Although great progress has been made for Machine Reading Comprehension (MRC) in English, scaling out to a large number of languages remains a huge challenge due to the lack of large amounts of annotated training data in non-English languages. To address this challenge, some recent efforts of cross-lingual MRC employ machine translation to transfer knowledge from English to other languages, through either explicit alignment or implicit attention. For effective knowledge transition, it is beneficial to leverage both semantic and syntactic information. However, the existing methods fail to explicitly incorporate syntax information in model learning. Consequently, the models are not robust to errors in alignment and noises in attention. In this work, we propose a novel approach, named GraFusionMRC, which jointly models the cross-lingual alignment information and the mono-lingual syntax information using a graph. We develop a series of algorithms, including graph construction, learning, and pre-training. The experiments on two benchmark datasets for cross-lingual MRC show that our approach outperforms all strong baselines, which verifies the effectiveness of syntax information for cross-lingual MRC.

A Graph Fusion Approach for Cross-Lingual Machine Reading Comprehension

Although multilingual pretrained models (mPLMs) enabled support of various natural language processing in diverse languages, its limited coverage of 100+ languages lets 6500+ languages remain ‘unseen’. One common approach for an unseen language is specializing the model for it as target, by performing additional masked language modeling (MLM) with the target language corpus. However, we argue that, due to the discrepancy from multilingual MLM pretraining, a naive specialization as such can be suboptimal. Specifically, we pose three discrepancies to overcome. Script and linguistic discrepancy of the target language from the related seen languages, hinder a positive transfer, for which we propose to maximize representation similarity, unlike existing approaches maximizing overlaps. In addition, label space for MLM prediction can vary across languages, for which we propose to reinitialize top layers for a more effective adaptation. Experiments over four different language families and three tasks shows that our method improves the task performance of unseen languages with statistical significance, while previous approach fails to.

Script, Language, and Labels: Overcoming Three Discrepancies for Low-Resource Language Specialization

Magnetic skyrmions are topological spin textures with great potential for spintronics applications (1). The appearance of skyrmions requires a careful balance between the magnetic anisotropy and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, and being able to tune these values with a voltage is an important tool for material optimisation for skyrmion devices.

In this work we have explored generation of both volatile and non-volatile skyrmions in MgO/Mn2CoAl/Pd thin films using different ionic liquid gating voltage sequences and magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy. With a negative gate voltage of -2.5 V, we are able to generate non-volatile skyrmions ~ 1 μm diameter in films with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy Keff ~ 1 x 104 Jm-3. The same result is achieved in higher Keff films by ‘training’ or repeatedly cycling the gate voltage, achieving a giant voltage tunability of magnetic anisotropy of 109.8 mT V-1. Interestingly, volatile skyrmions can also be generated, by first applying a large negative ‘trigger’ voltage, and then skyrmions appear at a positive gate voltage. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, we explain the generation of skyrmions in terms of magneto-ionic and electrostatic effects (2). Our results show the potential of ionic liquid gating for achieving large anisotropy changes to reversibly or irreversibly generate skyrmions from materials with a range of starting anisotropy values.<br>

**References:**<br>
(1) X. Zhang, Y. Zhou, K. M. Song, T.-E. Park, J. Xia, M. Ezawa, X. Liu, W. Zhao, G. Zhao, and S. Woo, J. Phys. Cond. Mat. 32, 143001 (2020).<br>
(2) Y. Zhang, G. Dubuis, C. Doyle, T. Butler, and S. Granville, Phys. Rev. Appl. 16, 014030 (2021).<br>

![](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/underline.prod/uploads/markdown_image/1/image/21c77abfee9e932ada1d2b3ce6ec1e37.png)


Magneto ionic and electrostatic generation of non


In this study, optical deep-level transient spectroscopy (O-DLTS) has been employed to investigate trap properties in the p-GaN/AlGaN heterostructure, the key part of such a normally-off enhancement-mode III-N transistors. Three electron traps labeled as E1, E2, and E3 were extracted by O-DLTS. The temperature-enhanced emission process of E3 has been studied by isothermal mode O-DLTS.



Study of Traps in p-GaN Gate HEMT by Optical DLTS

**Please read the paper on the following link:**

https://1worldcontent.com/ess/9256.pdf

**Abstract:**

This paper presents a single-chip high-voltage transceiver ASIC for low-ﬁeld NMR spectroscopy. The chip integrates an adjustable high-voltage (HV) H-bridge power ampliﬁer (PA) with a PLL frequency synthesizer and a quadrature low intermediate frequency (low-IF) receiver, achieving a measured input-referred voltage noise density of 1.1 nV/√Hz. The operating frequency of the chip is from 0.1 MHz to 200 MHz, supporting all relevant Larmor frequencies for low-ﬁeld mobile and portable NMR. The PA consists of four isolated 50 V NMOS transistors, isolated gate drivers with a digitally adjustable deadtime control, high-frequency level shifters, and a TX-control logic that supports bootstrapping of the integrated high-side drivers. The output current can be deﬁned by an adjustable voltage supply from 0 V to 50 V, delivering a maximum current of 2.0 A_pp into a non-tuned 3 mm NMR coil and up to 8.3 A_pp into a parallel tuned NMR coil. Inside a custom-designed 1.1 T portable NMR magnet, the system achieves a spin sensitivity of 1.1 × 10^16 spins/√Hz and a concentration sensitivity of 1 mM/√Hz.

A 0.1 MHz to 200 MHz High-Voltage CMOS Transceiver for Portable NMR Systems with a Maximum Output Current of 2.0 App

Embodied cognition theory predicts that semantic processing shares processing resources with sensorimotor systems. The present study aimed to reveal mechanisms for impact of motor simulation on semantic processing of objects, which are manipulated by hands. We measured activation of inferior parietal lobule (IPL) by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine the effect of constraint on hand movement. Participants were faced with two words representing name of objects that can be manipulated by hand (e.g. cup) or objects that cannot be manipulated by hand (e.g. windmill), and answered which object was larger. We analyzed effect of two factors on IPL activity: hand constraint and hand manipulability of the objects represented by the words. We found that (1) IPL activity for hand-manipulable objects was significantly higher than non-manipulable objects under control condition, and that (2) the difference in IPL activity between hand manipulable and non-manipulable objects was significantly reduced under hand-constraint condition.

Hand constraint affects semantic processing of hand-manipulable objects: An fNIRS study

Understanding the fundamental properties of buried interfaces in perovskite photovoltaics is of paramount importance to the enhancement of device efficiency and stability. Nevertheless, accessing buried interfaces poses a sizeable challenge because of their non-exposed feature. In this presentation, the buried mysteries in full device stacks will be unveiled by a series of dedicated techniques including the lift-off strategy, the in-situ mapping spectroscopy, and the cross-sectional high-resolution microscopy. By establishing the microstructure–property relations, the basic losses at the contact interfaces are systematically presented, which are induced by both the sub-microscale extended imperfections and lead-halide inhomogeneities. Furthermore, a brand new mechanism for the most popular ammonium-halide post-treatment is explored and called molecule-assisted microstructural reconstruction. The losses can be considerably mitigated by the use of the passivation-molecule-assisted microstructural reconstruction, which unlocks the full potential for improving device performance.

Buried interfaces in halide perovskite photovoltaics

When a chemical bond breaks, all valence electrons in the bond will re-arrange and transfer as the nuclei are separating. The dynamical information of such electronic re-arrangement processes will be encoded in the kinetic energy of the ions if the breaking neutral molecule is ionized, allowing us to follow the entire electronic re-arrangement process by only observing the ions. Here, using Cold Target Recoil Ion Momentum Spectroscopy (COLTRIMS) and a pump-probe experiment in the bromine molecule. we show how the single ionization reveals the bond breaking while the double ionization measures the separation distance of the neutral dissociating bromine molecule. In addition, we also studied the vibrational wave packet dynamics of bromine single ion, which is pumped by a strong 800nm pulse and probed by another weak 400nm pulse.

Light-induced dissociation dynamics of Br2

The non-adiabatic coupling of nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom underlies many fundamental processes in Nature, including solar energy conversion and photosynthesis. The formation of electronic coherences by nuclear motion is a new aspect of such dynamics and requires new measurement techniques and methods of analysis. We will discuss Ultrafast Time-Resolved Xray Absorption and Time-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy, powerful methods suited to addressing this problem. In particular, we present a new approach to fully separating electronic coherences from electronic population dynamics, a long-standing problem, based on the use and analysis of Time-Resolved Photoelectron Angular Distributions.

Coherent Ultrafast Electronic Dynamics in Molecules

The versatility of gamma-ray spectroscopy has given rise to its many applications, from quantification of trace elements in a sample to maintaining nuclear material safeguards. Depending on the application and gamma-ray detector, there is often a compromise made between detection efficiency and energy resolution. While characterizing or quantifying trace radionuclide concentrations in an unknown sample, energy resolution is often the more important property. In these situations, high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors are the detector of choice as they have a superior energy resolution which significantly reduce measurement uncertainties and improve minimum detection limits.

Applications using HPGe detectors are limited to counting rates on the order of a few tens of thousands of counts per second (cps) before the performance of the detector is severely diminished. The limiting factor for high counting rate measurements comes from the need to shape signals with a relatively long shaping time, on the order of 1-6 μs, to maintain good energy resolution. At higher counting rates however, if a signal is received while a previous signal is still being shaped, pulse-pileup occurs. Pulse-pileup distorts the energy measurement of the previous signal and entirely drops the measurement of the second signal. Traditionally, this situation is usually handled with a pileup rejection method. At ultra high counting rates, on the order of a million cps, the percentage of the pileup rejection is so high that the spectroscopy system suffers from extremely high deadtimes.

In order to solve this critical problem, the present study aims to develop a data acquisition system capable of deconvoluting pileup signals into two or more recovered signals in real-time. This technique has been applied for NaI(Tl) and silicon drift detectors, which showed very promising results. However, applications of this technique for HPGe detectors have been unsuccessful as it relies on a fixed signal rising edge shape, a feature which cannot applied for HPGe detectors due to the variation in the rising shape. Our study has been focused on developing a deconvolution algorithm to identify and recover piled-up signals using a planar HPGe. During this development stage, signal waveforms are analyzed offline, optimizing the algorithm over a range of counting rates while building a library of the rising edge shapes. Once completed, the deconvolution algorithm will be benchmarked for various high-rate measurements. The preliminary result of the pile-up deconvolution performance will be presented.

Development of a digital data acquisition system capable of pulse-pileup recovery for HPGe detectors

Raman spectroscopy is an efficient method to characterize the graphene structure. The technique gives distinctive features for pristine, damaged and even doped graphene. Nonetheless, especially when graphene is grown on a polycrystalline substrate, strong discrepancies may appear on the macroscopic scale. Moreover, in the case of plasma irradiation of graphene, it is essential to understand the impact of the small heterogeneities in pristine graphene (local defects, grain boundaries, etc.) on the resulting graphene structure after treatment [1]. Hyperspectral Raman Imaging (RIMA for Raman Imaging) is a powerful method enabling the capture of qualitative as well as quantitative data on a macroscopic scale [2]. Grain Boundaries (GBs) reveal themselves being more resistant to plasma treatment than pristine graphene domains. After careful consideration of Raman parameters, it appears clearly that preferential self-healing of GBs and its surrounding is taking place, a phenomenon observed in 3D materials, yet to be observed in graphene. This mechanism is governed by carbon adatoms generated from impacts of low-energy argon ions with graphene film. Under constant irradiation from exited species (ions, metastable, VUV photons), carbon adatoms can easily migrate on graphene surface and, in particular, alongside GBs. Hence, defects created at GBs or present nearby might be healed by the adatoms influx [3]. Furthermore, another plasma conditions shown that energy fluence from Argon metastable deexcitation can be linked to an enhanced defect migration and self-healing at GBs [4]. Finally, the previous study in Argon plasma enable the determination of ideal operating conditions for Argon plasma with B2H6 trace. The exposition of graphene to such plasma reveals boron in-plane substitution combined with low-level hydrogenation and defect generation [5].

Fundamental study of plasma-graphene interactions in Argon/B2H6 plasma

Vertically stacked heterostructures of two-dimensional materials provide a platform for realizing novel electronic states due to proximity effects. In particular, moiré patterns in two-dimensional material heterostructures have been shown to create flat bands that favor the occurrence of correlated electronic states. In this work, we use scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to study moiré patterns in mechanically assembled heterostructures of graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides. By comparing to a theoretical model, in the case of graphene - ReS2 heterostructures we find the presence of stripped moiré patterns, reflecting the different crystal symmetry of the two lattices.

The experimental work was supported by: National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) No. RGPIN-2016-06717, No. 521420 and NSERC Scholarship program. Theory work was supported by Singapore Ministry of Education AcRF Tier 2 (No. MOE2017-T2-2-140).

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A Graph Fusion Approach for Cross-Lingual Machine Reading Comprehension

Script, Language, and Labels: Overcoming Three Discrepancies for Low-Resource Language Specialization

Magneto ionic and electrostatic generation of non

Study of Traps in p-GaN Gate HEMT by Optical DLTS

A 0.1 MHz to 200 MHz High-Voltage CMOS Transceiver for Portable NMR Systems with a Maximum Output Current of 2.0 App

Hand constraint affects semantic processing of hand-manipulable objects: An fNIRS study

Buried interfaces in halide perovskite photovoltaics

Light-induced dissociation dynamics of Br2

Coherent Ultrafast Electronic Dynamics in Molecules

Development of a digital data acquisition system capable of pulse-pileup recovery for HPGe detectors

Fundamental study of plasma-graphene interactions in Argon/B2H6 plasma

Moiré patterns in graphene and transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures

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