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Purpose This paper aims to investigate the electrochemical corrosion behavior of a five-layer Al alloy composites (4343/4047/3003/4047/4343) with a thickness of 0.2 mm in NaCl solution. Design/methodology/approach Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, polarization curve and morphology analyses were used to study the corrosion behavior of the Al alloy composites from cross-sectional and plane directions. Findings The corrosion resistance of the surface from the plane direction was higher than that from the cross sections. Si-enrich particles were observed in the outer 4047/4343 layer, and AlFeCuMnBi phases were identified in the core 3003 layer. The galvanic coupling between the Si-enrich particle and the Al matrix accelerated the dissolution Al matrix. Originality/value This work lays the experimental foundation for corrosion mechanism of the Al alloy composite plate.

Birds are valued in the traditional cultures of Tibetan areas of China for symbolism, spirituality, and medicine. A total of 329 informants from six Tibetan communities were interviewed through ethnobiological survey methods. Results highlight that Tibetan informants value a diversity of birds for multiple symbolic purposes including spirituality, a good harvest, happiness, fortune, beauty, glory, and omens. Over 20 avian species including eagles, crows, pheasants, and red-breasted parakeets were perceived as totems, taboos, and holy birds. Findings revealed that three vulture species (Gyps himalayensis, Gyps fulvus, and Gypaetus barbatus) are the most important avian species because of their sacred roles in celestial burial. A total of 27 bird species were recorded as being used as traditional medicine. The high valuation of birds in Tibetan culture has likely contributed to the transmission of traditional knowledge regarding birds as well as to the conservation of bird biodiversity in the study area.

Climate change has brought increasing attention to the assessment of health risks associated with climate and extreme events. Drought is a complex climate phenomenon that has been increasing in frequency and severity both locally and globally due to climate change. However, the health risks of drought are often overlooked, especially in places such as the United States, as the pathways to health impacts are complex and indirect. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the effects of monthly drought exposure on respiratory mortality for NOAA climate regions in the United States from 2000 to 2018. A two-stage model was applied to estimate the location-specific and overall effects of respiratory risk associated with two different drought indices over two timescales (the US Drought Monitor and the 6-month and 12-month Evaporative Demand Drought Index). During moderate and severe drought exposure, respiratory mortality risk ratio in the general population increased up to 6.0% (95% Cr: 4.8 to 7.2) in the Northeast, 9.0% (95% Cr: 4.9 to 13.3) in the Northern Rockies and Plains, 5.2% (95% Cr: 3.9 to 6.5) in the Ohio Valley, 3.5% (95% Cr: 1.9 to 5.0) in the Southeast, and 15.9% (95% Cr: 10.8 to 20.4) in the Upper Midwest. Our results showed that age, ethnicity, sex (both male and female), and urbanicity (both metro and non-metro) resulted in more affected population subgroups in certain climate regions. The magnitude and direction of respiratory risk ratio differed across NOAA climate regions. These results demonstrate a need for policymakers and communities to develop more effective strategies to mitigate the effects of drought across regions.

Vehicle exhaust, as a major source of air pollutants in urban areas, contains a complex mixture of organic vapours including long-chain alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. The atmospheric oxidation of vehicle emissions is a highly complex system as inorganic gases (e.g. NOx and SO2) from other urban sources coexist and therefore remains poorly understood. In this work, the photooxidation of n-dodecane, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, and their mixture is studied in the presence of NOx and SO2 to mimic the atmospheric oxidation of urban vehicle emissions (including diesel and gasoline vehicles), and the formation of ozone and secondary aerosols is investigated. It is found that ozone formation is enhanced by higher OH concentration and higher temperature, but is influenced little by SO2 concentration. However, SO2 can largely enhance the particle formation in both number and mass concentrations, likely due to the promoted new particle formation and acid-catalysed heterogeneous reactions from the formation of sulfuric acid. In addition, organo-sulfates and organo-nitrates are detected in the formed particles, and the presence of SO2 can promote the formation of organo-sulfates. These results provide a scientific basis for systematically evaluating the effects of SO2, OH concentration, and temperature on the oxidation of mixed organic gases in the atmosphere that produce ozone and secondary particles.

Recent studies revealed that early-in-life events can have highly beneficial long-term effects in animals. We now demonstrate that exposure of Caenorhabditis elegans to reactive oxygen species during development protects against amyloid-induced proteotoxicity later in life. We show that this protection is initiated by the inactivation of the redox sensitive H3K4me3 modifying COMPASS complex, and conferred by a substantial increase in the heat shock independent activity of heat shock factor 1 (HSF-1), a longevity factor known to act predominantly during C. elegans development. We show that depletion of HSF-1 leads to dramatic rearrangements of the organismal lipid landscape, and a significant decrease in mitochondrial β-oxidation. Both of these activities appear to majorly contribute to HSF-1’s protective effects against amyloid toxicity. In summary, our study reveals previously unknown links between developmental changes in the histone landscape, HSF-1 activity and lipid metabolism and the protection against age-associated amyloid toxicities later in life.

To investigate the effect of low-level occupational benzene exposure on human peripheral blood leukocyte counts of the workers, domestic and foreign published research data on the change of human peripheral blood leukocyte counts under low-level occupational benzene exposure from January 1990 to December 2020 were collected and analyzed. According to the literature inclusion and exclusion criteria, 18 independent studies from 12 publications were selected for meta-analysis to explore the effect of low-level occupational benzene exposure on human peripheral blood leukocyte counts. The results showed that the peripheral blood leukocyte counts abnormal rates of low-level occupational benzene exposure group were higher than those of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant. Low-level occupational benzene exposure could result in a relatively higher abnormal rate of peripheral blood leukocyte counts in the exposed population, indicating that low-level occupational benzene exposure at workplaces specified by the current benzene occupational exposure limit in China would affect the peripheral blood leukocyte counts of the workers, thus benzene with concentrations under the limit in the ambient air of workplace could be still harmful to the health of the exposed workers. The results of this study could provide a scientific basis for future revision of the benzene occupational exposure limit in China, and could also be a reference for the formulation of environmental standard concerning benzene in China in the future.

The present study examined how prosody affects Japanese speakers’ processing of the polarity item darenimo ‘any/everyone’. Upward (LHHH pitch) and downward (HLLL pitch) prosody for darenimo associates with negative and positive polarity, respectively. In Study 1, a corpus search showed that darenimo is more often associated with negative than positive polarity. In Study 2, subjective acceptability judgments indicated that darenimo is also more likely to be perceived as acceptable by native Japanese speakers when used with negative polarity. In line with Study 2, Study 3 showed that upward prosody with negative polarity was more accurately and quickly processed than was downward prosody with either positive or negative polarity. These three studies showed a one-sided distribution of upward prosody with negative polarity, and further indicated that only upward prosody facilitates listeners’ processing of negation. Early heightened pitch of darenimo provides a cue to predict an ending negation -nai in the head-final Japanese language, resulting in faster speed and higher accuracy for the processing of negative sentences (i.e., a facilitation effect) compared to their corresponding affirmative sentences.

Background:. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common and serious complication following lung transplantation (LTx), and it is associated with high mortality and morbidity. This study assessed the incidence of AKI after LTx and analyzed the associated perioperative factors and clinical outcomes. Methods:. This retrospective study included all adult LTx recipients at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing between March 2017 and December 2019. The outcomes were AKI incidence, risk factors, mortality, and kidney recovery. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors. Survival analysis was presented using the Kaplan–Meier curves. Results:. AKI occurred in 137 of the 191 patients (71.7%), with transient AKI in 43 (22.5%) and persistent AKI in 94 (49.2%). AKI stage 1 occurred in 27/191 (14.1%), stage 2 in 46/191 (24.1%), and stage 3 in 64/191 (33.5%) of the AKI patients. Renal replacement therapy (RRT) was administered to 35/191 (18.3%) of the patients. Male sex, older age, mechanical ventilation (MV), severe hypotension, septic shock, multiple organ dysfunction (MODS), prolonged extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), reintubation, and nephrotoxic agents were associated with AKI (P

Background Osteoporosis is a very common bone disease in the elderly population and can lead to fractures and disability. Malnutrition can lead to osteoporosis. The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) is a tool used to assess the risk of malnutrition and complications associated with nutritional status in older patients and is a crucial predictor of many diseases. Hence, this study investigated the association between the GNRI and the presence of osteoporosis and assessed the value of this index for predicting osteoporosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled 610 elderly patients with T2DM. General and laboratory data of the patients were collected, along with their measurements of bone mineral density (BMD). The GNRI was calculated based on ideal body weight and serum albumin (ABL) levels. Correlation analysis was performed to determine the relationship between the GNRI and BMD and bone metabolism indices. The GNRI predictive value for osteoporosis development was analyzed through logistic regression analysis and by creating a receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Results All patients were divided into the no-nutritional risk and nutritional risk groups. Compared with the no-nutritional risk group, the nutritional risk group had a longer diabetes course, older age, higher HbA1c levels, higher prevalence of osteoporosis; lower BMI, ABL,triglyceride (TG),Calcium (Ca),25-hydroxy-vitamin-D(25(OH)D),and parathyroid hormone(PTH) and lower femoral neck BMD,total hip BMD (P All patients were also assigned to the non-osteoporosis and osteoporosis groups. The non-osteoporosis group had higher GNRI values than the osteoporosis group (P Correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between the GNRI and lumbar BMD, femoral neck BMD, and total hip BMD (P The ROC curve analysis was performed using the GNRI as the test variable and the presence of osteoporosis as the status variable. This analysis yielded an AUC for the GNRI of 0.695 and was statistically significant (P Conclusions A lower GNRI among T2DM patients in northern China is associated with a higher prevalence of osteoporosis.

Automatic identification system (AIS)-based ship trajectory data are important for analysing maritime activities. As the data accumulate over time, trajectory compression is needed to alleviate the pressure of data storage, migration and usage. The grating algorithm, as a vector data compression algorithm with high compression performance and low computation complexity, has been considered as a very promising approach for ship trajectory compression. This algorithm needs the threshold to be set for each trajectory which limits the applicability over a large number of different trajectories. To solve this problem, a dynamic adaptive threshold grating compression algorithm is developed. In this algorithm, the threshold for each trajectory is dynamically generated using an effective approaching strategy. The developed algorithm is tested with a complex trajectory dataset from the Qiongzhou Strait, China. In comparison with the traditional grating method, our algorithm has improved advantages in the ease of use, the applicability to different trajectories and compression performance, all of which can better support relevant applications, such as ship trajectory data storage and rapid cartographic display.

To describe patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and survival among elderly patients (≥66 years) newly diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) meeting ≥1 ineligibility criteria for high-intensity chemotherapy (HIC; i.e. age >75 years, cardiac disease/prior anthracycline therapy, or secondary AML), we analyzed 2007-2017 100% Medicare hematologic cancer data. Patients were stratified based on whether they received HIC or low-intensity chemotherapy (LIC) or best supportive care (BSC) within 60 days after AML diagnosis. Of 4,152 patients, 43.2% received chemotherapy, 33.8% BSC, and 23.1% no therapy. Among chemotherapy-treated patients, HIC was more common than LIC (58.8 vs 41.2%), despite targeting patients meeting ≥1 ineligibility criteria for HIC. Poor overall survival was observed for patients receiving chemotherapy and BSC (median overall survival [interquartile range]: HIC, 1.9 [0.8, 6.6] months; LIC, 3.8 [1.4, 9.3] months; BSC, 1.0 [0.4, 2.5] months). Results highlight the need for additional effective and tolerable treatments for this population.

An integrated nucleic acid detection method based on a microfluidic chip for collection and culture of RFSS is proposed.

Nowadays, the computer information management system has been integrated into people's life and work. Because of the rapid development of film and television industry, multimedia classroom teaching has become a trend of film and television teaching. More and more subjects have developed blended teaching models, and how to evaluate the learning effects of blended teaching has also attracted more and more attention from the educational circles. Therefore, based on the background of video multimedia classroom teaching and the theory of fuzzy synthetic valuation, this paper designs and implements a set of video multimedia classroom teaching quality valuation system. Firstly, based on the fuzzy synthetic valuation, the corresponding valuation indexes are designed. Secondly, the system design, according to the specific user application requirements, design the relevant functions; finally, the B / S mode structure system, using JSP / servlet web page development technology to achieve the system. In order to test the performance of the system designed in this paper, a small-scale teaching quality valuation system is constructed. Through the analysis of the application of the system, it is found that the teaching quality valuation system designed in this paper can well evaluate the teaching quality of teachers, promote the development of film and television teaching, and improve the teaching quality.

ImportanceThe number of infections and deaths caused by the global epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) invasion is steadily increasing daily. In the early stages of outbreak, approximately 15%–20% of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) inevitably developed severe and critically ill forms of the disease, especially elderly patients and those with several or serious comorbidities. These more severe forms of disease mainly manifest as dyspnea, reduced blood oxygen saturation, severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), thus requiring prolonged advanced respiratory support, including high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV), and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV).ObjectiveThis study aimed to propose a safer and more practical tracheotomy in invasive mechanical ventilated patients with COVID-19.DesignThis is a single center quality improvement study.ParticipantsTracheotomy is a necessary and important step in airway management for COVID-19 patients with prolonged endotracheal intubation, IMV, failed extubation, and ventilator dependence. Standardized third-level protection measures and bulky personal protective equipment (PPE) may hugely impede the implementation of tracheotomy, especially when determining the optimal pre-surgical positioning for COVID-19 patients with ambiguous surface position, obesity, short neck or limited neck extension, due to vision impairment, reduced tactile sensation and motility associated with PPE. Consequently, the aim of this study was to propose a safer and more practical tracheotomy, namely percutaneous dilated tracheotomy (PDT) with delayed endotracheal intubation withdrawal under the guidance of bedside ultrasonography without the conventional use of flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FFB), which can accurately determine the optimal pre-surgical positioning, as well as avoid intraoperative damage of the posterior tracheal wall and prevent the occurrence of tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF).

Background and aims Sepsis is one of the most common causes of death in intensive care units. Numerous studies have been performed on lymphocyte immunity in sepsis patients, but they seldom pay attention to whether lactate levels and T lymphocytes affect sepsis immunity. This study focused on how well lactate levels and CD3+ T cells will influence the outcome of sepsis patients. Methods This is a single-center retrospective investigation. All of the participants satisfied the diagnostic standards for sepsis 3.0. We collected the results of the lymphocyte subset within 24 hours of admission to ICU as well as the first lactate levels and other medical indicators.Followed up the patients for 28 days, we separated the participants into survival and mortality groups and then we processed uni-variate and multivariate analyses. Results A total of 132 sepsis patients who were older than 18 years old and met the diagnostic standards for sepsis 3.0 were included. Only 107 patients, including 53 in the survival group and 54 in the mortality group, were enrolled into statistical analysis. Based on uni-variate and multivariate analysis results, lactate levels and the quantity of CD3+ T cells were independent predictive markers that affected 28-day mortality in sepsis patients. ConclusionInitial lactate levels at ICU admission may predict outcomes in sepsis patients, and CD3+ T-lymphocyte will influence how well a patient will respond to treatment. Patients with elevated lactate levels and overall lower CD3+ T-cell counts at ICU admission should receive greater care and powerful medication. Trial registration：retrospectively registered

Cerium oxides loaded silica catalysts were synthesized by an impregnation method by simply mixing Ce precursor with silica spherule (Ce/SS) and ordered MCM-41 zeolites (Ce/MCM-41), followed by a mild calcination. Compared with pure SS and MCM-41, Ce modified Ce/SS and Ce/MCM-41 demonstrate much improved catalytic ozonation activities for mineralization of recalcitrant nitrobenzene (NB). At solution pH of 6, 86 and 97% TOC mineralization rates were achieved within 60 min for Ce/MCM-41 and Ce/SS, respectively. Characterization results suggest that Ce loading significantly increases the surface Lewis acidic sites, which would synergize with Ce3+/Ce4+ redox cycle for the activity improvement. With the aid of in situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra and quenching tests, hydroxyl radical (·OH), superoxide radical (O2•–), and singlet oxygen (1O2) are identified as the O3 catalytic decomposition products, while ·OH mainly accounts for NB mineralization. The detailed degradation route of NB was further investigated by the multi-chromatography analysis. NB is firstly oxidized into polyhydroxy compounds, followed by small molecular organic acids, and finally being mineralized into CO2 and H2O. This study established a facile strategy to synthesize highly active and stable Ce/SiO2 catalysts for catalytic ozonation, and elucidated the in-depth mechanisms for the activity origins of the Ce loaded silica-based materials in catalytic ozonation processes (COP).

To our knowledge, this was the first study in which caffeic acid (CA) was successfully evaluated as a matrix to enhance the in situ detection and imaging of endogenous proteins in three biological tissue sections (i.e., a rat brain and Capparis masaikai and germinating soybean seeds) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI). Our results show several properties of CA, including strong ultraviolet absorption, a super-wide MS detection mass range close to 200,000 Da, micrometer-sized matrix crystals, uniform matrix deposition, and high ionization efficiency. More high-molecular-weight (HMW) protein ion signals (m/z > 30,000) could be clearly detected in biological tissues with the use of CA, compared to two commonly used MALDI matrices, i.e., sinapinic acid (SA) and ferulic acid (FA). Notably, CA shows excellent performance for HMW protein in situ detection from biological tissues in the mass range m/z > 80,000, compared to the use of SA and FA. Furthermore, the use of a CA matrix also significantly enhanced the imaging of proteins on the surface of selected biological tissue sections. Three HMW protein ion signals (m/z 50,419, m/z 65,874, and m/z 191,872) from a rat brain, two sweet proteins (mabinlin-2 and mabinlin-4) from a Capparis masaikai seed, and three HMW protein ion signals (m/z 94,838, m/z 134,204, and m/z 198,738) from a germinating soybean seed were successfully imaged for the first time. Our study proves that CA has the potential to become a standard organic acid matrix for enhanced tissue imaging of HMW proteins by MALDI-MSI in both animal and plant tissues.

Researchers nowadays have devoted extra attention to the different biomedical applications of indocyanine green (ICG), a US Food and Drug Administration-approved fluorescent compound in the fields such as drug delivery, medical imaging and disease diagnosis. In addition, hepatic function evaluation could be conducted by using ICG before surgical procedures and angiographic assessment of blood. Therefore, ICG will be expected to be excellent imaging and targeting agent in various preclinical and clinical model systems. However, whether ICG possesses the potential for the gall bladder's intraoperative imaging guidance needs to be further explored in vivo animal experiments. Herein, near-infrared fluorophores ICG can display the specific uptake by the gall bladder cells and tissues. The dynamic process of biodistribution and the clearance of ICG in vivo in mice are clearly shown in real-time live-body imaging. Furthermore, ICG was rapidly excreted into the bile and lately biodistributed to the stomach after treatment in mice. Meanwhile, the signal-to-background ratio of the gall bladder demonstrated a tremendously higher level compared to other organs (stomach, heart, liver, lung, pancreas, spleen, intestine and duodenum). In conclusion, fluorescence navigation using ICG fluorescence imaging will provide good visualization and detection of the target lesions (gall bladder) in clinics such as diagnostic medical imaging and intraoperative navigation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of physical restraint of patients in the neurosurgical intensive care unit (NSICU) and analyze the factors influencing this measure using a cross-sectional study design. A total of 312 patients from four tertiary hospitals in NSICU were investigated in Beijing, China. The rate of physical restraint of patients in the NSICU was 42.9%. In 41.8% of cases, nurses performed physical restraint based on experience, and 45.5% of patients had physical restraint-related nursing records. Binary logistic regression analyses revealed that physical restraint was associated with delirium, mild-to-moderate disturbance of consciousness, history of extubation, surgery, and use of sedatives within 24 hour. Analysis of related factors can provide a reference for nurses and managers to improve physical restraint strategies.

Introduction Patterns of testing, treatment, and retesting following treatment for disorders of chronic kidney disease mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) have not been explored using a large electronic database. Methods To determine concordance with CKD-MBD management guidelines, we used 2010 to 2019 data from an electronic health record (>50 million patients) to create cohorts of incident CKD stage 3, 4, and 5 patients using diagnosis codes and estimated glomerular filtration rates. The CKD-MBD test ordering and relevant drug prescribing were assessed during follow-up. We estimated cumulative incidence of posttreatment retesting (death as competing risk). We used multivariable Cox regression to examine baseline characteristics and pretreatment test results as predictors of retesting. Results For 215,553 stage 3, 43,576 stage 4, and 11,407 stage 5 CKD patients, the mean follow-up was 2.3, 1.7, and 0.6 years, respectively. Only 46% of stage 4 and 41% of stage 5 patients underwent parathyroid hormone (PTH) testing, 74% and 73% had phosphorus testing, and 38% and 25% had 25D testing. By 1 year after vitamin D sterol treatment, only 50%, 53%, and 60% of stage 3, 4, and 5 patients had been retested for PTH. By 1 year after treatment with ergocalciferol or cholecalciferol, only 46%, 49%, and 55% had 25D reassessed. Pretreatment levels of PTH and 25D were not associated in a graded fashion with likelihood of retesting after treatment. Rates of retesting were not highest for patients with the highest and lowest pre-treatment PTH and 25D levels, respectively. Conclusion Frequency of testing for CKD-MBD abnormalities and posttreatment retesting appears to be suboptimal., Graphical abstract

The corrosion characteristics of passive films on 1060, 2024 and 5083 aluminum alloys formed in citric acid solution are studied in Cl–-containing solutions by combining scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The passive film on 1060 pure Al exhibits the best corrosion resistance while the presence of alloying elements (Cu and Mg) in the passive films reduce the corrosion resistance of the passive films on 2024 and 5083 Al alloys. According to first-principles calculations, Cu/Mg doping γ-Al2O3 surfaces are looser and more reactive than pure γ-Al2O3 (110) surface, and Cl adsorption behavior is changed in Cu/Mg doping γ-Al2O3 surfaces. This illuminates the difference of corrosion resistances of 1060, 2024 and 5083 aluminum alloys from the aspects of the passive film structure and interaction of chlorine ions with the passive films.

The deteriorating groundwater quality due to natural genesis and anthropogenic activities has prevented the sustainable use of groundwater. The characteristics and factors affecting groundwater quality for drinking in shallow aquifers (depth ≤ 100 m) in the plain area of Yarkant River Basin in Xinjiang were analyzed using water quality index (WQI), geostatistics, and geochemical methods. Results showed that the groundwater was weak-alkaline with neutral pH, with dominant water types being SO4•HCO3-Ca•Mg, SO4•Cl•HCO3-Na•Ca, SO4•HCO3•Cl-Ca•Na, Cl•SO4-Na•Ca, and HCO3•SO4-Mg•Ca. WQI ranged between 31.79 and 549.37, and about 14.43%, 31.96%, 18.56%, 22.68%, and 12.37% of the all samples were excellent, good, medium, poor, and extremely poor quality, respectively. The proportion of excellent quality was the highest in single structure phreatic aquifer (SSPA, 50.00%) and good quality were the highest in multilayered structure phreatic aquifer (MSPA, 34.21%) and multilayered structure confined aquifer (MSCA, 28.89%). With the extension of the river, the groundwater quality gradually degenerated from south to north in phreatic aquifer (PA, including SSPA and MSPA). The further away from the Yarkant river, the worse the groundwater quality of PA. Furthermore, the WQI showed excellent, good, and an alternation of medium and poor quality (including extremely poor quality) from south to north in the MSCA. The groundwater quality deterioration might have been affected by the dissolution of evaporite minerals, such as halite, gypsum, and anhydrite and ion exchange process. In addition, local effects of anthropogenic activities and land usage patterns on the groundwater quality should be reckoned as well.

In busy waterways, spatial-temporal discretisation, safe distance and collision avoidance timing are three of the core components of ship traffic flow modelling based on cellular automata. However, these components are difficult to determine in ship traffic simulations because the size, operation and manoeuvrability vary between ships. To solve these problems, a novel traffic flow model is proposed. Firstly, a spatial-temporal discretisation method based on the concept of a standard ship is presented. Secondly, the update rules for ships’ motion are built by considering safe distance and collision avoidance timing, in which ship operation and manoeuvrability are thoroughly considered. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our model, which is implemented through simulating ship traffic flow in a waterway of the Yangtze River, China. By comparing the results with actual observed ship traffic data, our model shows that the behaviours and the characteristics of ships’ motions can be represented very well, which also can be further used to reveal the mechanism that affects the efficiency and safety of ship traffic.

Near-infrared (NIR) light possesses many suitable optophysical properties for medical imaging including low autofluorescence, deep tissue penetration, and minimal light scattering, which together allow for high-resolution imaging of biological tissue. NIR imaging has proven to be a noninvasive and effective real-time imaging methodology that provides a high signal-to-background ratio compared to other potential optical imaging modalities. In response to this, the use of NIR imaging has been extensively explored in the field of immunotherapy. To date, NIR fluorescence imaging has successfully offered reliable monitoring of the localization, dynamics, and function of immune responses, which are vital in assessing not only the efficacy but also the safety of treatments to design immunotherapies optimally. This review aims to provide an overview of the current research on NIR imaging of the immune response. We expect that the use of NIR imaging will expand further in response to the recent success in cancer immunotherapy. We will also offer our insights on how this technology will meet rapidly growing expectations in the future.

Organic components in atmospheric fine particulate matter have attracted much attention and several scientific studies have been performed, although most of the sample extraction methods are time consuming and laborious. Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) is a new sample extraction method offering number of advantages, such as low extraction cost, reduced solvent and time consumption, and simplified extraction protocols. In order to optimize ASE methods to determine the concentrations of organic compounds in atmospheric fine particulate matter, different parameters were set out for the experiment, and the optimal method was selected according to the recoveries of the standard (i.e., n−alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)). This study also involves a comparison of the optimal method with the traditional method of ultrasonic extraction (USE). In addition, the optimized method was applied to measure the mass concentrations of organic compounds (n−alkanes and PAHs) in fine particulate matter samples collected in Beijing. The findings showed that the average recovery of target compounds using ASE was 96%, with the majority of compounds falling within the confidence levels, and the ASE recoveries and precision were consistent with the USE method tested. Furthermore, ASE combines the advantages of high extraction efficiency, automation, and reduced solvent use. In conclusion, the optimal ASE methods can be used to extract organic components in atmospheric particulate matter and serve as a point of reference for the development of analytical methodologies for assessing organic compounds in atmospheric particulate matter in China.

Vehicle exhaust, as a major source of air pollutants in urban areas, contains a complex mixture of organic vapors including long-chain alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. The atmospheric oxidation of vehicle emissions is a highly complex system as the co-existing inorganic gases (e.g., NOx and SO2) from other urban sources, and therefore remains poorly understood. In this work, the photooxidation of n-dodecane, 1,3,5-trimethylbeneze, and their mixture are studied in the presence of NOx and SO2 to mimic the atmospheric oxidation of urban vehicle emissions (including diesel and gasoline vehicles), and the formation of ozone and secondary aerosols are investigated. It is found that ozone formation is enhanced by higher OH concentration and higher temperature, but is influenced little by SO2 concentration. However, SO2 can largely enhance the particle formation in both number and mass concentrations, likely due to the promoted new particle formation and acid-catalyzed heterogeneous reactions from the formation of sulfuric acid. In addition, organo-sulfates and organo-nitrates are detected in the formed particles, and the presence of SO2 can promote the formation of organo-sulfates. These results provide a scientific basis for systematically evaluating the effects of SO2, OH concentration, and temperature on the oxidation of mixed organic gases in the atmosphere that produce ozone and secondary particles.

Salt stress has a major effect on growth and secondary metabolism in medicinal plants, however, the effect of salt stress on Taraxacum officinale F. H. Wigg. is still scarce. In this study, we evaluated the effects of salt stress on the physiology, morphology, phenolic acid accumulation, and expression of genes involved in phenolic acid biosynthesis in T. officinale. We found that plants grew well at 1 g kg

The present study examined how prosody affects Japanese speakers' processing of the polarity item

Anxiety is one of the most common comorbid conditions reported in people with opioid dependence. The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and ventral hippocampus (vHip) are critical brain regions for fear and anxiety. The kappa opioid receptor (KOR) is present in the mesolimbic regions involved in emotions and addiction. However, the precise circuits and molecular basis underlying anxiety associated with chronic opioid use are poorly understood. Using a mouse model, we demonstrated that anxiety-like behaviors appeared in the first 2 weeks after morphine withdrawal. Furthermore, the BLA and vHip were activated in mice experiencing anxiety after morphine withdrawal (Mor-A). KORs in the BLA to vHip projections were significantly increased in the Mor-A group. Optogenetic/chemogenetic inhibition of BLA inputs ameliorated anxiety-like behaviors and facilitated conditioned place preference (CPP) extinction in Mor-A mice. Knockdown of the BLA to vHip circuit KOR alleviated the anxiety-like behaviors but did not affect CPP extinction or reinstatement. Furthermore, combined treatment of inhibition of the BLA to vHip circuit and KOR antagonists mitigated anxiety-like behaviors and prevented stress-induced CPP reinstatement after morphine withdrawal. These results revealed a previously unknown circuit associated with the emotional component of opioid withdrawal and indicated that restoration of synaptic deficits with KOR antagonists might be effective in the treatment of anxiety associated with morphine withdrawal.

Changes in the surface area of lakes can indicate climate change and human activity, and there are few reports on the characteristics of such changes in North Xinjiang, China. The normalized differ...

OsAAP1 positively regulates growth and grain yield in rice by influencing amino acid uptake and reallocation., Nitrogen (N) is a major element necessary for crop yield. In most plants, organic N is primarily transported in the form of amino acids. Here, we show that amino acid permease 1 (AAP1) functions as a positive regulator of growth and grain yield in rice. We found that the OsAAP1 gene is highly expressed in rice axillary buds, leaves, and young panicles, and that the OsAAP1 protein is localized to both the plasma membrane and the nuclear membrane. Compared with the wild-type ZH11, OsAAP1 overexpression (OE) lines exhibited increased filled grain numbers as a result of enhanced tillering, while RNAi and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat; Osaap1) knockout lines showed the opposite phenotype. In addition, OsAAP1-OE lines had higher concentrations of neutral and acidic amino acids, but lower concentrations of basic amino acids in the straw. An exogenous treatment with neutral amino acids promoted axillary bud outgrowth more strongly in the OE lines than in the WT, RNAi, or Osaap1 lines. Transcriptome analysis of Osaap1 further demonstrated that OsAAP1 may affect N transport and metabolism, and auxin, cytokinin, and strigolactone signaling in regulating rice tillering. Taken together, these results support that increasing neutral amino acid uptake and reallocation via OsAAP1 could improve growth and grain yield in rice.

Understanding the effects of polymer chemistry on membrane ion transport properties is critical for enabling efforts to design advanced highly permselective ion exchange membranes for water purification and energy applications. Here, the effects of fixed charge group type on anion exchange membrane (AEM) apparent permselectivity and ion transport properties were investigated using two crosslinked AEMs. The two AEMs, containing a similar acrylonitrile, styrene and divinyl benzene-based polymer backbone, had either trimethyl ammonium or 1,4-dimethyl imidazolium fixed charge groups. Membrane deswelling, apparent permselectivity and ion transport properties of the two AEMs were characterized using aqueous solutions of lithium chloride, sodium chloride, ammonium chloride, sodium bromide and sodium nitrate. Apparent permselectivity measurements revealed a minor influence of the fixed charge group type on apparent permselectivity. Further analysis of membrane swelling and ion sorption, however, suggests that less hydrophilic fixed charge groups more effectively exclude co-ions compared to more hydrophilic fixed charge groups. Analysis of ion diffusion properties suggest that ion and fixed charge group enthalpy of hydration properties influence ion transport, likely through a counter-ion condensation, ion pairing or binding mechanism. Interactions between fixed charge groups and counter-ions may be stronger if the enthalpy of hydration properties of the ion and fixed charge group are similar, and suppressed counter-ion diffusion was observed in this situation. In general, the hydration properties of the fixed charge group may be important for understanding how fixed charge group chemistry influences ion transport properties in anion exchange membranes.

Surface water (SW) and groundwater (GW) are crucial water supply sources in the southern margin of Junggar Basin in Xinjiang. The sources of toxic components in SW and GW and their negative effects on human health are of great concern. A total of 40 SW and 596 GW samples were collected at the oasis belt to analyze distribution, sources and potential health risks of inorganic pollutants in SW and GW. Results revealed that SW quality was severely affected by Hg, 30.0% of which had Hg concentration greater than the national drinking water standard. High Hg SW was mainly distributed near Manas County and Urumqi City. GW quality was mostly affected by SO

The aim of this study is to determine the role of serum exosomal miRNAs as potential non-invasive biomarkers for distinguishing no-or-mild fibrosis from significant fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).Next-generation sequencing was used to identify fibrosis-related serum exosomal miRNAs in 9 CHB patients. The candidate exosomal miRNAs were further validated by qRT-PCR in 282 CHB patients. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to assess the diagnostic performance of exosomal miRNAs and other non-invasive models.Seventy-two miRNAs were differentially expressed in serum exosomes between patients with no-or-mild fibrosis and significant fibrosis. The expression of serum exosomal miR-92a-3p and miR-146a-5p progressively increased with the aggravation of liver fibrosis in the validation cohort. Multivariate analysis identified miR-92a-3p (P0.001), miR-146a-5p (P0.001), and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) (P=0.012) as independent predictors for significant fibrosis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of exosomal miR-92a-3p (AUROC=0.88) was significantly higher than that of APRI (aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index) (AUROC=0.72, P0.001), FIB-4 (AUROC=0.71, P0.001), and LSM (AUROC=0.80, P=0.022) for identifying significant fibrosis. Similarly, the AUROC of exosomal miR-146a-5p (AUROC=0.82) was also significantly better than that of APRI (AUROC=0.72, P=0.009), FIB-4 (AUROC=0.71, P=0.002), and comparable to LSM (AUROC=0.80, P=0.551) for discriminating significant fibrosis.Serum exosomal miR-92a-3p and miR-146a-5p are superior to APRI, FIB-4, and LSM for diagnosing significant fibrosis in CHB patients and offer a promising non-invasive alternative to liver biopsy.

Rhizoma Alismatis, a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine, is the dried tuber of Alisma orientale and Alisma A. plantago-aquatica, mainly cultivated in Fujian and Sichuan provinces (China), respectively. Studies have shown that the rhizosphere microbiome is a key factor determining quality of Chinese medicinal plants. Here we applied metagenomics to investigate the rhizosphere microbiome of Alisma in Fujian and Sichuan, focusing on its structure and function and those genes involved in protostane triterpenes biosynthesis. The dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, and Gemmatimonadetes. Compared with Fujian, the rhizosphere of Sichuan has a greater α diversity and stronger microbial interactions but significantly lower relative abundance of archaea. Microbes with disease-suppressing functions were more abundant in Sichuan than Fujian, but vice versa for those with IAA-producing functions. Gemmatimonas, Anaeromyxobacter, and Pseudolabrys were the main contributors to the potential functional difference in two regions. Genes related to protostane triterpenes biosynthesis were enriched in Fujian. Steroidobacter, Pseudolabrys, Nevskia, and Nitrospira may contribute to the accumulation of protostane triterpenes in Alisma. This work fills a knowledge gap of Alisma's rhizosphere microbiome, providing a valuable reference for studying its beneficial microorganisms.

Limb spasms are a common complication of stroke. It not only affects the quality of life of stroke survivors, but also brings an economic burden. Tuina combined with physical therapy is widely used in the rehabilitation of poststroke spasticity. However, there is no supporting evidence for its efficacy and safety. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Tuinas combined with physical therapy in the treatment of spasticity after stroke.Literature will be collected from the following databases: China Biology Medicine (CBM), Wanfang Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science; We will include randomized controlled trials of Tuina combined with physical therapy for poststroke spasticity range from the establishment to May 1, 2021. There were no limitations to the publication time, and the language was limited to Chinese and English. The primary outcome was evaluated using the Modified Ashworth scale, and the secondary outcomes were the simplified Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale, Modified Barthel Index, Functional Independence Measurement (FIM), and Visual Analog Scale. RevMan V.5.4.1 software was used for the meta-analysis. The Cochrane Intervention System Evaluation Manual analyzes the risk of bias, and the recommended grading assessment, development and evaluation are used to assess the quality of evidence.This study will be based on published systematic review studies, no ethical approval is required and the results of the study will be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.INPLASY2021110064.