Disorder induced multifractal superconductivity in monolayer niobium dichalcogenides

The interplay between disorder and superconductivity is a subtle and fascinating phenomenon in quantum many body physics. The conventional superconductors are insensitive to dilute nonmagnetic impurities, known as the Anderson's theorem. Destruction of superconductivity and even superconductor-insulator transitions occur in the regime of strong disorder. Hence disorder-enhanced superconductivity is rare and has only been observed in some alloys or granular states. Because of the entanglement of various effects, the mechanism of enhancement is still under debate. Here we report well-controlled disorder effect in the recently discovered monolayer NbSe$_2$ superconductor. The superconducting transition temperatures of NbSe$_2$ monolayers are substantially increased by disorder. Realistic theoretical modeling shows that the unusual enhancement possibly arises from the multifractality of electron wave functions. This work provides the first experimental evidence of the multifractal superconducting state

On the issue of transparency and reproducibility in nanomedicine.

Following our call to join in the discussion over the suitability of implementing a reporting checklist for bio-nano papers, the community responds

Does the Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme Improve Carbon Total Factor Productivity? Evidence from Chinese Cities

Improving CTFP is required for China’s sustainable development, and the carbon emission trading scheme is crucial to achieving this goal. In this paper, we construct a staggered DID strategy to investigate the impact of regional ETS pilot policy on city-level CTFP using city panel data from 2008 to 2019. The main results show that the ETS pilot policy can increase CTFP by 3.3% in ETS cities compared to non-ETS cities. Mechanism tests suggest that the growth in CTFP mainly results from an increase in EC and BPC. Moreover, we use the CTFP calculated from the Solow residual instead of the CTFP obtained from the MML index. We also perform other robustness tests to exclude the interference of potential threats to the results.   Received: 26 March 2022 | Revised: 27 April 2023 | Accepted: 13 May 2023   Conflicts of Interest Ning Zhang is the editor-in-chief for Green and Low-Carbon Economy, and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work

Value of Time to Positivity of Blood Culture in Children with Bloodstream Infections

Objective. This study was to investigate the microbiological characteristics and the relationship between the time to positivity (TTP) of blood cultures and different bacterial species and to assess the clinical value of TTP in children with bloodstream infections (BSIs). Methods. The TTP of all the blood cultures from children with suspected BSIs was retrospectively collected in 2016. The microbiological characteristics and the relationship between the TTP of blood cultures and different bacterial species were also analyzed. Results. A total of 808 strains were isolated from 15835 blood cultures collected, and 145 (17.9%) were Gram-negative, 636 (78.7%) were Gram-positive, and 27 (3.3%) were fungi. The bacteria were divided into definite pathogens (174), possible pathogens (592), fungi (27), and contaminants (15). The average TTP of all positive blood cultures was 30.97 and ranged from 3.23 h to 92.73 h. The TTP of Gram-negative strains was significantly shorter than that of Gram-positive strains (P<0.001) and fungi (P = 0.032). The mean TTP for E. coli (15.60 h) was shortest within the group of Gram-negative isolates, and the mean TTP for Streptococcus (17.34 h) within the group of Gram-positive isolates. Significant difference of the TTP was detected in methicillin-resistant vs methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) positive vs negative Enterobacteriaceae, and extensive drug-resistant and non-XDR A. baumannii. The median TTP in patients with BSI was significantly shorter than in those without it (P<0.001). ROC curve analysis indicated that the TTP cutoff value of CoNS, S. aureus, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae was 22.72 h, 19.6 h, 18.58 h, and 16.43 h, respectively, with most sensitive and specific predictor of BSIs. Conclusions. Our data acknowledged that TTP is a valuable index for the early prognosis of BSIs. TTP not only provides additional utility as a general predictor of bacteria with smear result but also provides the implication of drug-resistant organisms

Optimal Decisions in Green, Low-Carbon Supply Chain Considering the Competition and Cooperation Relationships between Different Types of Manufacturers

In this study, we built a green, low-carbon supply chain including one green manufacturer, one green remanufacturer and one retailer in which the manufacturer produces new, green, low-carbon products and the remanufacturer recycles and remanufactures the green, low-carbon products. We assumed the manufacturer to be the Stackelberg leader and the remanufacturer and the retailer to be Stackelberg followers. The game model was solved using backward induction. We discuss the optimal operation strategies for green, low-carbon supply-chain members in a centralized decision-making model, decentralized decision-making model, manufacturer–remanufacturer cooperative decision-making model and manufacturer–retailer cooperative decision-making model. Furthermore, we discuss the impacts of the unit cost savings for remanufacturing, the recovery cost coefficient and the green improvement cost coefficient on the green supply-chain members’ optimal decision and profits. The results show that increased unit cost savings from remanufacturing can increase the total profit of the supply chain and promote the recycling and remanufacturing of waste products. Moreover, the total profit of the green, low-carbon supply chain is the highest in the centralized decision-making model and lowest in the manufacturer cooperative decision-making model. When there is a cooperation relationship between the manufacturer and the retailer, the optimal recycling effort level and the optimal greenness level for the new product and the remanufactured product are the highest

Cooperation between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting bacteria and their effects on plant growth and soil quality

The roles of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in improving nutrition uptake and soil quality have been well documented. However, few studies have explored their effects on root morphology and soil properties. In this study, we inoculated Elymus nutans Griseb with AMF and/or PGPR in order to explore their effects on plant growth, soil physicochemical properties, and soil enzyme activities. The results showed that AMF and/or PGPR inoculation significantly enhanced aboveground and belowground vegetation biomass. Both single and dual inoculations were beneficial for plant root length, surface area, root branches, stem diameter, height, and the ratio of shoot to root, but decreased root volume and root average diameter. Soil total nitrogen, alkaline phosphatase, and urease activities showed significant growth, and soil electrical conductivity and pH significantly declined under the inoculation treatments. Specific root length showed a negative correlation with belowground biomass, but a positive correlation with root length and root branches. These results indicated that AMF and PGPR had synergetic effects on root morphology, soil nutrient availability, and plant growth

Association of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors (SGLT2i) with Cardiac Arrhythmias: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cardiovascular Outcome Trials

Background: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) are a class of widely used hypoglycemic agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In addition to lowering blood glucose, SGLT2i protects the heart and kidney, significantly reduces cardiovascular events, and delays the progression of heart failure and chronic kidney disease. However, previous studies have not exhaustively discussed the association between SGLT2i and the risk of developing cardiac arrhythmias. The purpose of this study is to assess the association of SGLT2i with cardiac arrhythmias in patients with T2DM and without T2DM in cardiovascular outcome trials (CVOTs). Methods: We performed a meta-analysis and systematic review of CVOTs that compared SGLT2i with placebo. MEDLINE, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library and Embase were systematically searched from inception to December 2022. We included CVOTs reporting cardiovascular or renal outcomes with a follow-up duration of at least 6 months. Results: A total of 12 CVOTs with 77,470 participants were included in this meta-analysis (42,016 SGLT2i vs 35,454 control), including patients with T2DM, heart failure (HF), or chronic kidney disease (CKD). Follow-up duration ranged from 9 months to 5.65 years. Medications included empagliflozin, canagliflozin, dapagliflozin and ertugliflozin. SGLT2i were associated with a lower risk of tachycardia (risk ratio (RR) 0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.79–0.95), supraventricular tachycardia (SVT; RR 0.84; 95% CI 0.75–0.94), atrial fibrillation (AF; RR 0.86; 95% CI 0.75–0.97) and atrial flutter (AFL; RR 0.75; 95% CI 0.57–0.99) in patients with T2DM, HF and CKD. SGLT2i could also reduce the risk of cardiac arrest in CKD patients (RR 0.50; 95% CI 0.26–0.95). Besides, SGLT2i therapy was not associated with a lower risk of ventricular arrhythmia and bradycardia. Conclusions: SGLT2i therapy is associated with significantly reduced the risk of tachycardia, SVT, AF, and AFL in patients with T2DM, HF, and CKD. In addition, SGLT2i could also reduce the risk of cardiac arrest in CKD patients. Further researches are needed to fully elucidate the antiarrhythmic mechanism of SGLT2i

Spatial Access to Medical Services in the Underdeveloped Region of Northwestern China: A Case Study in Lanzhou City

Research on the spatial access to medical services has become a hot topic in recent years. The representative provincial capital in the underdeveloped region of northwestern China, Lanzhou, was selected for the research area. In this paper, methods such as the two-step floating catchment area and ArcGIS network analysis are used to analyze the geographic spatial accessibility of medical services and differences of spatial access between urban and rural areas in Lanzhou city. The results show that 1. Areas in General and below grade of accessibility account for most of Lanzhou city. Therefore, the spatial accessibility of whole Lanzhou city is comparatively unsatisfactory. It shows a tendency of the north region to be worse than south region, and areas in parts of the main districts, parts of HG, and other tiny minority show Great grade of accessibility, and most of other areas distribute in poorer grade of accessibility, especially the surrounding mountainous region. 2. There are obvious differences in accessibility between urban and rural regions, mainly reflected in that residents and areas are basically districted in the Great and Good grade in the urban region, while almost 75% of the population and 35% of the areas are distributed in the Great and Good grade, and nearly 25% of the residents and 65% of the areas are still in the unsatisfactory accessibility grade in the rural region. According to the results, the researchers put forward corresponding suggestions to improve the current situation, which are roughly as follows: The construction of hospitals and primary health care should be strengthened in the rural region, especially the construction of township health centers and health stations. High-class hospitals are needed in Honggu district, Yongdeng county, Yuzhong county, and Gaolan county, while the medical capacity and facility grade of existing hospitals should be improved to satisfy the demand of local residents. Meanwhile, rural areas should strengthen the construction of road networks