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Nonlinear optical gain modulation (NOGM) is an effective approach for generating highly coherent femtosecond Raman pulses. In a typical NOGM system, the pump pulse energy boosting unit and nonlinear frequency conversion unit are separated, which poses a difficulty in generating Raman solitons with pulse energy over the μJ level. Here, we demonstrate an integrated ultrafast ytterbium-Raman fiber amplifier, which accomplishes pump pulse amplification and Raman pulse conversion simultaneously in ytterbium-doped fiber (YDF). The integrated ytterbium-Raman fiber amplifier could generate approximately 1 μJ 1121 nm Raman pulses with a pulse duration of 589 fs under a conversion efficiency of 69.9%. The result represents the highest pulse energy experimentally recorded in NOGM systems. Simulation further reveals that YDF gain could promote Raman conversion efficiency and reduce nonlinear chirp accumulation, which leads to improved performance of generated Raman pulses. Meanwhile, the feasibility of generating 10 μJ level Raman pulses using such a hybrid gain setup was also confirmed numerically.
Let X be a compact Kähler manifold, and let $L \rightarrow X$ be a holomorphic line bundle equipped with a singular metric h such that the curvature $\mathrm {i}\Theta _{L,h}\geqslant 0$ in the sense of currents. The main result of this paper is the vanishing of $H^n(X,\mathcal {O}(\Omega ^p_X\otimes L)\otimes \mathcal {I}(h))$ for $p\geqslant n-\operatorname {nd}(L,h)+1$, which generalizes Bogomolov’s vanishing theorem and Watanabe’s result.
Evidence-based insertion and maintenance bundles are effective in reducing the incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) in intensive care unit (ICU) settings. We studied the adoption and compliance of CLABSI prevention bundle programs and CLABSI rates in ICUs in a large network of acute care hospitals across Canada.
In this work, the Riemann–Hilbert (RH) problem is employed to study the multiple high-order pole solutions of the cubic Camassa–Holm (cCH) equation with the term characterizing the effect of linear dispersion under zero boundary conditions and nonzero boundary conditions. Under the reflectionless situation, we generalize the residue theorem and obtain the multiple high-order pole solutions of cCH equation by solving an algebraic system. During the process of establishing the solution of RH problem, to simplify the calculations involving the implicitly expressed of variables (x, t) in the solution, we introduce a new scale (y, t) to ensure the solution of RH problem is explicitly expressed with respect to it. Finally, the exact solutions are obtained for cases involving one high-order pole and N high-order poles.
The spatio-temporal scales, as well as a comprehensive self-sustained mechanism of the reattachment unsteadiness in shock wave/boundary layer interaction, are investigated in this study. Direct numerical simulations reveal that the reattachment unsteadiness of a Mach 7.7 laminar inflow causes over $26\,\%$ variation in wall friction and up to $20\,\%$ fluctuation in heat flux at the reattachment of the separation bubble. A statistical approach, based on the local reattachment upstream movement, is proposed to identify the spanwise and temporal scales of reattachment unsteadiness. It is found that two different types, i.e. self-induced and random processes, dominate different regions of reattachment. A self-sustained mechanism is proposed to comprehend the reattachment unsteadiness in the self-induced region. The intrinsic instability of the separation bubble transports vorticity downstream, resulting in an inhomogeneous reattachment line, which gives rise to baroclinic production of quasi-streamwise vortices. The pairing of these vortices initiates high-speed streaks and shifts the reattachment line upstream. Ultimately, viscosity dissipates the vortices, triggering instability and a new cycle of reattachment unsteadiness. The temporal scale and maximum vorticity are estimated with the self-sustained mechanism via order-of-magnitude analysis of the enstrophy. The advection speed of friction, derived from the assumption of coherent structures advecting with a Blasius-type boundary layer, aligns with the numerical findings.
Many studies have demonstrated that teaching a foreign language in settings outside of the classroom can improve the communicative use of the target language. However, many places remain inaccessible to learners due to physical limits of mobility and health, socioeconomic factors, or political or temporal restraints. Our previous studies have shown that telepresence robots are successful in immersing learners in remote places for learning a foreign language. The aim of this study is to analyze, through the theoretical lens of geosemiotics, how dialogic interaction between different semiotic systems emerges within the use of telepresence technology to understand how these systems shape discourse and meaning-making processes. It also considers what instructional strategies support such meaning-making with telepresence robotics, and what meaning-making principles can help improve the design of the robot. Initial findings show that properly planning the use of specific places provides ample opportunity for semiotic systems to shape the instructors’ and students’ meaning-making processes. Future research is needed to address some of the challenges to participants that are related to the design of the robot.
Extreme events are ubiquitous in nature and social society, including natural disasters, accident disasters, crises in public health (such as Ebola and the COVID-19 pandemic), and social security incidents (wars, conflicts, and social unrest). These extreme events will heavily impact financial markets and lead to the appearance of extreme fluctuations in financial time series. Such extreme events lack statistics and are thus hard to predict. Recurrence interval analysis provides a feasible solution for risk assessment and forecasting. This Element aims to provide a systemic description of the techniques and research framework of recurrence interval analysis of financial time series. The authors also provide perspectives on future topics in this direction.
Genetic association studies have not produced consistent results in restless legs syndrome (RLS).
Objectives:
To conduct a systematic review on genetic association studies in RLS to highlight the common gene variants and ethnic differences.
Methodology:
We conducted Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane search using terms “Genetic association studies” and “restless legs syndrome” for candidate gene-based studies. Out of the initial 43 studies, 18 case control studies (from 2012 to 2022) were included. Thirteen studies including 10794 Caucasian subjects (4984 RLS cases and 5810 controls) and five studies involving 2009 Asian subjects (796 RLS cases and 1213 controls) were tabulated and analyzed. In addition, three Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in Asians and Europeans/Caucasians were included for comparisons.
Results:
In the Asian population, gene variants in BST1, SNCA Rep1, IL1B, BTBD9, and MAP2K5/SKOR1 increased the risk of RLS (odds ratio range 1.2–2.8). In Caucasian populations, examples of variants that were associated with an increased risk of RLS (odds ratio range 1.1–1.9) include those in GABRR3 TOX3, ADH1B, HMOX1, GLO1, DCDC2C, BTBD9, SKOR1, and SETBP1. Based on the meta-analysis of GWAS studies, the rs9390170 variant in UTRN gene was identified to be a novel genetic marker for RLS in Asian cohorts, whereas rs113851554 in MEIS1 gene was a strong genetic factor among the >20 identified gene variants for RLS in Caucasian populations.
Conclusion:
Our systemic review demonstrates that multiple genetic variants modulate risk of RLS in Caucasians (such as MEIS1 BTBD9, MAP2K5) and in Asians (such as BTBD9, MAP2K5, and UTRN).
This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and prognosis of patients with alcoholic Marchiafava–Bignami disease (MBD), a rare neurological disorder commonly associated with chronic alcoholism, in Chongqing, China.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective analysis of clinical data from 21 alcoholic MBD patients treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing University between 2012 and 2022.
Results:
The study included 21 patients with alcoholic MBD who had a mean age of 59 ± 9.86 years and an average drinking history of 35.48 ± 8.65 years. Acute onset was observed in 14 (66.7%) patients. The primary clinical signs observed were psychiatric disorders (66.7%), altered consciousness (61.9%), cognitive disorders (61.9%), and seizures (42.9%). Magnetic resonance imaging revealed long T1 and long T2 signal changes in the corpus callosum, with lesions predominantly found in the genu (76.2%) and splenium (71.4%) of the corpus callosum. The poor prognosis group demonstrated an increased incidence of altered consciousness (100% vs 50%, P = 0.044), pyramidal signs (80% vs 18.8%, P = 0.011), and pneumonia (100% vs 31.3%, P = 0.007). Patients with a longer drinking history (45.0 ± 10.0 years vs 32.69 ± 5.99 years, p = 0.008) and a lower thiamine dose (p = 0.035) had a poorer prognosis at 1 year.
Conclusions:
This study identified altered consciousness, pyramidal signs, and pneumonia as predictors of a poor prognosis in patients with alcoholic MBD. A longer duration of alcohol consumption and inadequate thiamine supplementation were associated with a poorer prognosis.
Time preference reversal refers to systematic inconsistencies between preferences and bids for intertemporal options. From the two eye-tracking studies (N1 = 60, N2 = 110), we examined the underlying mechanisms of time preference reversal. We replicated the reversal effect in which individuals facing a pair of intertemporal options choose the smaller-sooner option but assign a higher value to the larger-later one. Results revealed that the mean fixation duration and the proportion of gaze time on the outcome attribute varied across the choice and bid tasks. In addition, time preference reversals correlated with individual differences in maximizing tendencies. Findings support the contingent weighting hypothesis and strategy compatibility hypothesis and allow for improved theoretical understanding of the potential mechanisms and processes involved in time preference reversals.
Traditionally, the strata of the Luonie Valley, Dechang County, SW Sichuan, China, are considered to contain a suite of felsic volcanic rocks (the Huili Group) that erupted after c. 1050 Ma. However, we report here new age constraints, elemental and Lu–Hf isotope geochemistry for a different suite of older basaltic agglomerate lava, basaltic tuff lava and basalt from the same area, which we name the Luonie Formation. New dating results show that the basaltic volcanic suite of the upper part of the Luonie Formation formed at 1126.1 ± 9.9 Ma, significantly earlier than deposition of the Huili Group, but comparable in age to the 1142 ± 16 Ma Laowushan Formation in central Yunnan Province. Granite intrusion into the Luonie Formation dated 1050.7 ± 12.7 Ma provides crucial supporting evidence for this earlier depositional age. We also report a maximum sedimentary age of c. 1158 Ma for the underlying arkose, implying stratigraphic conformity with the basaltic volcanic rock suite.
The ϵHf(t) values of the basaltic volcanic rocks are mainly positive, indicating that the rocks are mainly derived from the depleted mantle and slightly stained by crustal materials. The characteristics of P*, Nb* and Zr* anomalies also support this view. The distribution patterns of trace and rare earth elements indicate that the basaltic volcanic rocks formed in an extensional setting. The Zr/4–Y–2Nb and Th–Nb/16–Zr/117 discrimination diagrams also provide evidence for this understanding. Lithofacies analysis shows that basaltic volcanic wrocks with the characteristics of both continental and marine facies should be formed in a littoral–neritic environment. We propose here that the evidence is consistent with a phase of continental extension that preceded the convergence of the SW Yangtze Block to form part of Rodinia.
Two new genera and six new species of trilobites are systematically documented herein: Sinagnostus mirabilis new genus new species, Yanpingia punctata n. gen. n. sp., Illaenus taoyuanensis n. sp., Panderia striolatus n. sp., Nileus yichongqiaoensis n. sp., and Paratiresias peculiaris n. sp. The materials were collected from the Darriwilian (late Middle Ordovician) strata in the Upper Yangtze Region, South China. Also provided is an emended diagnosis of the genus Paratiresias based on the new species Paratiresias peculiaris, which is the oldest known species of this genus with an extremely narrow (sag. and exsag.) preglabellar field. Those Chinese species previously referred to Nanillaenus are reassigned to Illaenus sensu lato. These trilobites add new data for the Darriwilian trilobite macroevolution and show highly endemic to South China and the faunal exchanges between South China and Tarim, Kazakhstan, Alborz, as well as Sibumasu and North China.
Nutritional Risk Screening index is a standard tool to assess nutritional risk, but epidemiological data are scarce on controlling nutritional status (CONUT) as a prognostic marker in acute haemorrhagic stroke (AHS). We aimed to explore whether the CONUT may predict a 3-month functional outcome in AHS. In total, 349 Chinese patients with incident AHS were consecutively recruited, and their malnutrition risks were determined using a high CONUT score of ≥ 2. The cohort patients were divided into high-CONUT (≥ 2) and low-CONUT (< 2) groups, and primary outcomes were a poor functional prognosis defined as the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of ≥ 3 at post-discharge for 3 months. Odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the poor functional prognosis at post-discharge were estimated by using a logistic analysis with additional adjustments for unbalanced variables between the high-CONUT and low-CONUT groups. A total of 328 patients (60·38 ± 12·83 years; 66·77 % male) completed the mRS assessment at post-discharge for 3 months, with 172 patients at malnutrition risk at admission and 104 patients with a poor prognosis. The levels of total cholesterol and total lymphocyte counts were significantly lower in high-CONUT patients than low-CONUT patients (P = 0·012 and < 0·001, respectively). At 3-month post discharge, there was a greater risk for the poor outcome in the high-CONUT compared with the low-CONUT patients at admission (OR: 2·32, 95 % CI: 1·28, 4·17). High-CONUT scores independently predict a 3-month poor prognosis in AHS, which helps to identify those who need additional nutritional managements.
The Harihada–Chegendalai ophiolitic mélange, which is located between the Bainaimiao arc and the North China Craton, holds significant clues regarding the tectonic setting of the southern margin of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The ophiolitic mélange is mainly composed of gabbroic and serpentinized ultramafic rocks. Here, zircon U–Pb dating, in situ zircon Hf isotopic, whole-rock geochemical and in situ mineral chemical data from the ophiolitic mélange are reported. The zircons in the gabbroic rocks yielded concordia U–Pb ages of 450–448 Ma and exhibited slightly positive ϵHf(t) values (0.87–4.34). The geochemical characteristics of the gabbroic rocks indicate that they were generated from a mantle wedge metasomatized by subduction-derived melts from sediments with continental crust contamination, in a fore-arc tectonic setting. These rocks also experienced the accumulation of plagioclase. The geochemical characteristics of the ultramafic rocks and their Cr-spinels indicate that they may constitute part of residual mantle that has experienced a high degree of partial melting and has interacted with fluids/melts released from the subducted slab in the same fore-arc tectonic setting. The ophiolitic mélange may therefore have formed in this fore-arc tectonic setting, resulting from the northward subduction of the South Bainaimiao Ocean beneath the Bainaimiao arc during Late Ordovician time, prior to the collision between the Bainaimiao arc and the North China Craton during the Silurian to Carboniferous periods.
In this paper, the generation of relativistic electron mirrors (REMs) and the reflection of an ultra-short laser off this mirrors are discussed, applying two-dimensional particle-in-cell (2D-PIC) simulations. REMs with ultra-high acceleration and expanding velocity can be produced from a solid nanofoil illuminated normally by an ultra-intense femtosecond laser pulse with a sharp rising edge. Chirped attosecond pulse can be produced through the reflection of a counter-propagating probe laser off the accelerating REM. In the electron moving frame, the plasma frequency of the REM keeps decreasing due to its rapidly expanding. The laser frequency, on the contrary, keeps increasing due to the acceleration of REM and the relativistic Doppler shift from the lab frame to the electron moving frame. Within an ultra-short time interval, the two frequencies will be equal in the electron moving frame, which leads the resonance between laser and REM. The reflected radiation near this interval and the corresponding spectra will be amplified due to the resonance. Through adjusting the arriving time of the probe laser, certain part of the reflected field could be selectively amplified or depressed, leading to the selectively adjusting of the corresponding spectra.
Partial differential equations (PDEs) are used with huge success to model phenomena across all scientific and engineering disciplines. However, across an equally wide swath, there exist situations in which PDEs fail to adequately model observed phenomena, or are not the best available model for that purpose. On the other hand, in many situations, nonlocal models that account for interaction occurring at a distance have been shown to more faithfully and effectively model observed phenomena that involve possible singularities and other anomalies. In this article we consider a generic nonlocal model, beginning with a short review of its definition, the properties of its solution, its mathematical analysis and of specific concrete examples. We then provide extensive discussions about numerical methods, including finite element, finite difference and spectral methods, for determining approximate solutions of the nonlocal models considered. In that discussion, we pay particular attention to a special class of nonlocal models that are the most widely studied in the literature, namely those involving fractional derivatives. The article ends with brief considerations of several modelling and algorithmic extensions, which serve to show the wide applicability of nonlocal modelling.
In this paper, we present a version of Guan-Zhou’s optimal $L^{2}$ extension theorem and its application. As a main application, we show that under a natural condition, the question posed by Ohsawa in his series paper VIII on the extension of $L^{2}$ holomorphic functions holds. We also give an explicit counterexample which shows that the question fails in general.
Since December 2019, China has experienced a widespread outbreak of COVID-19. However, at the early stage of outbreak, investigations revealed a variety of patterns resulting in the transmission of COVID-19. Thus, it is essential to understand the transmission types and the potential for sustained human-to-human transmission. Moreover, the information regarding the characteristics of transmission helps in coordinating the current screening programme, and controlling and containing measures, and also, helps in deciding the appropriate quarantine duration. Thus, this investigation reports an outbreak of COVID-19 in a family residing in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China during the month of January−February 2020.
Rational construction of Z-scheme photocatalysts and exploration of the Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism have drawn much attention in the field of CO2 reduction because of its great potential to alleviate energy crisis and environmental problems. In this study, a series of Z-scheme CdS/BiOI composites were constructed by depositing CdS nanoparticles on the surface of BiOI nanosheets. The synthesized materials were characterized comprehensively, and their photoreduction CO2 activities were evaluated. The results show that the composites exhibit higher photoreduction CO2 activity under visible light irradiation (λ > 400 nm) than pure CdS and BiOI. The yields of CO and CH4 for the optimal composite after 3 h irradiation are 3.32 and 0.54 μmol/g, respectively. The improved photocatalytic activity is attributed to Z-scheme transfer mode of the photogenerated charges in the composites. The mechanism of CO2 reduction is proposed and verified experimentally.
Epidemiological data for Toxoplasma gondii regarding malignancy have gained increasing attention; however, the information about T. gondii infection among children with malignant lymphoma (ML) in China is unclear. Therefore, 314 children with lymphoma and 314 healthy children, age- and gender-matched, were recruited to estimate the seroprevalence of T. gondii in the participants and identify the risk factors of infection. Blood samples from all participants were collected and examined for T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using ELISA. The results showed that the overall seroprevalence of T. gondii antibodies (including IgG and/or IgM) in ML patients and healthy controls was 19.8% and 9.9%, respectively. Contact with the cats, consumption of oysters and history of chemotherapy were estimated to be the risk factors for T. gondii infection in children with lymphoma by multivariable logistic regression analysis, whereas in healthy children, contact with cats and consumption of oysters were the risk factors. Moreover, among various histological types of lymphoma, individuals with NK/T-cell lymphoma, B-small lymphocytic lymphoma, marginal zone B-lymphoma and Hodgkin's lymphoma had a higher seroprevalence than healthy controls (P < 0.05). These findings indicated the high prevalence of T. gondii infection in children with lymphoma, and hence, efforts should be performed to evaluate the effect of the infection further in lymphoma patients.