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Abstract Backgroud The study objective was to compare three-dimensional and two-dimensional imaging using computer-assisted systems (CASs) in clinical guidance for preoperative surgical planning for middle hepatic tumors in children. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 23 children who underwent surgery for middle hepatic tumors in our hospital from January 2016 to June 2022. The surgical resection plan was formulated by the operator team using two-dimensional CT images before the operation. Then, the same qualified surgeons conducted an in-depth analysis and formulated the surgical resection scheme for the same pediatric patient using three-dimensional imaging of the middle hepatic tumor. The feasibility of the two schemes was compared and analyzed. Result All the tumors were successfully removed according to the preoperative method developed using three-dimensional imaging. The postoperative short-term follow-up revealed that all patients were doing well. Preoperative plans were revised in 9 cases after evaluating the three-dimensional images due to the disparity between the original plans and the three-dimensional relationship between the tumor and blood vessels, vascular variation, and the volume of remnant liver. Conclusions Three-dimensional imaging with a computer-assisted surgery system is superior to two-dimensional imaging in the preoperative planning of pediatric hepatoblastoma.

This study compared an anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) with a multi-staged UASB (MS-UASB) to investigate the effects of loading shocks on the anaerobic digestion in both reactors. Both reactors were subjected to five hydraulic/organic loading shocks, each lasting 3 days. During the hydraulic shock with the highest organic loading rate (OLR) (OLR of 24 g COD L−1 d−1), MS-UASB and ABR exhibited minimum effluent COD removal efficiency of 90.9 and 73.0%, with average methane concentrations decreasing to 62.4 ± 0.9% and 59.8 ± 3.0%. Under the highest organic shock (OLR of 12 g COD L−1 d−1), the minimum effluent COD removal efficiency of MS-UASB and ABR was 81.5 and 73.4%, with average methane concentrations decreasing to 60.4 ± 1.1% and 58.6 ± 0.8%. After the hydraulic and organic shock phase, the biomass concentration in the MS-UASB reached 159 and 130% of the ABR, respectively. The reason for the improved operational stability of the MS-UASB is due to the presence of the solid/liquid/gas separator, which promotes the formation of granular sludge and reduces biomass washout. In addition, MS-UASB exhibited a higher abundance of the syntrophic bacterium Candidatus cloacamonas, which plays a crucial role in maintaining the stability of anaerobic digestion systems. HIGHLIGHTS Application of MS-UASB to treat leachate from refuse transfer stations and comparison with ABR treatment performance.; The analysis of the sludge characteristics of ABR and MS-UASB revealed the reasons behind the stronger shock resistance of MS-UASB.; Changes in microbial populations before and after the shocks were explored.;

Neuroblastoma is a childhood cancer characterized by the formation of tumors derived from neuroblasts. Identifying the genetic mutations underlying neuroblastoma for genetic counseling and early diagnosis is essential. Thus, this study aimed to screen for pathogenic gene variants within a neuroblastoma family, aiming to contribute to genetic counseling practices. Clinical data was collected from a family affected by neuroblastoma, and peripheral blood DNA samples were obtained from all family members. A combination of whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing was utilized to detect potential gene mutations. Proband 1 and her sister (Proband 2) were diagnosed with neuroblastoma, while their parents and siblings were unaffected. The analysis revealed a novel missense mutation, c.422G > A (p.Arg141Gln), in the PHOX2B gene, which was inherited from the mother. Notably, this mutation represents a previously unreported variant within the PHOX2B gene. Detecting the missense mutation c.422G > A (p.Arg141Gln) in the PHOX2B gene implies its potential pathogenic role within this neuroblastoma family. This finding widens the range of mutations observed in the PHOX2B gene and has important implications for early neuroblastoma diagnosis within this family.

Abstract Lithium‐based batteries are the most potential state‐of‐the‐art energy storage device for flexible electronics. The flexible lithium batteries have the advantages of high energy density, robust mechanical durability, and stable power output even under dynamic deformation. Among them, the synergies of flexible free‐standing electrodes, solid electrolytes, and electrode–electrolyte interfaces are crucial to achieving the goal of high energy density and safety performance for flexible lithium batteries. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the interface formation mechanism and influencing factors is crucial for the design of flexible electrodes and solid electrolytes. In this review, the interface challenges in flexible lithium‐based batteries including interface formation, electrodes‐electrolyte interface, and interparticle interface characteristics are presented. Then, strategies of interface optimization are summarized and discussed. Following this, the interface of flexible lithium‐based batteries with novel architecture is introduced, including the interface between each component and unit of the battery. Finally, the perspectives for the future development of flexible lithium‐based batteries are also given.

With the development of location-based services and data collection equipment, the volume of trajectory data has been growing at a phenomenal rate. Raw trajectory data come in the form of sequences of “coordinate-time-attribute” triplets, which require complicated manual processing before they can be used in data mining algorithms. Current works have started to explore the emerging deep representation learning method, which maps trajectory sequences to vector space and applies them to various downstream applications for boosting accuracy and efficiency. In this work, we propose a universal trajectory representation learning method based on a Siamese geography-aware transformer (TRT for short). Specifically, we first propose a geography-aware encoder to model geographical information of trajectory points. Then, we apply a transformer encoder to embed trajectory sequences and use a Siamese network to facilitate representation learning. Furthermore, a joint training strategy is designed for TRT. One of the training objectives is to predict the masked trajectory point, which makes the trajectory representation robust to low sampling rates and noises. The other is to distinguish the difference between trajectories by means of contrastive learning, which makes the trajectory representation more uniformly distributed over the hypersphere. Last, we design a benchmark containing four typical traffic-related tasks to evaluate the performance of TRT. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that TRT consistently outperforms the state-of-the-art baselines across all tasks.

Abstract Zinc–selenium (Zn–Se) batteries have generated great research interest because they could potentially meet the requirements of a high‐capacity, high energy density storage device. Unfortunately, efforts to control the shuttle effect of polyselenides have yielded limited success. Nanostructured carbon hosts with nonpolar surfaces have insufficient ability to restrict polyselenides within the cathode. Herein, first‐principles calculations are used to successfully study the merits of heteroatom‐doped graphene as an efficient sorbent with an excellent ability to inhibit the shuttle effect of polyselenides. The calculation results show that using B as a dopant could distinctly enhance interaction between hosts and polyselenides, which occur significant charge transfer with polyselenides and reduce the diffusion energy barrier of Zn ions. Then, we synthesized carbon/Se and boron‐doped carbon material/Se composite cathodes proving that B‐doped carbon could restrict the shuttle effect of polyselenides, which increases the electrochemical performance of Zn–Se batteries. Therefore, the theoretical study identifies a delightful restricted material that could potentially restrict the shuttle effect in Zn–Se batteries and provides a foundation and strategy for the fabrication of long‐life, high‐power‐density Zn–Se batteries.

Abstract Background Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a gastrointestinal disease that tends to occur in premature infants. Some features may be associated with an increased probability that preterm infants with NEC will require surgical treatment. This study aimed to identify the factors that increased the probability of surgical treatment in infants with NEC. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the data of premature infants with NEC who were hospitalized at The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from April 2011 to April 2021. According to the treatments received, these patients were divided into medical NEC group and surgical NEC group. The perinatal characteristics, clinical manifestations, and laboratory values before the onset of NEC were subjected to univariate and multivariate analyses. Results A total of 623 preterm infants with NEC (> Bell’s stage I) were included in this study, including 350 (56%) who received surgical treatment and 273 (44%) who received conservative medical treatment. Multivariate analysis showed that lower gestational age (P = 0.001, odds ratio (OR) (95% CI) = 0.91[0.86–0.96]), early occurrence of NEC (P = 0.003, OR (95% CI) = 0.86 [0.77–0.95]), hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (P = 0.003, OR (95% CI) = 7.50 [2.03–28.47]), and low serum bicarbonate (P = 0.043, OR (95% CI) = 0.863 [0.749–0.995]) were associated with an increased probability of surgical treatment in preterm infants with NEC. Conclusions Our findings were applied to identify potential predictors for surgical treatment in preterm infants with NEC, which may facilitate early decisive management.

ObjectiveThis study analyzed the feasibility of upfront surgical resection for pediatric PRETEXT III and IV hepatoblastoma (HB).Summary Background DataNeoadjuvant chemotherapy is recommended for patients with PRETEXT III and IV HB to obtain a chance of curative surgery. However, chemotherapy can cause toxic side effects and adverse outcomes, and the PRETEXT staging system may overstage the patients. Therefore, whether preoperative chemotherapy is necessary for HB patients remains unclear.MethodsThe clinical data of 37 children who underwent surgical resection for PRETEXT III and IV HB at our hospital were obtained retrospectively. Patients were divided into the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group (NCG; n = 19) and the routine surgery group (RSG; n = 18). Clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment regimens, and outcomes were compared between the groups.ResultsThe RSG had a lower incidence of portal vein involvement than the NCG (p

Abstract Background China started to cover novel medicines for the treatment of major cancers, such as trastuzumab for breast cancer by the government health insurance programs since 2016. Limited data have been published on the use of cancer medications and little is known about how government health insurance coverage of novel anti-cancer medicines benefited patients in the real world. This study aimed to generate evidence to inform the health security authorities to optimize the government health insurance coverage of novel anti-cancer medicines as a more inclusive and equal policy, through which each of the needed patient can get access to the novel anti-cancer medicines regardless of the ability to pay. Methods The study targeted one of the government health insurance newly covered novel medicines for breast cancer and the breast cancer patients. The analyses were based on the data collected from one tertiary public hospital in Fujian province of China. We conducted interrupted time series analysis with a segmented regression model and multivariate analyses with a binary logistic regression model to analyze the impact of the government health insurance coverage on medicines utilization and the determinants of patient’s medication choice. Results The average proportion of patients who initiated medication with novel medicines increased from 37.4% before the government health insurance coverage to 69.2% afterwards. Such an increase was observed in all patient sub-groups. The monthly proportion of patients who initiated medication with novel medicines increased sharply by 18.3 % (95 %CI,10.4-34.0 %, p = 0.01) in September 2017, the afterwards trend continuously increased (95 %CI,1.03–3.60, p = 0.02). The critical determinants of patient's medication choice were mostly connected with the patient's health insurance benefits packages. Conclusions The government health insurance coverage of novel anti-breast-cancer medicines benefited the patients generally. The utilization of novel medicines such as trastuzumab continuously increased. The insurance coverage benefited well the patients in the high-risk age groups. However, rural patients, patients enrolled in the “resident program”, and patients from low-income residential areas and non-local patients benefited less from this policy. Improving the benefits package of the low-income patients and the “resident program” beneficiary would be of considerable significance for a more inclusive and equal health insurance coverage of novel anti-cancer medicines.

High-energy-density lithium metal batteries with high safety and stability are urgently needed. Designing the novel nonflammable electrolytes possessing superior interface compatibility and stability is critical to achieve the stable cycling of battery. Herein, the functional additive dimethyl allyl-phosphate and fluoroethylene carbonate were introduced to triethyl phosphate electrolytes to stabilize the deposition of metallic lithium and accommodate the electrode–electrolyte interface. In comparison with traditional carbonate electrolyte, the designed electrolyte shows high thermostability and inflaming retarding characteristics. Meanwhile, the Li||Li symmetrical batteries with designed phosphonic-based electrolytes exhibit a superior cycling stability of 700 h at the condition of 0.2 mA cm−2, 0.2 mAh cm−2. Additionally, the smooth- and dense-deposited morphology was observed on an cycled Li anode surface, demonstrating that the designed electrolytes show better interface compatibility with metallic lithium anodes. The Li||LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 and Li||LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 batteries paired with phosphonic-based electrolytes show better cycling stability after 200 and 450 cycles at the rate of 0.2 C, respectively. Our work provides a new way to ameliorate nonflammable electrolytes in advanced energy storage systems.

Abstract Background Pediatric inguinal hernia (PIH) is a common disease in children. Laparoscopic hernia repair (LHR) has developed rapidly in recent years, but there are still different opinions compared with traditional open hernia repair (OHR). The purpose of this study was to compare the advantages and disadvantages of LHR and OHR in the treatment of pediatric inguinal hernia. Methods We performed a retrospective review of all children (

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) are one of the most attractive devices for grid-scale energy storage due to their advantages of high safety, flexible assembly, and electrolyte-class recycling. However, the conventional graphite felt electrodes usually possess inferior electrocatalytic activity for vanadium ion redox reactions, vastly limiting the rate and lifespans of VRFBs. Herein, we demonstrate a high-rate and ultra-stable vanadium redox flow battery based on quaternary ammonium salt-modified graphite felt electrodes. At a high current density of 200 mA cm−2, the constructed VRFB exhibited a superior cycling life of up to 1000 cycles. This work affords a straightforward approach for developing efficient, environmentally friendly, and low-cost graphite felt electrodes for ultra-stable and high-rate VRFBs.

A systematic understanding of nitrous oxide (N2O) emission and grain yield in winter wheat–summer maize rotation, one of the most important cereal cropping systems in China, is still lacking. The primary aim of this study was to quantify the N2O emissions and grain yield, as well as responses to mitigation strategies, in this intensively managed agroecosystem. We conducted a pairwise meta-analysis by compiling a comprehensive dataset of annual N2O emissions (n = 530) and grain yields (n = 352) from peer−reviewed publications. The N2O emissions increased with nitrogen (N) fertilizer input rates following a linear model (r2 = 0.295, p < 0.001), giving a specific emission coefficient and background emission of 0.71% and 0.5 kg N ha−1 yr−1, respectively. The grain yields responded to the N input rates following a linear-plateau model (r2 = 0.478, p < 0.001), giving an optimal N input rate and maximum grain yield of 405 kg N ha−1 yr−1 and 15.5 t ha−1 yr−1, respectively. The meta-analyses revealed that reducing N fertilizers (approximately 50% of the full N input), water-saving irrigation, reduced or no tillage, and applying enhanced efficiency fertilizers significantly decreased N2O emissions (range: −45% to −9%) and increased or did not impact grain yields (range: −1% to 3%). We recommend that reducing agricultural inputs (i.e., N fertilizers, irrigation, and tillage) is a feasible N2O mitigation strategy in the intensively managed winter wheat–summer maize rotation that can be employed without additional environmental risks.

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils has caused extensive concern to researchers. Biochar with iron-compound modifications could give rise to the synergistic effect for Cd restriction. However, the related capture mechanism based on physicochemical properties is unclear. In this study, first principles calculations are proposed to explore the adsorption ability and potential mechanism of the ferric hydroxide modified graphene (Fe@G) for capturing CdCl2. The simulation results show that the adsorption energy to CdCl2 could enhance to −1.60 eV when Fe(OH)3 is introduced on graphene. Subsequently, analyses of electronic properties demonstrated a significant electron transfer between Cd s-orbital and O p-orbital, thereby leading to strong adsorption energy. This theoretical study not only identifies a powerful adsorption material for Cd reduction in agricultural soils and reveals the capture mechanism of Fe@G for Cd but also provides a foundation and strategy for Cd reduction in agricultural soils.

Due to a high operating voltage and theoretical capacity, P2-type layered Mn-based metal oxides are considered to be promising cathodes in sodium-ion batteries, but their poor structural stability in the process of Na+ insertion/deinsertion severely hinders their practical application. Here, an interesting K+ pre-intercalation is used to expand the interlayer distance and enhance the electrochemical reversibility of KsFexAlyMnzO2. With a suitable K+ content, the optimized electrode shows a high specific capacity of 135 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C, a good rate capability of 80 mAh g−1 at 5 C and an excellent cycling performance of 76.4% capacity retention after 200 cycles at a high rate of 5 C. This work proves the feasibility of a K+ pre-intercalation strategy in a P2-type layered cathode.