Strongly anisotropic ultrafast dynamic behavior of GaTe dominated by the tilted and flat bands.

The anisotropic transport properties of gallium telluride (GaTe) have been reported by several experiments, giving rise to many debates recently. The anisotropic electronic band structure of GaTe shows the extreme difference between the flat band and tilted band in two distinct directions,Γ¯-X¯andΓ¯-Y¯, and which we called as the mixed flat-tilted band (MFTB). Focusing on such two directions, the relaxation of photo-generated carriers has been studied using the non-adiabatic molecular dynamics (NAMD) method to investigate the anisotropic behavior of ultrafast dynamics.

The Dominating Role of Genetic Background in Shaping Gut Microbiota of Honeybee Queen Over Environmental Factors.

A balanced, diverse gut microbiota is vital for animal health. The microbial population is shaped by multiple factors including genetic background and environment, but other determinants remain controversial. Numerous studies suggest that the dominant factor is genetic background while others emphasize the environmental factors.

Plasmonic evolution of atomically size-selected Au clusters by electron energy loss spectrum.

The plasmonic response of gold clusters with atom number () = 100-70 000 was investigated using scanning transmission electron microscopy-electron energy loss spectroscopy. For decreasing , the bulk plasmon remains unchanged above = 887 but then disappears, while the surface plasmon firstly redshifts from 2.4 to 2.

Robust Cylindrical Panorama Stitching for Low-Texture Scenes Based on Image Alignment Using Deep Learning and Iterative Optimization.

Cylindrical panorama stitching is able to generate high resolution images of a scene with a wide field-of-view (FOV), making it a useful scene representation for applications like environmental sensing and robot localization. Traditional image stitching methods based on hand-crafted features are effective for constructing a cylindrical panorama from a sequence of images in the case when there are sufficient reliable features in the scene. However, these methods are unable to handle low-texture environments where no reliable feature correspondence can be established.

Genetic Differentiation of Eastern Honey Bee () Populations Across Qinghai-Tibet Plateau-Valley Landforms.

Many species of high-altitude plateaus tend to be narrowly distributed along river valleys at lower elevations due to a limitation of suitable habitats. The eastern honeybee () is such a species and this study explored the effects of long and narrow geographic distributions on honeybee populations. Genetic differentiation and diversity were assessed across populations of the southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

[Authenticity identification of manuka honey using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry based metabolomic technique].

A liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) based metabolomic approach for the discrimination of manuka honey from the domestic honey was developed. The results of multivariate data analysis showed significant discrimination of manuka honey from domestic honey. Furthermore, a partial least squares discrimination model was established for honey discrimination, enabling the correct identification of unknown testing samples.

The enhanced ferromagnetism of single-layer CrX (X = Br and I) via van der Waals engineering.

The recent experimental discovery of intrinsic ferromagnetism in single-layer CrI3 opens a new avenue to low-dimensional spintronics. However, the low Curie temperature, TC ∼ 45 K, is still a large obstacle to its realistic device application. In this work, we demonstrate that the TC and magnetic moment of CrX3 (X = Br, I) can be enhanced simultaneously by coupling them to buckled two-dimensional Mene (M = Si, Ge) to form magnetic van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures.

Achieving a direct band gap and high power conversion efficiency in an SbI/BiI type-II vdW heterostructure via interlayer compression and electric field application.

Type-II van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures are considered as a class of competitive candidates of high-efficiency photovoltaic materials, due to their spontaneous electron-hole separation. However, most of the vdW heterostructures possess an indirect gap and a large band offset, which would lead to low photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. Taking an SbI3/BiI3 vdW heterostructure as an illustrative example, we propose interlayer compression and vertical electric field application as two effective strategies to modulate the electronic and photovoltaic properties of type-II vdW heterostructures.

Stability and carrier mobility of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite CHNHPbI in two-dimensional limit.

Recently, atomically thin organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have been synthesized experimentally, which opens up new opportunities for exploring their novel properties in the 2D limit. Based on the comparative density functional theory calculation with and without spin-orbit coupling effects, the stability, electronic structure, and carrier mobility of the two-dimensional organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites MAPbI (MA = CHNH) have been investigated systemically. Two single-unit-cell-thick 2D MAPbI terminated by PbI and CHNHI are constructed, and their thermodynamic stabilities are also evaluated using the first-principles constrained thermodynamics method.

Speak-up culture in an intensive care unit in Hong Kong: a cross-sectional survey exploring the communication openness perceptions of Chinese doctors and nurses.

Objectives: Despite growing recognition of the importance of speaking up to protect patient safety in critical care, little research has been performed in this area in an intensive care unit (ICU) context. This study explored the communication openness perceptions of Chinese doctors and nurses and identified their perceptions of issues in ICU communication, their reasons for speaking up and the possible factors and strategies involved in promoting the practice of speaking up.

Design: A mixed-methods design with quantitative and sequential qualitative components was used.

High-Mobility Transport Anisotropy in Few-Layer MoO and Its Origin.

The novel two-dimensional semiconductors with high carrier mobility and excellent stability are essential to the next-generation high-speed and low-power nanoelectronic devices. Because of the natural abundance, intrinsic gap, and chemical stability, metal oxides were also recently suggested as potential candidates for electronic materials. However, their carrier mobilities are typically on the order of tens of square centimeters per volt per second, much lower than that for commonly used silicon.

Rectification of curved document images based on single view three-dimensional reconstruction.

Since distortions in camera-captured document images significantly affect the accuracy of optical character recognition (OCR), distortion removal plays a critical role for document digitalization systems using a camera for image capturing. This paper proposes a novel framework that performs three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction and rectification of camera-captured document images. While most existing methods rely on additional calibrated hardware or multiple images to recover the 3D shape of a document page, or make a simple but not always valid assumption on the corresponding 3D shape, our framework is more flexible and practical since it only requires a single input image and is able to handle a general locally smooth document surface.

Human Ebola virus infection in West Africa: a review of available therapeutic agents that target different steps of the life cycle of Ebola virus.

The recent outbreak of the human Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) epidemic is spiraling out of control in West Africa. Human EBOV hemorrhagic fever has a case fatality rate of up to 90%. The EBOV is classified as a biosafety level 4 pathogen and is considered a category A agent of bioterrorism by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with no approved therapies and vaccines available for its treatment apart from supportive care.

Splenic artery pseudoaneurysm due to seatbelt injury in a glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-deficient adult.

A 23-year-old man presented with abdominal pain after suffering blunt trauma caused by a seatbelt injury. His low platelet count of 137 × 10(9)/L was initially attributed to trauma and his underlying hypersplenism due to glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. Despite conservative management, his platelet count remained persistently reduced even after his haemoglobin and clotting abnormalities were stabilised.

A retrospective review of the use of regional citrate anticoagulation in continuous venovenous hemofiltration for critically ill patients.

Background. The emergence of a commercially prepared citrate solution has revolutionized the use of RCA in the intensive care unit (ICU). The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety profile of a commercially prepared citrate solution.

Experimental study of the influence of refraction on underwater three-dimensional reconstruction using the SVP camera model.

In an underwater imaging system, a perspective camera is often placed outside a tank or in waterproof housing with a flat glass window. The refraction of light occurs when a light ray passes through the water-glass and air-glass interface, rendering the conventional multiple view geometry based on the single viewpoint (SVP) camera model invalid. While most recent underwater vision studies mainly focus on the challenging topic of calibrating such systems, no previous work has systematically studied the influence of refraction on underwater three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction.