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BACKGROUND: According to statistics of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2017, the second leading cause of death in Taiwan was lung cancer. OBJECTIVE: Routine treatment planning does not consider photoneutron dose equivalent (PNDE) of patient induced secondary radiation resulting from primary exposure of lung cancer. However, such treatment is potentially important for improving estimates of health risks. METHODS: This study used 10, 30, 50, 70, and 90 kg of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) phantoms as patient to measure PNDE varying anatomical area during lung cancer of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) treatment. Paired thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD-600 and 700) were calibrated using university reactor neutrons. TLDs were inserted into phantom which was closely corresponded of the represented tissues or organs. RESULTS: Neutron doses (ND) of organ or tissue (N⁢DT) were determined in these phantoms using paired TLDs approach. The risks of incurring fatal secondary malignancies, maximum statistical and total errors were estimated. Evaluated PNDE ranged from 0.80 ± 0.12 to 0.56 ± 0.08 mSv/Gy for these phantoms. CONCLUSION: The estimated N⁢DT decreased with increasing distance that is from the central axis. Evaluated PNDE and N⁢D𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑛 for these phantoms were discussed. This investigation also identified secondary risks associated with PNDE relating to radiation protection.

On 22 May 2021, an Mw 7.4 earthquake struck Maduo, China, within the eastern Bayan Har block of the Tibetan plateau. The eastward-extruding Bayan Har block is marked by active seismicity along its boundary faults, including the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, but large earthquakes within the block are relatively rare. Thus, the Maduo earthquake could provide useful information about crustal deformation of the Tibetan plateau. Early reports, shortly after the earthquake, have suggested a sinistral strike-slip fault rupture, but the fault geometry and slip distribution vary in these models due to the limited observational constraints. Here, we reconstructed a model of fault geometry and coseismic slip using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and Global Positioning System data. A nonplanar fault model was constructed based on pixel-offset images and the optimized dip angle. The along-strike variation of the dip angle is small, so a single optimized dip is used. Our results suggest that the Maduo earthquake ruptured ∼156 km on a northwest-striking major fault that dips 78°, and ∼24 km on a minor southeast-striking fault that dips 64°. Most fault slip occurred above 15 km depth, and released a moment of ∼1.65×1020 N·m. Using the resolved fault source model, we calculated the change of coulomb failure stress in the region and on the neighboring faults. The Maduo earthquake highlighted intrablock deformation in the Tibetan plateau whereas numerous lithospheric blocks extrude along major strike-slip faults.

This review summarizes the application progress of conducting redox polymers with energy storage capability for different types of rechargeable batteries.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has posed severe threats to human health, public safety, and the global economy. Metal nutrient elements can directly or indirectly take part in human immune responses, and metal-related drugs have served as antiviral drugs and/or enzyme inhibitors for many years, providing potential solutions to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Metal-based drugs are currently under a variety of chemical structures and exhibit wide-range bioactivities, demonstrating irreplaceable advantages in pharmacology. This review is an intention to summarize recent progress in the prevention and treatment strategies against COVID-19 from the perspective of metal pharmacology. The current and potential utilization of metal-based drugs is briefly introduced. Specifically, metallohydrogels that have been shown to present superior antiviral activities are stressed in the paper as potential drugs for the treatment of COVID-19.由严重急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 引起的 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 对人类健康、公共安全和全球经济构成了严重威胁。金属营养元素可直接或间接参与人体免疫反应, 金属相关药物多年来一直作为抗病毒药物或酶抑制剂使用, 它们为预防和治疗 COVID-19 提供了潜在的解决方案。目前, 金属基药物具有多种化学结构, 表现出了广泛的生物活性, 在药理学上显示出不可替代的优势。本综述旨在从金属药理学的角度总结针对 COVID-19 的预防和治疗策略的最新进展。简要介绍了金属基药物的现状和潜在用途。特别地, 该综述强调了展现出优异抗病毒活性的金属水凝胶是治疗 COVID-19 的潜在药物。.

On 18 November 2017, an Mw 6.9 earthquake occurred in Milin, Tibet, with the epicenter at the top of the Namche Barwa syntaxis. This event did not produce surface ruptures, and its seismogenic structure remains unclear or controversial. Using the locations of the Milin mainshock and aftershocks, locations of regional small earthquakes and focal mechanism solutions from 2007 to 2009, this work analyzed the causative fault and tectonic setting of the Milin earthquake and assessed the regional seismic risk. The results suggest that the seismogenic structure of the Milin earthquake was a secondary fault, the southern branch of the XiXingla fault (XXLF). Within 28 hr after the mainshock, the aftershocks of the Milin event spread northeastward to the secondary north branch fault of the XXLF and the secondary south branch fault of the Palong–Pangxin fault. Across the top of the Namche Barwa syntaxis (Namche Barwa block) and the Chayu block in the southeast, an earthquake dense belt (EDB) has developed. This EDB has similar deep structures beneath the two blocks, in which several northeast-dipping structural planes exit, and different portions of the EDB imply a unified tectonic stress field. Combining these data with the foreshock–mainshock–aftershock data for the 1950 Mw 8.6 Chayu, Tibet, earthquake, we speculate that the structural planes produced by the EDB at depth in the two blocks have already been connected or tended to connect, resulting in a new fault system trending northwest and approximately 280 km long. The 2017 Mw 6.9 Milin earthquake occurred at the northwestern end of this fault system. At present, the development stage, maturity, and fine structure of this new fault system remain unclear but should receive additional attention. Based on its maximum rupture area, this new fault system is capable of generating an Mw 7.7 earthquake in the future.

Apple valsa canker (AVC), caused by Valsa mali, is one of the most important diseases of apple trees in China. AVC occurred severely along with cold winter or cold spring. However, the effect of lower temperature on V. mali is poorly understood. This study evaluated the influence of lower temperature pretreatment of V. mali on the infection of apple twigs and leaves. The results showed that exposing V. mali to lower temperatures (between –10°C and 10°C) for more than 18 h significantly increased the disease severity of apple leaves and twigs, with a higher lesion area ratio (LAR), lesion length, and disease incidence (DI) than that at 25°C. In addition, cold treatment ranging from –5°C to 10°C promoted colony growth. Meanwhile, the relative expression of four cell wall degrading enzyme (CWDE)-related genes pretreated at –5°C and 5°C were significantly higher than that at 25°C. The results indicated that the virulence of V. mali mycelium is sensitive to lower temperatures. After sensing lower temperature changes, V. mali can adjust its infection of apple trees by regulating the expression of pathogenicity gene and growth rate. Spring has very frequent temperature changes, and V. mali is highly invasive in this season. Therefore, more attention should be paid in spring to protecting apple trees from infection of V. mali, by reducing pruning wound formation in spring and applying protective agents to pruning wounds in time.

Microplastics widely exist in various environmental media and have become a global environmental problem. To investigate the pollution characteristics, deposition patterns, and influencing factors of microplastics in the sediments of bay beach, five typical beaches were selected in Xiamen Bay. According to the tidal variation, 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm sediment column samples were collected in layers at the high tide line, middle tide line, and low tide line at the same time, and the characteristics of the horizontal and vertical distribution of microplastics in the beach sediments were studied. The results showed that the abundance of microplastics in 45 sediment samples in Xiamen Bay beach ranged from 39 to 260 n·kg

SUMMARY This study introduces a novel method for computing post-seismic crustal internal deformation in a layered earth model. The surface dislocation Love number (DLN) calculated by the reciprocity theorem was implemented as the initial value. Furthermore, numerical integration of the value from the Earth's surface to the interior was undertaken to obtain the internal DLN. This method does not require a combination of the general solution and particular solution for the calculation of internal deformation above the seismic source, thus avoiding the loss of precision. When the post-seismic deformation within a certain period is calculated, the particular solutions at the beginning and end of the considered period cancel each other. This simplifies the calculation of post-seismic internal deformation. The numerical results depict that as the degrees increase, the post-seismic DLN reaches stability in a shorter interval of time. Thus, for improved efficiency of the post-seismic internal deformation calculation, the post-seismic DLNs should be calculated within 2000 degree and integrated with the coseismic results. As an application, the post-seismic Coulomb failure stress changes (∆CFS) induced by the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake in the near field around the Japanese archipelagos and two major faults in Northeast China were simulated. The results exhibit that the ∆CFS values in the near field agree well with those simulated by the method in a half-space layered earth model, thus verifying the present method. The coseismic ∆CFS on the Mishan-Dunhua fault in Northeast China, as an example, is only 0.094–0.668 KPa. However, the ∆CFS caused by the viscoelastic relaxation of the mantle within 5 yr following the 2011 Tohoku-Oki event on the same fault exceeds the coseismic results. Therefore, the cumulative effect of the viscoelastic relaxation of the mantle is deserving of attention.