Incident fluence dependent morphologies, photoluminescence and optical oxygen sensing properties of ZnO nanorods grown by pulsed laser deposition

The photoluminescence-based O2 sensing properties of PLD ZnO nanorods at elevated temperatures depend sensitively on their (incident fluence determined) morphology and defect density.</p

Macroscopic Quantum Tunnelling in Rotating Bose-Einstein Condensates

In this paper we investigate the macroscopic quantum tunnelling and the phase coherence property of the rotating Bose-Einstein condensates in both static and dynamic cases by using the mean field theory.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Phys.Rev.

Galanin neurons unite sleep homeostasis and α2-adrenergic sedation

Our urge to sleep increases with time spent awake, until sleep becomes inescapable. The sleep following sleep deprivation is longer and deeper, with an increased power of delta (0.5 - 4 Hz) oscillations, a phenomenon termed sleep homeostasis [1-4]. Although widely-expressed genes regulate sleep homeostasis [1, 4-10], and the process is tracked by somnogens and phosphorylation [1, 3, 7, 11-14], at the circuit level sleep homeostasis has remained mysterious. Previously we found that sedation induced with 2 adrenergic agonists (e.g. dexmedetomidine) and sleep homeostasis both depend on the preoptic (PO) hypothalamus [15, 16]. Dexmedetomidine, increasingly used for long-term sedation in intensive care units [17], induces a NREM-like sleep but with undesirable hypothermia [18, 19]. Within the PO, various neuronal subtypes (e.g. GABA/galanin and glutamate/NOS1) induce NREM sleep [20-22] and concomitant body cooling [21, 22]. This could be because NREM sleep’s restorative effects depend on lower body temperature [23, 24]. Here, we show that mice with lesioned PO galanin neurons have reduced sleep homeostasis: in the recovery sleep following sleep deprivation, there is a diminished increase in delta power, and the mice catch up little on lost sleep. Furthermore, dexmedetomidine cannot induce high-power delta oscillations or sustained hypothermia. Some hours after dexmedetomidine administration to wild-type mice there is a rebound in delta power when they enter normal NREM sleep, reminiscent of emergence from torpor. This delta rebound is reduced in mice lacking PO galanin neurons. Thus, sleep homeostasis and dexmedetomidine-induced sedation require PO galanin neurons and likely share common mechanisms

Remote sensing and social sensing data reveal scale-dependent and system-specific strengths of urban heat island determinants

Urban natural surfaces and non-surface human activities are key factors determining the urban heat island (UHI), but their relative importance remains highly controversial and may vary at different spatial scales and focal urban systems. However, systematic studies on the scale-dependency system-specificity remain largely lacking. Here, we selected 32 major Chinese cities as cases and used Landsat 8 images to retrieve land surface temperature (LST) and quantify natural surface variables using point of interest (POI) data as a measure of the human activity variable and using multiple regression and relative weight analysis to study the contribution and relative importance of these factors to LST at a range of grain sizes (0.25&ndash;5 km) and spatial extents (20&ndash;60 km). We revealed that the contributions and relative importance of natural surfaces and human activities are largely scale-dependent and system-specific. Natural surfaces, especially vegetation cover, are often the most important UHI determinants for a majority of scales, but the importance of non-surface human activities is increasingly pronounced at a coarser spatial scale with respect to both grain and spatial extent. The scaling relations of the UHI determinants and their relative importance were mostly linear-like at the city-collective level, but highly diverse across individual cities, so reducing non-surface heat emissions could be the most effective measure in particular cases, especially at relatively large spatial scales. This study advances the understanding of UHI formation mechanisms and highlights the complexity of the scale issue underpinning the UHI effect

The BFKL Pomeron in 2+1 Dimensional QCD

We investigate the high-energy scattering in the spontaneously broken Yang - Mills gauge theory in 2+1 space--time dimensions and present the exact solution of the leading $\ln s$ BFKL equation. The solution is constructed in terms of special functions using the earlier results of two of us (L.N.L. and L.S.). The analytic properties of the $t$-channel partial wave as functions of the angular momentum and momentum transfer have been studied. We find in the angular momentum plane: (i) a Regge pole whose trajectory has an intercept larger than 1 and (ii) a fixed cut with the rightmost singularity located at $j=1$. The massive Yang - Mills theory can be considered as a theoretical model for the (non-perturbative) Pomeron. We study the main structure and property of the solution including the Pomeron trajectory at momentum transfer different from zero. The relation to the results of M. Li and C-I. Tan for the massless case is discussed.Comment: 28 pages LATEX, 3 EPS figures include

Topological superfluid of spinless Fermi gases in p-band honeycomb optical lattices with on-site rotation

In this paper, we put forward to another route realizing topological superfluid (TS). In contrast to conventional method, spin-orbit coupling and external magnetic field are not requisite. Introducing an experimentally feasible technique called on-site rotation (OSR) into p-band honeycomb optical lattices for spinless Fermi gases and considering CDW and pairing on the same footing, we investigate the effects of OSR on superfluidity. The results suggest that when OSR is beyond a critical value, where CDW vanishes, the system transits from a normal superfluid (NS) with zero TKNN number to TS labeled by a non-zero TKNN number. In addition, phase transitions between different TS are also possible

Customer demand-driven low-carbon vehicles combined strategy and route optimisation integrated decision

With the optimal operating cost and optimal carbon emission target of the chemical logistics companies, a low-carbon routing optimisation with a multi-energy type vehicle combined problem is proposed by considering the concept of the logistics companies’ low-carbon behaviour. An integrated decision-making of multi-energy type vehicles combined strategy and route optimisation based on customer demand is presented, and an improved genetic algorithm is designed. A case study is then applied based on the data collected from the case research. The effectiveness of the improved genetic algorithm is tested. The two joint objectives of operating cost and carbon emission are examined through the cost analysis of environmental energy vehicles and traditional energy vehicles in different combination scenarios. The case analysis shows that a rational multi-energy type vehicle combination with route optimisation has a significant correlation with the operating cost and carbon emissions, while the environmental vehicle purchasing cost reduction and subsidy policy affect the operating cost

Early combination versus initial metformin monotherapy in the management of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes : An East Asian perspective

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the East Asian population is characterized by phenotypes such as low body mass index, an index of beta-cell dysfunction, and higher percentage of body fat, an index of insulin resistance. These phenotypes/pathologies may predispose people to early onset of diabetes with increased risk of stroke and renal disease. Less than 50% of patients with T2D in East Asia achieve glycaemic targets recommended by national or regional guidelines, which may be attributable to knowledge and/or implementation gaps. Herein, we review the latest evidence with special reference to East Asian patients with T2D and present arguments for the need to use early combination therapy to intensify glycaemic control. This strategy is supported by the 5-year worldwide VERIFY study, which reported better glycaemic durability in newly diagnosed patients with T2D with a mean HbA1c of 6.9% treated with early combination therapy of vildagliptin plus metformin versus those treated with initial metformin monotherapy followed by addition of vildagliptin only with worsening glycaemic control. This paradigm shift of early intensified treatment is now recommended by the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. In order to translate these evidence to practice, increased awareness and strengthening of the healthcare system are needed to diagnose and manage patients with T2D early for combination therapy.Peer reviewe

Xanthine quartets on Au(111)

The quartet of xanthine (X), a purine base ubiquitously distributed in most human body tissues and fluids, has been for the first time fabricated and visualized, as the first alternative purine quartet besides the known guanine (G)-quartet. The X-quartet network is demonstrated to be the most stable phase on Au(111). Unlike guanine, the fabrication of the X-quartets is not dependent on the presence of metal atoms, which makes it the first metal-free purine quartet. The X-quartet holds great promise to potentially construct artificial new DNA quadruplexes for genetic regulation and antitumor therapy. Moreover, both the X-quartet itself and the quartet networks favor homochirality, suggesting homochiral xanthine oligomers and the networks may have been formed as the precursors of the pristine oligonucleotides on primitive Earth