Search

BACKGROUND We have developed hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) by co-loading copper sulfide (CuS) NPs and glucose oxidase (GOD) (CuS@GOD NPs) to explore their antitumor properties. PURPOSE To investigate the feasibility of using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) and R2 * mapping to quantitatively assess the early antitumor effect of CuS@GOD NPs. STUDY TYPE Prospective. ANIMAL MODEL The orthotopic BALB/c mice 4 T1 breast cancer model. The 4 T1 xenografts in group 1 mice received normal saline, group 2 received CuS@GOD NPs, group 3 received CuS NPs plus laser, and group 4 received CuS@GOD NPs plus laser (n = 28 for each group). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE A 3.0 T/IVIM-DWI MRI single-shot echo-planar imaging, R2 * mapping spoiled gradient recalled echo (SPGR) sequence, T2-weighted images (T2WI) and T1-weighted images (T1WI) fast spin echo (FSE) sequence. ASSESSMENT The IVIM-DWI and R2 * mapping were performed before and after treatment at 0 hour, 0.5 hour, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, and 24 hours in four groups and the MRI parameters were obtained. Correlation analysis between the MRI parameters and histological analyses was conducted. STATISTICAL TESTS One-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation analysis, two independent samples t test, intraclass correlation coefficient. P

Currently, research on intestinal diseases is mainly based on animal models and cell lines in monolayers. However, these models have drawbacks that limit scientific advances in this field. Three-dimensional (3D) culture systems named organoids are emerging as a reliable research tool for recapitulating the human intestinal epithelium and represent a unique platform for patient-specific drug testing. Intestinal organoids (IOs) are crypt–villus structures that can be derived from adult intestinal stem cells (ISCs), embryonic stem cells (ESCs), or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and have the potential to serve as a platform for individualized medicine and research. However, this emerging field has not been bibliometric summarized to date. Here, we performed a bibliometric analysis of the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database to evaluate 5,379 publications concerning the use of organoids; the studies were divided into four clusters associated with the current situation and future directions for the application of IOs. Based on the results of our bibliometric analysis of IO applications, we systematically summarized the latest advances and analyzed the limitations and prospects.

Background The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a global health emergency. The cumulative number of new confirmed cases and deaths are still increasing out of China. Independent predicted factors associated with fatal outcomes remain uncertain. Research Question The goal of the current study was to investigate the potential risk factors associated with fatal outcomes from COVID-19 through a multivariate Cox regression analysis and a nomogram model. Study Design and Methods A retrospective cohort of 1,590 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 throughout China was established. The prognostic effects of variables, including clinical features and laboratory findings, were analyzed by using Kaplan-Meier methods and a Cox proportional hazards model. A prognostic nomogram was formulated to predict the survival of patients with COVID-19. Results In this nationwide cohort, nonsurvivors included a higher incidence of elderly people and subjects with coexisting chronic illness, dyspnea, and laboratory abnormalities on admission compared with survivors. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age ≥ 75 years (hazard ratio [HR], 7.86; 95% CI, 2.44-25.35), age between 65 and 74 years (HR, 3.43; 95% CI, 1.24-9.5), coronary heart disease (HR, 4.28; 95% CI, 1.14-16.13), cerebrovascular disease (HR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.07-8.94), dyspnea (HR, 3.96; 95% CI, 1.42-11), procalcitonin level > 0.5 ng/mL (HR, 8.72; 95% CI, 3.42-22.28), and aspartate aminotransferase level > 40 U/L (HR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.1-6.73) were independent risk factors associated with fatal outcome. A nomogram was established based on the results of multivariate analysis. The internal bootstrap resampling approach suggested the nomogram has sufficient discriminatory power with a C-index of 0.91 (95% CI, 0.85-0.97). The calibration plots also showed good consistency between the prediction and the observation. Interpretation The proposed nomogram accurately predicted clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19 based on individual characteristics. Earlier identification, more intensive surveillance, and appropriate therapy should be considered in patients at high risk.

Background Crucial roles of hematologic and immunologic responses in progression of COVID-19 remains largely unclear. Objective We sought to address the dynamic changes of hematologic and immunologic biomarkers and their associations with severity and outcomes of the disease. Methods A retrospective study including 548 COVID-19 patients with clarified outcome (discharged or deceased) from a national cohort in China was performed. Cross-sectional and longitudinal variations were compared and the associations with different severity and outcomes were analyzed. Results On admission, the counts of lymphocytes, T cell subsets, eosinophils and platelets decreased markedly, especially in severe/critical and fatal patients. Increased neutrophil count and neutrophils-to-lymphocytes ratio were predominant in severe/critical cases or non-survivors. During hospitalization, eosinophils, lymphocytes and platelets were shown an increasing trend in survivors, but maintained lower levels or dropped significantly afterwards in non-survivors. Non-survivors kept high level or showed an upward trend for neutrophils, IL-6, procalcitonin, D-dimer, amyloid A protein and C-reactive protein, which were kept stable or shown downward trend in survivors. Positive correlation between CD8+ T cell and lymphocytes count was found in survivors but not in non-survivors. A multivariate Cox regression model suggested that restored levels of lymphocytes, eosinophils and platelets could serve as the predictors for the recovery, while progressive increases in neutrophils, basophils and IL-6 were associated with fatal outcome. Conclusions Hematologic and immunologic impairment showed a significantly different profile between survivors and non-survivors in COVID-19 patients with different severity. The longitudinal variations of these biomarkers could serve to predict recovery or fatal outcome., Graphical abstract

Since December 2019, when coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) emerged in Wuhan city and rapidly spread throughout China, data have been needed on the clinical characteristics of the affected patients.We extracted data regarding 1099 patients with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 from 552 hospitals in 30 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in mainland China through January 29, 2020. The primary composite end point was admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), the use of mechanical ventilation, or death.The median age of the patients was 47 years; 41.9% of the patients were female. The primary composite end point occurred in 67 patients (6.1%), including 5.0% who were admitted to the ICU, 2.3% who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation, and 1.4% who died. Only 1.9% of the patients had a history of direct contact with wildlife. Among nonresidents of Wuhan, 72.3% had contact with residents of Wuhan, including 31.3% who had visited the city. The most common symptoms were fever (43.8% on admission and 88.7% during hospitalization) and cough (67.8%). Diarrhea was uncommon (3.8%). The median incubation period was 4 days (interquartile range, 2 to 7). On admission, ground-glass opacity was the most common radiologic finding on chest computed tomography (CT) (56.4%). No radiographic or CT abnormality was found in 157 of 877 patients (17.9%) with nonsevere disease and in 5 of 173 patients (2.9%) with severe disease. Lymphocytopenia was present in 83.2% of the patients on admission.During the first 2 months of the current outbreak, Covid-19 spread rapidly throughout China and caused varying degrees of illness. Patients often presented without fever, and many did not have abnormal radiologic findings. (Funded by the National Health Commission of China and others.).

ObjectiveTo evaluate the spectrum of comorbidities and its impact on the clinical outcome in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).DesignRetrospective case studiesSetting575 hospitals in 31 province/autonomous regions/provincial municipalities across ChinaParticipants1,590 laboratory-confirmed hospitalized patients. Data were collected from November 21st, 2019 to January 31st, 2020.Main outcomes and measuresEpidemiological and clinical variables (in particular, comorbidities) were extracted from medical charts. The disease severity was categorized based on the American Thoracic Society guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia. The primary endpoint was the composite endpoints, which consisted of the admission to intensive care unit (ICU), or invasive ventilation, or death. The risk of reaching to the composite endpoints was compared among patients with COVID-19 according to the presence and number of comorbidities.ResultsOf the 1,590 cases, the mean age was 48.9 years. 686 patients (42.7%) were females. 647 (40.7%) patients were managed inside Hubei province, and 1,334 (83.9%) patients had a contact history of Wuhan city. Severe cases accounted for 16.0% of the study population. 131 (8.2%) patients reached to the composite endpoints. 399 (25.1%) reported having at least one comorbidity. 269 (16.9%), 59 (3.7%), 30 (1.9%), 130 (8.2%), 28 (1.8%), 24 (1.5%), 21 (1.3%), 18 (1.1%) and 3 (0.2%) patients reported having hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, hepatitis B infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney diseases, malignancy and immunodeficiency, respectively. 130 (8.2%) patients reported having two or more comorbidities. Patients with two or more comorbidities had significantly escalated risks of reaching to the composite endpoint compared with those who had a single comorbidity, and even more so as compared with those without (all PConclusionComorbidities are present in around one fourth of patients with COVID-19 in China, and predispose to poorer clinical outcomes.HighlightsWhat is already known on this topic-Since November 2019, the rapid outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has recently become a public health emergency of international concern. There have been 79,331 laboratory-confirmed cases and 2,595 deaths globally as of February 25th, 2020-Previous studies have demonstrated the association between comorbidities and other severe acute respiratory diseases including SARS and MERS.-No study with a nationwide representative cohort has demonstrated the spectrum of comorbidities and the impact of comorbidities on the clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19.What this study adds-In this nationwide study with 1,590 patients with COVID-19, comorbidities were identified in 399 patients. Comorbidities of COVID-19 mainly included hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, hepatitis B infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney diseases, malignancy and immunodeficiency.-The presence of as well as the number of comorbidities predicted the poor clinical outcomes (admission to intensive care unit, invasive ventilation, or death) of COVID-19.-Comorbidities should be taken into account when estimating the clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19 on hospital admission.

BackgroundSince December 2019, acute respiratory disease (ARD) due to 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerged in Wuhan city and rapidly spread throughout China. We sought to delineate the clinical characteristics of these cases.MethodsWe extracted the data on 1,099 patients with laboratory-confirmed 2019-nCoV ARD from 552 hospitals in 31 provinces/provincial municipalities through January 29th, 2020.ResultsThe median age was 47.0 years, and 41.90% were females. Only 1.18% of patients had a direct contact with wildlife, whereas 31.30% had been to Wuhan and 71.80% had contacted with people from Wuhan. Fever (87.9%) and cough (67.7%) were the most common symptoms. Diarrhea is uncommon. The median incubation period was 3.0 days (range, 0 to 24.0 days). On admission, ground-glass opacity was the typical radiological finding on chest computed tomography (50.00%). Significantly more severe cases were diagnosed by symptoms plus reverse-transcriptase polymerase-chain-reaction without abnormal radiological findings than non-severe cases (23.87% vs. 5.20%, PConclusionsThe 2019-nCoV epidemic spreads rapidly by human-to-human transmission. Normal radiologic findings are present among some patients with 2019-nCoV infection. The disease severity (including oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, blood leukocyte/lymphocyte count and chest X-ray/CT manifestations) predict poor clinical outcomes.

Background: Whether extended lymphadenectomy for right colon cancer leads to increased perioperative complications or improves survival is still controversial. This multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of complete mesocolic excision (CME) versus D2 dissection in laparoscopic right hemicolectomy for patients with right colon cancer. Methods: This superiority phase III trial was undertaken at 17 hospitals in 9 provinces of China. Patients with adenocarcinoma located between the cecum and the right third of the transverse colon, without evidence of distant metastases, were randomly assigned (in a 1:1 ratio) to receive either CME or D2 dissection during laparoscopic right colectomy. Morbidity and mortality in the first 30 days after surgery were compared between the two groups using a modified intention-to-treat (mITT) analysis. Findings: A total of 1072 patients were enrolled between January 11, 2016, and December 26, 2019. Of these patients, 995 (495 CME patients, 500 D2 patients) were included in the mITT analysis. The 30-day postoperative morbidity rate was 19·6% in the CME group vs. 21·8% in the D2 group (difference, -2·2% [95%CI, -0·07, - 0·03]; P = 0·34); no deaths occurred in either group. The CME procedures harvested significantly more lymph nodes (26·0 vs 23·0, difference, 3·4 [95%CI, 2·0, 4·9]; P

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is evolving rapidly worldwide.ObjectiveTo evaluate the risk of serious adverse outcomes in patients with COVID-19 by stratifying the comorbidity status.MethodsWe analysed data from 1590 laboratory confirmed hospitalised patients from 575 hospitals in 31 provinces/autonomous regions/provincial municipalities across mainland China between 11 December 2019 and 31 January 2020. We analysed the composite end-points, which consisted of admission to an intensive care unit, invasive ventilation or death. The risk of reaching the composite end-points was compared according to the presence and number of comorbidities.ResultsThe mean age was 48.9 years and 686 (42.7%) patients were female. Severe cases accounted for 16.0% of the study population. 131 (8.2%) patients reached the composite end-points. 399 (25.1%) reported having at least one comorbidity. The most prevalent comorbidity was hypertension (16.9%), followed by diabetes (8.2%). 130 (8.2%) patients reported having two or more comorbidities. After adjusting for age and smoking status, COPD (HR (95% CI) 2.681 (1.424–5.048)), diabetes (1.59 (1.03–2.45)), hypertension (1.58 (1.07–2.32)) and malignancy (3.50 (1.60–7.64)) were risk factors of reaching the composite end-points. The hazard ratio (95% CI) was 1.79 (1.16–2.77) among patients with at least one comorbidity and 2.59 (1.61–4.17) among patients with two or more comorbidities.ConclusionAmong laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19, patients with any comorbidity yielded poorer clinical outcomes than those without. A greater number of comorbidities also correlated with poorer clinical outcomes.

According to the characteristics of the Energy and Power Engineering(EPE) specialty, combined with the demand of energy enterprises, a new mode for practice education is proposed in this article to settle the problems of now. Through practical application, it is proved that the mode has remarkable effect on improving students’ scientific quality, innovative spirit and practical ability.

Background At present, there remains a lack of a reliable indicator for monitoring renal function in patients with hyperuricemia. Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of diffusion kurtosis imaging in the assessment of renal function in patients with hyperuricemia. Material and Methods A total of 75 male participants, including 25 with asymptomatic hyperuricemia, 25 with gouty arthritis, and 25 age-matched male healthy controls, were enrolled in this study. Diffusion kurtosis imaging data were acquired to derive axial (Ka), radial (Kr), and mean kurtosis (MK), fractional anisotropy, axial (Da), radial (Dr), and mean diffusivity (MD) for comparisons among the three groups. They were also correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Results The MK values of the renal cortex and medulla and Kr value of the renal medulla in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricemia and gouty arthritis significantly increased compared with those in the controls ( P Conclusion Diffusion kurtosis imaging is feasible in the assessment of the early changes of renal cortex and medulla in patients with hyperuricemia.

Objective: Patients with diabetes mellitus, diabetic nephropathy (DN) and healthy donor were analyzed to test whether the early DN patients can be detected using both blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) and diffusion tensor imaging. Methods: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of our hospital. MR images were acquired on a 3.0-Tesla MR system (Discovery MR750, General Electric, Milwaukee, WI). 30 diabetic patients were divided into NAU (normal to mildly increased albuminuria, N = 15) and MAU (moderately increased albuminuria, N = 15) group based on the absence or presence of microalbuminuria. 15 controls with sex- and age-matched were enrolled in the study. Prior to MRI scan, all participants were instructed to collect their fresh morning urine samples for quantitative measurement of urinary microalbumin and urinary creatinine. Then, the estimations of serum creatinine, serum uric acid, HbAlc and fasting plasma glucose as well as fundus examinations were performed in all subjects. Then, the values of albumin–creatinine ratio (ACR) and estimated glomerular filtration rate were also calculated. All subjects underwent renal diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and BOLD acquisition after fasting for 4 h. Regions of interest were placed in renal medulla and cortex for evaluating apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional anisotropy (FA) and R2* values by two experienced radiologists. The consistency between the two observations was estimated using intragroup correlation coefficients. To test differences in ADC, FA and R2* values across the three groups, the data were analyzed using separate one-way ANOVAs. Post-hoc pair wise comparisons were then performed using t-test. To investigate the clinical relevance of imaging parameters in both regions across the three groups, the correlations of values of the ACR/estimated glomerular filtration rate and of the ADC/FA/R2* were calculated. Results: There was a high level of consistency of those ADC, FA and R2* values across the three groups on both renal cortex and medulla measured by the two doctors. The FA value of medulla in MAU group was lower than that in control (p < 0.01). The R2* value of medulla in the NAU group was higher than that in the control (p < 0.01), and the R2* value of medulla in the MAU group was lower than that in the control (p = 0.009) . Moreover, the current study revealed a decreasing trend in FA values of the renal medulla from the control group to NAU and MAU groups. Finally, a weak negatively correlation between medullary R2* and ACR was found in current study. Conclusion: Medullary R2* value might be a new more sensitive predictor of early DN. Meanwhile, BOLD imaging detected the medullary hypoxia at the simply diabetic stage, while DTI didn’t identify the medullary directional diffusion changes at this stage. Based on our assumption mentioned above, it’s presumable that BOLD imaging may be more sensitive for assessment of the early renal function changes than DTI. These imaging techniques are more accurate and practical than conventional tests. Advances in knowledge: Non-invasive MRI was used to detect renal function changes at early DN stage.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate tolvaptan as a novel therapeutic option for Chinese patients with liver cirrhosis-associated ascites in a phase 2 clinical trial. METHODS This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial was conducted in patients with insufficient responses to combination therapies of an oral loop diuretic and an aldosterone antagonist. Reduction in body weight and abdominal circumference, increase in 24-h cumulative urine volume and improvement in serum sodium level from baseline to the end of treatment in the tolvaptan groups (15 mg/day or 30 mg/day orally) were compared with those in the placebo group. Drug safety was also assessed. RESULTS Sixty-two patients were allocated to the placebo group, 56 to the tolvaptan 15-mg group and 63 to the tolvaptan 30-mg group. Their mean changes in body weight were -0.5 ± 1.6 kg, -2.1 ± 2.0 kg and -1.9 ± 2.0 kg, respectively. Body weight reductions in both tolvaptan groups were significantly greater than that in the placebo group (difference -1.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] -2.5 to -0.8, and difference -1.4, 95% CI, -2.2 to -0.7, both P

In order to monitor the gas leakage, the gas sensors are deployed conventionally in chemical industry park, with little considerations given to the gas characteristics and weather conditions, which give rise to the problems of coverage hole and coverage repetition. To solve the problems, this paper proposes a deterministic sensor deployment method with the gas diffusion models which takes into account wind speed and direction and then studies the influence of wind speed and direction on the monitoring error of gas sensors. Then, we research the deterministic deployment method of gas sensors in condition of the main wind speed and direction somewhere. Firstly, we use the CFD theory to simulate the gas diffusion situation so as to obtain the concentration value of the relevant points. Secondly, we put forward a new optimization criterion, namely, the more alarm concentration points covered by gas sensors, the coverage performance is better, and the deployment method is better. Accordingly, a new objection function is built. Thirdly, we obtain the weight values of the function using entropy estimation method. Finally, we deploy the gas sensors determinately using particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed method can improve the monitoring efficiency and the coverage performance of gas sensor network.

We extend the concept of cost-efficiency of Dybvig (1988) to account for benchmarks and provide a generalization of the efficiency test from Amin and Kat (2003). We illustrate the new efficiency test by ranking a panel of hedge funds based on their probability distribution and their interaction with a benchmark.

Symmetric continuously tunable three-dimensional (3D) liquid photonic crystals have been investigated using self-organized blue-phase liquid crystal films. The photonic band gap in the overall visible spectrum can be tuned continuously, reversibly, and rapidly as the applied electric field changes. After driven by the applied field, four-time enhancement of the reflectivity results in more vivid reflection colors. A lasing emission of tuning working wavelength has been demonstrated by using the dye-doped blue-phase liquid crystal film. With the advantages of fast response speed, no alignment layer, large-scale electrically shift of the photonic band gap, and macro optical isotropy, this self-assembled soft material has many potential applications in high-performance reflective full-color display, 3D tunable lasers, and nonlinear optics.

Background Chronic endometritis (CE) is a condition which results in reduced receptivity of embryos by dysregulated lymphocyte subsets, abnormal expression of cytokines, chemokines and other regulatory molecules in the endometrium (EM). Macroautophagy (autophagy), the highly conserved cellular homeostasis pathway, plays an essential role in the development and function of T lymphocytes, and supports T cell lineage stability and survival fitness. The possible relationships between autophagy and local cytokine milieus in repeated implantation failure (RIF) with CE have not been elucidated yet. Methods This case-control study was performed at a large reproductive medicine center between February 2015 and July 2016. Seventy-five recurrent implantation falliure women with CE who had “strawberry aspect” and 75 women with male factor infertility were included. In this study, endometrial expressions of IL-17, IL-10, TGF-β and autophagy related molecules, including LC3-II and mTORC1 were investigated by qRT-PCR, Western blot, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry assays. Results The expression of IL-17 was significantly higher in patients with CE compared to women with male factor infertility, while the expressions of IL-10 and TGF-β were significantly lower. Moreover, the expression of autophagy (LC3-II) is increased, while the expression of mTORC1 was impaired. Conclusions CE is associated with shifted cytokine milieu towards Th17 over Treg immunity in endometrium through impaired autophagy by decreased mTORC1.

BackgroundDuring the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), consistent and considerable differences in disease severity and mortality rate of patients treated in Hubei province compared to those in other parts of China have been observed. We sought to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients being treated inside and outside Hubei province, and explore the factors underlying these differences.MethodsCollaborating with the National Health Commission, we established a retrospective cohort to study hospitalised COVID-19 cases in China. Clinical characteristics, the rate of severe events and deaths, and the time to critical illness (invasive ventilation or intensive care unit admission or death) were compared between patients within and outside Hubei. The impact of Wuhan-related exposure (a presumed key factor that drove the severe situation in Hubei, as Wuhan is the epicentre as well the administrative centre of Hubei province) and the duration between symptom onset and admission on prognosis were also determined.ResultsAt the data cut-off (31 January 2020), 1590 cases from 575 hospitals in 31 provincial administrative regions were collected (core cohort). The overall rate of severe cases and mortality was 16.0% and 3.2%, respectively. Patients in Hubei (predominantly with Wuhan-related exposure, 597 (92.3%) out of 647) were older (mean age 49.7 versus 44.9 years), had more cases with comorbidity (32.9% versus 19.7%), higher symptomatic burden, abnormal radiologic manifestations and, especially, a longer waiting time between symptom onset and admission (5.7 versus 4.5 days) compared with patients outside Hubei. Patients in Hubei (severe event rate 23.0% versus 11.1%, death rate 7.3% versus 0.3%, HR (95% CI) for critical illness 1.59 (1.05–2.41)) have a poorer prognosis compared with patients outside Hubei after adjusting for age and comorbidity. However, among patients outside Hubei, the duration from symptom onset to hospitalisation (mean 4.4 versus 4.7 days) and prognosis (HR (95%) 0.84 (0.40–1.80)) were similar between patients with or without Wuhan-related exposure. In the overall population, the waiting time, but neither treated in Hubei nor Wuhan-related exposure, remained an independent prognostic factor (HR (95%) 1.05 (1.01–1.08)).ConclusionThere were more severe cases and poorer outcomes for COVID-19 patients treated in Hubei, which might be attributed to the prolonged duration of symptom onset to hospitalisation in the epicentre. Future studies to determine the reason for delaying hospitalisation are warranted.

We demonstrated a fast switchable dual-model grating based on a polymer-stabilized sphere phase liquid crystal. To form binary periodicity layers, the polymer-stabilized sphere phase liquid crystal precursor was sequence ultraviolet cured at an isotropic and sphere phase. This grating jointly modulated both the phase and the amplitude, had six times the diffraction efficiency of that fabricated with polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal. Moreover, the dual-model tunable grating shown polarization-independent and submillisecond response time, which may hold a great potential application in diffractive optics.

A simple method of fabricating Co-containing anodic aluminum oxide films for multifunctional anti-counterfeit technology is reported. The films display highly saturated colors after being synthesized by an ac electrodeposition method. Tunable color in the films is obtained by adjusting anodization time, and can be adjusted across the entire visible range. Magnetic measurements indicate that such colored composite films show excellent magnetic properties. The resulted short (310 nm in length) and wide (50 nm in diameter) Co nanowires present only hexagonal close-packed phase, with the coercivity and squareness ratio as high as 1.2 × 105 A/m and 0.803, respectively. The magnetization reversal mechanism is in good agreement with coherent rotation model. The color and magnetic properties remain the same over a wide temperature range. The Co-containing anodic aluminum oxide films with structural color and perpendicular magnetic recording properties have friability-resistant feature and could be used in many areas including decoration, display and multifunctional anti-counterfeiting applications.

With very high resolution satellite (VHRS) imagery of 0.5 m, WorldView-2 (WV02) satellite images have been widely used in the field of surveying and mapping. However, for the specific WV02 satellite image geometric orientation model, there is a lack of detailed research and explanation. This paper elaborates the construction process of the WV02 satellite rigorous sensor model (RSM), which considers the velocity aberration, the optical path delay and the atmospheric refraction. We create a new physical inverse model based on a double-iterative method. Through this inverse method, we establish the virtual control grid in the object space to calculate the rational function model (RFM) coefficients. In the RFM coefficient calculation process, we apply the correcting characteristic value method (CCVM) and least squares (LS) method to compare the two experiments’ accuracies. We apply two stereo pairs of WV02 Level 1B products in Qinghai, China to verify the algorithm and test image positioning accuracy. Under the no-control conditions, the monolithic horizontal mean square error (RMSE) of the rational polynomial coefficient (RPC) is 3.8 m. This result is 13.7% higher than the original RPC positioning accuracy provided by commercial vendors. The stereo pair horizontal positioning accuracy of both the physical and RPC models is 5.0 m circular error 90% (CE90). This result is in accordance with the WV02 satellite images nominal positioning accuracy. This paper provides a new method to improve the positioning accuracy of the WV02 satellite image RPC model without GCPs.

Liquid-crystal display technology is ubiquitous, but these materials can also be used to make electrically tunable components for optics and photonics. The authors demonstrate voltage control of the wavelength of flexoelectric domains in a transmissive diffraction grating, which enables dynamic light steering. They prove that the mechanism of pattern onset differs from that of switching between flexodomain states, and they explain the surprising finding that the response to increasing voltage is much slower than that to decreasing voltage.

In classification of fashion article images based on e-commerce image recommendation system, the classification accuracy and computation time cannot meet the actual requirements. Herein, for the first time to our knowledge, we present two diverse image recognition approaches for classification of fashion article images called random-forest method based on genetic algorithm (GA-RF) and Visual Geometry Group-Image Enhancement algorithm (VGG-IE) to solve classification accuracy and computation time problem. In GA-RF, the number of segmentation times and the decision trees are the key factors affecting the classification results. Improved genetic algorithm is introduced into the parameter optimization of forests to determine the optimal combination of the two parameters with minimal manual intervention. Finally, we propose six different Deep Neural Network architectures, including VGG-IE, to improve classification accuracy. The VGG-IE algorithm uses batch normalization and seven kinds training-data augmentation for ease and promotion of learning process. We investigate the effectiveness of the proposed method using Fashion-MNIST dataset and 70[Formula: see text]000 pictures, Experimental results demonstrate that, in comparison with the state-of-the-art algorithms for 10 categories of image recognition, our VGG algorithm has the shortest computational time when it satisfies certain classification accuracy. VGG-IE approach has the highest classification accuracy.

Background: Uterine fibroids represent the most common gynecological benign tumors in reproductive females. Acupuncture has been applied as a therapeutic modality in China to treat uterine fibroids. However, currently, few critical systematic reviews regarding the effect of acupuncture on uterine fibroids have been published. Our proposed review aims to evaluate the current evidence on the efficacy of acupuncture for uterine fibroids. Methods: A total of 7 databases were searched from their inception to December 2018, including PubMed, Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database, the Chinese Biomedical database, and the Wanfang database. The primary outcomes will be reduction in uterine volume and number of fibroids. Secondary outcomes are pelvic or low-back pain, assessed by Visual Analog Scale (VAS); Irregular menstrual periods; Low-abdominal pressure symptoms such as frequent or urgent urination, or constipation and adverse events. Data synthesis will be computed by RevManV.5.3.5 software when a data-analysis is allowed. Methodological quality will be evaluated with the risk of bias according to Cochrane Handbook. Results: This study will provide high-quality evidence of acupuncture for uterine fibroids. Conclusion: The conclusion of this systematic review will provide evidence to judge whether acupuncture is an effective therapeutic intervention for patients with uterine fibroids. Trial registration number: PROSPERO CRD42019120484.

The fully-leaky waveguide technique has been used to explore the director of inverse twisted nematic liquid crystal cell. The reflection data, including all the polarization-conserving signals Rpp and Rss as well as the polarization-conversion signals Rsp and Rps, are recorded under various voltages applied to the cell of 0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, and 7.0V (rms), at a frequency of 1kHz. We found that this technique was sensitive to the director changes, especially for the polarization-conversion signals. Then by fitting angle-dependent reflectivity data to modeling theory, the arrangement of the director and some importance parameters of liquid crystal cell are obtained. It is proved that the reflectivity of fully-leaky waveguide mode can give the imperceptibility change in the cell.

This article mainly expounds that deepening of teaching reform in higher education and improvement of personnel training quality are important initiatives to strengthen the quality of higher education connotation construction, to improve students' practical and innovative ability, and to satisfy people in the new period. By being effectively consistent with social needs, mechanical major is more closely combined with mechanical engineering characteristics which meet the diverse demand of engineering talents. Cultivating project suitable to diversification of innovation talents is revised. Curriculum group and practical teaching system of creation and execution in parallel are established. We adhere to the people-centered notion and set ability training as the core, quality as the goal, the accumulation of knowledge as the basis to enhance the innovative ability of college students of mechanical engineering steadily.

This paper proposes an improved artificial bee colony algorithm named Weighted Global ABC (WGABC) algorithm, which is designed to improve the convergence speed in the search stage of solution search equation. The new method not only considers the effect of global factors on the convergence speed in the search phase, but also provides the expression of global factor weights. Experiment on benchmark functions proved that the algorithm can improve the convergence speed greatly. We arrive at the gas diffusion concentration based on the theory of CFD and then simulate the gas diffusion model with the influence of buildings based on the algorithm. Simulation verified the effectiveness of the WGABC algorithm in improving the convergence speed in optimal deployment scheme of gas sensors. Finally, it is verified that the optimal deployment method based on WGABC algorithm can improve the monitoring efficiency of sensors greatly as compared with the conventional deployment methods.

Background: The present study investigated the prevalence of refractive error, visual impairment, and eye diseases in school-aged children in western China.Methods: The survey was done in a representative county (Yongchuan District, Chongqing Municipality) of western China. Cluster random sampling was used to select children aged 6 to 15 years. We conducted door-to-door surveys and eye examinations including optometry, stereoscopic vision test, eye position and eye movement, slit lamp examination of the anterior segment, retinoscopy, and fundus examination after cycloplegia with 1% cyclopentolate.Results: Among 3469 children, data were available for 3079 (88.76%). The prevalences of eye diseases were, in descending order, refractive error (20.69%; 637/3079), conjunctivitis (11.76%; 362/3079), amblyopia (1.88%; 58/3079), color vision defect (0.52%; 16/3079), keratitis (0.36%; 11/3079), strabismus (0.29%; 9/3079), cataract (0.23%; 7/3079), pathologic myopia (0.19%; 6/3079), and ocular trauma (0.13%; 4/3079). The prevalence of corneal leucoma, corneal staphyloma, optic neuropathy, macular degeneration, and myelinated nerve fibers was 0.03% (1/3079) for each. The prevalence of visual impairment was 7.70% (237/3079), and the major causes of visual impairment were uncorrected refractive error (86.08%; 204/237), amblyopia (9.70%; 23/237), pathologic myopia (1.27%; 3/237), congenital cataract (0.42%; 1/237), and others (2.11%; 5/237).Conclusions: Among school-aged children in a less developed area of western China, refractive error was the most prevalent eye disorder, and uncorrected refractive error was the main cause of visual impairment.

By means of the full leaky guided mode technique, the transmittance of the full leaky waveguide geometry which consists of pyramid, matching fluid of refractivity, the vertical alignment nematic liquid crystal cell are investigated experimentally. The experimental curves with different voltages between polarization-conserving transmittance Tss and the internal angle (the angle of incidence for which light is incident on the vertical alignment liquid crystal cell) are obtained. Comparing these experimental curves with the theoretical curves obtained from multi-layer optics theory, the director profile of vertical alignment nematic liquid crystal cell for different voltages is determined.

Black silicon was fabricated on a pyramid silicon surface via reactive ion etching (RIE) through a Cu micromask formed by a sputtering and annealing process. This adopted RIE technique does not rely on oxygen gas avoiding the silicon surface damage from oxygen plasma. Scanning electron microscopy and an UV–vis-NIR spectrophotometer were used to characterise the morphology and optical reflectance of the prepared samples with porous structures on a pyramid. The results show that the homogeneity of the Cu micromask controlled by the annealing condition determines the reflectance of the textured silicon wafer. A lowest reflectance of 6.2% appears in the samples with sputtered Cu thin film annealed at a temperature of 500°C for 10 min. This work may provide a choice to fabricate black silicon with an excellent light confinement structure, which will have potential application for the improvement of efficiency of silicon solar cells.

Objective: This study investigated the distribution pattern of refractive status and prevalence of refractive errors in school-age children in Western China to determine the possible environmental factors. Methods: A random sampling strategy in geographically defined clusters was used to identify children aged 6-15 years in Yongchuan, a socio-economically representative area in Western China. We carried out a door-to-door survey and actual eye examinations, including visual acuity measurements, stereopsis examination, anterior segment and eyeball movements, fundus examinations, and cycloplegic retinoscopy with 1% cyclopentolate. Results: A total of 3469 children living in 2552 households were selected, and 3070 were examined. The distributions of refractive status were positively-skewed for 6-8-year-olds, and negatively-skewed for 9-12 and 13-15-year-olds. The prevalence of hyperopia (≥+2.00 D spherical equivalent [SE]), myopia (≤-0.50 D SE), and astigmatism (≥1.00 diopter of cylinder [DC]) were 3.26%, 13.75%, and 3.75%, respectively. As children's ages increased, the prevalence rate of hyperopia decreased (P

In this paper a new control method has been studied in which PID control system was integrated into the neural network. It could overcome some disadvantages such as neural network’s slow rate of convergence and PID’s difficulty in application of multivariate nonlinear systems. A controller of the Electro-hydraulic proportional control stroking mechanism for radial piston pump was designed based on the PID neural network control algorithm. The system responses of system variable control signal of system track were achieved by computer simulation. It was found by PIDNN that the control system could reach steady state in a shorter time, compared with PID control system response time by 65% to 80%. The simulation results showed that the controller for the Electro-hydraulic proportional Radial Piston Pump based PID neural network control algorithm would have a good controlling performance.

Fukuda et al. reexamined the Berreman's model which attributes the surface anchoring to the elastic distortion of the uniaxial nematic liquid crystal induced by the grooves of a surface. They showed that at the variance with the assumption made in the original approach of Berreman, the azimuthal distortion of the director cannot be considered as negligibly small. Now this method is generalized to the biaxial nematic liquid crystals, with some approximations for the elastic constants. We obtain an additional term in the elastic distortion energy per unit area which depends on the second power of the cosine of the angle made between the main director n at infinity and the direction of the surface grooves. This additional term describes the distortion energy of the minor director m induced by the surface grooves when the n director is anchored exactly along the grooves. We have studied the stability of the n director around the grooves, and in one-constant model for each director the stability condition is t...

Electro-optical properties of polymer-stabilized sphere phase liquid crystal (PS-SPLC) switching devices are analyzed and validated experimentally. The experimental results show the voltage-dependent transmittance curves of PS-SPLC devices. A diffraction approach, called extended anomalous diffraction approach, is proposed to fit the experimental data. Good agreement between experiment and model is obtained. The scattering model provides practical guidance for the improvement of PS-SPLC displays performance and optimization.

To compare disease-free survival (DFS) between extramural vascular invasion (EMVI)-positive and -negative colon cancer patients evaluated by computed tomography (CT).Colon cancer patients (n = 194) undergoing curative surgery between January 2009 and December 2013 were included. Each patient's demographics, cancer characteristics, EMVI status, pathological status and survival outcomes were recorded. All included patients had been routinely monitored until December 2015. EMVI was defined as tumor tissue within adjacent vessels beyond the colon wall as seen on enhanced CT. Disease recurrence was defined as metachronous metastases, local recurrence, or death due to colon cancer. Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to compare DFS between the EMVI-positive and -negative groups. Cox's proportional hazards models were used to measure the impact of confounding variables on survival rates.EMVI was observed on CT (ctEMVI) in 60 patients (30.9%, 60/194). One year after surgery, there was no statistically significant difference regarding the rates of progressive events between EMVI-positive and -negative patients [11.7% (7/60) and 6.7% (9/134), respectively; P = 0.266]. At the study endpoint, the EMVI-positive patients had significantly more progressive events than the EMVI-negative patients [43.3% (26/60) and 14.9% (20/134), respectively; odds ratio = 4.4, P0.001]. Based on the Kaplan-Meier method, the cumulative 1-year DFS rates were 86.7% (95%CI: 82.3-91.1) and 92.4% (95%CI: 90.1-94.7) for EMVI-positive and EMVI-negative patients, respectively. The cumulative 3-year DFS rates were 49.5% (95%CI: 42.1-56.9) and 85.8% (95%CI: 82.6-89.0), respectively. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that ctEMVI was an independent predictor of DFS with a hazard ratio of 2.15 (95%CI: 1.12-4.14, P = 0.023).ctEMVI may be helpful when evaluating disease progression in colon cancer patients.

Managing and protecting prime cropland requires the integration of a large amount of high-quality data from a variety of sources. Due to the limitations of labour-consuming and low-efficiency in cropland protecting processes implementation by traditional approaches, an integrated management information system of crucial importance when conducting a successful protection policy. This paper represents the methodology of design and development of Suzhou prime cultivated land management information system using ArcGIS Developer Kit. A mixed mode of C/S and B/S was used to design system framework. The B/S module ( a internet GIS) , mainly for public users, aimed at the land map publishing and general data query, moreover, the C/S part supply the specialized users with the functionality of data management and professional analysis. The two different subsystems separately connected to the same geodatabase through ArcSDE engine. The database was established in a remote server to ensure the consistency of the data and provide the subordinate access through the special data line on the Internet. Some key functions realization were described detailedly including the map publishing using ArcServer, the dynamic management of occupy tocsin, the intelligent land complementing, and the historical backtracking and browse based on the ArcSDE version management technology.

Land subsidence has become one of the incontestable environmental disasters in North China Plain, which has a strong negative impact on the development of local community economy. In order to study the current situation and evolving tendency of subsidence, and accordingly to enhance the level of subsidence prevention and control, a custom-built information system was determined to be developed. This paper elaborates the overall process of software development from the system architecture design to functionality implementation. A mixing mode of C/S and B/S was applied to increase the using flexibility of the system. The subsystem based on C/S mode, for specialized users, was run in Intranet with characteristics of high speed, powerful functionality and tight security, and the other subsystem based on B/S was designed for public users with less functionality in Internet and Browse environment. These two seeming independent subsystems connect a same spatial dataset through ArcGIS SDE technology, in which all the spatial data was organized and stored in Geodatabase model. In C/S subsystem, a methodology of table data relating and filtering was used to regionalize the discrete spatio-temporal field monitoring data. Our subsidence information Management system facilitates to share data socially, provide end-users a cost-saving solution to access up-to-date spatial datasets customized for a specific topic to different users with limited or enough GIS knowledge.

Wuhan City located in the central of China and its climate was hot summer and cold winter. Heat pump air-conditioners were main equipments for heating or cooling in Wuhan City. Solar assisted heat pump was an energy conservation technology. However, the development and application of solar assisted heat pump at residential buildings was limited by many factors, such as sunshine duration, system construction, running model and solar energy collector, etc. Therefore, a study of analysis for the application of solar assisted heat pump system was carried out to analysis its economical efficiency and applicability in Wuhan City. The general influencing factors on the running of solar assisted heat pump were discussed. The result showed that Solar assisted heat pump could reduce the limitation of solar energy heater and heat pump, especially in heating model in winter. Solar assisted heat pump could improve the performance of heat pump system and the utilization ratio of solar energy.

Air conditioner electric load was the most significant factor for residential electrical peak load. Outdoor environmental parameters such as outdoor air temperature and humidity might have effect on air conditioner electric load. A field testing was carried out in Wuhan to study the relationship among residential electric load, outdoor air temperature and humidity. The result showed that the changing of air conditioner electric load was closed to outdoor air temperature and there were linear relationship in some temperature zone. However, it had a little effect on daily basic electric load. There was no evident indicate that humidity had directly effect on air conditioner electric load and basic electric load with the testing data.

Because of the coexistence of multi-PKl in multi-domains of active networks, the implementation of authentication for such multi-domains becomes one of the most important issues in active network security. This paper proposes an authentication model and designs a suit of protocols to tackle this important issue. The proposed model supports mutual entity authentication between multi-type domains and is suitable for practical implementation of authentication in active networks.

Acupuncture has been used in China for thousands of years to maintain the health status and treat diseases by adjusting and balancing the negative, Yin, and positive, Yang, energy. It has also been used to treat different types of pain disorders. In this chapter, the effort will be devoted to summarize the scientific basis for its use in pain control. The discussion will be divided into the following sections: the current knowledge of acute and chronic pain mechanisms possible explanation for acupuncture/electro-acupuncture (EA) effect on these mechanisms, and the critical and scientific review on highly discriminated clinical investigations for its effectiveness.