Search

Dawoud, Osama (isu authors) Tang, Chao-Sheng/0000-0002-6419-6116; Dawoud, Osama/0000-0002-3138-0793; Jiang, Ningjun/0000-0001-6070-4307 Bio-mediated soil improvement involves the usage of microbes to improve soil engineering performance through a series of bio-geochemical processes. In particular, Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP), a ubiquitous bio-geochemical process that occurs in soil and results in permanent inorganic cementation between soil grains, has received the greatest research focus. While substantial progress has been made to develop MICP as a mainstream soil improvement technique, we still need to: (a) improve our understanding of the fundamental microbial, chemical and flow processes involved; (b) achieve multi-functionality by coupling engineering performance enhancement with ecological, environmental and carbon footprint benefits; and (c) maintain ecological balance and environmental friendliness, avoid long-term deterioration and lower the energy demand. Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu ProvinceJiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research FundsNatural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province [BK20170394]; Indo-US Science and Technology Forum [IUSSTF/JC-047/2018] Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, Grant/Award Number: BK20170394; Indo-US Science and Technology Forum, Grant/Award Number: IUSSTF/JC-047/2018 WOS:000508095900001 Q3

Background China has experienced a continuous decreasing trend in the incidence of hepatitis A in recent years. Temporal trend analyses are helpful in exploring the reasons for the changing trend. Thus, this study aims to analyse the incidence trend of viral hepatitis A by region and age group in mainland China from 2004 to 2017 to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention and control measures. Methods Data on hepatitis A and population information were collected and analysed with a joinpoint regression model. Annual percentage changes (APCs) and average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) were estimated for the whole country and for each region and age group. Results From 2004 to 2017, the seasonality and periodicity of hepatitis A case numbers were obvious before 2008 but gradually diminished from 2008 to 2011 and disappeared from 2012–2017. The national incidence of hepatitis A (AAPC = − 12.1%) and the incidence rates for regions and age groups showed decreasing trends, with differences in the joinpoints and segments. Regarding regions, the hepatitis A incidence in the western region was always the highest among all regions, while a nonsignificant rebound was observed in the northeastern region from 2011 to 2017 (APC = 14.2%). Regarding age groups, the hepatitis A incidence showed the fastest decrease among children (AAPC = − 15.3%) and the slowest decrease among elderly individuals (AAPC = − 6.6%). Among all segments, the hepatitis A incidence among children had the largest APC value in 2007–2017, at − 20.4%. Conclusion The national annual incidence of hepatitis A continually declined from 2004 to 2017 and the gaps in hepatitis A incidence rates across different regions and age groups were greatly narrowed. Comprehensive hepatitis A prevention and control strategies, including the use of routine vaccination during childhood in mainland China, especially the implementation of the national Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) in 2008, resulted in substantial progress from 2004 to 2017. However, gaps remain. Regular monitoring and analysis of hepatitis A epidemic data and prompt adjustment of hepatitis A prevention and control strategies focusing on children, elderly individuals and those living in certain regions are recommended.

To simplify the control structure and increase the anti-disturbance performance, a non-cascade control method for a permanent magnet synchronous motor drive system is studied, which regulates the speed and current in one loop. The proposed control scheme is a composite control strategy including speed-current single-loop feedback control and feedforward compensation based on disturbance estimation. A feedback controller based on backstepping sliding mode control is proposed to realise speed-current single-loop. Disturbance estimated by a third-order extended state observer is used in feedforward compensation. Rigorous analysis of stability is conducted to validate the convergence of the control scheme. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed control scheme achieves a better speed tracking performance and disturbance rejection property over proportional-integral-derivative and sliding mode control.

Microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a naturally occurring bio-mineralization process. The most widely explored MICP pathway is ureolysis. The most existing studies focus on introducing exogenous ureolytic bacteria. Stimulating native ureolytic bacteria in soil (bio-stimulation) is an alternative approach, which is more cost-saving and eco-friendly. Currently, there are only a few studies regarding bio-stimulation in calcareous beach sand and the rationale of selecting enrichment media has not yet been fully established. In the present study, a batch-type experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of enrichment medium type on bio-stimulation efficiency. Calcareous beach sand sampled from a beach in Hawaii was used in the experiment. Three enrichment media—yeast extract, malt extract and nutrient broth—each amended with four urea concentrations (i.e., 0, 50, 100 and 170 mM) were adopted to enrich native ureolytic bacteria in the beach sand. Ureolytic activity, electric conductivity, pH value and viable cell number were measured during the 72-h experimental period. The results showed that the selection of effective medium type and urea concentration depends on whether a particular enrichment medium can: (1) achieve the optimal pH range; (2) establish the dominance of ureolytic activity over other metabolic activities; and (3) stimulate sufficient amount of native soil bacteria (thus sufficient amount of ureolytic bacteria). Moreover, it is found that excessive nutrients and the addition of ammonium in the enrichment solution are beneficial to the bio-stimulation.

Triazide herbicides were widely used in China. Triazine herbicides belong to the environmental hormone and mainly affect the endocrine system, which have potential carcinogenic effects. Low content...

Durability of cement-based materials for marine/coastal structures is an increasingly challenging problem. Sulfate ions in seawater can react with aluminate in cement to form erosion products, caus...

Microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a natural bio-mediated process, which has been explored for soil stabilization and heavy metals immobilization in soil and groundwater. Previous studies have shown that MICP is capable of immobilizing various heavy metals including lead (Pb). However, most studies focus merely on the immobilization of heavy metals with relatively low concentration. This study: (1) presents results of an investigation into the toxic effects of Pb on bacterial activity and immobilization efficiency within a wide range of Pb concentrations; and (2) identifies controlling biotic and abiotic factors of Pb immobilization by MICP. In the first series of tests, bacterial strains (Sporosarcina pasteurii) are inoculated into nutrient solutions containing 0–50 mM Pb(NO3)2 and incubated at 30 °C. Biochemical parameters are measured over time, which include pH, electrical conductivity, urease activity, and viable cell number. In the second series of tests, grown bacterial strains are mixed with urea, calcium salts and Pb(NO3)2 in solution. Viable cell number, produced ammonium concentration, aqueous Pb concentration of the mixed solution, and total precipitation mass are measured. The results show that the presence of Pb has marginal effect on bacterial growth and associated urease activity at Pb concentration

Marine debris, which is often called microplastics, is widespread in marine environments, particularly in sediments, and is recognized as an environmental hazard because it concentrates contaminants, forms biofilms, and sinks into marine sediments. In sediments, it may be ingested by benthos and have a negative impact on higher food chain levels. In this study, a new protocol was developed to identify microplastics in various sediment fractions. This protocol combined sieving and staining based on ordinal geotechnical/geological testing methods. The sieving process was derived from the conventional particle size distribution test, and nontoxic dyes were employed in the staining process. The protocol is safe and easy to perform as it merely involves the use of conventional geological/geotechnical testing equipment. The new protocol was successfully employed to stain and categorize different types and sizes of microplastic particles from contaminated sediments. This safe, easy-to-use, and efficient protocol can serve as the basis for a new alternative approach to study microplastics present in sediments, which can be performed using basic materials familiar to geotechnical/geological engineers.

To observe the effectiveness and safety of electrothermal acupuncture therapy for patients of moderate to severe cancer pain withA total of 60 patients of moderate to severe cancer pain withThe variation of NRS scores in the observation group were larger than the control group 3, 5 days into treatment (On the basis of the conventional western medication for analgesia, electrothermal acupuncture could relieve pain, reduce the dose of opioid painkillers and improve the quality of life in patients of moderate to severe cancer pain with

Backgrounds Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most malignant tumors, of which prognosis is unsatisfactory in most cases and metastatic of HCC often results in poor prognosis. In this study, we aimed to construct a metastasis- related mRNAs prognostic model to increase the accuracy of prediction of HCC prognosis. Methods Three hundred seventy-four HCC samples and 50 normal samples were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, involving transcriptomic and clinical data. Metastatic-related genes were acquired from HCMBD website at the same time. Two hundred thirty-three samples were randomly divided into train dataset and test dataset with a proportion of 1:1 by using caret package in R. Kaplan-Meier method and univariate Cox regression analysis and lasso regression analysis were performed to obtain metastasis-related mRNAs which played significant roles in prognosis. Then, using multivariate Cox regression analysis, a prognostic prediction model was established. Transcriptome and clinical data were combined to construct a prognostic model and a nomogram for OS evaluation. Functional enrichment in high- and low-risk groups were also analyzed by GSEA. An entire set based on The International Cancer Genome Consortium(ICGC) database was also applied to verify the model. The expression levels of SLC2A1, CDCA8, ATG10 and HOXD9 are higher in tumor samples and lower in normal tissue samples. The expression of TPM1 in clinical sample tissues is just the opposite. Results One thousand eight hundred ninety-five metastasis-related mRNAs were screened and 6 mRNAs were associated with prognosis. The overall survival (OS)-related prognostic model based on 5 MRGs (TPM1,SLC2A1, CDCA8, ATG10 and HOXD9) was significantly stratified HCC patients into high- and low-risk groups. The AUC values of the 5-gene prognostic signature at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years were 0.786,0.786 and 0.777. A risk score based on the signature was a significantly independent prognostic factor (HR = 1.434; 95%CI = 1.275–1.612; P Conclusion Metastasis-related mRNAs prognostic model was verified that it had a predictable value on the prognosis of HCC, which could be helpful for gene targeted therapy.

It is difficult to collect and characterise well-preserved samples of weakly-cemented granular rocks as conventional sampling techniques often result in destruction of the cementation. An alternative approach is to prepare synthetic geomaterials to match required specifications. This paper introduces microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) as a method to reliably deliver artificially cemented specimens with customised properties, closely resembling those of soft carbonate sandstones. The specimens are generated from materials with two highly different particle size distributions (PSDs) to access a range of achievable combinations of strengths and porosities. The MICP parameters are kept constant across all samples to obtain similar calcium carbonate characteristics (size of individual crystals, type, etc.), while injected volume is varied to achieve different cementation levels. Although uniform cementation of very coarse sands has been considered very difficult to achieve, the results show that both the fine and coarse sand specimens present high degrees of uniformity and a good degree of repeatability. The unconfined compressive strengths (UCSs) (less than 3000 kPa) and porosities (0.25–0.4) of the artificial specimens fall in the same range of values reported for natural rocks. The strength gain was greater in the fine sand than that in the coarse sand, as the void size in the latter was significantly larger compared to the calcium carbonate crystals’ size, resulting in precipitation on less effective locations, away from contacts between particles. The strengths and porosities obtained for the two sands in this work fall within ranges reported in the literature for natural soft rocks, demonstrating the MICP technique is able to achieve realistic properties and may be used to produce a full range of properties by varying the grain sizes, and possibly the width of PSD.

Background: There are several anticoagulation strategies are suggested for patients with acute venous thromboembolism (VTE), however proof, especially for cancer-associated VTE, is lacking of which strategy is optimal choice. We aimed to compare efficacy and safety outcomes among various anticoagulation strategies for patients with VTE using a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using PUBMED, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library Central Register of Controlled Trials and clinical trial registries from inception through June 1, 2021. We search for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing the recurrent VTE and bleeding outcomes of various anticoagulation strategies (low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH), unfractionated heparin (UFH), or fondaparinux combined with vitamin K antagonists(VKA)); direct oral anticoagulants) for patients with acute VTE(noncancer or cancer-associated). Extraction of clinical outcomes were performed independently by two authors. A Bayesian network meta-analysis was applied to analyze the data. The primary efficacy endpoint was recurrent VTE episodes, the primary safety endpoint was major bleeding episodes. Secondary efficacy endpoints were fatal recurrent venous thromboembolism, the secondary safety endpoints were fatal bleeding episodes, all-cause mortality and major gastrointestinal bleeding. Results: 12117 citations were identified, 9850 unique citations, 54 RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Included trials recruited 49952 VTE participants with cancer or non-cancer. The findings showed that UFH-VKA likely increases recurrent VTE compared to LMWH-VKA (hazard ratio ((HR) 1·44(1·16,1·80), apixaban was probably the most effective strategy (surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) 87·6%). Subgroup analysis for VTE patients with cancer shown that LMWH (HR 0·61(0·40,0·89)) and apixaban (HR 0·40(0·21,0·66)) were associated with less recurrent VTE events compared with LMWH-VKA. Apixaban (HR 0·44(0·24,0·73)) lowered the rate of major bleeding compared with the LMWH–VKA. The apixaban was probably the safest strategy (SUCRA 96·5%). For patients with cancer-associated acute VTE, although apixaban group experienced less major bleeding events compared with LMWH-VKA, it was not statically significant (HR 0·80(0·36,1·55)). Interpretation: Apixaban seems to be superior to other anticoagulation strategies for treatment of VTE with cancer. Funding: This work received research grant from The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University(Hefei, Anhui 230601, China). Grant number: LBSART202007. Declaration of Interest: None to declare.

The particle breakage and compressibility behavior of sands treated with microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) has been investigated using oedometric compression tests. The aci...

We have investigated the effect of diluting treatment of poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophen e):poly (styrene sulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS) solution on the PEDOT:PSS films and the organic polymer solar cells based on poly [4,8-bis (5-(2-ethylhexyl) thiophen-2-yl) benzo [1,2-b;4,5-b0] dithiophene-co-3-fluorothieno [3,4-b] thiophene-2-carboxylate](PTB7-Th):[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PC61BM) using PEDOT:PSS polymer as the hole transport layer. The diluted PEDOT:PSS solution by water with 1:1.5 volume ratio was used to fabricate the hole transport layer in the organic solar cell, the fill factor and the shunt resistance of the solar cell can be significantly enhanced compared with the control cell, up to 64% and 949.03Ω·cm2, respectively.

In this paper, we focus on the problem of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation for a colocated multiple-input multiple-output radar with imperfect waveforms, and a parallel factor (PARAFAC)-based algorithm is proposed. First, the spatial cross-correlation technique is adopted to eliminate the spatially colored noise caused by the nonorthogonal waveforms. To utilize the inherent tensor structure of the array data, the covariance matrix is rearranged into a fourth-order PARAFAC decomposition model. Thereafter, a quadrilinear decomposition algorithm is developed, which obtain the direction matrices via alternating least squares strategy. Finally, the DOAs are achieved through solving a least squares fitting problem. The proposed scheme does not require the prior knowledge of the waveform correlation matrix, and it is computationally more efficient than the state-of-the-art matrix completion (MC) approach. Furthermore, the proposed method may offer more accurate DOA estimation performance than the MC approach. The numerical experiments are provided to show the improvement of our algorithm.

Perforated blocks made of shale as the matrix material were designed and constructed with holes drilled in a dense rectangular arrangement as a way of improving thermal insulation while retaining seismic performance. Compressive tests of single blocks and masonry prisms were conducted to determine their strength rating. Pseudo-static tests on masonry walls with and without openings were then conducted to evaluate seismic behaviour. It was found that the dense hole arrangement and the thin brittle walls improved thermal insulating properties but decreased ductility. To improve the seismic performance of the shale masonry walls, horizontally reinforced binding bands at 1/3 and 2/3 heights of the masonry walls and structural columns were applied and these indeed enhanced both the ultimate bearing strength and ductility. The experimental results indicate that this type of perforated block could be used for the construction of houses in earthquake-prone zones.

Lightweight alkali-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag (LAS) is an energy-efficient and environment-friendly cementitious material that can be used as a binder for the fill soil stabilization in subgrade construction. Although physical, hydraulic and mechanical properties of LAS stabilized clayey soils have been previously characterized, their long-term durability under deteriorating environments has not yet been well assessed. This paper reports an experimental study on the sulfate attack resistance of a LAS stabilized clayey soil, which is composed of GGBS, sodium silicate, calcium carbide residue (CCR), air foam, and clayey soil. Stabilized soil specimens are submerged in a sodium sulfate solution for varying periods (3, 7, 14, 28, 60, 90 and 120 days). The mass change percentage, unconfined compressive strength and thermogravimetric characteristics are evaluated at the end of each varying soaking periods. The same virgin soil stabilized by the lightweight Portland cement (LPC) is also tested as a benchmark. The results suggest that the LAS stabilized soil has superior sulfate attack resistance in terms of greater water absorption and higher strength, which is attributed to the presence of larger amount of cementitious hydration products in the LAS stabilized soil, as confirmed via thermogravimetric measurement.