Layer-dependent transport properties in the Moir\'e of strained homobilayer transition metal dichalcogenides

Bilayer moir\'e structures have attracted significant attention recently due to their spatially modulated layer degrees of freedom. However, the layer-dependent transport mechanism in the moir\'e structures is still a problem to be explored. Here we investigate the layer-dependent transport properties regulated by the strain, the interlayer bias and the number of moir\'e periods in a strained moir\'e homobilayer TMDs nanoribbon based on low-energy efficient models. The charge carriers can pass perfectly through the scattering region with the moir\'e potential. While, it is noted that the overall transmission coefficient is mainly contributed from either intralayer or interlayer transmissions. The transition of transport mechanism between intralayer and interlayer transmissions can be achieved by adjusting the strain. The intralayer transmissions are suppressed and one of the interlayer transmissions can be selected by a vertical external electric field, which can cause a controllable layer polarization. Moreover, the staggered intralayer and interlayer minigaps are formed as the number of moir\'e periods increases in the scattering region due to the overlap of the wave functions in two adjacent moir\'e periods. Our finding points to an opportunity to realize layer functionalities by the strain and electric field.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in dairy goats in Shaanxi Province, Northwestern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>is an important zoonotic pathogen causing significant human and animal health problems. Infection in dairy goats not only results in significant reproductive losses, but also represents an important source of human infection due to consumption of infected meat and milk. In the present study we report for the first time seroprevalence of <it>T. gondii </it>infection in Guanzhong and Saanen dairy goats in Shaanxi province, Northwestern China.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sera from 751 dairy goats from 9 farms in 6 counties were examined for <it>T. gondii </it>antibodies with an indirect haemagglutination (IHA) test. Antibodies to <it>T. gondii </it>were detected in 106 (14.1%) serum samples, with antibody titres ranging from 1:64 to 1:1024. Seropositive goats were found in all 9 farms and seroprevalences in Guanzhong (16.3%, 75/461) and Saanen (10.7%, 31/290) dairy goats were not statistically significantly different. All the factors (sex, age and location) reported in the present study affected prevalence of infection, and seroprevalence increased with age, suggesting postnatal acquisition of <it>T. gondii </it>infection.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of the present survey indicate that infection by <it>T. gondii </it>is widely prevalent in dairy goats in Shaanxi province, Northwestern China, and this has implications for prevention and control of toxoplasmosis in this province.</p

Nonlinearity Of Digital I/Os And Its Behaviour Modeling

Due to the rising signal speed in today\u27s integrated circuits (ICs), the digital input/output (I/O) device modeling becomes a very serious challenge. However, its nonlinearity issue was even less addressed. But for accurate EMC and EMI characterizations, the I/O nonlinearity could become a source of unexpected EMC and EMI troubles in the high-speed system. In this paper, we analyze the nonlinearity of high-speed drivers and loads under the influence of various parameters, such as the rising and falling times, data and clock duty cycle distortion (DCD), signal skew, balance of the circuit, etc. Further based on the spectrum property of their nonlinear responses, the possible impacts to EMC and EMI are discussed. Both load and driver\u27s nonlinearity are analyzed. Then using the artificial neural-network (ANN) approaches, the nonlinear behavior of the high-speed digital I/O driver and load are modeled. This work provides a systematic study of the I/O nonlinearity and its behavior modeling process

Population phylogenomic analysis of mitochondrial DNA in wild boars and domestic pigs revealed multiple domestication events in East Asia

A fine-grained mitochondrial DNA phylogenomic analysis was conducted in domestic pigs and wild boars, revealing that pig domestication in East Asia occurred in the Mekong and the middle and downstream regions of the Yangtze river

The cold-induced basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor gene MdCIbHLH1 encodes an ICE-like protein in apple

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Plant growth is greatly affected by low temperatures, and the expression of a number of genes is induced by cold stress. Although many genes in the cold signaling pathway have been identified in <it>Arabidopsis</it>, little is known about the transcription factors involved in the cold stress response in apple.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we show that the apple bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix) gene <it>MdCIbHLH1 </it>(<it>Cold-Induced bHLH1</it>), which encodes an ICE-like protein, was noticeably induced in response to cold stress. The MdCIbHLH1 protein specifically bound to the MYC recognition sequences in the <it>AtCBF3 </it>promoter, and <it>MdCIbHLH1 </it>overexpression enhanced cold tolerance in transgenic <it>Arabidopsis</it>. In addition, the MdCIbHLH1 protein bound to the promoters of <it>MdCBF2 </it>and favorably contributed to cold tolerance in transgenic apple plants by upregulating the expression of <it>MdCBF2 </it>through the CBF (C-repeat-binding factor) pathway. Our findings indicate that MdCIbHLH1 functions in stress tolerance in different species. For example, ectopic <it>MdCIbHLH1 </it>expression conferred enhanced chilling tolerance in transgenic tobacco. Finally, we observed that cold induces the degradation of the MdCIbHLH1 protein in apple and that this degradation was potentially mediated by ubiquitination and sumoylation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on these findings, <it>MdCIbHLH1 </it>encodes a transcription factor that is important for the cold tolerance response in apple.</p

Vision meets mmWave Radar: 3D Object Perception Benchmark for Autonomous Driving

Sensor fusion is crucial for an accurate and robust perception system on autonomous vehicles. Most existing datasets and perception solutions focus on fusing cameras and LiDAR. However, the collaboration between camera and radar is significantly under-exploited. The incorporation of rich semantic information from the camera, and reliable 3D information from the radar can potentially achieve an efficient, cheap, and portable solution for 3D object perception tasks. It can also be robust to different lighting or all-weather driving scenarios due to the capability of mmWave radars. In this paper, we introduce the CRUW3D dataset, including 66K synchronized and well-calibrated camera, radar, and LiDAR frames in various driving scenarios. Unlike other large-scale autonomous driving datasets, our radar data is in the format of radio frequency (RF) tensors that contain not only 3D location information but also spatio-temporal semantic information. This kind of radar format can enable machine learning models to generate more reliable object perception results after interacting and fusing the information or features between the camera and radar

Association between prospective registration and overall reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews: a meta-epidemiological study

Objective: To investigate the differences in main characteristics, reporting and methodological quality between prospectively registered and non-registered systematic reviews. Methods: PubMed was searched to identify systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials published in 2015 in English. After title and abstract screening, potentially relevant reviews were divided into three groups: registered non-Cochrane reviews, Cochrane reviews, and non-registered reviews. For each group, random number tables were generated in Microsoft Excel, and the first 50 eligible studies from each group were randomly selected. Data of interest from systematic reviews were extracted. Regression analyses were conducted to explore the association between total R-AMSTAR or PRISMA scores and the selected characteristics of systematic reviews. Results: The conducting and reporting of literature search in registered reviews were superior to non-registered reviews. Differences in nine of the 11 R-AMSTAR items were statistically significant between registered and non-registered reviews. The total R-AMSTAR score of registered reviews was higher than non-registered reviews (MD=4.82, 95%CI: 3.70, 5.94). Sensitivity analysis by excluding the registration related item presented similar result (MD=4.34, 95%CI: 3.28, 5.40). Total PRISMA scores of registered reviews were significantly higher than non-registered reviews (all reviews: MD=1.47, 95%CI: 0.64-2.30; non-Cochrane reviews: MD=1.49, 95%CI: 0.56-2.42). However, the difference in the total PRISMA score was no longer statistically significant after excluding the item related to registration (item 5). Regression analyses showed similar results. Conclusions: Prospective registration may at least indirectly improve the overall methodological quality of systematic reviews, although its impact on the overall reporting quality was not significant