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With the ever-increasing intertwining of social networks and daily existence, the accumulation of personal privacy information is steadily mounting. However, the exposure of such data could lead to disastrous consequences. Current graph data protection algorithms lack sufficient research on the characteristics of social users, while simultaneously incurring significant time and space overhead. Additionally, the strategies lack adaptability in incorporating noise, often resulting in a subsequent decrease in data availability. To address these issues, a novel approach called the Information Entropy-driven Adaptive Differential Privacy Protection Scheme (IEA-DP) is presented for the release of social data in this study. The proposed solution initially designs the InfomapMerge algorithm to divide the data into communities based on the characteristics of social networks, thereby enabling parallel processing, and mitigating the time and space overhead. Subsequently, the Adaptive Edge Modification Algorithm (AEMA) is proposed to optimize the noise addition process by adaptively adding noise based on the score of node importance. This effectively reduces the amount of added noise, increasing data availability. Finally, the experimental results conducted on six public datasets demonstrate that the IEA-DP scheme strikes a desirable balance between data availability and privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry based on nucleotide (nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS) on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from suspected pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. A retrospective study was conducted on suspected PTB patients (total of 960) admitted to Chongqing Public Health Medical Center between May 2021 and January 2022. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value (NPV) and area under the curve values of nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS as well as smear microscopy, Mycobacterium Growth Indicator Tube 960 culture (MGIT culture), and Xpert MTB/RIF were calculated and compared. Total of 343 presumed PTB cases were enrolled. Overall, using the clinical diagnosis as reference, the sensitivity and NPV of nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS was 71.5% and 43.1%, respectively, significantly higher than smear microscopy (22.6%, 23.2%), MGIT culture (40.6%, 18.9%), Xpert MTB/RIF (40.8%, 27.9%). Furthermore, nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS also outperformed over Xpert MTB/RIF and MGIT culture on smear-negative BALFs. Approximately 50% and 30% of patients benefited from nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS compared with smear and MGIT culture or Xpert MTB/RIF, respectively. This study demonstrated that the analysis of BALF with nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS provided an accurate and promising tool for the early diagnosis of PTB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Asthma exacerbation (AE) is a significant clinical problem during pregnancy. This study aimed to identify maternal and perinatal outcomes associated with AE during pregnancy. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Peking University Third Hospital database from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2020. We compared the clinical characteristics and maternal, perinatal and offspring outcomes of asthma with and without exacerbations among women who delivered during this period. The primary outcome was hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the clinical characteristics of AE during pregnancy and the association between AE and adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. Results: The prevalence of asthma during pregnancy increased from 0.52% in 2013 to 0.98% in 2020. Of the 220 patients with asthma during pregnancy included in the study, 105 experienced AE during pregnancy: 62.9% (n = 66) had mild-to-moderate AE and 37.1% (n = 39) had severe AE. Pregnant women with allergic rhinitis have a higher risk of AE during pregnancy. Women who experienced AE were more at risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy than women who did not experience any exacerbation (12.4%vs3.5%, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of asthma among pregnant women in China is on the rise. There is a notable correlation between pregnant women who suffer from allergic rhinitis and an elevated risk of AE during pregnancy. Studies have shown that AE during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The question of whether segmentectomy and lobectomy have similar survival outcomes for patients with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a matter of debate. Methods: A cohort study and randomized controlled trial were included, comparing segmentectomy and lobectomy, by utilizing computerized access to the Pubmed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases up until July 2022. The Cochrane Collaboration tool was used to evaluate the randomized controlled trials, while the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the cohort studies. Sensitivity analyses were also carried out. Results: The analysis incorporated 17 literature studies, including one randomized controlled trial and 16 cohort studies, and was divided into a segmentectomy group (n = 2081) and a lobectomy group (n = 2395) based on the type of surgery the patient underwent. Each study was followed up from 27 months to 130.8 months after surgery. Over survival (OS): HR = 1.14, 95%CI(0.97,1.32), P = 0.10; disease-free survival (DFS): HR = 1.13, 95%CI(0.91,1.41), P = 0.27; recurrence-free survival (RFS): HR = 0.95, 95%CI(0.81,1.12), P = 0.54. Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that the survival outcomes of the segmentectomy group were not inferior to that of the lobectomy group. Segmentectomy should therefore be considered as a treatment option for early stage NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To comprehensively elucidate the genomic and mutational features of lung cancer cases, and lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), it is imperative to conduct ongoing investigations into the genomic landscape. In this study, we aim to analyze the somatic mutation profile and assessed the significance of these informative genes utilizing a retrospective LUAD cohort. Methods: A total of 247 Chinese samples were analyzed to exhibit the tumor somatic genomic alterations in patients with LUAD. The Cox regression analysis was employed to identify prognosis‐related genes and establish a predictive model for stratifying patients with LUAD. Results: In the Dianjiang People's Hospital (DPH) cohort, the top five frequent mutated genes were (Epidermal growth factor receptor) EGFR (68%), TP53 (30%), RBM10 (13%), LRP1B (9%), and KRAS (9%). Of which, EGFR is a mostly altered driver gene, and most mutation sites are located in tyrosine kinase regions. Oncogene pathway alteration and mutation signature analysis demonstrated the RTK‐RAS pathway alteration, and smoking was the main carcinogenic factor of the DPH cohort. Furthermore, we identified 34 driver genes in the DPH cohort, including EGFR (68%), TP53 (30.4%), RBM10 (12.6%), KRAS (8.5%), LRP1B (8.5%), and so on, and 45 Clinical Characteristic‐Related Genes (CCRGs) were found to closely related to the clinical high‐risk factors. We developed a Multiple Parameter Gene Mutation (MPGM) risk model by integrating critical genes and oncogenic pathway alterations in LUAD patients from the DPH cohort. Based on publicly available LUAD datasets, we identified five genes, including BRCA2, Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), BRAF, EGFR, and Platelet‐Derived Growth Factor Receptor Alpha (PDGFRA), according to the multivariable Cox regression analysis. The MPGM‐low group showed significantly better overall survival (OS) compared to the MPGM‐high group (p < 0.0001, area under the curve (AUC) = 0.754). The robust performance was validated in 55 LUAD patients from the DPH cohort and another LUAD dataset. Immune characteristics analysis revealed a higher proportion of primarily DCs and mononuclear cells in the MPGM‐low risk group, while the MPGM‐high risk group showed lower immune cells and higher tumor cell infiltration. Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive genomic landscape of Chinese LUAD patients and develops an MPGM risk model for LUAD prognosis stratification. Further follow‐up will be performed for the patients in the DPH cohort consistently to explore the resistance and prognosis genetic features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fruit ripening and the associated softening are major determinants of fruit quality and post-harvest shelf life. Although the mechanisms underlying fruit softening have been intensively studied, there are limited reports on the regulation of fruit softening in apples (Malus domestica). Here, we identified a zinc finger homeodomain transcription factor MdZF-HD11that trans -activates the promoter of Mdβ-GAL18 , which encodes a pectin-degradation enzyme associated with cell wall metabolism. Both MdZF-HD11 and Mdβ-GAL18 genes were up-regulated by exogenous ethylene treatment and repressed by 1-methylcyclopropene treatment. Further experiments revealed that MdZF-HD11 binds directly to the Mdβ-GAL18 promoter and up-regulates its transcription. Moreover, using transgenic apple fruit calli, we found that overexpression of Mdβ-GAL18 or MdZF-HD11 significantly enhanced β-galactosidase activity, and overexpression of MdZF-HD11 induced the expression of Mdβ-GAL18. We also discovered that transient overexpression of Mdβ-GAL18 or MdZF-HD11 in 'Golden Delicious' apple significantly increased the release of ethylene, reduced fruit firmness, promoted the transformation of skin color from green to yellow, and accelerated ripening and softening of the fruit. Finally, the overexpression of MdZF-HD11 in tomato also promoted fruit softening. Collectively, these results indicate that ethylene-induced MdZF-HD11 interacts with Mdβ-GAL18 to promote the post-harvest softening of apple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A culturally adaptive and easy‐to‐administer 12‐item Caregiving Rewarding Feelings (CRF) scale has been developed in China yet never published in English and validated in another population. Aim: The current study aimed to validate the CRF among a community sample of Chinese caregivers of those diagnosed with schizophrenia. Method: A sample of 449 family caregivers was recruited for scale validation that included factorial validity, construct validity, measurement invariance, item analysis, internal consistency reliability, test–retest reliability, known‐group validity, convergent validity and divergent validity. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the a priori three‐factor structure. Construct validity was supported by high standard regression weight (SRW) and average variance extracted (AVE), measurement invariance across age and gender groups. The CRF showed good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Known‐group validity was confirmed by the higher CRF scores among caregivers with certain socio‐demographics. The convergent validity of the CRF was supported by its positive correlations with social support, active coping and family functioning. The divergent validity of the CRF was supported by its negative associations with stigma, stress and depressive symptoms. Conclusions: This study confirmed the reliability and validity of the CRF specifically designed for caregivers in Chinese culture. Implications for Practice: The CRF may be further applied and validated in other populations and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates historical simulation of solar photovoltaic potential (PVpot) during 1989–2008 over China against the ERA5 reanalysis, using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4) within the framework of the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment-East Asia second phase (CORDEX-EA-II). The impacts of spectral nudging technique and land surface model on the simulated PVpot are investigated as well. Results indicate that the observed PVpot is abundant over western China, which can reach up to 26% in summer particularly. The WRF simulations significantly overestimate the PVpot over most areas of China, with the bias about 9% over southeastern China, while the utilization of spectral nudging method and CLM4 land surface model can greatly reduce the deviation. The RegCM4 simulations generate underestimation of PVpot over Northwest China and overestimation over Southeast China. As for the interannual variation, the observed PVpot features an increase of 0.9%/decade over southeastern China. The WRF and RegCM4 simulations can reproduce the rising trend of PVpot, while the magnitude is much lower than ERA5. The WRF simulations can properly portray the characteristics of seasonal cycle of PVpot, with the peaks in May over entire China and most subregions, while RegCM4 exhibits poor skill in reproducing the intra-annual variation. Moreover, the simulated bias in the clear-sky solar radiation (RSDSCS), low-level cloud fraction, and light rain during the daylight may contribute to the deficiency of PVpot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To accurately predict the characteristics of the three-dimensional flow fields of rotors, the constants of the shear stress transport model were optimized via data assimilation (DA) using the ensemble Kalman filter algorithm. The unsteady velocity fields of two hovering rotors with a diameter of 300 mm and a speed of 3000 rpm were measured via phase-locked particle image velocimetry, and the mean field was used as the observation. The flow field results for four cross sections (r/R = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 0.93) and two vertical sections ( φ = 0 ∘ and 270 ∘ ) were recorded. Two kinds of DA strategy were adopted: DA based on observations of vertical velocities on the vertical section or of horizontal velocities on the cross section. The different DA strategies were assessed via a detailed comparison of their global flow field prediction performances. Among the DA strategies based on vertical-section observations, the strategies based on vertical velocity observations at x/R = − 0.93 (VS III) and x/R = − 0.5, − 0.75, − 0.93 (VS I–III) exhibited the best and second-best performances, respectively. The DA strategies with cross-sectional observations exhibited comparable results to the DA strategies with vertical-section observations. The flow field prediction was modulated by all model parameters. The most accurate predicted eddy viscosity was higher than that predicted by the original model, correcting the overadjustment of the original model. This study provides a reference for the correction of the overprediction of boundary layer flow separation under adverse pressure gradients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wind gust parameterization scheme combined with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model used as the regional climate model (RCM) is employed to simulate and project the gust wind speed at 10‐m height above ground level for the whole China in the historical and future period 1981–2005 and 2036–2060. The gust wind speed is compared between the historical and future period to investigate its long‐term change under the background of warming climate within the CORDEX‐EA‐II project under the RCP8.5 scenario. First, the gust wind speed simulated by the gust parameterization inputted with the RCM simulations driven by the ERA‐Interim reanalysis data is compared with the ERA5 reanalysis data and their discrepancy is discussed. Then the historical/future gust wind speed is simulated/projected with the RCM simulations driven by four global climate models' results. The comparisons between the historical simulations and future projections show the gust wind speeds overall change slightly with little response to the future warming climate as the whole China is concerned, and the maximal increment and decrement of averaged annual maximal gust wind speed are, respectively, 2.25 and −2.57 m·s−1. The increases greater than 1 m·s−1 are mostly located in the eastern and southeastern coast and northwestern inland while the decreases less than −1 m·s−1 are mostly located in part of the Tibet Plateau and northwestern inland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate whether BP is related to postbiopsy bleeding in patients undergoing native percutaneous kidney biopsy (PKB) and to evaluate the dynamic changes in blood pressure (BP) pre- and post-kidney biopsy. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. The whole-procedural systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) BP for patients undergoing ultrasound-guided native PKB from October 2017 to December 2020 were recorded in the study. Propensity score matching was used to minimize selection bias. SBP and DBP were analyzed as the main risk factors for bleeding complications. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to explore the optimal BP thresholds to differentiate between bleeding and nonbleeding. The rates of major bleeding complications were analyzed according to BP thresholds through logistic analysis. Results: Of 1146 biopsies, 432 (37.7%) patients suffered from postbiopsy bleeding, 88 (7.7%) patients had major bleeding complications, and 344 (30.0%) patients had minor bleeding complications. In the original data, for patients with SBP ≥ 160 mmHg before PKB, the rate of major bleeding complications was 17.6% (7.5% for SBP < 160 mmHg), and the rate of major bleeding complications was 19.0% in patients with DBP ≥ 100 mmHg (7.5% for DBP < 100 mmHg). For patients with DBP ≥ 85 mmHg to 100 mmHg after PKB, the rate of major bleeding complications ranged from 9.5 to 17.5%. The rate of major bleeding complications was lower (6.6–7.3%) in patients with DBP < 100 mmHg to 85 mmHg. Conclusion: Patients who have high-level BP during the native PKB perioperative period are at higher risk for postbiopsy bleeding. High-level BP here does not refer to traditional hypertension according to the guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, but rather BP above a certain threshold related to bleeding risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To investigate the prevalence and molecular characterization of bedaquiline resistance among MDR-TB isolates collected from Chongqing, China. Methods: A total of 205 MDR-TB isolates were collected from Chongqing Tuberculosis Control Institute between March 2019 and June 2020. The MICs of BDQ were determined by microplate alamarblue assay. All strains were genotyped by melting curve spoligotyping, and were subjected to WGS. Results: Among the 205 MDR isolates, the resistance rate of BDQ was 4.4% (9/205). The 55 (26.8%) were from male patients and 50 (24.4%) were new cases. Furthermore, 81 (39.5%) of these patients exhibited lung cavitation, 13 (6.3%) patients afflicted with diabetes mellitus, and 170 (82.9%) isolates belonged to Beijing family. However, the distribution of BDQ resistant isolates showed no significant difference among these characteristics. Of the 86 OFX resistant isolates, 8 isolates were XDR (9.3%, 8/86). Six BDQ resistant isolates (66.7%, 6/9) and two BDQ susceptible isolates (1.0%, 2/196) carried mutations in Rv0678. A total of 4 mutations types were identified in BDQ resistant isolates, including mutation in A152G (50%, 3/6), T56C (16.7%, 1/6), GA492 insertion (16.7%, 1/6), and A274 insertion (16.7%, 1/6). BDQ showed excellent activity against MDR-TB in Chongqing. Conclusions: BDQ showed excellent activity against MDR-TB in Chongqing. The resistance rate of BDQ was not related to demographic and clinical characteristics. Mutations in Rv0678 gene were the major mechanism to BDQ resistance, with A152G as the most common mutation type. WGS has a good popularize value and application prospect in the rapid detection of BDQ resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge graph (KG) embedding for predicting missing relation facts in incomplete knowledge graphs (KGs) has been widely explored. In addition to the benchmark triple structural information such as head entities, tail entities, and the relations between them, there is a large amount of uncertain and temporal information, which is difficult to be exploited in KG embeddings, and there are some embedding models specifically for uncertain KGs and temporal KGs. However, these models either only utilize uncertain information or only temporal information, without integrating both kinds of information into the underlying model that utilizes triple structural information. In this paper, we propose an embedding model for uncertain temporal KGs called the confidence score, time, and ranking information embedded jointly model (CTRIEJ), which aims to preserve the uncertainty, temporal and structural information of relation facts in the embedding space. To further enhance the precision of the CTRIEJ model, we also introduce a self-adversarial negative sampling technique to generate negative samples. We use the embedding vectors obtained from our model to complete the missing relation facts and predict their corresponding confidence scores. Experiments are conducted on an uncertain temporal KG extracted from Wikidata via three tasks, i.e., confidence prediction, link prediction, and relation fact classification. The CTRIEJ model shows effectiveness in capturing uncertain and temporal knowledge by achieving promising results, and it consistently outperforms baselines on the three downstream experimental tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the frameworks of the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment‐East Asia first and second phase (CORDEX‐EA‐I and CORDEX‐EA‐II), the impact of spatial resolution, physical parameterization schemes and spectral nudging (SN) on simulating inland and offshore near‐surface wind speed over China is evaluated. By using WRF and RegCM4 models, the CORDEX‐EA simulations driven by the ERA‐Interim reanalysis data are conducted from 1989 to 2008. The regional climate models (RCMs) have the capacity to simulate the spatial patterns of surface wind, although significant overestimations exist over inland China. The WRF CORDEX‐EA‐II experiments with increasing horizontal resolution perform better in reproducing both inland and offshore wind speed than the CORDEX‐EA‐I experiments. Moreover, the experiments with SN can significantly reduce the positive biases of surface wind speed. For the temporal variation of wind speed, almost all the simulations show larger biases in winter than in summer. Particularly, the simulated wind speed in summer in the RegCM4 experiment with CLM3 land surface model (RCC‐II) is close to the observations. The extreme wind speed can be well reproduced by WRF simulations, and the SN experiments perform better than the experiments without SN (NOSN). In addition, the overestimations of surface wind speed can be partly explained by the overestimations of the wind field at 850 hPa level inherited from ERA‐Interim reanalysis and the increase of temperature gradient between the land and ocean in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This correction notice addresses an error in the acknowledgements section of an article titled "Enhanced diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis through nucleotide MALDI-TOF MS analysis of BALF: a retrospective clinical study." The original version contained an incorrect digit in the grant code. The corrected version acknowledges the staff at Chongqing Tuberculosis Control Institute and Chongqing Public Health Medical Center, and states that the research was funded by the Chongqing medical scientific research project with grant number 2023MSXM031. The correction was made by Ling Jiang, Junqiu Xin, Lijun Liang, Mingqiang Xia, Jiyao Li, Jingfeng Tong, Chengchen Huang, and Tongxin Li. [Extracted from the article]

Background: It is worrisome that several pollutants can enhance the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment, including agricultural fungicides. As an important bioindicator for environmental risk assessment, earthworm is still a neglected focus that the effects of the fungicide carbendazim (CBD) residues on the gut microbiome and resistome are largely unknown. In this study, Eisenia fetida was selected to investigate the effects of CBD in the soil-earthworm systems using shotgun metagenomics and qPCR methods. Results: CBD could significantly perturb bacterial community and enrich specific bacteria mainly belonging to the phylum Actinobacteria. More importantly, CBD could serve as a co-selective agent to elevate the abundance and diversity of ARGs, particularly for some specific types (e.g., multidrug, glycopeptide, tetracycline, and rifamycin resistance genes) in the earthworm gut. Additionally, host tracking analysis suggested that ARGs were mainly carried in some genera of the phyla Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. Meanwhile, the level of ARGs was positively relevant to the abundance of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and some representative co-occurrence patterns of ARGs and MGEs (e.g., cmx-transposase and sul1-integrase) were further found on the metagenome-assembled contigs in the CBD treatments. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the enhancement effect of CBD on the resistome in the earthworm gut may be attributed to its stress on the gut microbiome and facilitation on the ARGs dissemination mediated by MGEs, which may provide a novel insight into the neglected ecotoxicological risk of the widely used agrochemicals on the gut resistome of earthworm dwelling in soil. 9FRi6Qq4wsD9g5Mb-6DnXW Video abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rapid and accurate detection of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is critical for effective control of tuberculosis (TB). Herein, we established a novel, low cost strategy having high accuracy and speed for the detection of M. tuberculosis drug resistance, using gene splicing by overlap extension PCR (SOE PCR). Methods: The SOE PCR assay and Sanger sequencing are designed and constructed to detect mutations of rpoB, embB, katG, and inhA promoter, which have been considered as the major contributors to rifampicin (RFP), isoniazid (INH), and ethambutol (EMB) resistance in M. tuberculosis. One hundred and eight M. tuberculosis isolates came from mycobacterial cultures of TB cases at Chongqing Public Health Medical Center in China from December 2018 to April 2019, of which 56 isolates were tested with the GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay. Performance evaluation of the SOE PCR technique was compared with traditional mycobacterial culture and drug susceptibility testing (DST) or GeneXpert MTB/RIF among these isolates. Kappa identity test was used to analyze the consistency of the different diagnostic methods. Results: We found that the mutations of S531L, S315T and M306V were most prevalent for RFP, INH and EMB resistance, respectively, in the 108 M. tuberculosis isolates. Compared with phenotypic DST, the sensitivity and specificity of the SOE PCR assay for resistance detection were 100.00% and 88.00% for RFP, 94.64% and 94.23% for INH, and 68.97% and 79.75% for EMB, respectively. Compared with the GeneXpert MTB/RIF, the SOE PCR method was completely consistent with results of the GeneXpert MTB/RIF, with a concordance of 100% for resistance to RFP. Conclusions: In present study, a novel SOE PCR diagnostic method was successfully developed for the accurate detection of M. tuberculosis drug resistance. Our results using this method have a high consistency with that of traditional phenotypic DST or GeneXpert MTB/RIF, and SOE PCR testing in clinical isolates can also be conducted rapidly and simultaneously for detection of drug resistance to RFP, EMB, and INH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggregators have emerged as crucial tools for the coordination of distributed, controllable loads. To be used effectively, an aggregator must be able to communicate the available flexibility of the loads they control, as known as the aggregate flexibility to a system operator. However, most of existing aggregate flexibility measures often are slow-timescale estimations and much less attention has been paid to real-time coordination between an aggregator and an operator. In this paper, we consider solving an online optimization in a closed-loop system and present a design of real-time aggregate flexibility feedback, termed the maximum entropy feedback (MEF). In addition to deriving analytic properties of the MEF, combining learning and control, we show that it can be approximated using reinforcement learning and used as a penalty term in a novel control algorithm – the penalized predictive control (PPC), which modifies vanilla model predictive control (MPC). The benefits of our scheme are (1). Efficient Communication. An operator running PPC does not need to know the exact states and constraints of the loads, but only the MEF. (2). Fast Computation. The PPC often has much less number of variables than an MPC formulation. (3). Lower Costs We show that under certain regularity assumptions, the PPC is optimal. We illustrate the efficacy of the PPC using a dataset from an adaptive electric vehicle charging network and show that PPC outperforms classical MPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Positive inotropic and renal protective actions of glucocorticoids have been observed clinically. Therefore, glucocorticoids may be used in patients with heart failure and low blood pressure (HF-LBP). Methods: The medical records of 144 consecutive patients with HF-LBP who received glucocorticoids as an adjunctive treatment to facilitate the up-titration of β-blocker and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor were reviewed. Results: After four weeks of treatment, the metoprolol and captopril (or equivalent) dosages were progressively and consistently increased from 25 (interquartile range [IQR] = 12.5– 75 mg/day) to 100 mg/day (IQR = 50– 178.8 mg/day) and from 0 (IQR = 0– 25 mg/day) to 12.5 mg/day (IQR = 0– 50 mg/day), respectively. There was a remarkable beneficial hemodynamic response to the glucocorticoid treatment signified by an increase in blood pressure and decrease in heart rate. The average heart rate decreased by 6 beat per minute (bpm) (0.5– 16 bpm), and the mean arterial blood pressure increased from 74.06 ± 7.81 to 78.85 ± 7.91 mmHg. We also observed an improvement in renal function and an increased diuretic response following glucocorticoid treatment. As a result, the left ventricular ejection fraction increased from 28.92 ± 8.06% to 33.86 ± 8.76%, and the diuretic response increased from 776.7 mL/40 mg furosemide (IQR = 133.8– 2000 mL) to 4000 mL/40 mg furosemide on day 28 (IQR = 2200– 5925 mL). Conclusion: The use of glucocorticoid treatment to maintain hemodynamic and renal functional targets when titrating guideline-directed medical treatment in patients with HF-LBP may be safe, effective, and feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Recently, the definition of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) has been revised. In this study, we conducted a descriptive and retrospective study to determine the prevalence of XDR-TB in a Chinese multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) cohort. Methods: Broth microdilution method was performed to determine in vitro susceptibilities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates to (FQs), bedaquiline (BDQ) and linezolid (LZD). The putative drug target genes conferring drug resistance were screened by DNA sequencing. Results: A total of 425 MDR-TB isolates were included from 13 pilots in China. LZD and BDQ resistance were noted in 30 (7.1%) and 10 (2.4%) isolates. On the basis of latest definitions, 114 (26.8%) were MDR-TB, 282 (66.4%) were pre-XDR-TB, and 29 (6.8%) were XDR-TB. Among 311 FQ-resistant isolates, 265 harbored genetic mutations within QRDRs. The most common mutations were observed at codon 94 of gyrA, accounting for 47.2% of FQ-resistant MTB isolates. Only mutations within the Rv0678 gene were found to confer BDQ resistance in our cohort, conferring 40.0% of BDQ resistance. For LZD resistance, 53.3% of LZD-resistant isolates carried genetic mutations in rplC or 23S rRNA. The most frequent mutation was Cys154Arg in the rplC gene. In addition, we recorded two MDR-TB patients with resistance to both BDQ and LZD, of which one patient experienced continuous positive culture of MTB despite inclusion of efficacious moxifloxacin. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the low prevalence of XDR-TB holds great promise for MDR-TB treatment with WHO-endorsed regimens containing BDQ-LZD combination, whereas the high prevalence of FQ-resistance in MDR-TB patients warrants national attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a lack of clarity regarding the correlation of caregiving knowledge and skills with caregiving experiences of people living with schizophrenia (PLSs). To address this gap, this comprehensive study examines the relationships of caregiving knowledge and skills to the primary family caregiver's experiences of burden, psychological well-being (stress, anxiety, depression, caregiving rewarding feelings), and coping styles in China. Methods: A total of 395 primary family caregivers of PLSs were enrolled in a cross-sectional study between May 2019 and September 2019. Each family caregiver was independently assessed on caregiving knowledge and skills, caregiver burden, and psychological well-being, as well as coping styles. Results: A higher level of caregiving knowledge and skills was positively correlated with less stress (b = −0.48, P < 0.001), anxiety (b = −0.23, P = 0.029), depression (b = −0.29, P = 0.013), and more caregiving rewarding feelings (b = 0.54, P < 0.001). Also, caregivers with more knowledge and skills were more inclined to adopt positive coping strategies (b = 0.44, P < 0.001). Despite these differences, caregivers with different levels of caregiving knowledge and skills reported comparable caregiver burden (b = 0.11, P = 0.705) and the use of a passive coping style (b = 0.10, P = 0.169). Conclusion: Caregiving knowledge and skills are a reliable predictor of psychological well-being and active coping among the primary family caregivers of PLSs. These findings inform the development of psychoeducational interventions to support family caregivers of PLSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mushrooming of distributed energy resources turns end-users from passive price-takers to active market-participants. To manage massive proactive end-users efficiently, virtual power plant (VPP) as an innovative concept emerges. It can provide some necessary information to help consumers improve their profits and trade with the electricity market on behalf of them. One important information desired by consumers is the prediction of renewable outputs inside this VPP. Presently, most VPPs run in a centralized manner, which means the VPP predicts the outputs of all the renewable sources it manages and provides the predictions to every consumer who buys this information. We prove that providing predictions can boost social total surplus. However, with more consumers and renewables in the market, this centralized scheme needs extensive data communication and may jeopardize the privacy of individual stakeholders. In this paper, we propose a decentralized prediction provision algorithm in which consumers from each subregion only buy local predictions and exchange information with the VPP. Convergence is proved under a mild condition, and the demand gap between centralized and decentralized schemes is proved to have zero expectation and bounded variance. Illustrative examples show that the variance of this gap decreases with more consumers and higher uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li‐rich layered oxide Li1.2Ni0.13Co0.13Mn0.54O2 (LNCMO) is a promising cathode material for high‐energy‐density lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). However, it suffers from severe capacity fading and voltage decay, especially at high voltage (>4.5 V). In this study, we successfully design an active LiVOPO4 (LVOP) coating on the LNCMO surface. The LNCMO/LVOP composites exhibit enhanced rate capability and largely improved cycling stability during long‐term cycling. Such superior performances can be attributed to the active LVOP coating layer, which can suppress the parasitic reactions between the LNCMO surface and the electrolyte. This work shows the potential for designing Li‐rich layered composite cathode materials by coating the active phase for high energy/power LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to establish and evaluate a simultaneous amplification and testing method for detection of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB).Methods: From January 2016 and December 2017 the pus or surgical excision from the lesions of inpatients admitted from Chongqing Public Health Treatment Center were collected. According to the clinical diagnosis, the samples were divided into two groups including EPTB (Group A) and other diseases excluded from tuberculosis diseases (Group B). Simultaneous detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) used Roche culture method, liquid culture method and simultaneous amplification and testing (SAT) method. The sensitivity and specificity of the SAT method were compared with culture methods and clinical diagnosis of EPTB.Results: For 433 EPTB specimens and 49 non-TB specimens, the simultaneous amplification and testing tuberculosis (SAT-TB) results correlated with 80.5% (388/482 specimens) of the culture assay results. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the SAT-TB test for the diagnosis of EPTB were 83.6, 79.4, 59.4, and 93.0%, respectively, compared to culture methods. Compared with the clinical diagnosis of patients, the sensitivity and specificity of the SAT-TB test were 41.6 and 100%, respectively, the cultures test were 29.3 and 98.0%.Conclusions: SAT test is a simple and rapid test with high specificity which may enhance the detection of EPTB. SAT-TB is a higher clinical diagnosis value for EPTB in clinical microbiology laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicting interests among governments at all levels and coal enterprises are not conducive to the implementation of China's dual-carbon strategy in the coal industry. This study provides a theoretical analysis of the stabilization strategies of governments and coal enterprises by refining Bayesian and evolutionary games to explore the factors that influence each stakeholder's strategies. The results show that the provincial government plays a key role in the implementation of low-carbon strategy. Corporate bribery can influence municipal government decisions but does not interfere with the ideal state, and the provincial government must only monitor the implementation of low-carbon strategies in municipal governments. Additionally, an incentive-compatible system can encourage municipalities to enforce environmental regulations, thereby mitigating conflicts of interest among stakeholders. • Refuse to include the central government in the evolutionary game model. • A combination of refined Bayesian game and evolutionary game methods are used. • Corporate bribery can influence municipal government decisions. • Provincial government must oversee the implementation of low-carbon strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are multiple discharges in one breakdown during a lightning incident. A lightning incident usually contains 3–5 return strokes. In this case, the lightning incident will not be well simulated by the first stroke. To date, a single impulse current waveform has been used to simulate the lightning impulse incident in research on the lightning impulse characteristics of soils, leading to some differences with observations of actual lightning discharges. In this paper, a time-delayed control technique and a controlled gaps-group isolation technique were used to produce the multiple high-impulse currents discharge to a soil sample, while nonintrusive X-ray imaging technology was used to obtain images of the discharge channel in the soil. The impulse characteristics of the soil under multiple impulse currents are studied. The differences between the discharge characteristics of the soil under multiple impulse currents and a single pulse are compared. It can be found that there has been a reduction in the effective soil resistivity under multiple impulse currents, and this reduction will be recovered over time. At the same time, a brief analysis of the discharge mechanism of the soil under multiple impulse currents is proposed, based on analysis of X-ray images of discharge channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Spatial frequency domain (SFD) measurement allows rapid and non-contact wide-field imaging of the tissue optical properties, thus has become a potential tool for assessing physiological parameters and therapeutic responses during photodynamic therapy of skin diseases. The conventional SFD measurement requires a reference measurement within the same experimental scenario as that for a test one to calibrate mismatch between the real measurements and the model predictions. Due to the individual physical and geometrical differences among different tissues, organs and patients, an ideal reference measurement might be unavailable in clinical trials. To address this problem, we present a reference-free SFD determination of absorption coefficient that is based on the modulation transfer function (MTF) characterization.Methods: Instead of the absolute amplitude that is used in the conventional SFD approaches, we herein employ the MTF to characterize the propagation of the modulated lights in tissues. With such a dimensionless relative quantity, the measurements can be naturally corresponded to the model predictions without calibrating the illumination intensity. By constructing a three-dimensional database that portrays the MTF as a function of the optical properties (both the absorption coefficient μ a and the reduced scattering coefficient [Formula: see text]) and the spatial frequency, a look-up table approach or a least-square curve-fitting method is readily applied to recover the absorption coefficient from a single frequency or multiple frequencies, respectively.Results: Simulation studies have verified the feasibility of the proposed reference-free method and evaluated its accuracy in the absorption recovery. Experimental validations have been performed on homogeneous tissue-mimicking phantoms with μ a ranging from 0.01 to 0.07 mm-1 and [Formula: see text] = 1.0 or 2.0 mm-1. The results have shown maximum errors of 4.86 and 7% for [Formula: see text] = 1.0 mm-1 and [Formula: see text] = 2.0 mm-1, respectively. We have also presented quantitative ex vivo imaging of human lung cancer in a subcutaneous xenograft mouse model for further validation, and observed high absorption contrast in the tumor region.Conclusions: The proposed method can be applied to the rapid and accurate determination of the absorption coefficient, and better yet, in a reference-free way. We believe this reference-free strategy will facilitate the clinical translation of the SFD measurement to achieve enhanced intraoperative hemodynamic monitoring and personalized treatment planning in photodynamic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Usability-oriented zero configuration (ZeroConf) designs, with automatic service discovery "plug-and-play" techniques, give rise to security implications. A study focusing on Apple--the major proponent of ZeroConf--brings to light a disturbing lack of security: major ZeroConf components are mostly unprotected, and popular apps and system services are vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fast charging-discharging is one of the important requirements for next-generation high-energy Li-ion batteries, nevertheless, electrons transport in the active oxide materials is limited. Thus, carbon coating of active materials is a common method to supply the routes for electron transport, but it is difficult to synthesize the oxide-carbon composite for LiNiO2-based materials which need to be calcined in an oxygen-rich atmosphere. In this work, LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) coated with electronic conductor LaNiO3 (LNO) crystallites is demonstrated for the first time as fast charging-discharging and high energy cathodes for Li-ion batteries. The LaNiO3 succeeds in providing an exceptional fast charging-discharging behavior and initial coulombic efficiency in comparison with pristine NCM811. Consequently, the NCM811@3LNO electrode presents a higher capacity at 0.1 C (approximately 246 mAh g−1) and a significantly improved high rate performance (a discharge specific capacity of 130.62 mAh g−1 at 10 C), twice that of pristine NCM811. Additionally, cycling stability is also improved for the composite material. This work provides a new possibility of active oxide cathodes for high energy/power Li-ion batteries by electronic conductor LaNiO3 coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telecommunication fraud has continuously been causing severe financial loss to telecommunication customers in China for several years. Traditional approaches to detect telecommunication frauds usually rely on constructing a blacklist of fraud telephone numbers. However, attackers can simply evade such detection by changing their numbers, which is very easy to achieve through VoIP (Voice over IP). To solve this problem, we detect telecommunication frauds from the contents of a call instead of simply through the caller's telephone number. Particularly, we collect descriptions of telecommunication fraud from news reports and social media. We use machine learning algorithms to analyze data and to select the high-quality descriptions from the data collected previously to construct datasets. Then we leverage natural language processing to extract features from the textual data. After that, we build rules to identify similar contents within the same call for further telecommunication fraud detection. To achieve online detection of telecommunication frauds, we develop an Android application which can be installed on a customer's smartphone. When an incoming fraud call is answered, the application can dynamically analyze the contents of the call in order to identify frauds. Our results show that we can protect customers effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: By 2014 although tuberculosis (TB) incidence had fallen by an average of 1.5% per year since 2000 and was 18% lower than the level of in 2000, 1.5 million people died for TB in that year. One of reason was that drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (DRTB) spread. This study aims to determine drug resistant characteristics and genotype of DRTB that isolated from patients in a tuberculosis referral hospital of southwest China.Methods: Five hundred thirty-eight drug resistant tuberculosis samples were collected from July 2013 to March 2015. All the isolates were identified by genomic deletions in region of difference 105 (RD105) and genotyped by mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat typing (MIRU-VNTR). Polymorphism and cluster analysis of each locus was carried out using Bionumerics Version 3.0 and phyloviz software.Results: Five hundred thirty-eight TB strains included 503 Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates and 35 non Mycobacterium tuberculosis (NMTB) isolates. Of 503 isolates Beijing family type was 447 (88.9%, 447/503) and non-Beijing family type was 56 (11.1%, 56/503). Five hundred three DRTB isolates were divided into 345 genotypes, of which 265 isolates were single genotype and the remaining 238 strains were classified into 80 clusters with cluster rate of 47.3% and cluster ratio of 31.4%. Sixty-nine clusters belonged to Beijing family with cluster rate was 48.3% and clustering ratio was 32.9%. The non - Beijing family had 11 clusters with a cluster rate of 39.3% and the clustering ratio of 19.6%. Beijing genotype had a significant correlation with the age (P < 0.05), the retreatment patients (P < 0.05) and the city of Chongqing (P < 0.05), not with gender (P > 0.05). In the 9 Beijing genotype clusters each cluster contained some patients who lived in the same region.Conclusions: Beijing genotype was the predominant in the patients with DRTB in our hospital. In Chongqing retreatment patients with Beijing genotype MTB may be patient with DRTB. Drug resistance test (DST), regular medication and strict follow-up are very important for patients with Beijing genotype MTB. In Chongqing control and treatment of DRTB should be paid attention. Transmission and relations of patients with DRTB need to be further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]