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Abstract Language models (LMs) such as BERT and GPT have revolutionized natural language processing (NLP). However, the medical field faces challenges in training LMs due to limited data access and privacy constraints imposed by regulations like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Federated learning (FL) offers a decentralized solution that enables collaborative learning while ensuring data privacy. In this study, we evaluated FL on 2 biomedical NLP tasks encompassing 8 corpora using 6 LMs. Our results show that: (1) FL models consistently outperformed models trained on individual clients’ data and sometimes performed comparably with models trained with polled data; (2) with the fixed number of total data, FL models training with more clients produced inferior performance but pre-trained transformer-based models exhibited great resilience. (3) FL models significantly outperformed pre-trained LLMs with few-shot prompting.

Summary: Background: While many patients seem to recover from SARS-CoV-2 infections, many patients report experiencing SARS-CoV-2 symptoms for weeks or months after their acute COVID-19 ends, even developing new symptoms weeks after infection. These long-term effects are called post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) or, more commonly, Long COVID. The overall prevalence of Long COVID is currently unknown, and tools are needed to help identify patients at risk for developing long COVID. Methods: A working group of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-radical (RADx-rad) program, comprised of individuals from various NIH institutes and centers, in collaboration with REsearching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) developed and organized the Long COVID Computational Challenge (L3C), a community challenge aimed at incentivizing the broader scientific community to develop interpretable and accurate methods for identifying patients at risk of developing Long COVID. From August 2022 to December 2022, participants developed Long COVID risk prediction algorithms using the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) data enclave, a harmonized data repository from over 75 healthcare institutions from across the United States (U.S.). Findings: Over the course of the challenge, 74 teams designed and built 35 Long COVID prediction models using the N3C data enclave. The top 10 teams all scored above a 0.80 Area Under the Receiver Operator Curve (AUROC) with the highest scoring model achieving a mean AUROC of 0.895. Included in the top submission was a visualization dashboard that built timelines for each patient, updating the risk of a patient developing Long COVID in response to clinical events. Interpretation: As a result of L3C, federal reviewers identified multiple machine learning models that can be used to identify patients at risk for developing Long COVID. Many of the teams used approaches in their submissions which can be applied to future clinical prediction questions. Funding: Research reported in this RADx® Rad publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Timothy Bergquist, Johanna Loomba, and Emily Pfaff were supported by Axle Subcontract: NCATS-STSS-P00438.

Although tremendous efforts have been devoted to investigating planar single-conductor circuits, it remains challenging to provide tight confinement of electromagnetic field and compatibility with active semi-conductor components such as amplifier, harmonic generator and mixers. Single-conductor spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) structure, which is one of the most promising planar single-conductor transmission media due to the outstanding field confinement, still suffers from the difficulty in integrating with the active semi-conductor components. In this paper, a new kind of odd-mode-metachannel (OMM) that can support odd-mode SSPPs is proposed to perform as the fundamental transmission channel of the single-conductor systems. By introducing zigzag decoration, the OMM can strengthen the field confinement and broaden the bandwidth of odd-mode SSPPs simultaneously. More importantly, the active semi-conductor amplifier chip integration is achieved by utilizing the intrinsic potential difference on OMM, which breaks the major obstacle in implementing the single-conductor systems. As an instance, an amplifier is successfully integrated on the single-conductor OMM, which can realize both loss compensation and signal amplification. Meanwhile, the merits of OMM including crosstalk suppression, low radar cross section (RCS), and flexibility are comprehensively demonstrated. Hence, the proposed OMM and its capability to integrate with the active semi-conductor components may provide a new avenue to future single-conductor conformal systems and smart skins.

Abstract Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to be associated with osteoarthritis (OA) progression. This study aimed to explore the role of miR-520c-3p in OA progression. Methods Expression levels of miR-520c-3p and Growth arrest-specific 2 (GAS2) were detected using quantitative real-time PCR. The proliferation and apoptosis of cells were measured using cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) assay and flow cytometry. Furthermore, the protein levels of apoptosis-related markers, extracellular degradation markers, inflammatory response markers, and GAS2 were tested using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot (WB) analysis. In addition, the interaction between miR-520c-3p and GAS2 was examined using dual luciferase reporter assay. Results GAS2 was highly expressed, and miR-520c-3p was lowly expressed in OA cartilage tissues. miR-520c-3p could promote the proliferation and inhibit the apoptosis and inflammation of OA chondrocytes. miR-520c-3p could be sponged by GAS2, and its inhibitor could reverse the regulation of GAS2 on the biological functions of OA chondrocytes. GAS2 was a target of miR-520c-3p, which was identified by bioinformatic analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assay. Overexpression of GAS2 could inhibit the proliferation and promoted the apoptosis and inflammation of OA chondrocytes. Conclusion Our data showed that miR-520c-3p might regulate the GAS2 to inhibit the progression of OA.

High integration of modern microwave circuits and systems puts forward higher requirements for multi-function and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) performance of transmission channels. In this paper, we propose two EMC technologies including the substrate integrated packaging (SIP) and tuneable wavenumber mismatching (TWM) based on multi-functional spoof surface plasmon polariton (SSPP) channels. The SIP technology can effectively improve the EMC performance of the SSPP channels in the whole frequency band by designing the packaging structure with easy fabrication and compact size; while the TWM technology can significantly suppress crosstalks in desired frequency bands by manipulating the wavenumber difference between two adjacent channels. Simulated and measured results demonstrate excellent multi-function and EMC performance of the integrated multi-functional SSPP channels by employing the two EMC technologies. The integrated multi-functional SSPP channels can realize continuous phase modulation in X-band and continuous amplitude modulation in Ku-band. The coupling coefficient of the integrated channels is about 8–10 dB lower than that of the channels without the package, and is 13–15 dB lower than that of the traditional microstrip channels in the whole X-band and Ku-band. Meanwhile, the coupling coefficient of the integrated multi-functional SSPP channels with a distance of 1/30 λ _0 can be reduced to around −30 dB in the desired narrow bands. Therefore, the proposed EMC technologies may find broad applications in highly integrated microwave circuits and systems.

The ability of spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) to confine electromagnetic fields in a subwavelength regime enables the design of miniaturized antennas. However, the impedance matching scheme for miniaturized spoof plasmonic antennas has not been studied systematically. In this paper, we propose a general method in the antenna design based on SSPPs, providing a feasible solution to impedance matching at the feeding point of miniaturized spoof plasmonic antennas. To verify the method, a prototype of a planar spoof plasmonic dipole antenna is simulated, fabricated and measured, of which the dipole arm length is reduced by 35.2% as compared with the traditional dipole antenna. A peak gain level of 4.29 dBi and the radiation efficiency of about 94.5% were measured at 6 GHz. This general method can be extended to solve the impedance matching problem in the design of other spoof plasmonic devices.

Abstract In this research, Zr-doped Gd2Ti2O7 pyrochlores, with the composition of Gd2(Ti1-x Zr x )2O7, were firstly synthesized by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis plus quick pressing (SHS/QP) using CuO as the oxidant and Ti as the reductant. To improve the radiation resistance of titanate–pyrochlore, up to 35 at% Zr was incorporated to substitute the Ti site of Gd2Ti2O7 pyrochlore (Gd2(Ti0.75Zr0.35)2O7). XRD and SEM microstructural characterizations showed the formation of a composite ceramic with the major pyrochlore phase and the minor Cu phase. The generated temperature of samples decreased from 1702 to 1011°C with increasing Zr content. The effects of sintering temperature and pressure time on phase composition and microstructure were systematically studied. Besides, the influence of thermal transmission on the whole combustion process was also explored. The pyrochlore-based waste form possessed high bulk density of 6.25 g/cm3 and Vickers hardness of 10.81 GPa. The MCC-1 leaching test showed the normalized elemental leaching rates (42 d) of Cu, Gd, and Zr are 1.27×10-2, 1.33×10-3, and 8.44×10-7 g·m-2·d-1, respectively.

Abstract Background Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) polymorphisms have been implicated in the pathogenesis of glaucoma risk. However, the results were controversial. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the precise associations between MMPs polymorphisms and glaucoma risk. Methods Related studies were reviewed by searching electronic databases within four databases. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the association between the most common polymorphisms of MMPs and glaucoma risk. Heterogeneity, publication bias and sensitivity analysis were conducted to guarantee the statistical power. Results Overall, 11 selected articles involving 2,388 cases and 2,319 controls were included in this meta-analysis. Significant associations were only found between MMP-9 rs17576 G > A polymorphism (GA vs. GG: OR = 0.80, 95%CI = 0.67-0.97, P = 0.02, I2 = 0%), MMP-9 rs3918249 C > T polymorphism (TT vs. CC + CT: OR = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.51-0.98, P = 0.04, I2 = 0%) and glaucoma risk in the general population. Subgroup analysis also suggested that MMP-9 rs17576 G > A was related to glaucoma in the Caucasian population (GA vs. GG: OR = 0.67, 95%CI = 0.45-1.00, P = 0.05; GA + AA vs. GG: OR = 0.66, 95%CI = 0.45-0.97, P = 0.03, I2 = 0%). Conclusions Our meta-analysis demonstrates that MMP-9 rs17576 G > A polymorphism might be a protective factor against the development of glaucoma in Caucasian population.

Geophysics is based on massive data work including data observation, data gathering/collecting, data management, and data analysis. Over the years, in China and other countries, geophysicists and geophysical institutions have accumulated a huge amount of geophysical data, built up many geophysical data banks and data centers, constructed/established many monitoring and transferring systems and infrastructures of geophysical data, and developed many advanced data analysis methods about data on land, ocean, and space. Based on this work, a new discipline of geophysics, geophysical informatics, has been gradually developing over the past 20 years. The recent advances of geophysical informatics in China are introduced and reviewed in this paper.

ObjectiveTo explore external validity of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of hypertension within China from the view of sample representation.MethodsComprehensive literature searches were performed in Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CCTR) et al and advanced search strategies were used to locate hypertension RCTs as well as observational studies conducted in China during 1996 to 2009 synchronously. The risk of bias in RCTs and observational studies was assessed by two modified scales respectively, and then both types of studies with 3 or more grading scores were included for the purpose of evaluating of external validity. Following that the study characteristics relative to sample representation were extracted from RCTs and observational studies synchronously, and the later were taken as external references for validating sample representation of RCTs.Results226 hypertension RCTs and 21 observational studies were included for final analysis. Comparing samples with observational studies, the mean age of samples within RCTs was 54.46 years, significantly lower than that of observational studies (66.35 years) (P=0.002). The average disease course in patients of RCTs was 3.89 years and grade III hypertensive patients accounted for 17%; both were lower than that of the observational studies (12.96 years, PConclusionSample characteristics within hypertension RCTs were significantly different from those in observational studies. The samples in most RCTs were under-represented. It's feasible to take samples of observational studies as a mirror of the actual composition of hypertension patients in the real world, if the reporting of observational studies is abundant and available.

In this report we introduce the development of the WDC for Geophysics, Beijing included our activities in the electronic Geophysical Year (eGY) and in the transition period from WDC to WDS. We also present our future plans. We have engaged in the development of geophysical informatics and related data science. We began the data visualization of geomagnetic fields in the GIS system. Our database has been expanded from geomagnetic data to the data of solid geophysics, including geothermal data, gravity data, and the records of aurora sightings in ancient China. We also joined the study of the history of the development of geophysics in China organized by the Chinese Geophysical Society (CGS).

Since the 1990s, our center's geophysics database has been available on the Internet (http://gp.wdc.cn and http://wdc.geophys.cn). Based on HTML language, the website offers simple data service and is being constantly upgraded and improved. We have adopted ORACLE as the database and use JSP (Java Server Pages) technology to create dynamic pages. The basic function of the network is to store, check, inquire, and renew the data. Users can query and download the data in txt form and view pictures generated by Matlab. At present the system is running well in both versions: Chinese and English, each having a unified style. The pages are simple and convenient to use. Its users come from most provinces of China, including Taiwan, and from developed or developing countries, such as the U.S.A., Germany, Japan, Singapore, Bulgaria, Canada, etc.

Abstract Background This study aimed to analyze the epidemic characteristics and influencing factors of school influenza outbreaks in Jiangsu Province, China from 2020 to 2023,following the COVID-19 pandemic, to inform prevention and control strategies. Methods Data on influenza-like illness(ILI) outbreaks from the Chinese Influenza Surveillance Information System and national-level influenza surveillance sentinel hospitals were analyzed. The temporal distribution, school type, virus strains, and outbreak scales were examined using descriptive statistics. Results From 2020 to 2023, 1142 influenza outbreaks occurred in schools, with primary schools(ages 6 to 12) accounting for 71.80%. Most large outbreaks were caused by A(H1N1) and A(H3N2), responsible for 8.99% of total outbreaks. Outbreaks were predominantly reported in the pre-peak periods of B(Victoria) and A(H1N1) circulation, accounting for 86.31% and 92.32% of their respective total outbreaks. No concurrent influenza and COVID-19 outbreaks were observed during the study period. Conclusion Primary and secondary schools are high-risk settings for influenza outbreaks. A(H3N2) shows higher adaptability and is more likely to co-circulate with other subtypes/lineages, especially A(H1N1), leading to larger outbreaks. B(Victoria)-caused outbreaks are more frequent but smaller in scale. School influenza outbreaks are more likely to occur during the early stages of seasonal peaks, particularly for B(Victoria) and A(H1N1). This suggests that influenza outbreaks in schools may play a crucial role in seeding and accelerating the spread of the virus within the broader community.

Urban underground space (UUS) development has been acknowledged as a positive contribution to urban resilience (UR). Such contribution has been qualitatively addressed in recent years, but only quantitatively discussed in few studies. Quantitative evaluation methods for UR are widely used in China and around the world, but the role of underground space is barely included. This paper provides a way to bridge this gap on the city scale. A UR evaluation framework was carefully constructed that covers the basic aspects and elements of UR. The contributions of UUS to UR were identified and integrated into the UR evaluation framework, and the measurement methods for each indicator related to UUS were determined. A case study of 19 sample cities in China were conducted using the integrated evaluation model. Correlation analysis and clustering analysis were further adopted to interpret the evaluation results, mainly with three indicators reflecting the level of UUS development, namely UUS area (m2), UUS density (104 m2/km2) and UUS area per capita (m2/person). The results showed a strong correlation between UUS area and UR. The average proportion of UR provided by UUS in the 19 sample cities was 16.46%, while the maximum figure reached 29.20%. The sample cities were clustered into four categories based on the relationship between the proportion of UR provided by UUS, UUS area, and GDP per capita, where both high and low UUS area tend to provide less proportion of resilience than the medium UUS area. Corresponding suggestions for UUS utilization were proposed to assist cities in achieving urban resilience.

Urban underground infrastructures (UUIs) are a vital component of built capital for urban sustainability. However, many cities are now home to a multitude of disused or underutilized UUIs, not least aged purpose-built underground facilities, causing a waste of valuable underground space resource assets. In the process of urban renewal, adaptive reuse can be an attractive solution to breathe new life into underutilized UUIs, while addressing some of the modern problems of the built environment by an economically feasible means. Nevertheless, there is a prevalent absence in the current literature of the overarching planning and decision-making approaches for an adaptive reuse development of underutilized UUIs. With the intention of addressing this shortfall, this paper first lays out development strategies, then sets the generic patterns for adaptive reuse of disused or underutilized UUIs. Taking the city of Qingdao, China as a case study, detailed planning and decision-making approaches with the aid of multi-source data and spatial analysis tools are presented. It is anticipated that the findings of this research will assist the adaptive reuse development of UUIs in providing theoretical guidance and empirical evidence, thereby enhancing the role of urban underground space use in contributing to urban revitalization and urban sustainability.

Metro-led underground space (MUS) plays a crucial role in modern underground space utilisation. Recent studies have shown its great potential for high-quality urban development. However, limited evidence about MUS was available on a national scale, resulting in incomplete and unsystematic knowledge of MUS utilisation. The interaction relationship between MUS and the surrounding built environment also remains unclear. To fill the research gap, an automatic method for MUS identification and development features extraction was proposed based on point of interest data. We applied the method to identify the MUS in 28 Chinese cities and estimated the development status of MUS in China for the first time. The nationwide statistics of MUS and correlation analysis of development features were conducted. Results show that complex MUS (CMUS) share is significantly lower than that of simple MUS. Besides, CMUS development in China is primarily dominated by public transport and does not have a solid functional link to its surroundings. The comparative analysis of MUS development in four primary urban agglomerations was also conducted, and their development characteristics were discussed. The study aims to expand the planning toolkit and construct the MUS database, which sheds light on the data-driven planning for MUS.

Spatial performance measures the space usage of each underground segment in metro-led urban underground public space (UUPS). It usually varies in different UUPS segments and at different periods. Many environmental factors and space attractors can influence spatial performance in UUPS including spatial configurations, transportation facilities, space design characteristics, and commercial and working facilities. This study intends to figure out the temporal and spatial distribution patterns of spatial performance in UUPS and then reveal the main influential factors and their impact mechanisms. The UUPS in Jiangwan–Wujiaochang Sub-center was selected as the study case. Cordon counting methods and multiple regression models were employed to collect the pedestrian data and quantitatively analyze the correlations between pedestrian flows and candidate influential factors. The study verified that spatial configurations were the most important factors instead of underground or surface attractors. There existed an interactive effect among pedestrian movements, spatial configurations, and commerce distribution in metro-led UUPS. Walkway width and the distribution of metro stations could partly affect spatial performance. The influential mechanisms of metro stations were different on weekdays and at weekends. Underground segments belonging to shopping malls in UUPS had a negative impact on spatial performance only on weekdays. Results of this study can provide insights for more efficient layout planning and design of metro-led UUPS in Chinese metropolitan cities.

ObjectivesMental health problems among university students are a cause of widespread concern. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) delivered online have considerable potential to help university students manage mental health challenges. However, there is no consensus regarding the efficacy of online MBIs. This meta-analysis aims to determine whether MBIs are feasible and effective for improving university students’ mental health.MethodsRandomised controlled trials (RCTs) in Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and the US National Library of Medicine (Clinical Trial Registry) published through August 31, 2022, were searched. Two reviewers selected the trials, conducted a critical appraisal, and extracted the data. Nine RCTs met our inclusion criteria.ResultsThis analysis showed that online MBIs were effective in improving depression (standardised mean difference [SMD] = −0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.48 to −0.07; P = 0.008), anxiety (SMD = −0.47; 95% CI, −080 to −0.14; P = 0.006), stress (SMD = −0.58; 95% CI, −0.79 to −0.37; P < 0.00001), and mindfulness (SMD = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.17 to 1.25; p = 0.009) in university students. No significant effect was found on wellbeing (SMD = 0.30; 95% CI, −0.00 to 0.60; P = 0.05).ConclusionThe findings indicated that online MBIs could effectively improve the mental health of university students. Nevertheless, additional rigorously designed RCTs are required.Systematic review registrationhttps://inplasy.com/inplasy-2022-9-0099/, identifier INPLASY202290099.

Temperature and relative humidity are important indicators of utility tunnel indoor atmosphere hazards and operational risks, which can be effectively mitigated by accurate forecasting and corrective control measures. To this end, this paper proposed a multi-layer long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture to forecast the changing trend of temperature and relative humidity inside utility tunnels with distant past monitoring data. Based on the forecasting architecture, an intelligent control approach was designed, including early warning and ventilation control measures. Case study results showed that the proposed architecture fit the training dataset well and the prediction accuracy on testing datasets of temperature and relative humidity exceeded 98% and 99%, respectively. Meanwhile, the proposed LSTM-RNN architecture can also be used to simulate and evaluate the ventilation effects on the temperature and relative humidity environment of urban utility tunnels. Findings of this paper provide a reference for the safe, efficient and energy-saving indoor environment control of urban utility tunnels.

Safety issues are a major concern for the long-term maintenance and operation of utility tunnels, of which the focal point lies in the reliability of critical facilities. Conventional evaluation methods have failed to reflect the time-dependency and objectivity of the reliability of critical facilities, hence reducing the credibility of the analysis results and posing serious risks to the safety of utility tunnels. Taking joint waterproof facilities as an example, this paper focuses on the scientific problem of how to achieve a dynamic estimation of the reliability of critical facilities throughout the project life cycle of utility tunnels. To this end, an improved Weibull distribution model is proposed to incorporate the actual field conditions that affect the reliability of joint waterproof facilities of utility tunnels. Bayesian methods and Hamiltonian Monte Carlo methods are used to realize the posterior estimation of the model parameters via the observed failure data. The case study shows that the posterior prediction results fit well with the actual observation data. The proposed model can be used to estimate in real time such key reliability indicators as failure rate, failure warning time and expected failure time, which facilitate the safe operation and targeted maintenance of utility tunnels.

Various bioactive substances isolated from natural products play a pivotal role in the prevention and cure of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, there are many theories about the pathogenesis of this disease. In this review we discuss among them, the cholinergic hypotheses, the Aβ toxicity hypothesis, and the tau dysfunction hypothesis. Multiple potential targets are a focus for the development of anti-AD drugs. There is an urgent need to develop more effective therapies to treat and delay the onset of the disease and to find safe and effective drugs. In this review, the recent progress of anti-AD effects and their principal targets are updated.

Ultrathin corrugated metallic structures have been proved to support spoof surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes on two-dimension (2D) planar microwave circuits. However, to provide stronger field confinement, larger width of strip is required to load deeper grooves, which is cumbersome in modern large-scale integrated circuits and chips. In this work, a new spoof SPP transmission line (TL) with zigzag grooves is proposed. This new structure can achieve stronger field confinement compared to conventional one with the same strip width. In other words, the proposed spoof SPP TL behaves equivalently to a conventional one with much larger size. Dispersion analysis theoretically indicates the negative correlation between the ability of field confinement and cutoff frequencies of spoof SPP TLs. Numerical simulations indicate that the cutoff frequency of the proposed TL is lower than the conventional one and can be easily modified with the fixed size. Furthermore, two samples of the new and conventional spoof SPP TLs are fabricated for experimental demonstration. Measured S-parameters and field distributions verify the ultra-strong ability of field confinement of the proposed spoof SPP TL. Hence, this novel spoof SPP structure with ultra-strong field confinement may find wide applications in microwave and terahertz engineering.

Background: Idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is an autoimmune disease and the leading cause of adult nephritic syndrome. HLA-DQA1 had been identified to be associated with IMN in Europeans and the result was replicated in Chinese Han population. In this study, six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter of HLA-DQA1 and other two SNPs with IgA nephropathy were included for the association analysis. Methods: The SNPs were genotyped in 509 patients and 601 controls by the MassArray iPLEX. The quantification of anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) antibodies in sera of IMN patients was performed by anti-PLA2R ELISA (IgG) kit. Results: After analysis, four SNPs were significantly associated with IMN, with rs2187668 and rs28383345 as the top two signals (P = 8.42×10-5 and 2.48×10-5, respectively). Even under dominant model, the two SNPs were still significantly associated with IMN (P = 3.50×10-3 for rs28383345 and P = 6.55×10-5 for rs2187668). After conditional study with rs2187668, rs28383345 was the only variant significantly correlated with IMN after Bonferroni correction (P = 0.016). The minor alleles of the two SNPs were also mutually exclusive in our cohort. This indicated that the two SNPs were independently associated with IMN in Chinese Han population. Levels of anti-PLA2R autoantibodies were correlated with the genotypes of the two SNPs, but not significantly (P>0.05). Conclusions: Our results revealed that a novel independent variant in the promoter of HLA-DQA1 was associated with IMN in Chinese Han population. The locus possessed regulatory role according to the data of RegulomeDB. The exact role of the SNPs on the expression of HLA-DQA1 needs further investigation.

This paper presents an ultrasonic Lamb wave imaging method based on time-domain topological energy to address artifacts in the results of traditional ultrasound imaging methods. This method is based on topological theory and the calculation of the direct and adjoint sound fields in a defect-free reference medium. It focuses the direct and adjoint sound fields at the cavity defect using time reversal and their time-domain topological energy as the pixel values of the image to reduce the artifacts. The physical mechanism of time-domain topological energy (TDTE) imaging is revealed by finite element simulation and experiment. The feasibility of this method for multilayer concrete cavity defect imaging is verified. Compared with the traditional synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT) imaging method, the numerical simulation and experimental results show that the method can overcome the influence of ultrasonic Lamb wave dispersion and locate cavity defects with high accuracy and few artifacts. These features indicate the potential of the method in imaging damage concrete structures.

Objective: To analyze the similarities and differences of the applications of “the lung and large intestine being interior-exteriorly related” between the ancient and modern clinical practices, and to reveal the theory meaning.

Polygala plants contain a large number of xanthones with good physiological activities. In our previous work, 18 xanthones were isolated from Polygala crotalarioides. Extented study of the chemical composition of the other species Polygala sibirica led to the separation of two new xanthones—3-hydroxy-1,2,6,7,8-pentamethoxy xanthone (A) and 6-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-1,7-dimethoxy xanthone (C)—together with 14 known xanthones. Among them, some xanthones have a certain xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity. Furthemore, 14 xanthones as XO inhibitors were selected to develop three-dimensional quantitative structure–activity relationship (3D-QSAR) using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) models. The CoMFA model predicted a q2 value of 0.613 and an r2 value of 0.997. The best CoMSIA model predicted a q2 value of 0.608 and an r2 value of 0.997 based on a combination of steric, electrostatic, and hydrophobic effects. The analysis of the contour maps from each model provided insight into the structural requirements for the development of more active XO inhibitors.