The Effect of Isostatic Pressing on the Dielectric Properties of Screen Printed Ba\u3csub\u3e0.5\u3c/sub\u3eSr\u3csub\u3e0.5\u3c/sub\u3eTiO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e Thick Films

Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thick films with B2O3–Li2O glass sintering aid were prepared by the screen printing method on Al2O3 substrates. A 200 MPa isostatic pressure was applied to the films before sintering. After being sintered at 950∘C, lower porosity and denser microstructure was obtained compared with the films without isostatic pressing. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss were 238 and 0.0028, respectively. A tunability of 61.7% was obtained for the isostatic pressed films, a 27.8% enhancement compared to unpressurized films. These results suggest that isostatic pressing is an effective way to prepare dielectric thick films with dense microstructure, low dielectric loss, and high tunability

Semantic-Aware Local-Global Vision Transformer

Vision Transformers have achieved remarkable progresses, among which Swin Transformer has demonstrated the tremendous potential of Transformer for vision tasks. It surmounts the key challenge of high computational complexity by performing local self-attention within shifted windows. In this work we propose the Semantic-Aware Local-Global Vision Transformer (SALG), to further investigate two potential improvements towards Swin Transformer. First, unlike Swin Transformer that performs uniform partition to produce equal size of regular windows for local self-attention, our SALG performs semantic segmentation in an unsupervised way to explore the underlying semantic priors in the image. As a result, each segmented region can correspond to a semantically meaningful part in the image, potentially leading to more effective features within each of segmented regions. Second, instead of only performing local self-attention within local windows as Swin Transformer does, the proposed SALG performs both 1) local intra-region self-attention for learning fine-grained features within each region and 2) global inter-region feature propagation for modeling global dependencies among all regions. Consequently, our model is able to obtain the global view when learning features for each token, which is the essential advantage of Transformer. Owing to the explicit modeling of the semantic priors and the proposed local-global modeling mechanism, our SALG is particularly advantageous for small-scale models when the modeling capacity is not sufficient for other models to learn semantics implicitly. Extensive experiments across various vision tasks demonstrates the merit of our model over other vision Transformers, especially in the small-scale modeling scenarios

Global-Local Stepwise Generative Network for Ultra High-Resolution Image Restoration

While the research on image background restoration from regular size of degraded images has achieved remarkable progress, restoring ultra high-resolution (e.g., 4K) images remains an extremely challenging task due to the explosion of computational complexity and memory usage, as well as the deficiency of annotated data. In this paper we present a novel model for ultra high-resolution image restoration, referred to as the Global-Local Stepwise Generative Network (GLSGN), which employs a stepwise restoring strategy involving four restoring pathways: three local pathways and one global pathway. The local pathways focus on conducting image restoration in a fine-grained manner over local but high-resolution image patches, while the global pathway performs image restoration coarsely on the scale-down but intact image to provide cues for the local pathways in a global view including semantics and noise patterns. To smooth the mutual collaboration between these four pathways, our GLSGN is designed to ensure the inter-pathway consistency in four aspects in terms of low-level content, perceptual attention, restoring intensity and high-level semantics, respectively. As another major contribution of this work, we also introduce the first ultra high-resolution dataset to date for both reflection removal and rain streak removal, comprising 4,670 real-world and synthetic images. Extensive experiments across three typical tasks for image background restoration, including image reflection removal, image rain streak removal and image dehazing, show that our GLSGN consistently outperforms state-of-the-art methods.Comment: submmitted to Transactions on Image Processin

Sr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eFe\u3csub\u3e1.5\u3c/sub\u3eMo\u3csub\u3e0.5\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e6\u3c/sub\u3e as Cathodes for Intermediate-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with La\u3csub\u3e0.8\u3c/sub\u3eSr\u3csub\u3e0.2\u3c/sub\u3eGa\u3csub\u3e0.87\u3c/sub\u3eMg\u3csub\u3e0.13\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e Electrolyte

The performance of Sr2Fe1.5Mo0.5O6 (SFMO) as a cathode material has been investigated in this study. The oxygen ionic conductivityof SFMO reaches 0.13 S cm-1 at 800°C in air. The chemical diffusion coefficient (Dchem) and surface exchange constant (kex) of SFMO at 750°C are 5.0 x 10-6 cm2 s-1 and 2.8 x 10-5 cm s-1, respectively, suggesting that SFMO may have good electrochemicalactivity for oxygen reduction. SFMO shows a thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of 14.5 x 10-6 K-1 the temperature range of200–760°C in air. The polarization resistance of the SFMO cathode is 0.076 Ω cm2 at 800°C in air under open-circuit conditions measured on symmetrical cells with La0.8Sr0.2Ga0.87Mg0.13O3 (LSGM) electrolytes. Dependence of SFMO cathode polarizationresistance on the oxygen partial pressure and the cathode overpotentials at different temperatures are also studied. SFMO shows an exchange current density of 0.186 A cm-2 at 800°C in air. Single cells with the configuration of Ni-La0.4Ce0.6O2(LCO)|LCO|LSGM|SFMO show peak power densities of 349, 468, and 613 mW cm-2 at 750, 800, and 850°C, respectively using H2 as the fuel and ambient air as the oxidant. These results indicate that SFMO is a promising cathode candidate for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells with LSGM electrolyte

Layered Oxide Material as a Highly Stable Na‐ion Source and Sink for Investigation of Sodium‐ion Battery Materials

Investigating Na-ion battery (SIB) materials is complicated by the absence of a well-performing (reference) electrode material since sodium metal cannot be considered as a quasi-reference electrode. Taking advantage of the activity of both Ni and Mn, herein, the P2-type and Mn-rich Na$_{0.6}$Ni$_{0.22}$Al$_{0.11}$Mn$_{0.66}$O$_2$ (NAM) material, known to be an excellent positive electrode, is investigated as a negative electrode. To prove NAM stability as both positive and negative electrode, symmetric cells have been assembled without pre-sodiation, which showed a reversible capacity of 73 mA h g$^{−1}$ and a remarkable capacity retention of 82.6 % after 500 cycles. The outstanding cycling performance is ascribed to the high stability of the active material at both the highest and lowest Na-ion storage plateaus and the rather limited electrolyte decomposition and solid-electrolyte-interphase (SEI) formation occurring. The long-term stability of NAM at both electrodes enables its use as a “reference” electrode for the investigation of other positive and negative electrode materials for SIBs, resembling the role played by lithium titanate (LTO) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) in LIBs

Synthesis and Formation Mechanism of CuInS\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Nanocrystals with a Tunable Phase

Chalcopyrite CuInS2 (CIS) hierarchical structures composed of nanoflakes with a thickness of about 5 nm were synthesized by a facial solvothermal method. The thermodynamically metastable wurtzite phase CIS would be obtained by using InCl3 instead of In(NO3)3 as In precursor. The effects of the In precursor and the volume of concentrated HCl aqueous solution on the phases and morphologies of CIS nanocrystals have been systematically investigated. Experimental results indicated that the obtained phases of CIS nanocrystals were predominantly determined by precursor-induced intermediate products. The photocatalytic properties of chalcopyrite and wurtzite CIS in visible-light-driven degradation of organic dye were also compared

Acute type A dissection without intimal tear in arch: Proximal or extensive repair?

ObjectiveFor acute type A dissection without an intimal tear in the arch, the optimal surgical strategy is unknown. The present study was designed to clarify the issue by comparing the early and late outcomes of proximal (PR) and extensive repair (ER).MethodsFrom January 2002 to June 2010, 331 patients with acute type A dissection were treated surgically at our institute. Of these 331 patients, 197 were identified without an arch tear on the preoperative imaging examination and by intraoperative inspection. Of these 197 patients, 74 underwent proximal repair, including the aortic root, ascending aortic, or hemiarch repair, and 88 underwent extensive repair, including proximal repair, total arch replacement and a stented elephant trunk technique. The perioperative variables and late results were statistically analyzed.ResultsNo significant difference was found in the rates of early mortality and morbidity between the 2 groups, despite the shorter duration of circulatory arrest in the PR group. During long-term follow-up (mean, 55.7 ± 33.1 months; maximum, 129), the overall survival rate in the whole cohort was 100%, 90.8%, and 71.1% at 1, 5, and 8 years, respectively. No difference was found in survival between the 2 groups (P > .05). However, complete thrombosis of the false lumen in the proximal descending aorta was achieved in 100% of the ER group and 24.6% of the PR group (P < .001). For patients with a patent false lumen in the PR group, distal anastomosis leakage and unclosed small intimal tears were identified in 53.3% and 35.6% patients, respectively. The reintervention rate was also lower in the ER group than in the PR group (4.9% vs 15.9%, P < .05) during follow-up. Moreover, the reintervention rate for patients with Marfan syndrome was 9.5% in the ER group and 38.5% in the PR group (P < .05).ConclusionsFor patients with acute type A dissection without an intimal tear in the arch, extensive repair could promote the occlusion of distal false lumen and decrease the reintervention rate without increasing the operative risk

Evaluation of genetic susceptibility of common variants in CACNA1D with schizophrenia in Han Chinese

The heritability of schizophrenia (SCZ) has been estimated to be as high as 80%, suggesting that genetic factors may play an important role in the etiology of SCZ. Cav1.2 encoded by CACNA1C and Cav1.3 encoded by CACNA1D are dominant calcium channel-forming subunits of L-type Voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels, expressed in many types of neurons. The CACNA1C has been consistently found to be a risk gene for SCZ, but it is unknown for CACNA1D. To investigate the association of CACNA1D with SCZ, we designed a two-stage case-control study, including a testing set with 1117 cases and 1815 controls and a validation set with 1430 cases and 4295 controls in Han Chinese. A total of selected 97 tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CACNA1D were genotyped, and single-SNP association, imputation analysis and gender-specific association analyses were performed in the two independent datasets. None was found to associate with SCZ. Further genotype and haplotype association analyses indicated a similar pattern in the two-stage study. Our findings suggested CACNA1D might not be a risk gene for SCZ in Han Chinese population, which add to the current state of knowledge regarding the susceptibility of CACNA1D to SCZ

A multi-domain VNE algorithm based on load balancing in the IoT networks

The coordinated development of big data, Internet of Things, cloud computing and other technologies has led to an exponential growth in Internet business. However, the traditional Internet architecture gradually shows a rigid phenomenon due to the binding of the network structure and the hardware. In a high-traffic environment, it has been insufficient to meet people’s increasing service quality requirements. Network virtualization is considered to be an effective method to solve the rigidity of the Internet. Among them, virtual network embedding is one of the key problems of network virtualization. Since virtual network mapping is an NP-hard problem, a large number of research has focused on the evolutionary algorithm’s masterpiece genetic algorithm. However, the parameter setting in the traditional method is too dependent on experience, and its low flexibility makes it unable to adapt to increasingly complex network environments. In addition, link-mapping strategies that do not consider load balancing can easily cause link blocking in high-traffic environments. In the IoT environment involving medical, disaster relief, life support and other equipment, network performance and stability are particularly important. Therefore, how to provide a more flexible virtual network mapping service in a heterogeneous network environment with large traffic is an urgent problem. Aiming at this problem, a virtual network mapping strategy based on hybrid genetic algorithm is proposed. This strategy uses a dynamically calculated cross-probability and pheromone based mutation gene selection strategy to improve the flexibility of the algorithm. In addition, a weight update mechanism based on load balancing is introduced to reduce the probability of mapping failure while balancing the load. Simulation results show that the proposed method performs well in a number of performance metrics including mapping average quotation, link load balancing, mapping cost-benefit ratio, acceptance rate and running time.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in disuse osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a major skeletal disease with low bone mineral density, which leads to an increased risk of bone fracture. Salubrinal is a synthetic chemical that inhibits dephosphorylation of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha (eIF2α) in response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. To understand possible linkage of osteoporosis to ER stress, we employed an unloading mouse model and examined the effects of salubrinal in the pathogenesis of disuse osteoporosis. The results presented several lines of evidence that osteoclastogenesis in the development of osteoporosis was associated with ER stress, and salubrinal suppressed unloading-induced bone loss. Compared to the age-matched control, unloaded mice reduced the trabecular bone area/total area (B.Ar/T.Ar) as well as the number of osteoblasts, and they increased the osteoclasts number on the trabecular bone surface in a time-dependent way. Unloading-induced disuse osteoporosis significantly increased the expression of Bip, p-eIF2α and ATF4 in short-term within 6 h of tail suspension, but time-dependent decreased in HU2d to HU14d. Furthermore, a significant correlation of ER stress with the differentiation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts was observed. Administration of salubrinal suppressed the unloading-induced decrease in bone mineral density, B.Ar/T.Ar and mature osteoclast formation. Salubrinal also increased the colony-forming unit-fibroblasts and colony-forming unit-osteoblasts. It reduced the formation of mature osteoclasts, suppressed their migration and adhesion, and increased the expression of Bip, p-eIF2α and ATF4. Electron microscopy showed that rough endoplasmic reticulum expansion and a decreased number of ribosomes on ER membrane were observed in osteoblast of unloading mice, and the abnormal ER expansion was significantly improved by salubrinal treatment. A TUNEL assay together with CCAAT/enhancer binding protein homologous protein (CHOP) expression indicated that ER stress-induced osteoblast apoptosis was rescued by salubrinal. Collectively, the results support the notion that ER stress plays a key role in the pathogenesis of disuse osteoporosis, and salubrinal attenuates unloading-induced bone loss by altering proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts via eIF2α signaling