Carbon emissions changes of animal husbandry in China: Trends, attributions, and solutions: A spatial shift-share analysis.

China is a major livestock producer confronting the dual challenges of rising demand for animal-based food consumption and decreasing carbon emissions. To effectively address these issues, it is crucial to understand the trends of carbon emissions from animal husbandry and the competitive advantages of carbon emission reduction in different regions. This study uses panel data from 31 provinces from 2004 to 2020 to investigate the contributing factors to carbon emissions and explore ways to reduce carbon intensity in animal husbandry. The analysis employs spatial shift-share analysis and the spatial Durbin model. Our findings indicate that life-cycle carbon emissions associated with animal husbandry in China decreased from 572.411 Mt CO2eq to 520.413 Mt CO2eq over time, with an average annual decline of 0.568 %. The annual contribution of output value and internal industry-mix adjustment to carbon emission growth is 22.639 MT CO2eq and 6.226 MT CO2eq, respectively. On the other hand, the annual contribution of carbon efficiency improvement to carbon emission reduction is much higher, at 36.316 MT CO2eq. However, there is significant regional heterogeneity in the spatial decomposition of the carbon efficiency change component. The Northeastern region, Northwest and along the Great Wall demonstrate neighborhood advantages in enhancing carbon efficiency. In contrast, the South China and Southwest regions rely more on local carbon efficiency advantages to reduce the carbon intensity of animal husbandry. Furthermore, the carbon intensity in local and neighboring areas can be reduced through environmental regulations and industrial agglomeration. While technical progress significantly negatively impacts carbon intensity in neighboring regions, it does not contribute to reducing the carbon intensity of local animal husbandry. The findings provide valuable insights for local governments, aiding them in recognizing the pros and cons of carbon reduction in animal husbandry and strengthening regional cooperation in emission reduction management.

Transcriptome and metabolome profiling reveal the effects of hormones on current-year shoot growth in Chinese 'Cuiguan' pear grafted onto vigorous rootstock 'Duli' and dwarf rootstock 'Quince A'.

BACKGROUND: Dwarf rootstocks have important practical significance for high-density planting in pear orchards. The shoots of 'Cuiguan' grafted onto the dwarf rootstock were shorter than those grafted onto the vigorous rootstock. However, the mechanism of shorter shoot formation is not clear. RESULTS: In this study, the current-year shoot transcriptomes and phytohormone contents of 'CG‒QA' ('Cuiguan' was grafted onto 'Quince A', and 'Hardy' was used as interstock) and 'CG‒DL' ('Cuiguan' was grafted onto 'Duli', and 'Hardy' was used as interstock) were compared. The transcriptome results showed that a total of 452 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, including 248 downregulated genes and 204 upregulated genes; the plant hormone signal transduction and zeatin biosynthesis pathways were significantly enriched in the top 20 KEGG enrichment terms. Abscisic acid (ABA) was the most abundant hormone in 'CG‒QA' and 'CG‒DL'; auxin and cytokinin (CTK) were the most diverse hormones; additionally, the contents of ABA, auxin, and CTK in 'CG‒DL' were higher than those in 'CG‒QA', while the fresh shoot of 'CG‒QA' accumulated more gibberellin (GA) and salicylic acid (SA). Metabolome and transcriptome co-analysis identified three key hormone-related DEGs, of which two (Aldehyde dehydrogenase gene ALDH3F1 and YUCCA2) were upregulated and one (Cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase gene CKX3) was downregulated. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis, we found that auxin and CTK mainly regulated the shoot differences of 'CG-QA' and 'CG-DL', and other hormones such as ABA, GA, and SA synergistically regulated this process. Three hormone-related genes ALDH3F1, YUCCA2, and CKX3 were the key genes contributing to the difference in shoot growth between 'CG-QA' and 'CG-DL' pear. This research provides new insight into the molecular mechanism underlying shoot shortening after grafted onto dwarf rootstocks.

Excitonic topological order in imbalanced electron-hole bilayers.

Correlation and frustration play essential roles in physics, giving rise to novel quantum phases1-6. A typical frustrated system is correlated bosons on moat bands, which could host topological orders with long-range quantum entanglement4. However, the realization of moat-band physics is still challenging. Here, we explore moat-band phenomena in shallowly inverted InAs/GaSb quantum wells, where we observe an unconventional time-reversal-symmetry breaking excitonic ground state under imbalanced electron and hole densities. We find that a large bulk gap exists, encompassing a broad range of density imbalances at zero magnetic field (B), accompanied by edge channels that resemble helical transport. Under an increasing perpendicular B, the bulk gap persists, and an anomalous plateau of Hall signals appears, which demonstrates an evolution from helical-like to chiral-like edge transport with a Hall conductance approximately equal to e2/h at 35 tesla, where e is the elementary charge and h is Planck's constant. Theoretically, we show that strong frustration from density imbalance leads to a moat band for excitons, resulting in a time-reversal-symmetry breaking excitonic topological order, which explains all our experimental observations. Our work opens up a new direction for research on topological and correlated bosonic systems in solid states beyond the framework of symmetry-protected topological phases, including but not limited to the bosonic fractional quantum Hall effect.

Soil, leaf and fruit nutrient data for pear orchards located in the Circum-Bohai Bay and Loess Plateau regions.

The data described in this paper were collected from the Circum-Bohai Bay and Loess Plateau regions of northern China. Soil, leaf and fruit nutrients from 225 typical pear orchards in these regions were measured. Soil data included pH, organic matter, total N, alkaline hydrolysable N, available P and available K concentrations of 3 different soil layers, 0-20 cm, 20-40 cm and 40-60 cm, from different orchards. Leaf and fruit data included N, P, K, Ca, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn and B concentrations of pear trees from different orchards. These data can be used to assess the soil nutrient supply and leaf and fruit nutrient status of pear orchards in two major producing areas, Circum-Bohai Bay and Loess Plateau. Additionally, this dataset provides data to support the development of regionalized and standardized soil nutrient management programs for pear orchards, as well as regionalized layouts of the main varieties in the two producing areas.

Farmers' adoption behavior of conservation tillage technology: a multidimensional heterogeneity perspective.

Adopting conservation tillage technology can promote sustainable agriculture development. There have been many studies on all farmers' conservation tillage behaviors, but few studies are based on a farmer's multidimensional heterogeneity perspective. Given the background, we conduct an empirical evaluation using micro survey data from 819 households in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River Basin. This paper uses the entropy method to classify farm households into three types: economically dominant, resource dominant, and socially dominant. Furthermore, we use the Heckman sample selection model to discuss the factors that affect the adoption of conservation tillage technology by different types of farmers. The results show that land fragmentation degree can inhibit economically dominant farmers conservation tillage technology adoption behavior. Social relations can positively influence resource dominant farmers. The share of non-farm income will positively impact socially dominant farmers. This paper further proposes policy implications, based on the findings that different types of farmers have various factors influencing conservation tillage technology adoption behavior.

Observation of 1D Fermi arc states in Weyl semimetal TaAs.

Fermi arcs on Weyl semimetals exhibit many exotic quantum phenomena. Usually found on atomically flat surfaces with approximate translation symmetry, Fermi arcs are rooted in the peculiar topology of bulk Bloch bands of 3D crystals. The fundamental question of whether a 1D Fermi arc can be probed remains unanswered. Such an answer could significantly broaden potential applications of Weyl semimetals. Here, we report a direct observation of robust edge states on atomic-scale ledges in TaAs using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy. Spectroscopic signatures and theoretical calculations reveal that the 1D Fermi arcs arise from the chiral Weyl points of bulk crystals. The crossover from 2D Fermi arcs to eventual complete localization on 1D edges was arrested experimentally on a sequence of surfaces. Our results demonstrate extreme robustness of the bulk-boundary correspondence, which offers topological protection for Fermi arcs, even in cases in which the boundaries are at the atomic-scale. The persistent 1D Fermi arcs can be profitably exploited in miniaturized quantum devices.

Wave front aberrations induced from biomechanical effects after customized myopic laser refractive surgery in finite element model.

PURPOSE: A customized myopic refractive surgery was simulated by establishing a finite element model of the human eye, after which we studied the wave front aberrations induced by biomechanical effects and ablation profile after wave front-guided LASIK surgery. METHODS: Thirty myopia patients (i.e., 60 eyes) without other eye diseases were selected. Their ages, preoperative spherical equivalent, astigmatism, and wave front aberration were then obtained, in addition to the mean spherical equivalent error range - 4 to - 8D. Afterward, wave front-guided customized LASIK surgery was simulated by establishing a finite element eye model, followed by the analysis of the wave front aberrations induced by the surface displacement from corneal biomechanical effects, as well as customized ablation profile. Finally, the preoperative and induced aberrations were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Comatic aberrations were the main wave front abnormality induced by biomechanical effects, and the wave front aberrations induced by the ablation profile mainly included coma and secondary coma, as well as sphere and secondary-sphere aberrations. Overall, the total high-order aberrations (tHOAs), total coma (C31), and sphere ([Formula: see text]) increased after wave front-guided customized LASIK surgery. According to our correlation analyses, coma, sphere, and tHOAs were significantly correlated with decentration. Additionally, the material parameters of ocular tissue were found to affect the postoperative wave front aberrations. When the material parameters of the sclera remained constant but those of cornea increased, the induced wave front aberrations were reduced. CONCLUSION: All biomechanical effects of cornea and ablation profile had significant effects on postoperative wave front aberrations after customized LASIK refractive surgery; however, the effects of the ablation profile were more notorious. Additionally, the characteristics of biomechanical materials have influence on the clinical correction effect.

Biomechanical responses of the cornea after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) refractive surgery based on a finite element model of the human eye.

PURPOSE: To investigate the biomechanical responses of the human cornea after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) procedures, especially their effects of SMILE surgery on stress and strain. METHODS: Based on finite element analysis, a three-dimensional (3D) model of the human eye was established to simulate SMILE refractive surgery procedures. Stress and strain values were calculated by inputting the intraocular pressure (IOP). RESULTS: After SMILE refractive surgery procedures, the stress and strain of the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces were significantly increased. The equivalent stress and strain on the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces increased with increasing diopter and were concentrated in the central area, whereas the values of stress and strain at the incision site on the anterior surface of the cornea were approximately 0. Compared with the anterior corneal surface, the stress and strain of the posterior surface were larger. Increasing IOP caused an approximately linear change in stress and a nonlinear increase in corneal strain. In addition, we found that the incision sizes and direction had less of an influence on stress and strain. In summary, SMILE surgery increased the equivalent stress and strain on the human cornea. CONCLUSIONS: The equivalent stress and strain of the anterior and posterior human corneal surfaces increased after SMILE refractive surgery; these increases were particularly noticeable on the posterior surface of the cornea.

Performance and outcomes of transvenous rotational lead extraction: Results from a prospective, monitored, international clinical study.

BACKGROUND: Transvenous lead extraction (TLE) plays a critical role in managing patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices. Mechanical TLE tools, including rotational sheaths, are used to overcome fibrosis and calcification surrounding leads. Prospective clinical data are limited regarding the safety and effectiveness of use of mechanical TLE devices, especially rotational tools. OBJECTIVE: To prospectively investigate the safety and effectiveness of mechanical TLE in real-world usage. METHODS: Patients were enrolled at 10 sites in the United States and Europe to evaluate the use of mechanical TLE devices. Clinical success, complete procedural success, and complications were evaluated through follow-up (median, 29 days). Patient data were source verified and complications were adjudicated by an independent clinical events committee (CEC). RESULTS: Between October 2018 and January 2020, mechanical TLE tools, including rotational sheaths, were used to extract 460 leads with a median indwell time of 7.4 years from 230 patients (mean age 64.3 ± 14.4 years). Noninfectious indications for TLE were more common than infectious indications (61.5% vs 38.5%, respectively). The extracted leads included 305 pacemaker leads (66.3%) and 155 implantable cardioverter-defibrillator leads (33.7%), including 85 leads with passive fixation (18.5%). A bidirectional rotational sheath was needed for 368 leads (88.0%). Clinical success was obtained in 98.7% of procedures; complete procedural success was achieved for 96.3% of leads. CEC-adjudicated device-related major complications occurred in 6 of 230 (2.6%) procedures. No isolated superior vena cava injury or procedural death occurred. CONCLUSION: This prospective clinical study demonstrates that use of mechanical TLE tools, especially bidirectional rotational sheaths, are effective and safe.

Simulated biomechanical effect of aspheric transition zone ablation profiles after conventional hyperopia refractive surgery.

We studied the effects of the aspheric transition zone on the optical wavefront aberrations, corneal surface displacement, and stress induced by the biomechanical properties of the cornea after conventional laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) refractive surgery. The findings in this study can help improve visual quality after refractive surgery. Hyperopia correction in 1-5D was simulated using five types of aspheric transition zones with finite element modeling. The algorithm for the simulations was designed according to the optical path difference. Wavefront aberrations were calculated from the displacements on the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces. The vertex displacements and stress on the corneal surface were also evaluated. The results showed that the aspheric transition zone has an effect on the postoperative visual quality. The main wavefront aberrations on the anterior corneal surface are defocus, y-primary astigmatism, x-coma, and spherical aberrations. The wavefront aberrations on the corneal posterior surface were relatively small and vertex displacements on the posterior corneal surface were not significantly affected by the aspheric transition zone. Stress analysis revealed that the stress on the cutting edge of the anterior corneal surface decreased with the number of aspheric transition zone increased, and profile #1 resulted in the maximum stress. The stress on the posterior surface of the cornea was more concentrated in the central region and was less than that on the anterior corneal surface overall. The results showed that the aspheric transition zone has an effect on postoperative aberrations, but wavefront aberrations cannot be eliminated. In addition, the aspheric transition zone influences the postoperative biomechanical properties of the cornea, which significantly affect the postoperative visual quality.

Cryogen-free one hundred microkelvin refrigerator.

A temperature below 100 µK is achieved in a customized cryogen-free dilution refrigerator with a copper-nuclear demagnetization stage. The lowest temperature of conduction electrons of the demagnetization stage is below 100 µK as measured by using a pulsed platinum nuclear magnetic resonance thermometer, and the temperature can remain below 100 µK for over 10 h. A demagnetization magnetic field of up to 9 T and a research magnetic field of up to 12 T can be controlled independently, provided by a coaxial room-temperature-bore cryogen-free magnet.

[Nitrogen uptake, distribution, and utilization in young bearing Huangguan pear trees under 15N-urea application in spring].

We investigated the characteristics of nitrogen uptake, distribution, and utilization in the three-year-old bearing Huangguan pear trees following 15N-urea application in early spring. The results showed that the growth of pear trees was mainly depended on vegetative organs such as shoots and leaves at the stage from budbreak to shoot growth arrest, but mainly on storage organs (roots) and supplemented by the formation of fruit yield and quality at the stage from shoot growth arrest stage to fruit harvest. Meanwhile, tree biomass, especially that storage organs, substantially increased. All organs, especially newly developed shoots and leaves, acquired more N in shoot growth arrest stage due to vigorous growth, with relatively higher N derived from fertilizer (Ndff). Ndff of each organ except for root was lower at fruit maturity stage than that at shoot growth stage. Most of the labeled nitrogen was distributed in the newly developed organs (shoots and leaves) from budbreak to shoot growth arrest stage, but in the storage organs during shoot growth arrest stage to fruit maturity stage. Labeled fertilizer nitrogen was mainly distributed in the storage organs, followed by the vegetative organs. Reproductive organs had the lowest allocation in the experimental stage. For the three-years-old pear trees, the ratio of absorbed N from fertilizer was responsible for 31.1% and 21.0% of total absorbed nitrogen from budbreak to shoot growth arrest stage and from shoot growth arrest stage to fruit maturity stage, respectively, with the remaining N (68.9% and 79.0% of total) being absorbed from soil N.

Anomalous Conductance Oscillations in the Hybridization Gap of InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells.

We observe the magnetic oscillation of electric conductance in the two-dimensional InAs/GaSb quantum spin Hall insulator. Its insulating bulk origin is unambiguously demonstrated by the antiphase oscillations of the conductance and the resistance. Characteristically, the in-gap oscillation frequency is higher than the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation close to the conduction band edge in the metallic regime. The temperature dependence shows both thermal activation and smearing effects, which cannot be described by the Lifshitz-Kosevich theory. A two-band Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model with a large quasiparticle self-energy in the insulating regime is proposed to capture the main properties of the in-gap oscillations.

Evidence for a topological excitonic insulator in InAs/GaSb bilayers.

Electron-hole pairing can occur in a dilute semimetal, transforming the system into an excitonic insulator state in which a gap spontaneously appears at the Fermi surface, analogous to a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superconductor. Here, we report optical spectroscopic and electronic transport evidence for the formation of an excitonic insulator gap in an inverted InAs/GaSb quantum-well system at low temperatures and low electron-hole densities. Terahertz transmission spectra exhibit two absorption lines that are quantitatively consistent with predictions from the pair-breaking excitation dispersion calculated based on the BCS gap equation. Low-temperature electronic transport measurements reveal a gap of ~2 meV (or ~25 K) with a critical temperature of ~10 K in the bulk, together with quantized edge conductance, suggesting the occurrence of a topological excitonic insulator phase.

Tuning Edge States in Strained-Layer InAs/GaInSb Quantum Spin Hall Insulators.

We report on a class of quantum spin Hall insulators (QSHIs) in strained-layer InAs/GaInSb quantum wells, in which the bulk gaps are enhanced up to fivefold as compared to the binary InAs/GaSb QSHI. Remarkably, with consequently increasing edge velocity, the edge conductance at zero and applied magnetic fields manifests time reversal symmetry-protected properties consistent with the Z_{2} topological insulator. The InAs/GaInSb bilayers offer a much sought-after platform for future studies and applications of the QSHI.

Observation of a Helical Luttinger Liquid in InAs/GaSb Quantum Spin Hall Edges.

We report on the observation of a helical Luttinger liquid in the edge of an InAs/GaSb quantum spin Hall insulator, which shows characteristic suppression of conductance at low temperature and low bias voltage. Moreover, the conductance shows power-law behavior as a function of temperature and bias voltage. The results underscore the strong electron-electron interaction effect in transport of InAs/GaSb edge states. Because of the fact that the Fermi velocity of the edge modes is controlled by gates, the Luttinger parameter can be fine tuned. Realization of a tunable Luttinger liquid offers a one-dimensional model system for future studies of predicted correlation effects.

Robust helical edge transport in gated InAs/GaSb bilayers.

We have engineered electron-hole bilayers of inverted InAs/GaSb quantum wells, using dilute silicon impurity doping to suppress residual bulk conductance. We have observed robust helical edge states with wide conductance plateaus precisely quantized to 2e^{2}/h in mesoscopic Hall samples. On the other hand, in larger samples the edge conductance is found to be inversely proportional to the edge length. These characteristics persist in a wide temperature range and show essentially no temperature dependence. The quantized plateaus persist to a 12 T applied in-plane field; the conductance increases from 2e^{2}/h in strong perpendicular fields manifesting chiral edge transport. Our study presents a compelling case for exotic properties of a one-dimensional helical liquid on the edge of InAs/GaSb bilayers.

Images of edge current in InAs/GaSb quantum wells.

Quantum spin Hall devices with edges much longer than several microns do not display ballistic transport; that is, their measured conductances are much less than e(2)/h per edge. We imaged edge currents in InAs/GaSb quantum wells with long edges and determined an effective edge resistance. Surprisingly, although the effective edge resistance is much greater than h/e(2), it is independent of temperature up to 30 K within experimental resolution. Known candidate scattering mechanisms do not explain our observation of an effective edge resistance that is large yet temperature independent.

Expression of AEG-1 and microvessel density correlates with metastasis and prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Astrocyte elevated gene 1 (AEG-1) expression is up-regulated in various human cancers and plays an important role in tumorigenesis and progression. The aim of this study was to explore AEG-1 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and to assess whether it is associated with microvessel density (MVD), metastasis, and survival. Specimens from 87 patients with OSCC were investigated by immunohistochemistry staining for AEG-1 and MVD. By statistical analysis, we studied the correlations between the expression of AEG-1 and MVD and various clinicopathological factors, including overall survival (OS). We found that AEG-1 was highly expressed in 51.72% of OSCC. Expression was closely correlated with differentiation, clinical stage, T classification, and lymph node metastasis. The MVD had similar results. Expression of AEG-1 correlated positively with MVD. The lymph node metastatic rate in patients with high AEG-1/high MVD was significantly higher than in patients with high AEG-1/low MVD, low AEG-1/high MVD, or low AEG-1/low MVD. Patients with high AEG-1 expression showed far lower OS rates than those with low expression. For MVD, there were similar results. Only AEG-1 and MVD expression were independent prognostic factors for OS by multivariate analysis. Expression of AEG-1 may be correlated with tumor angiogenesis and metastasis and is a valuable prognostic factor in patients with OSCC.

Observation of edge transport in the disordered regime of topologically insulating InAs/GaSb quantum wells.

We observe edge transport in the topologically insulating InAs/GaSb system in the disordered regime. Using asymmetric current paths we show that conduction occurs exclusively along the device edge, exhibiting a large Hall signal at zero magnetic fields, while for symmetric current paths, the conductance between the two mesoscopicly separated probes is quantized to 2e2/h. Both quantized and self-averaged transport show resilience to magnetic fields, and are temperature independent for temperatures between 20 mK and 1 K.