[Clinical analysis of laparoscopic treatment of chronic traumatic diaphragmatic hernia in 29 cases].

Objective: To examine the safety and effectiveness of laparoscopic individualized surgical treatment for chronic traumatic diaphragmatic hernia (CTDH). Methods: The clinical data and follow-up data of 29 CTDH cases admitted to the Qilu Hospital of Shandong University or the First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University from June 2015 to January 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 21 males and 8 females, aged (49.4±17.8) years (range: 19 to 79 years). The main clinical manifestations were symptoms of the digestive system and respiratory system, and only 4 cases were asymptomatic. All patients received laparoscopic treatment (conversion to open surgery was not excluded). Intraoperative exploration (location of the hernia, contents of the hernia, diameter of the hernia ring), surgical conditions (surgical repair plan, operation time, blood loss, postoperative complications) and postoperative follow-up were analyzed and discussed. Results: Laparoscopic repair was successfully completed in 27 cases, including simple suture in 6 cases, suture and patch repair in 17 cases, the anterior abdominal wall muscle flap reversal suture and patch repair of in 3 cases, and patch bridge repair in 1 case. The operation time was (112.8±44.7) minutes (range: 60 to 200 minutes). The amount of bleeding (M(IQR)) was 35 (58) ml (range: 10 to 300 ml). The other 2 patients were converted to laparotomy. Except for one patient with transverse colon strangulation necrosis who died of aggravated pulmonary infection after surgery, the remaining 28 patients were discharged successfully. The follow-up time was 36 (24) months (range: 1 to 60 months). During the follow-up period, only two patients had occasional left upper abdominal discomfort. Twenty-seven patients with left diaphragmatic hernia had no recurrence, and the symptoms of 1 patient with right diaphragmatic hernia were relieved. Conclusion: Customized laparoscopic surgical repair for CTDH according to the location and size of the diaphragmatic defect can achieve good surgical results.

Investigation of the bipolar effect in the thermoelectric material CaMg2Bi2 using a first-principles study.

The bipolar effect in relatively narrow band-gap thermoelectric (TE) compounds is a negative process deteriorating the TE properties particularly at higher temperatures. In this work, we investigate the TE performance of the compound CaMg2Bi2 using the first-principles calculation and semi-classical Boltzmann transport theory in combination with our experimental data. It is revealed that this compound exhibits a remarkable bipolar effect and temperature-dependent carrier concentration. The bipolar effect imposes remarkable influence on all the electron-transport related TE parameters. An effective carrier concentration neff as a function of temperature is proposed to account for the bipolar effect induced carrier excitations. The as-evaluated TE parameters then show good consistency with measured results. This work may shed light on our understanding of the bipolar effect in TE compounds.

The ferroelectric polarization of Y2CoMnO6 aligns along the b-axis: the first-principles calculations.

Double-perovskite A2BB'O6 oxides with magnetic B and B' ions and E*-type antiferromagnetic order (E*-AFM, i.e. the ↑↑↓↓ structure) are believed to exhibit promising multiferroic properties, and Y2CoMnO6 (YCMO) is one candidate in this category. However, the microscopic origins for magnetically induced ferroelectricity in YCMO remain unclear. In this study, we perform detailed symmetry analysis on the exchange striction effect and lattice distortion, plus the first-principles calculations on YCMO. The E*-AFM state as the ground state with other competing states such as ferromagnetic and A-antiferromagnetic orders is confirmed. It is observed that the ferroelectricity is generated by the exchange striction associated with the E*-AFM order and chemically ordered Mn/Co occupation. Both the lattice symmetry consideration and first-principles calculations predict that the electric polarization aligns along the b-axis. The calculated polarization reaches up to 0.4682 µC cm(-2), mainly from the ionic displacement contribution. The present study presents a comprehensive understanding of the multiferroic mechanisms in YCMO and is of general significance for predicting emergent multiferroicity in other double-perovskite magnetic oxides.

First case presentation of refractory pediatric bullous lupus erythematosus (BSLE) treatment with belimumab.

INTRODUCTION: Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus (BSLE) is a rare form of subcutaneous blistering lupus erythematosus (SLE). There is currently no effective treatment for BSLE. However, here, we present the first report of the successful treatment of refractory BSLE with belimumab in a 16-year-old girl. CASE PRESENTATION: A 16-year-old girl with BSLE had undergone different treatment options, with no significant improvement. Since B-lymphocyte stimulator plays an important role in the pathophysiology of SLE, belimumab was administered and showed remarkable effects for the first time in this patient with both SLE and BSLE. The patient's skin lesions improved steadily over the course of three weeks and completely disappeared in 30 days. In addition, no sign of recurrence of BSLE was observed over the 9-month follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report of the successful short-term therapy of refractory BSLE/SLE overlap syndrome with belimumab in a pediatric patient. Although the use of belimumab resulted in excellent.

Understanding the multiferroicity in TmMn2O5 by a magnetically induced ferrielectric model.

The magnetically induced electric polarization behaviors in multiferroic TmMn2O5 in response to varying temperature and magnetic field are carefully investigated by means of a series of characterizations including the high precision pyroelectric current technique. Here polycrystalline rather than single crystal samples are used for avoiding the strong electrically self-polarized effect in single crystals, and various parallel experiments on excluding the thermally excited current contributions are performed. The temperature-dependent electric polarization flop as a major character is identified for different measuring paths. The magneto-current measurements indicate that the electric polarization in the low temperature magnetic phase region has different origin from that in the high temperature magnetic phase. It is suggested that the electric polarization does have multiple components which align along different orientations, including the Mn3+-Mn4+-Mn3+ exchange striction induced polarization PMM, the Tm3+-Mn4+-Tm3+ exchange striction induced polarization PTM, and the low temperature polarization PLT probably associated with the Tm3+ commensurate phase. The observed electric polarization flop can be reasonably explained by the ferrielectric model proposed earlier for DyMn2O5, where PMM and PTM are the two antiparallel components both along the b-axis and PLT may align along the a-axis. Finally, several issues on the unusual temperature dependence of ferroelectric polarizations are discussed.

Full-scale computation for all the thermoelectric property parameters of half-Heusler compounds.

The thermoelectric performance of materials relies substantially on the band structures that determine the electronic and phononic transports, while the transport behaviors compete and counter-act for the power factor PF and figure-of-merit ZT. These issues make a full-scale computation of the whole set of thermoelectric parameters particularly attractive, while a calculation scheme of the electronic and phononic contributions to thermal conductivity remains yet challenging. In this work, we present a full-scale computation scheme based on the first-principles calculations by choosing a set of doped half-Heusler compounds as examples for illustration. The electronic structure is computed using the WIEN2k code and the carrier relaxation times for electrons and holes are calculated using the Bardeen and Shockley's deformation potential (DP) theory. The finite-temperature electronic transport is evaluated within the framework of Boltzmann transport theory. In sequence, the density functional perturbation combined with the quasi-harmonic approximation and the Klemens' equation is implemented for calculating the lattice thermal conductivity of carrier-doped thermoelectric materials such as Ti-doped NbFeSb compounds without losing a generality. The calculated results show good agreement with experimental data. The present methodology represents an effective and powerful approach to calculate the whole set of thermoelectric properties for thermoelectric materials.

High stability of electro-transport and magnetism against the A-site cation disorder in SrRuO3.

It is known that the electro-transport and magnetism of perovskite alkaline-earth ruthenate oxides are sensitive to the lattice distortion associated with the A-site cation size. Orthorhombic CaRuO3 and cubic BaRuO3 exhibit distinctly different electro-transport and magnetic properties from orthorhombic SrRuO3. It has been suggested that SrRuO3 can be robust against some intrinsic/external perturbations but fragile against some others in terms of electro-transport and magnetism, and it is our motivation to explore such stability against the local site cation disorder. In this work, we prepare a set of SrRuO3-based samples with identical averaged A-site size but different A-site cation disorder (size mismatch) by Ca and Ba co-substitution of Sr. It is revealed that the electro-transport and magnetism of SrRuO3 demonstrate relatively high stability against this A-site cation disorder, characterized by the relatively invariable electrical and magnetic properties in comparison with those of SrRuO3 itself. A simple electro-transport network model is proposed to explain quantitatively the measured behaviors. The present work suggests that SrRuO3 as an itinerant electron ferromagnetic metal possesses relatively high robustness against local lattice distortion and cation occupation disorder.

Magnetic phase transitions and monopole excitations in spin ice under uniaxial pressure: A Monte Carlo simulation.

In this work, we explore the spin ice model under uniaxial pressure using the Monte Carlo simulation method. For the known spin ices, the interaction correction (δ) introduced by the uniaxial pressure varies in quite a wide range from positive to negative. When δ is positive, the ground state characterized by the ferromagnetic spin chains is quite unstable, and in real materials it serves as intermediate state connecting the ice state and the long range ordered dipolar spin ice ground state. In the case of negative δ, the system relaxes from highly degenerate ice state to ordered ferromagnetic state via a first order phase transition. Furthermore, the domain walls in such ferromagnetic state are the hotbed of the excitations of magnetic monopoles, thus indicating that the uniaxial pressure can greatly increase the monopole density.

Magnetic-charge ordering and phase transitions in monopole-conserved square spin ice.

Magnetic-charge ordering and corresponding magnetic/monopole phase transitions in spin ices are the emergent topics of condensed matter physics. In this work, we investigate a series of magnetic-charge (monopole) phase transitions in artificial square spin ice model using the conserved monopole density algorithm. It is revealed that the dynamics of low monopole density lattices is controlled by the effective Coulomb interaction and the Dirac string tension, leading to the monopole dimerization which is quite different from the dynamics of three-dimensional pyrochlore spin ice. The condensation of the monopole dimers into monopole crystals with staggered magnetic-charge order can be predicted clearly. For the high monopole density cases, the lattice undergoes two consecutive phase transitions from high-temperature paramagnetic/charge-disordered phase into staggered charge-ordered phase before eventually toward the long-range magnetically-ordered phase as the ground state which is of staggered charge order too. A phase diagram over the whole temperature-monopole density space, which exhibits a series of emergent spin and monopole ordered states, is presented.

Ferroelectricity driven magnetism at domain walls in LaAlO3/PbTiO3 superlattices.

Charge dipole moment and spin moment rarely coexist in single-phase bulk materials except in some multiferroics. Despite the progress in the past decade, for most multiferroics their magnetoelectric performance remains poor due to the intrinsic exclusion between charge dipole and spin moment. As an alternative approach, the oxide heterostructures may evade the intrinsic limits in bulk materials and provide more attractive potential to realize the magnetoelectric functions. Here we perform a first-principles study on LaAlO3/PbTiO3 superlattices. Although neither of the components is magnetic, magnetic moments emerge at the ferroelectric domain walls of PbTiO3 in these superlattices. Such a twist between ferroelectric domain and local magnetic moment, not only manifests an interesting type of multiferroicity, but also is possible useful to pursuit the electrical-control of magnetism in nanoscale heterostructures.

Low-field Switching Four-state Nonvolatile Memory Based on Multiferroic Tunnel Junctions.

Multiferroic tunneling junction based four-state non-volatile memories are very promising for future memory industry since this kind of memories hold the advantages of not only the higher density by scaling down memory cell but also the function of magnetically written and electrically reading. In this work, we demonstrate a success of this four-state memory in a material system of NiFe/BaTiO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 with improved memory characteristics such as lower switching field and larger tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR). Ferroelectric switching induced resistive change memory with OFF/ON ratio of 16 and 0.3% TMR effect have been achieved in this multiferroic tunneling structure.

Real-space anisotropic dielectric response in a multiferroic skyrmion lattice.

A magnetic skyrmion lattice is a microstructure consisting of hexagonally aligned skyrmions. While a skyrmion as a topologically protected carrier of information promises a number of applications, an easily accessible probe of the skyrmion and skyrmion lattice at mesoscopic scale is of significance. It is known that neutron scattering, Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, and spin-resolved STM as effective probes of skyrmions have been established. In this work, we propose that the spatial contour of dielectric permittivity in a skyrmion lattice with ferromagnetic interaction and in-plane (xy) Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction can be used to characterize the skyrmion lattice. The phase field and Monte Carlo simulations are employed to develop the one-to-one correspondence between the magnetic skyrmion lattice and dielectric dipole lattice, both exhibiting the hexagonal symmetry. Under excitation of in-plane electric field in the microwave range, the dielectric permittivity shows the dumbbell-like pattern with the axis perpendicular to the electric field, while it is circle-like for the electric field along the z-axis. The dependences of the spatial contour of dielectric permittivity on external magnetic field along the z-axis and dielectric frequency dispersion are discussed.

Unusual ferromagnetism enhancement in ferromagnetically optimal manganite La0.7-yCa0.3+yMn1-yRuyO3 (0≤y<0.3): the role of Mn-Ru t2g super-exchange.

The eg-orbital double-exchange mechanism as the core of physics of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) manganites is well known, which usually covers up the role of super-exchange at the t2g-orbitals. The role of the double-exchange mechanism is maximized in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3, leading to the concurrent metal-insulator transition and ferromagnetic transition as well as CMR effect. In this work, by a set of synchronous Ru-substitution and Ca-substitution experiments on La0.7-yCa0.3+yMn1-yRuyO3, we demonstrate that the optimal ferromagnetism in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 can be further enhanced. It is also found that the metal-insulator transition and magnetic transition can be separately modulated. By well-designed experimental schemes with which the Mn(3+)-Mn(4+) double-exchange is damaged as weakly as possible, it is revealed that this ferromagnetism enhancement is attributed to the Mn-Ru t2g ferromagnetic super-exchange. The present work allows a platform on which the electro-transport and magnetism of rare-earth manganites can be controlled by means of the t2g-orbital physics of strongly correlated transition metal oxides.

Coupled ferroelectric polarization and magnetization in spinel FeCr2S4.

One of the core issues for multiferroicity is the strongly coupled ferroelectric polarization and magnetization, while so far most multiferroics have antiferromagnetic order with nearly zero magnetization. Magnetic spinel compounds with ferrimagnetic order may be alternative candidates offering large magnetization when ferroelectricity can be activated simultaneously. In this work, we investigate the ferroelectricity and magnetism of spinel FeCr2S4 in which the Fe(2+) sublattice and Cr(3+) sublattice are coupled in antiparallel alignment. Well defined ferroelectric transitions below the Fe(2+) orbital ordering temperature Too = 8.5 K are demonstrated. The ferroelectric polarization has two components. One component arises mainly from the noncollinear conical spin order associated with the spin-orbit coupling, which is thus magnetic field sensitive. The other is probably attributed to the Jahn-Teller distortion induced lattice symmetry breaking, occurring below the orbital ordering of Fe(2+). Furthermore, the coupled ferroelectric polarization and magnetization in response to magnetic field are observed. The present work suggests that spinel FeCr2S4 is a multiferroic offering both ferroelectricity and ferrimagnetism with large net magnetization.

Electric field control of ferroelectric domain structures in MnWO4.

Competing interactions make the magnetic structure of MnWO4 highly frustrated, and only the AF2 phase of the three magnetically ordered phases (AF1, AF2, AF3) is ferroelectric. The high frustration may thus allow a possibility to tune the magnetic structure by means of an electric field via magnetoelectric coupling. By using the pyroelectric current method, we measure the remnant ferroelectric polarization in MnWO4 upon application of a poling electric field via two different roadmaps. It is demonstrated that an electric field as low as 10 kV cm(-1) is sufficient to enhance the stability of a ferroelectric AF2 phase at the expense of a non-ferroelectric AF1 phase. This work suggests that electric field induced electrostatic energy, although small due to weak magnetically induced electric polarization, may effectively tune ferroelectric domain structures, and thus the magnetic structure of highly frustrated multiferroic materials.

Kinetics of 90° domain wall motions and high frequency mesoscopic dielectric response in strained ferroelectrics: a phase-field simulation.

The dielectric and ferroelectric behaviors of a ferroelectric are substantially determined by its domain structure and domain wall dynamics at mesoscopic level. A relationship between the domain walls and high frequency mesoscopic dielectric response is highly appreciated for high frequency applications of ferroelectrics. In this work we investigate the low electric field driven motion of 90°-domain walls and the frequency-domain spectrum of dielectric permittivity in normally strained ferroelectric lattice using the phase-field simulations. It is revealed that, the high-frequency dielectric permittivity is spatially inhomogeneous and reaches the highest value on the 90°-domain walls. A tensile strain favors the parallel domains but suppresses the kinetics of the 90° domain wall motion driven by electric field, while the compressive strain results in the opposite behaviors. The physics underlying the wall motions and thus the dielectric response is associated with the long-range elastic energy. The major contribution to the dielectric response is from the polarization fluctuations on the 90°-domain walls, which are more mobile than those inside the domains. The relevance of the simulated results wth recent experiments is discussed.

Wang-Landau sampling with logarithmic windows for continuous models.

We present a modified Wang-Landau sampling (MWLS) for continuous statistical models by partitioning the energy space into a set of windows with logarithmically shrinking width. To demonstrate its necessity and advantages, we apply this sampling to several continuous models, including the two-dimensional square XY spin model, triangular J1-J2 spin model, and Lennard-Jones cluster model. Given a finite number of bins for partitioning the energy space, the conventional Wang-Landau sampling may not generate sufficiently accurate density of states (DOS) around the energy boundaries. However, it is demonstrated that much more accurate DOS can be obtained by this MWLS, and thus a precise evaluation of the thermodynamic behaviors of the continuous models at extreme low temperature (kBT<0.1) becomes accessible. The present algorithm also allows efficient computation besides the highly reliable data sampling.

Experimental observation of ferrielectricity in multiferroic DyMn2O5.

One of the major breakthroughs associated with multiferroicity in recent years is the discovery of ferroelectricity generated by specific magnetic structures in some magnetic insulating oxides such as rare-earth manganites RMnO3 and RMn2O5. An unresolved issue is the small electric polarization. Relatively large electric polarization and strong magnetoelectric coupling have been found in those manganites of double magnetic ions: magnetic rare-earth R ion and Mn ion, due to the strong R-Mn (4f-3d) interactions. DyMn2O5 is a representative example. We unveil in this work the ferrielectric nature of DyMn2O5, in which the two ferroelectric sublattices with opposite electric polarizations constitute the ferrielectric state. One sublattice has its polarization generated by the symmetric exchange striction from the Mn-Mn interactions, while the polarization of the other sublattice is attributed to the symmetric exchange striction from the Dy-Mn interactions. We present detailed measurements on the electric polarization as a function of temperature, magnetic field, and measuring paths. The present experiments may be helpful for clarifying the puzzling issues on the multiferroicity in DyMn2O5 and other RMn2O5 multiferroics.

Coexistence of high performance resistance and capacitance memory based on multilayered metal-oxide structures.

The Au/DyMnO3/Nb:SrTiO3/Au stack was demonstrated to be not only a high performance memristor but also a good memcapacitor. The switching time is below 10 ns, the retention is longer than 10(5) s, and the change ratio of resistance (or capacitance) is larger than 100 over the 10(8) switching cycles. Moreover, this stack has a broad range of intermediate states that are tunable by the operating voltages. It is indicated that the memory effects originate from the Nb:SrTiO3/Au junction where the barrier profile is electrically modulated. The serial connected Au/DyMnO3/Nb:SrTiO3 stack behaves as a high nonlinear resistor paralleling with a capacitor, which raises the capacitance change ratio and enhances the memory stability of the device.