Magnetic skyrmion generation by reflective spin-wave focusing

We propose a method to generate magnetic skyrmions by focusing spin waves totally reflected by a curved film edge. Based on the principle of identical magnonic path length, we derive the edge contour that is parabolic and frequency-independent. Micromagnetic simulations are performed to verify our theoretical design. It is found that under proper conditions, magnetic droplet first emerges near the focal point where the spin-wave intensity has been significantly enhanced, and then converts to magnetic skyrmion accompanied by a change of the topological charge. The phase diagram about the amplitude and frequency of the driving field for skyrmion generation is obtained. Our finding would be helpful for the designment of spintronic devices combing the advantage of skyrmionics and magnonics.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Parametrically tunable soliton-induced resonant radiation by three-wave mixing

We show that a temporal soliton can induce resonant radiation by three-wave mixing nonlinearities. This constitutes a new class of resonant radiation whose spectral positions are parametrically tunable. The experimental verification is done in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal, where a femtosecond near-IR soliton is excited and resonant radiation waves are observed exactly at the calculated soliton phase-matching wavelengths via the sum-and difference-frequency generation nonlinearities. This extends the supercontinuum bandwidth well into the mid IR to span 550-5000 nm, and the mid-IR edge is parametrically tunable over 1000 nm by changing the three-wave mixing phase-matching condition. The results are important for the bright and broadband supercontinuum generation and for the frequency comb generation in quadratic nonlinear microresonators

Decreasing the use of edible oils in China using WeChat and theories of behavior change: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

The consumption of edible oils in China has increased rapidly in recent years, and the total amount of edible-oil intake in the country has ranked first in the world. The choice and intake of edible oils, as a source of fats, are important factors that affect people's health. Many chronic diseases are closely associated with high-calorie and saturated-fat intake. The influence of traditional concepts that promote the use of edible oils among women, particularly housewives, plays a key role in a household's diet and nutrition because the diet-related knowledge, attitude and behaviour of housewives are dominant factors in planning and preparing their family's meals. WeChat, which was developed by Tencent, is a multipurpose messaging, social media and mobile payment application (app) in China. Described by Forbes as one of the world's most powerful apps, WeChat provides considerable convenience in disseminating knowledge. Accordingly, this study aims to design a pilot intervention to decrease the use of edible oils in Chinese households. The intervention, which is based on theories of behaviour change, will be implemented through WeChat. The study design is a randomised controlled trial that adopts knowledge, attitude and practice, social cognitive and stages of change theories as theoretical models. A total of 800 housewives between the ages of 25 and 45 years will be recruited on WeChat and from the communities in four areas (including rural and urban) in Chongqing, China. A self-administered questionnaire will be used to collect information regarding age, educational level, occupation, family members, edible-oil intake habits, knowledge of edible oils and WeChat usage habits. A total of 200 participants will be selected and randomly assigned to two equal-sized groups: group A (the intervention group) and group B (the control group). Group A will receive health education regarding edible oils for four consecutive weeks, whereas group B will be treated as the blank control. Each participant will complete a battery of knowledge, attitude and behaviour tests immediately, 3 months and 6 months after the intervention. In addition, weight, moisture rate, fat rate, visceral fat level and body mass index will be calculated using a multifunctional weighing scale, namely, Tanita BC-601 (Japan). The study is currently in the design stage. This study aims to increase knowledge and awareness of the appropriate use of edible oils, thereby encouraging participants to change behaviour by decreasing the intake of unhealthy levels of edible oils. It will be the first intervention to investigate the use of edible oils in China through WeChat. We predict that receiving health education regarding edible oils through WeChat will substantially improve the knowledge and attitude of the respondents. The members of the intervention group will have increased awareness and will be willing to decrease their use of edible oils to remain healthy. Results of this study may provide scientific evidence for the effect of health education through WeChat on edible oil-intake behaviour, thereby offering a comprehensive intervention to decrease the use of edible oils and promote a healthy lifestyle. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (primary registry in the World Health Organisation registry network): ChiCTR-IOR-17013472 . Registered on 21 November 2017

Rhythmic Growth of pacific Ferromanganese Nodules and their Milankovitch Climatic Origin

The internal microstructure of a ferromanganese nodule (#2392, from 154°37.52′W, 9°37.56′N, at water depth 5194 m) was examined in detail on polished sections, and radiometrically dated (230Thex/232Th) along a high-resolution (0.1 mm) depth profile (0–1.3 mm), spanning approximately 271 ka. The fabric shows typical stromatolithic structure and exhibits four orders of basic cyclic growth pattern, namely laminae bands, laminae zones, laminae groups and laminae pairs having average thicknesses of 402–454, 185–206, 58–67 and 15–18 μm, respectively. A profile from the depth of 200–2661 μm was selected to obtain the geochemical series using line-scanning electron microprobe analyses, which provide a record of paleoceanographic oscillations during the growth period. Power spectral analysis of the geochemical series for Al, Mn, Fe and Fe/Mn from the depth of 200–1220 μm, where no obvious discontinuity could be observed, display conspicuous cyclicities. The cycles of laminae zones, laminae groups and laminae pairs are reflected in the spectral patterns as well. The significant spectral peaks are located at 186, 108, 66 μm. Together with the cycle of laminae bands, the ratios of these cyclicities are close to those of Milankovitch orbital cycles. Through tuning to orbital cycles, a net growth rate of 4.5 mm/Ma is derived for the profile, which is in perfect agreement with the growth rate of 4.6 mm/Ma determined by 230Thex/232Th dating. Therefore, the rhythmic growth of ferromanganese nodules appears definitely associated with Milankovitch cycles, and the growth cyclicities may offer a new tool for estimating growth rates of ferromanganese nodules and paleoenvironmental reconstruction at substage resolution when supported by radiometric dating

Key Region Extraction and Body Dimension Measurement of Beef Cattle Using 3D Point Clouds

Body dimensions are key indicators for the beef cattle fattening and breeding process. On-animal measurement is relatively inefficient, and can induce severe stress responses among beef cattle and pose a risk for operators, thereby impacting the cattle’s growth rate and wellbeing. To address the above issues, a highly efficient and automatic method was developed to measure beef cattle’s body dimensions, including the oblique length, height, width, abdominal girth, and chest girth, based on the reconstructed three-dimensional point cloud data. The horizontal continuous slice sequence of the complete point clouds was first extracted, and the central point of the beef cattle leg region was determined from the span distribution of the point cloud clusters in the targeted slices. Subsequently, the boundary of the beef cattle leg region was identified by the “five-point clustering gradient boundary recognition algorithm” and was then calibrated, followed by the accurate segmentation of the corresponding region. The key regions for body dimension data calculation were further determined by the proposed algorithm, which forms the basis of the scientific calculation of key body dimensions. The influence of different postures of beef cattle on the measurement results was also preliminarily discussed. The results showed that the errors of calculated body dimensions, i.e., the oblique length, height, width, abdominal girth, and chest girth, were 2.3%, 2.8%, 1.6%, 2.8%, and 2.6%, respectively. In the present work, the beef cattle body dimensions could be effectively measured based on the 3D regional features of the point cloud data. The proposed algorithm shows a degree of generalization and robustness that is not affected by different postures of beef cattle. This automatic method can be effectively used to collect reliable phenotype data during the fattening of beef cattle and can be directly integrated into the breeding process

Key Region Extraction and Body Dimension Measurement of Beef Cattle Using 3D Point Clouds

Body dimensions are key indicators for the beef cattle fattening and breeding process. On-animal measurement is relatively inefficient, and can induce severe stress responses among beef cattle and pose a risk for operators, thereby impacting the cattle’s growth rate and wellbeing. To address the above issues, a highly efficient and automatic method was developed to measure beef cattle’s body dimensions, including the oblique length, height, width, abdominal girth, and chest girth, based on the reconstructed three-dimensional point cloud data. The horizontal continuous slice sequence of the complete point clouds was first extracted, and the central point of the beef cattle leg region was determined from the span distribution of the point cloud clusters in the targeted slices. Subsequently, the boundary of the beef cattle leg region was identified by the “five-point clustering gradient boundary recognition algorithm” and was then calibrated, followed by the accurate segmentation of the corresponding region. The key regions for body dimension data calculation were further determined by the proposed algorithm, which forms the basis of the scientific calculation of key body dimensions. The influence of different postures of beef cattle on the measurement results was also preliminarily discussed. The results showed that the errors of calculated body dimensions, i.e., the oblique length, height, width, abdominal girth, and chest girth, were 2.3%, 2.8%, 1.6%, 2.8%, and 2.6%, respectively. In the present work, the beef cattle body dimensions could be effectively measured based on the 3D regional features of the point cloud data. The proposed algorithm shows a degree of generalization and robustness that is not affected by different postures of beef cattle. This automatic method can be effectively used to collect reliable phenotype data during the fattening of beef cattle and can be directly integrated into the breeding process

Loop Transformations for Architectures with Partitioned Register Banks

Embedded systems require maximum performance from a processor within significant constraints in power consumption and chip cost. Using software pipelining, processors can often exploit considerable instruction-level parallelism (ILP), and thus significantly improve performance, at the cost of substantially increasing register requirements. These increasing register requirements, how ever, make it difficult to build a high-performance embedded processor with a single, multi-ported register file while maintaining clock speed and limiting power consumption. Some digita