixel frequency distribution, each expert takes the dataset masked according to the specific categories as input and generates contextual information self-adaptively for classification; The MOE adopts learnable decision weights for the ensemble of the experts' outputs. As a model-agnostic framework, our MEDOE can be flexibly and efficiently coupled with various popular deep neural networks (e.g., DeepLabv3+, OCRNet, and PSPNet) to improve their performance in long-tailed semantic segmentation. Experimental results show that the proposed framework outperforms the current methods on both Cityscapes and ADE20K datasets by up to 1.78% in mIoU and 5.89% in mAcc.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure

Effect of ecological restoration programs on dust concentrations in the North China Plain: a case study

In recent decades, the Chinese government has made a great effort in initiating large-scale ecological restoration programs (ERPs) to reduce the dust concentrations in China, especially for dust storm episodes. Using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land cover product, the ERP-induced land cover changes are quantitatively evaluated in this study. Two obvious vegetation protective barriers arise throughout China from the southwest to the northeast, which are well known as the "Green Great Wall" (GGW). Both the grass GGW and forest GGW are located between the dust source region (DSR) and the densely populated North China Plain (NCP). To assess the effect of ERPs on dust concentrations, a regional transport/dust model (WRF-DUST, Weather Research and Forecast model with dust) is applied to investigate the evolution of dust plumes during a strong dust storm episode from 2 to 8 March 2016. The WRF-DUST model generally performs reasonably well in reproducing the temporal variations and spatial distributions of near-surface [PMC] (mass concentration of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter between 2.5 and 10 mu m) during the dust storm event. Sensitivity experiments have indicated that the ERP-induced GGWs help to reduce the dust concentration in the NCP, especially in BTH (Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei). When the dust storm is transported from the upwind DSR to the downwind NCP, the [PMC] reduction ranges from -5 to -15% in the NCP, with a maximum reduction of -12.4% (-19.2 mu gm(3)) in BTH and -7.6% (-10.1 mu g m(3)) in the NCP. We find the dust plumes move up to the upper atmosphere and are transported from the upwind DSR to the downwind NCP, accompanied by dust decrease. During the episode, the forest GGW is nonsignificant in dust concentration control because it is of benefit for dry deposition and not for emission. Conversely, the grass GGW is beneficial in controlling dust erosion and is the dominant reason for [PMC] decrease in the NCP. Because the air pollution is severe in eastern China, especially in the NCP, and the contribution of dust episodes is significant, the reduction of dust concentrations will have important effects on severe air pollution. This study illustrates the considerable contribution of ERPs to the control of air pollution in China, especially in springtime

Is Floppy Eyelid Syndrome More Prevalent in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients?

Controversial findings are reported about the relationship between floppy eyelid syndrome (FES) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). The main goal of this study was to evaluate whether FES is more prevalent in OSAS patients by performing a meta-analysis. A comprehensive literature search of Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane databases was performed. Only studies related to the prevalence of FES in OSAS were included in the meta-analysis. We estimated a pooled odds ratio (OR) for the prevalence of FES in OSAS. In total, 6 studies with 767 participants met the inclusion criteria. Using a fixed-effects model, the pooled OR was 4.12. The test for the overall effect revealed that FES was statistically prevalent in OSAS patients when compared with that in non-OSAS subjects (Z=4.98, p<0.00001). In the subgroup analysis by OSAS severity, the incidence of FES in OSAS increased with severity of OSAS as indicated with increased OR values (OR = 2.56, 4.62, and 7.64 for mild, moderate, and severe OSAS). In conclusion, the results indicate that FES is more prevalent in OSAS patients. However, this result was based only on unadjusted estimates. Prospective cohort studies are needed to determine whether OSAS is an independent risk factor for FES

The mussel larvae microbiome changes in response to a temperature rise

Ocean warming caused by global climate change influences the function, diversity, and community dynamics of commensal microorganisms, including the hemolymph and the gut microbiota in mussels. However, the microbiota in hard-shelled mussel (Mytilus coruscus) larvae and the effect of temperature on the microbial community structure have yet to be studied. Herein, we investigated the core microbiota of M. coruscus larvae and the impact of acute (4 h) and gradual (4 days) exposure to a rise in seawater temperature from 21 to 25 °C. Eleven core genera were identified in M. coruscus larvae by 16S rDNA gene sequencing: Alteromonas, Brevundimonas, Delftia, Microbacterium, Neptuniibacter, Neptunomonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Rhodococcus, Stenotrophomonas, Tenacibaculum, and Thalassotalea. The microbiota of larvae in the short exposure treatment was similar to the control. However, the abundance of Delftia, Neptunomonas, Pseudoalteromonadaceae, Rhodococcus, and Stenotrophomonas decreased significantly in the long-exposure larvae. In contrast, at the genus level, the abundance of Tenacibaculum increased significantly. Diversity and multivariate analyses confirmed that the microbiota patterns were linked to seawater warming over the long term. Microbiota diversity did not change significantly, regardless of whether the seawater temperature increased quickly or slowly; however, we observed a significant increase in the microbiota species abundance at higher temperatures. Among the altered bacterial genera, Delftia, Neptunomonas, and Rhodococcus function in the degradation of organic compounds; Pseudoalteromonas is closely associated with mussel attachment and metamorphosis, and Tenacibaculum is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause marine mollusk death. The results suggest that marine heat waves caused by climate change may reduce the ability of symbiotic bacteria to degrade environmental toxins, will affect mussel larvae metamorphosis, and increase the abundance of opportunistic pathogens, thereby increasing the risk of disease and death of mussel larvae

BioPen: direct writing of functional materials at the point of care

Rapid and precise patterning of functional biomaterials is desirable for point-of-care (POC) tissue engineering and diagnostics. However, existing technologies such as dip-pen nanolithography and inkjet printing are currently unsuitable for POC applications due to issues of cost and portability. Here, we report the development of ‘BioPen', a portable tool for continuous, defined and scalable deposition of functional materials with micrometer spatial resolution and nanolitre volumetric resolution. BioPen is based upon the ballpoint pen but with multiple “ink sources” (functional material solutions) and with an apparatus that can be optimized for writing living cells, proteins, nucleic acids, etc. We demonstrate POC detection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleic acid by writing on paper with BioPen using “ink” consisting of nucleic acid probes and nucleic acid-modified gold nanoparticles. We also demonstrate POC tissue engineering by writing a continuous pattern of living, functional, interconnected cells with a defined extracellular environment. Because it is simple, accurate, inexpensive and portable, BioPen has broad potential for POC detection of diagnostic biomarkers, and for POC engineering of tissues for a range of healing applications