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BackgroundHair antiretroviral concentration has served as an innovative and objective measure of antiretroviral adherence. However, some factors (for example, pharma-cokinetics and hair characteristics) may contribute to the variability of hair antiretroviral concentration that may threaten the validity and reliability of the hair measure as a biomarker of adherence. This study aimed to examine the potential factors that may influence the measure of hair antiretroviral concentration.MethodsHair samples from a cohort of 372 people living with HIV (PLHIV) receiving lamivudine (300 mg/day) in Guangxi, China. Lamivudine concentration was analysed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the associations of hair lamivudine concentration with age, sex, ethnicity, height, weight, body mass index, duration of HIV diagnosis, duration of current regimen, dosing schedule, concomitant antiretroviral medications, frequency of hair washing, hair care products use, hair cosmetic treatment and self-reported adherence.ResultsMultivariable models revealed that frequency of hair washing (β=-0.221, P=0.001), dosing schedule (β=0.141, P=0.036) and self-reported adherence (β=0.160, P=0.002) were associated with hair lamivudine concentration.ConclusionsWe observed that, among those potential factors, hair lamivudine concentration was influenced by frequency of hair washing and dosing schedule. Therefore, frequency of hair washing and dosing schedule should be considered in future research using hair lamivudine concentration as a measure of lamivudine exposure and bio-marker of adherence.

Depression can result in poor adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people living with HIV (PLHIV), and social support can help mitigate the negative relationship. However, little is known about how depression and social support synergistically influence ART adherence over time. The current study aims to explore longitudinal associations between them and examine which sources of social support can play a mediating role between depression and ART adherence over time. A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted between 2013 and 2016 in Guangxi, China. The study sample was composed of 319 PLHIV who were randomized into control condition and provided data at baseline and at least one of the six follow-ups. The results revealed negative associations of depression with ART adherence over time, and a mediating effect of perceived support from spouse/partner or children. Interventions to promote ART adherence should focus on strengthening PLHIV's relationships with their spouse/partner and children, promoting collaborative provider-patient relationships, and enhancing peer support among PLHIV.

Stigma against people living with HIV in China is common, not only among the general public but also among Chinese health-care providers, impacting their ability to provide quality HIV treatment and care. HIV stigma may be particularly common in rural areas of China, where village doctors (i.e., "barefoot doctors") have limited medical training yet are charged with providing frontline care for much of China's rural population. Therefore, the present study aims to use communication and behavioral theory to better understand Chinese village doctors' beliefs about HIV, including their willingness to become involved in HIV treatment and care. In collaboration with the Behai Centers for Disease Control, we surveyed 228 village doctors in rural China to learn about their experiences in providing HIV treatment and care. We then applied a hybrid theoretical model, combining variables from the Situational Theory of Publics and the Theory of Reasoned Action, to explain providers' communication, attitudes, and behaviors. Findings suggest that enhanced information activity about HIV may increase providers' self-efficacy in caring for HIV patients and yield more positive attitudes towards caring for people living with HIV. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This study employed logistic regression to examine the factors that predict medication adherence among a total of 2,146 HIV-infected individuals who were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in G...

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is identified as the truly non-invasive modality enabling tumor heating and ablation in treatment of breast tumor, uterine fibroid, bone tumor, prostate carcinoma, hepatic carcinoma, pancreatic neoplasm, and so on. However, as the conventional transducers are fixed on the probe relatively without position changes, there is a severely limit for the movable range of the focus. This article mainly introduced a real time multi-angle adjustable Phased High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (PHIFU) system, which could implement focusing at different positions by adjusting the angles between disparate transducers in real time under the driving of digital servos. The angle detectors are installed between two digital servos to acquire the precise angles in order to feed back to the system. In return, the angles could be also calculated if the position of the focus was given. This way improved the scope of the focused ultrasound therapy greatly from the results of the acoustic field simulations.

Diluted magnetic oxides attracted a great interest in the last years as materials for spintronics and magnetoelectric devices. We propose in the present paper such a magnetoelectric ceramic system for an application as miniaturized resonator antenna in GHz range. BaTi1-xFexO3-x/2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.02) polycrystalline ceramics have been produced by solid state reaction. X-ray diffraction analysis and Rietveld refinement have shown that Fe doping of BaTiO3 lattice produces a transition from tetragonal crystalline symmetry (for x ≤ 0.01) to a superposition of tetragonal and hexagonal phases for the compositions x = 0.015 and 0.02. As result of Fe addition, the Curie temperature of BaTi1-xFexO3-x/2 ceramics exhibit a shift from 127 °C towards lower values and reaches 85 °C for x = 0.02. A competition between weak ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic character as a function of composition and temperature is determined both by the presence of transition metal ion and of the oxygen vacancies. Due to its electromagnetic properties, an optimized composition x = 0.01 was used for producing a miniaturized antenna which was found to show a frequency dependent S11 response similar to the simulated one.

BackgroundThe healthcare system in China was largely overwhelmed during the unprecedented pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). HIV-related services have been unavoidably interrupted and impacted. However, the nature and scope of HIV service interruptions due to COVID-19 has rarely been characterized in China and how HIV service challenges affect the service interruptions are also unclear. The current study aimed at characterize HIV service interruption levels and analyzed its associated factors related to service challenges and institutional response from HIV healthcare providers’ viewpoint.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 1,029 HIV healthcare providers in Guangxi, China, from April to May 2020. Latent class analysis (LCA) was first used to identify HIV service interruption levels. Then hierarchical multinomial logistic regression was conducted to analyze the relationships of HIV care service challenges and institutional response with HIV service interruption levels. Simple slope analysis was employed to examine interaction effects between HIV service challenges and institutional response to COVID-19.ResultsFour classes of HIV service interruption were identified using LCA, with 22.0% complete interruption (class 1), 15.4% moderate interruption (class 2), 21.9% minor interruption (class 3) and 40.7% almost no interruption (class 4). Using class 4 as a reference group, HIV care service challenges were positively associated with the probabilities of service interruptions (Class 1: AOR=1.23, 95%CI: 1.19∼1.26; Class 2: AOR= 1.10, 95%CI: 1.08∼1.13; Class 3: AOR= 1.10, 95%CI: 1.08∼1.12). Institutional response to HIV healthcare delivery was negatively associated with the probabilities of being classified into Class 1 (“Complete interruption”) (AOR=0.97, 95%CI: 0.93∼1.00) and Class 3 (“minor interruption [Outreach service]”) (AOR=0.96, 95%CI: 0.93∼0.99) as compared to Class 4 (“almost no interruption”). Institutional response to HIV healthcare delivery moderated the association of HIV service challenges with complete interruption, but not with the moderate or minor interruption when comparing with no interruption group.ConclusionsA substantial HIV service interruptions occurs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly services that require face-to-face interactions, such as VCT counselling, follow up and outreach services. HIV service challenges largely hinder the HIV service delivery. Institutional response to HIV healthcare delivery could marginally buffer the negative effect of service challenges on complete HIV service interruptions. To maintain continuity of core HIV services in face of a pandemic, build a resilient health care system with adequate preparedness is necessary.

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) with high crystalline quality are important channel materials for next-generation electronics. Researches on TMDCs have been accelerated by the development of chemical vapor deposition (CVD). However, antiparallel domains and twin grain boundaries (GBs) usually form in CVD synthesis due to the special threefold symmetry of TMDCs lattices. The existence of GBs severely reduces the electrical and photoelectrical properties of TMDCs, thus restricting their practical applications. Herein, the epitaxial growth of single crystal MoS

Literature suggests that federal funding allocation for HIV-related research in the US may not align with HIV disease burden but is influenced by structural disparities. This study sought to examine how federal funding allocation is associated with HIV disease burden and research capacity of states by applying Big Data integration, text mining, and statistics. Using text mining, we identified 20,678 HIV-related federal projects from 2008 to 2018 in NIH ExPORTER, which were then integrated with data from AtlasPlus and US Census Bureau. We developed Gini coefficients to assess the inequality of funding and the Generalized Estimating Equations model to examine the associations between funding allocation and (1) state HIV disease burden, (2) state research capacity, and (3) geographic regions, respectively. The Gini coefficients (0.60 to 0.80) suggest a highly skewed funding distribution. Funding allocation was not associated with state HIV disease burden (

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is one of the most powerful experimental techniques in condensed matter physics. Synchrotron ARPES, which uses photons with high flux and continuously tunable energy, has become particularly important. However, an excellent synchrotron ARPES system must have features such as a small beam spot, super-high energy resolution, and a user-friendly operation interface. A synchrotron beamline and an endstation (BL03U) were designed and constructed at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The beam spot size at the sample position is 7.5 (V) μm × 67 (H) μm, and the fundamental photon range is 7–165 eV; the ARPES system enables photoemission with an energy resolution of 2.67 meV at 21.2 eV. In addition, the ARPES system of this endstation is equipped with a six-axis cryogenic sample manipulator (the lowest temperature is 7 K) and is integrated with an oxide molecular beam epitaxy system and a scanning tunneling microscope, which can provide an advanced platform for in situ characterization of the fine electronic structure of condensed matter.

Transcranial focused ultrasound is a novel noninvasive therapeutic modality for glioblastoma and other disorders of the brain. However, because the phase aberrations caused by the skull need to be corrected with computed tomography (CT) images, the transcranial transducer is tightly fixed on the patient’s head to avoid any variation in the relative position, and the focus shifting relies mainly on the capacity for electronic beam steering. Due to the presence of grating lobes and the rapid degradation of the focus quality with increasing focus-shifting distance, transcranial focus-shifting sonication may damage healthy brain tissue unintentionally. To reduce the risks associated with transcranial focused ultrasound therapy, linear frequency-modulated (FM) excitation is proposed. The k-space corrected pseudospectral time domain (PSTD) and acoustic holography approach based on the Rayleigh integral are combined to calculate the distribution of the deposited acoustic power. The corresponding simulation was performed with axial/lateral focus shifting at different distances. The distributions of the deposited acoustic power show that linear FM excitation can effectively suppress undesired prefocal grating lobes without compromising focus quality.

To compare the psychological stress level and hair cortisol level of people living with HIV (PLWH) with those without HIV. A total of 220 subjects were initially enrolled in the study, including 20 subjects living without HIV and 200 PLWH. Psychological stress level, including quality of life, anxiety, perceived stress and mental resilience, was self-reported in both groups with related scales. The cortisol in hair were extracted and assessed by LC-APCI-MS/MS method. Propensity score matching analysis was performed to balance the baseline covariates of the two groups, whereas the difference in psychological stress level and hair cortisol level between the two groups were compared. Furthermore, the associations between psychological stress level and cortisol level were examined. Two comparison groups were matched by 1:3 propensity score matching, which yield 20 subjects living without HIV and 60 PLWH. Ultimately, in regarding to the psychological stress, the levels of the anxiety, perceived stress and mental resilience were higher among PLWH than those living without HIV, but the people without HIV showed higher quality of life. The hair cortisol level in PLWH was higher than those living without HIV. However, there were no significant associations between psychological stress level and cortisol level. The PLWH showed higher level of psychological stress and cortisol than those without HIV. No relationship was seen between psychological stress level and cortisol level in PLWH.

BackgroundTo control the COVID-19 pandemic, governments need to ensure a successful large-scale administration of COVID-19 vaccines when safe and efficacious vaccines become available. Vaccine acceptance could be a critical factor influencing vaccine uptake. Health information has been associated with vaccine acceptance. For college students who are embracing a digital era and being exposed to multimedia, the sources of COVID-19 vaccine information and their trust in these sources may play an important role in shaping their acceptance of vaccine uptake.MethodsIn September 2020, we conducted an online survey among 1062 college students in South Carolina to understand their perceptions and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccination. Descriptive analysis and linear regression analysis were used to investigate vaccine information sources among college students and examine how COVID-19 vaccine acceptance was associated with information source and trust level in each source.ResultsThe top three sources of COVID-19 vaccine information were health agencies (57.7%), mass media (49.5%), and personal social networks (40.5%). About 83.1% of the participants largely or always trusted scientists, 73.9% trusted healthcare providers, and 70.2% trusted health agencies. After controlling for key demographics, vaccine acceptance was positively associated with scientists as information sources but negatively associated with pharmaceutical companies as sources. Higher trust levels in mass media, health agencies, scientists, and pharmaceutical companies was significantly associated with higher COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. However, trust in social media was negatively associated with vaccine acceptance.DiscussionCollege students use multiple sources to learn about upcoming COVID-19 vaccines including health agencies, personal networks, and social media. The level of trust in these information sources play a critical role in predicting vaccine acceptance. Trust in health authorities and scientists rather than social media is related to higher level vaccine acceptance. Our findings echo the call for restoring trust in government, healthcare system, scientists, and pharmaceutical industries in the COVID-19 era and highlight the urgency to dispel misinformation in social media. Effective strategies are needed to disseminate accurate information about COVID-19 vaccine from health authorities and scientific research to improve vaccine communication to the public and promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

BackgroundCOVID-19 vaccination could be a promising approach in controlling the pandemic, but its success strongly relies on the acceptance of vaccines among various populations including young adults who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 due to their active lifestyle and perception of invulnerability. Vaccine acceptance decisions can be influenced by multiple factors and people may weigh these factors differently in their decision making. The current study aims to explore COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among college students in South Carolina and examine how they weigh these factors according to their levels of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance (i.e., acceptance, hesitance, refusal).MethodsOnline survey data were collected from 1062 college students in South Carolina between September and October 2020. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to compare perceived importance of 12 factors affecting levels of vaccine acceptance, controlling for key demographic variables.ResultsAbout 60.6% of the college students reported they would definitely or likely take COVID-19 vaccine when available. Duration of vaccine protection, vaccine accessibility, and authoritative advice (e.g., if vaccination is recommended by school, government, or doctors) were considered important among the acceptance group; Negative consequences of vaccination and vaccine characteristics (i.e., ways the vaccine will be administered, and where the vaccine is made) were considered important by the refusal group; The hesitance group considered the same factors important as the refusal group did but also considered duration of vaccine protection and recommendation by school or doctors important.ConclusionOur findings suggest relatively low vaccine acceptance among college students in South Carolina and different factors that play a role in their vaccine uptake decision according to their levels of acceptance. Tailored vaccine promotion messages should address specific concerns among the refusal and hesitancy groups. School could play a positive role in vaccine campaign since the reluctancy group considered that recommendation by their school was important in their decision making. Health educators also need to pay particular attention to the refusal group who do not value duration of protection or authoritative advice as much as their counterparts in their vaccine decision making.

Background Individuals’ stress in responding to the current COVID-19 pandemic may be exacerbated by information uncertainty driven by inconsistent, unverified, and conflicting news from various sources. The current study aims to test if information uncertainty during the COVID-19 outbreak was related to acute stress disorder (ASD) over and above other psychosocial stressors. Methods An anonymous online survey was conducted with 7800 college students throughout China from January 31 through February 11, 2020. Existing scales were modified to measure ASD and six potential stressors including information uncertainty during the COVID-19 outbreak. Hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to assess the unique association of information uncertainty with ASD. To minimize the effect of large sample size and also to get a sense of whether the effects of information uncertainty were similar to people at the center of the epidemic, we repeated the hierarchical regression among 10% of the students who were randomly selected from the entire sample (“10% random sample”; n = 780) and 226 students from Hubei Province where the outbreak started. Results Information uncertainty was highly prevalent among the respondents (64%). It was significantly associated with ASD beyond other key variables and potential stressors across three samples. In the hierarchical regression among the entire sample, demographic variables accounted for 9.4% of the variance in ASD. The other five stressors added 5.1% of the variance. The information uncertainty (β = .159; p p p Conclusion Information uncertainty is a unique correlate of psychological stress during the COVID-19 outbreak. Reducing information uncertainty is essential not only for halting virus transmission but also for mitigating negative impacts of the pandemic on people’s psychosocial wellbeing. Transparent, timely, and accurate communication can reduce public confusion, fear, and stress. Capacity building in governments, communities, and media outlets to prevent, reduce and manage information uncertainty should be a critical part of the response to an emerging global health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: The current study investigated how risk exposures, risk perceptions of COVID-19, and negative attitudes toward general vaccination were related to COVID vaccine acceptance among college students. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Data was collected by online survey using RedCap among college students in South Carolina between September 2020 and October 2020. Sample: 1062 college students in South Carolina. Measures: risk exposures to COVID-19, perceived severity of COVID-19, perceived susceptibility of COVID-19, negative attitude toward general vaccination, vaccine acceptance of COVID-19. Analysis: Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine the association of these factors with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance controlling for key demographics. Results: Perceived severity of COVID-19 was positively associated with vaccine acceptance (ß = 0.19, p < 0.001). Higher level of risk exposures (ß = −0.08, p = 0.007) and negative attitude toward general vaccination (ß = −0.38, p < 0.001) were associated with low vaccine acceptance. Conclusion: We need tailored education messages for college students to emphasize the severity of COVID-19, address the concerns of side effects of general vaccines by dispelling the misconception, and target the most vulnerable subgroups who reported high level of risk exposures while showed low intention to take the vaccine.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought immense challenges on the health system including HIV care service. Although disruption to HIV service has been commonly observed and reported, few empirical studies have quantified the impacts of specific HIV service challenges on patient care from the perspective of HIV care providers. We recruited 1,029 HIV care providers in Guangxi, China for an on-line survey from April through May 2020, and assessed their perspectives on the challenges for HIV service delivery and perceived impacts of such challenges on patient care during the COVID-19 outbreak (January to March 2020). Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to test the association between specific challenges and patient care outcomes controlling for background characteristics of HIV care providers. The top three challenges reported were “lack of personal protective equipment” (72.3%), “shortage of personnel” (59.5%), and “no overall arrangement within clinic” (52.1%). The prominent impacts of COVID-19 on patient care outcomes included “not being able to make follow-up visits on time” (60.4%), “not being able to get ARVs refill timely” (50.4%), and “compromised ART adherence” (43.1%). Patient care outcome score was significantly associated with “not being able to go to work due to quarantine and traffic restriction”, “no overall arrangement”, “no guideline for HIV service”, “conflicts between HIV care and response to COVID-19”, and “clinics were overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients”. Challenges of delivering HIV service profoundly affected patient care outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to dual epidemics of COVID-19 and HIV, policy makers may consider the potential impact of large-scale preventive strategies (e.g., city or community lockdown) on HIV care, assist healthcare providers to navigate shifting tasks and resetting priorities effectively, and develop clear guidelines and clinic-level arrangements to best serve both COVID-19 and HIV patients.

Shan Qiao,1 Huai-kuan Wu,1 Ling-ling Liu,2 Mei-ling Wang,3 Ran-ran Zhang,4 Tao Han,5 Xue-wu Liu4 1Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong Province 250014, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, Liaocheng People’s Hospital, Liaocheng, Shandong Province 252000, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neurology, Binzhou Medical University Hospital, Binzhou, Shandong Province 256603, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Neurology, Qilu Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong Province 250012, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Neurology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, Shandong Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xue-wu LiuDepartment of Neurology, Qilu Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, No. 107 Wen Hua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shan Dong, People’s Republic of ChinaTel + 86 0531-82169114Email snlxw1966@163.comPurpose: To describe the clinical manifestation, immunotherapy, and long-term outcomes of anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) encephalitis.Patients and Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of 117 patients with a diagnosis of anti-LGI1 encephalitis identified from the databases of multiple clinical centers between September 2014 and December 2019. The clinical features, ancillary test results, and details of long-term outcomes were evaluated.Results: Among the 117 patients with anti-LGI1 encephalitis, 69.2% (81/117) were male and 30.8% (36/117) were female. The median age of all patients at the onset of the disease was 57 years (interquartile range [IQR], 52– 67). The median time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 8.7 weeks (IQR, 4.2– 25). The main clinical features identified were seizures, cognitive impairment, and mental and behavioral abnormalities. Of the 117 patients, 109 were treated with immunotherapy. Symptoms including memory, mental ability, and behavior improved in all 109 patients after 3– 5 days of treatment. The median time of follow-up for the treated patients was 33 months (IQR, 17– 42). Of the treated patients, 16.2% (19/117) experienced a relapse, with a median delay of 5 months (IQR, 2.1– 17) between onset and the first relapse. There were no mortalities over the follow-up period.Conclusion: The long-term outcome of patients with anti-LGI1 encephalitis was mostly favorable, although some patients continued to experience cognitive dysfunction. Early recognition is important for prompt initiation of immunotherapy that can improve clinical symptoms of anti-LGI1 encephalitis.Keywords: anti-LGI1 encephalitis, autoimmune epilepsy, follow-up, immunotherapy, relapse

Transgender women (TGW) worldwide report disproportionate violence victimization, depression and condomless anal intercourse (CAI), but the mechanism of the coexistence remains unclear. Using snowball sampling, we recruited 198 self-identified TGW in Shenyang, China between April 2017 and July 2017, and conducted confidential questionnaire survey among them. Positive HIV status was reported by 49 (24.7%) participants. 117 (59.1%) reported at least one type of lifetime violence victimization, with transactional sexual partners being the main violence perpetrators. 108 (54.5%) reported mild to severe depression. 105 (53.0%) reported having CAI with their sexual partners during the last 6 months. Path analysis showed that the association between participants’ violence victimization and CAI was fully mediated by their depression (indirect effect: 0.083, p = 0.014; direct effect: 0.137, p = 0.121). We suggest to incorporate violence screening and prevention and mental health services into intervention strategies to prevent CAI among Chinese TGW.

Background: This report aims to provide a detailed description of the clinical manifestation, immunotherapy, and long-term outcomes of 117 Chinese patients with anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) encephalitis. Methods: We retrospectively selected 117 patients diagnosed with anti-LGI1 encephalitis from the databases of multiple clinical centers from September 2014 to December 2019. The clinical features, ancillary test results, and details of long-term outcomes were analyzed.Results: Among the 117 anti-LGI1 encephalitis patients, 81 (69%) were male and 36 (31%) were female; the median onset age was 51 years (range: 30-77 years). The median time from symptom onset until diagnosis was 8.7 weeks (range: 2-49 weeks). The main features evaluated in our cohort were seizures, cognitive impairment, and mental and behavioral abnormalities. One hundred and nine patients were treated with immunotherapy, After 3-5 days of treatment, the clinical symptoms were somewhat alleviated in all the patients, and their memory, mental ability, and behavior improved. The median follow-up time was 33 months (range: 6-59 months). A total of 19 (16%) patients experienced a relapse; the median duration from onset to the first relapse was 5 (0.3-27) months. There were no mortalities during the follow-up period.Conclusions: The outcome of patients with anti-LGI1 encephalitis is mostly favorable, although some patients continue to suffer from cognitive dysfunction. Early recognition is of great significance for the treatment of anti-LGI1 encephalitis. Prompt adequate immunotherapy has positive implications for the improvement of clinical symptoms of anti-LGI1 encephalitis. Long-term follow-up is important for the assessment of LGI1 antibody-mediated encephalitis.

The orbital angular momentum (OAM) guiding fiber is used as a sensing element to measure strain and ambient temperature, sensing information simultaneously in a classical BOTDR configuration, due to its higher-order acoustic modes and high stimulated Brillouin threshold. The Brillouin threshold, the Brillouin gain coefficient and the Brillouin gain spectrum (BGS) of OAM fiber at 1.5 µm are characterized and demonstrated theoretically and experimentally. Taking advantage of the special acoustic properties of the peaks caused by the hard cladding-core interface in the Brillouin scattering process, the distributed multi-parameter sensing (e.g., strain and/or ambient temperature) is verified over a 1-km OAM guiding fiber, with the respective errors of strain and temperature of 18.2 µɛ and 0.93 °C, respectively.

The current study aims to investigate the mediating effect of perceived control over the future and the moderating effect of empathy on the association between stressful experiences and PTSD symptoms among college students in China in response to COVID-19. A sample of 1,225 college students (70.69% were female, M age = 20.22 years, SD = 2.02) were recruited using web-based surveys at wave 1 (W1) and wave 2 (W2) longitudinally. Results showed that COVID-19-related stressful experiences were significantly associated with PTSD symptoms. Perceived control over the future partially mediated the relationship between these two variables ( indirect effect size = 0.09, p < 0.01). Empathy significantly moderated the path from perceived control over the future to PTSD symptoms, suggesting that the association was stronger for individuals with higher levels of empathy. Findings suggest a protective effect of perceived control over the future on college students’ PTSD symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a protective effect was intensified by empathy. Future intervention to manage PTSD symptoms should be tailored to positive future expectations and empathy.

Phased-control focused ultrasound transducers provide a new and noninvasive treatment method for brain disease. However, improving the accuracy of phase correction and reducing the calculation time during treatment have always been contradictory constraints. In this paper, a hybrid acoustic signal correction (HASC) method combined with k-Wave stage and holography stage was introduced for phase correction and simulation of transcranial focused ultrasound. The k-Wave stage is mainly used to calculate the sound field in a heterogeneous medium (skull), which divides the sound field calculation process into paths that can be calculated in parallel, and the transcranial correction phase can also be obtained during the calculation. The holography stage is sufficient to simulate the acoustic field in the homogenous intracranial medium after ultrasound transmitting through the skull. The agreement of the k-space corrected pseudospectral time domain method and HASC method was assessed by statistical methods: linear regression between the two methods provided a slope of 0.9735, intercept of 0.0078, and R 2 of 0.9982. The Bland-Altman method provided a bias of 0.0015 and 95% limits of agreement 0.065 apart. We demonstrated that the difference in sound intensity at the focal point corrected by HASC and time reversal phase correction method was 0.2% and 0.5% in the results of simulation and experiment, respectively. Not only that, the phase calculation time by the HASC phase correction method can be reduced to 11 min on a multi GPU array, which has clinical potential for ultrasound treatment of brain therapy.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has made unprecedented impact on the psychological health of university students, a population vulnerable to distress and mental health disorders. This study investigated psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress) during state-enforced quarantine among university students in China (N = 1912) through a cross-sectional survey during March and April 2020. Results Psychiatric symptoms were alarmingly prevalent: 67.05% reported traumatic stress, 46.55% had depressive symptoms, and 34.73% reported anxiety symptoms. Further, 19.56% endorsed suicidal ideation. We explored risk and protective factors of psychological health, including demographic variables, two known protective factors for mental health (mindfulness, perceived social support), four COVID-specific factors (COVID-19 related efficacy, perceived COVID-19 threat, perceived COVID-19 societal stigma, COVID-19 prosocial behavior) and screen media usage. Across symptom domains, mindfulness was associated with lower symptom severity, while COVID-19 related financial stress, perceived COVID-19 societal stigma, and perceived COVID-19 threat were associated with higher symptom severity. COVID-19 threat and COVID-19 stigma showed main and interactive effects in predicting all mental health outcomes, with their combination associated with highest symptom severity. Screen media device usage was positively associated with depression. Female gender and COVID-19 prosocial behavior were associated with higher anxiety, while COVID-19 self-efficacy associated with lower anxiety symptoms. Conclusions Findings suggest high need for psychological health promotion among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic and inform an ecological perspective on the detrimental role of stigma during an emerging infectious disease outbreak. Interventions targeting multi-level factors, such as promoting mindfulness and social support at individual and interpersonal levels while reducing public stigma about COVID-19, may be particularly promising. Attending to the needs of disadvantaged groups including those financially impacted by COVID-19 is needed.

In the active distribution network, there are more and more distributed generations with strong randomness and intermittence, such as wind turbine and photovoltaic. As a new energy vehicle promoted by our country, electric vehicles will be heavily plugged into the grid with strong time characteristics. Both of them will cause great fluctuations to the power grid. To reduce the wind and light rejection rate, then increase the economic operation, this paper firstly analyzes the model of the distributed generation, electric vehicles and energy storage elements, linearizes them and the power flow calculation; Secondly, the mixed integer linearization day ahead optimal regulation model with the lowest cost established; Lastly, the case analysis verifies the validity of the model.

The vacuum ultraviolet beamline BL03U with a photon energy range from 7 eV upwards has been constructed at the 3.5 GeV Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Equipped with an APPLE-Knot undulator, this beamline is dedicated to angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. An energy-resolving power of higher than 4.6 × 104 has been achieved in the photon energy range 21.6–48 eV, which is almost the same as the theoretical estimation.

Phase-controlled focused ultrasound transducers have opened up a new way to noninvasively treat brain diseases. However, due to the geometry and the heterogeneous medium of the human skull, the currently used hemispherical transducers cannot guarantee that the ultrasound emitted by the transducer penetrates the skull normally; consequently, the impact of the shear wave on the treatment area has to be considered. The usual approach is to turn off elements in the transducer with excessively large incident angles, but this approach reduces the efficiency of the transducer. This article presents the design of a novel transducer that can be rotated according to the different geometric shapes of the skull. The incident angles of the elements in the transducer are modified so that the effect of the shear wave on the treatment area can be ignored and the efficiency of the transducer is improved. The results of computed tomography (CT) model simulation of nine skulls verify the versatility and feasibility of the new transducer. We believe that this kind of rotatable transducer has clinical and engineering significance.

Constructing vacuum-ultraviolet beamlines at synchrotron radiation facilities with giga-electron volt storage ring results in serious heat load on the beamlines which can reduce their performance. To solve this problem, an APPLE-Knot undulator with eight magnet rows has been built at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility and has achieved very good performance. However, its performance in vertical polarization mode is imperfect. Here, a new configuration of a magnet-merged APPLE-Knot undulator that has achieved a better performance is reported.

Objective Cumulative evidence has shown the adverse effects of HIV-related death and illness on children's psychosocial well-being. However, few studies have examined whether these factors can "get under the skin" to affect children's health. This study, therefore, examined the effects of HIV-related parental death on telomere length, a biomarker of cellular aging. This study further explored whether the results on telomere length were consistent with results based on self-report health outcomes, namely depressive symptoms. Method A total of 117 children (10-17 years of age) affected by parental HIV (27 children living with HIV-positive parents and 90 AIDS orphans) from Henan China provided blood samples for telomere length assay and completed a survey for depressive symptoms and demographic information. Results Results showed that AIDS orphans had a shorter telomere length than children living with HIV-positive parents and that such differences in telomere length were more evident than were differences in depressive symptoms. There were no significant differences in telomere length or depressive symptoms between children who lost one parent and those who lost both. Conclusions The results suggest that HIV-related parental death may contribute to accelerated telomere shortening and highlight that telomere length may be a novel and useful biomarker for health needs assessment in pediatric AIDS care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Pyrite-structured PdSb2 with the nonsymmorphic crystalline symmetry, has long been predicted to host sixfold-degenerate exotic fermions beyond Dirac and Weyl. Although magnetotransport measurements on PdSb2 have suggested its topologically nontrivial character, the direct spectroscopic evidence still remains absent. By utilizing high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we present a systematic study on the low-energy bulk and surface electronic structure of pyrite-structured PdSb2. Through careful comparison with first-principles calculations, we verify the existence of sixfold fermions in this compound, which are formed by three doubly degenerate bands centered at the R point in the Brillouin zone. These bands exhibit parabolic dispersion close to sixfold fermion nodes, in sharp contrast to previously reported sixfold double spin-1 chiral fermions. Furthermore, our findings reveal no protected Fermi arcs in PdSb2, which is compatible with its achiral structure. Our findings suggest that pyrite-structured PdSb2 provides an ideal platform for the investigation of fermions and their potential applications.

Enzyme immobilization has been demonstrated to be a favorable protocol to promote industrialization of biomacromolecules. Despite tremendous efforts to develop new strategies and materials to realize this process, maintaining enzyme activity is still a formidable challenge. Herein we created a sacrificial templating method, using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as sacrificial templates to construct hollow covalent organic framework (COF) capsules for enzyme encapsulation. This strategy can provide a capacious microenvironment to unleash enzyme molecules. The improved conformational freedom of enzymes, enhanced mass transfer, and protective effect against the external environment ultimately boosted the enzymatic activities. We also found that this strategy possesses high versatility that is suitable for diverse biomacromolecules, MOF templates, and COF capsules. Moreover, the dimensions, pore sizes, and shell thickness of COF capsules can be conveniently tuned, allowing for customizing bioreactors for specific functions. For example, coencapsulation of different enzymes with synergistic functions were successfully demonstrated using this bioreactor platform. This study not only opens up a new avenue to overcome the present limitations of enzymatic immobilization in porous matrixes but also provides new opportunities for construction of biomicrodevices or artificial organelles based on crystalline porous materials.

Assessment of antiretroviral (ARV) concentration in hair (hair antiretroviral concentration [HAC]) is one of the latest non-invasive innovations for measuring long-term ARV adherence. We performed a systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines to identify the factors that may affect the validity and reliability of HAC. This review included 25 studies that reported data on the associations of hair concentrations of 10 ARVs with 22 potential factors related to HAC. Notwithstanding scarce data and some inconsistencies, the data from existing studies suggested that (1) HAC was associated with hair types, hair segment position, housing, illegal drugs use, high-risk sexual behaviors, renal function, and genetic factors; (2) HAC was not associated with race/ethnicity, location of sample, ARV side effects, length of ARV treatment, smoking, alcohol use, orange consumption, depression, or anthropometry characteristics; and (3) the relationships of HAC with natural hair color, hair treatment, age, sex, dosing schedule, and liver function need further study. This review of factors related to HAC informed the design, analysis, and interpretation of the future HIV treatment and HIV prevention research utilizing hair concentrations of various ARVs as a biomarker of ARV adherence.

The existing literature suggests a negative impact of intersectional stigma on multiple aspects of psychosocial well-being among individuals with multiple stigmatized identities. However, such impact remains poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the association between intersectional stigma and psychosocial well-being among a sample of 193 men who have sex with men (MSM) living with HIV in Guangxi China. Based on their responses to measures of HIV-related stigma and sexual and gender minority (SGM) stigma, the participants were grouped into “high” vs “low” on each type of stigma. The General Linear Model (GLM) was used to analyze the main effects and interaction effect of two types of stigma on multiple psychosocial measures. Our results indicated a significant interaction effect of two types of stigma on depression, anxiety, quality of life, and psychological resilience after controlling for key socio-demographic covariates. The findings suggest that experiencing both HIV-related stigma and SGM stigma may synergistically lead to poor psychosocial well-being among MSM in a more profound manner than experiencing only one type of stigma. It is critical for researchers and clinicians to consider the patients’ multiple stigmatized identities, develop effective intervention strategies to reduce health disparity, and improve the psychosocial well-being of MSM living with HIV in China and other cultural settings.

The scientific research on metamaterials has achieved significant progress in recent years. In contrast, the related practical applications have encountered tough challenges. The insufficient homogeneity makes these artificial media lose its competitiveness to conventional continuous media. In this work, we propose a generalized approach to realize microwave metamaterials with ultra-subwavelength unit cells constructed with rolled-up transmission lines. As an illustration, we design and fabricate a bulk left-handed material sample with standard printed circuit board technique. With the normalized periodicity of the unit cells ranging from 1/61 to 1/48 of wavelength, the negative refractive index can be clearly measured in the frequency range between 1.02 and 1.3 GHz. Simulation shows that by employing the planar process for semiconductor integrated circuits, this homogeneity can be further improved to a level of 1/300 of the wavelength at gigahertz frequencies. Our work also provides a new method for obtaining ultra-small microwave resonators, which can be widely used for all kinds of planar technologies.

People living with HIV (PLWH) would decide whether to disclose their HIV serostatus to others based on weight of perceived benefits and costs for the disclosure. Using cross-sectional data from 1254 PLWH in Guangxi, China, the study aimed to examine a framework of disclosure decision-making in the context of disclosure to family members (parents and siblings) through exploring the associations between disclosure and perceived benefits and costs of disclosure at individual and interpersonal levels. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses showed that HIV disclosure was associated with perceived benefits at both individual level (stress relief and social support) and interpersonal level (educating others and promoting family stability), but was not associated with perceived costs at either individual level (stigma and confidentiality breaching) or interpersonal level (family conflicts and concerns). Our findings suggest that perceived benefits rather than costs are associated with disclosure to family and play an important role in disclosure decision-making. These results may refine and expand the existing framework on decision-making of HIV disclosure focusing on PLWH’s weight of individual benefits and costs. Future interventions highlighting the benefits for their family and other members of their social network may be an effective strategy to promote HIV disclosure to family members.

Objectives: Parents living with HIV who disclose their HIV status to their children could benefit from the parental HIV disclosure. However, it is also very challenging because of persistent stigma and discrimination against HIV. This report describes the study design and protocol of the “Interactive Communication with Openness, Passion, and Empowerment (iCOPE)” randomized controlled trial aimed at assisting parents living with HIV in conducting culturally and developmentally appropriate disclosure to their uninfected children in China through trainings among both parents living with HIV and healthcare providers. Methods: A total of 791 parents living with HIV with children aged between 6 and 15 years and 357 healthcare providers were randomized into either the intervention group or control group. Intervention package for parents consisted of five 2-h sessions focusing on positive coping, disclosure decision making, developing a developmentally appropriate disclosure plan, and accessing social support and post-disclosure counseling. The intervention for healthcare providers was made up of two 45-min sessions organized around two primary themes: knowledge of child cognitive development and effective parent–child communication skills in the context of parental disclosure. The control group received nutritional education of either five 2-h sessions (parents) or two 45-min sessions (healthcare providers). The outcome assessments were conducted at baseline, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months. Conclusion: The iCOPE study is among the first efforts to develop and evaluate a theory-based and multi-level intervention to promote culturally and developmentally appropriate parental HIV disclosure in China. It has implications for healthcare providers, social workers, and policy makers as it will provide efficacy data on how to enhance appropriate parental HIV disclosure and will shed light on developing a clinical guideline regarding parental HIV disclosure in China and other low- and middle-income countries.

Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) represent a class of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) which are widely expressed in mammals and tissue-specific, of which some could act as critical regulators in the atherogenesis of cerebrovascular disease. However, the underlying mechanisms by which circRNA regulates the ectopic phenotype of endothelial cells (ECs) in atherosclerosis remain largely elusive. Methods CCK-8, transwell, wound healing and Matrigel assays were used to assess cell viability, migration and tube formation. QRT-qPCR and Immunoblotting were used to examine targeted gene expression in different groups. The binding sites of miR-370-3p (miR-370) with TGFβR2 or hsa_circ_0003204 (circ_0003204) were predicted using a series of bioinformatic tools, and validated using dual luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay. The localization of circ_0003204 and miR-370 in ECs were investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Gene function and pathways were enriched through Metascape and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). The association of circ_0003204 and miR-370 in extracellular vesicles (EVs) with clinical characteristics of patients were investigated using multiple statistical analysis. Results Circ_0003204, mainly located in the cytoplasm of human aorta endothelial cells (HAECs), was upregulated in the ox-LDL-induced HAECs. Functionally, the ectopic expression of circ_0003204 inhibited proliferation, migration and tube formation of HAECs exposed to ox-LDL. Mechanically, circ_0003204 could promote protein expression of TGFβR2 and its downstream phosph-SMAD3 through sponging miR-370, and miR-370 targeted the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of TGFβR2. Furthermore, the expression of circ_0003204 in plasma EVs was upregulated in the patients with cerebral atherosclerosis, and represented a potential biomarker for diangnosis and prognosis of cerebrovascular atherogenesis. Conclusions Circ_0003204 could act as a novel stimulator for ectopic endothelial inactivation in atherosclerosis and a potential biomarker for cerebral atherosclerosis.

This review aims to validate hair antiretroviral concentration (HAC) as a measure for antiretroviral medication adherence. This review included 31 studies that analyzed a total of 11 ARV drugs in four different drug classes. The associations between HAC and non-pharmacokinetic measures were generally lower than the association between HAC and other pharmacokinetic measures: the correlation coefficients (r) ranged from − 0.20 to 0.38 for self-report or pill counts and 0.20 to 0.85 for electronic drug monitoring; HAC and other pharmacokinetic measures were positively correlated with the correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.20 to 0.72, 0.34 to 0.86, 0.50 to 0.85 for antiretroviral concentration in plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and dried blood spots, respectively. HAC was one of the strongest independent predictors of virologic responses. HAC of tenofovir was significantly associated with renal toxicity in large sample studies. This review suggests that HAC is a valid biomarker of antiretroviral medication adherence.

Background Antiretroviral adherence is essential to HIV treatment efficacy. Various self-reported measures are commonly used for assessing antiretroviral adherence. Limited data are available regarding the validity of those self-reported measures in comparison with long-term objective biomarkers of adherence measures such as hair measures. Methods Self-reported adherence (frequency, percentage, and visual analog scale [VAS]) and hair tenofovir concentration were evaluated at a single time point from 268 people living with HIV in China. The responses to each of three self-reported measures were converted into percentage and then dichotomized as “optimal” (100%) vs. “suboptimal” (less than 100%) adherence. Two composite adherence scores (CAS) were created from the three self-reported measures: (1) an overall adherence was the average percentage of the three self-reported measures; (2) responses were termed optimal adherence if participants reporting optimal adherence in all three self-reported measures, while were termed suboptimal adherence. Hair tenofovir concentration was also dichotomized as “optimal” (above the limit of quantitation, 36 pg/mg) vs. “suboptimal” adherence (blow 36 pg/mg). Spearman correlation, kappa statistics, and logistic regression analysis were used to calculate the correlations, agreements, and predictions of self-reported measures with hair measure, respectively. Results Overall adherence, but any of the three self-reported adherence, was correlated with hair tenofovir concentration (r = 0.13, p p Conclusion VAS may be a good individual self-reported measure for antiretroviral adherence, and CAS may be a good composite self-reported measure for antiretroviral adherence.

Backgroud Patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) often experience low serum free triiodothyronine (FT3), but the association of low FT3 with stroke severity, subtype and prognosis has not yet been thoroughly studied, and the molecular events underlying these clinical observation were also unclear. Methods We retrospectively collected 221 cases of AIS and 182 non-AIS cases with detailed clinical data from our department. FT3 concentrations were measured on admission to predict functional outcome within 3 months using multivariable models adjusted for other risk factors. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated to define the best cutoff value of FT3 of stroke severity, subtypes and neurological outcome. Gene set enrichment, pathway mapping and network analyses of deferentially expressed genes (DEGs) were performed. Results FT3 was significantly decreased in AIS patients with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) > 3 and 3-months modified Rankin Scale (mRS) > 2. The cut-off value of FT3 for NIHSS on admission was 4.30 pmol/L. Also, FT3 level was significantly lower in large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) group and cardioembolism (CE) group than that in small vessel occlusion (SVO). FT3 value served as an independent predictor for neurological outcomes for which the cut-off value of FT3 was 4.38 pmol/l. Gene ontology (GO) analysis showed that the biological function of DEGs was mainly enriched in multicellur organism, neuron differentiation and cellular response to hypoxia. The cellular components were involved in extracelluar region, exosome and matrix, and the molecular functions were transcriptional activator activity, DNA binding and nuclear hormone receptor binding. Signal pathways analysis was indicative of neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, thyroid hormone signaling pathway, and protein digestion and absorption these DEGs were involved in. Six related gene were identified as hubs from the protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Three modules were selected from PPI, of which MMP4, ADRA2C and EIF3E were recognized as the seed genes. Conclusions Low FT3 value on admission was associated with stroke severity, subtype and prognosis. In addition, DEGs identified from bioinformatics analysis are likely to be candidates for elucidating clinical outcomes with low FT3, and provide us with therapeutic targets for improving stroke prognosis.

A nonhelical spin texture was observed in the centrosymmetric superconductor beta-PdBi2 using an imaging-type spin- and angle-resolved spectroscopy. The observed surface and bulk states near the Fermi energy are found to be spin polarized with nonhelical textures. First-principles calculations and effective models show that the inter-and intralayer hoppings account for the complex spin texture and thus play a significant role in the spatial distribution of the layer-locked spin states. Our work not only provides insights into the local spin states in inversion-symmetric systems but also paves the way to the identification of the nature of superconducting pairing in the presence of a complex spin texture in beta-PdBi2 and the related centrosymmetric superconductors.

PRFS-based MR thermometry is inaccurate in tissues containing both fat and water, due to the lack of temperature-induced frequency shift in fat protons. A geometric-model based method was used to correct the conventional PRFS method. Continuous MR thermometry experiments were performed in phantoms, and the results suggested the proposed method can compensate the deviation of measured temperature in fat phantoms and would be useful for applying PRFS-based thermometry in medium containing both fat and water.

Magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) can focus the ultrasonic energy on a targeted tissue to achieve ablation. In this study, we propose a convolutional neural network (based on Tensorflow) based upon deep learning to detect the position bars to registry the coordinate of MR and HIFU systems, instead of the traditional detection algorithm. The results show that the model achieves the average precision (AP) of 95.6% with the precision of 99.0% and the recall of 99.0% at a score threshold of 0.5.

Phase controlled high intensity focused ultrasound (p-hifu) is electronic phase controlled focusing.By adjusting the excitation voltage phase and amplitude of each array element, a variety of sound field modes, such as single-focus movement and multi-focus, can be generated. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reflect tissue details in nondestructive conditions and measure the temperature of tissue in vivo by analyzing the proton resonance frequency signals. The combination of p-hifu technology and MRI technology improves the accuracy and safety of treatment, but the combination of the two brings about non-negligible electromagnetic interference problems. Most EMC problems can be solved by electromagnetic shielding. Based on previous studies, this paper intends to study a novel electromagnetic shielding material Cu-Epoxy for ultrasonic transducers.The biggest innovation of this material is its dual functions- electromagnetic shielding and ultrasonic matching layer.We conduct preliminary simulation with Comsol software to verify its feasibility. Through the simulation of electromagnetic field and piezoelectric effect, we find that this material is feasible in theoretical design. The biggest advantage of this simulation model is that it can be used for theoretical design of composite materials and explore the optimization of their performance. In further research, we can develop the model from the simplest two-dimensional axisymmetric model to a three-dimensional model, making it closer to the real situation.

Objectives Generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is a new epilepsy syndrome named by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) in 2001. The SCN2A gene encoding α2 subunit of the neuronal sodium channel has been reported to be associated with BFNIS, GFES+, Dravet syndrome and some intractable childhood epilepsies. This study aimed to develop an approach based on next-generation sequencing to determine the genetic defects in a monozygotic twin family with GEFS+. Patients and methods We collected a twin family with GEFS+. The DNA of the twin patients was extracted from their peripheral venous whole blood. A total of 308 known genes related to epilepsies were selected for deep exon resequencing. The patients family’s DNA was sequenced through Sanger's sequencing for expanded validation. Through systematic data analysis using established bioinformatics pipeline and segregation analysis techniques, a number of genetic variants were released. Results Through detailed data analysis, we found a new heterozygous mutation c.1399G > A on exon11 of SCN2A (Nav1.2) which has not been reported in the HGMD (Human Gene Mutation Database), in the twin patients. Then we tested and verified the presence of the same mutation site in all individuals of the family. Asymptomatic individuals of this family didn’t show this mutation. Conclusion The methodology provides a reliable strategy for routine gene diagnosis of GEFS+. This observation of a potentially pathogenic mutation of SCN2A (Nav1.2) indicates that this gene should be further evaluated in order to determine possible routes of causation of GEFS+.

In this paper, we report the use of information and communication technology (ICT) among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Guangxi, China. A total 2987 participants were recruited from 12 sites with the highest number of cumulative HIV incidence, including 2 cities and 10 counties. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data on the participants’ social demographic characteristics, clinical outcomes, infections and coinfections, pattern of ICT use, and use and intention of using ICT in HIV and AIDS management. The data was analyzed using SPSS, version 24. The results showed 78.7% (n = 2347) never used a computer, 86.9% (n = 2587) had a cellphone, 32.7% (n = 207) owned an email account, and 85.4% (n = 544) owned a social media account. Less than half of the participants reported ever using ICTs for HIV management. Only 26.2% (n = 266) were willing to join a web-based HIV prevention program. Findings of this study suggest that there was an imbalance in the participants’ ICT device ownership and choices of media platform. Social media appeared to be a potential platform for health intervention among this group. There was a low penetration of computer use among rural participants and a large disparity between the urban and rural participants, which indicated a need to expand the current infrastructure related to ICTs and increase people’s health literacy. Future research also needs to pay attention to security and trustworthiness of the intervention program to better promote ICTs as an efficient and reliable platform for HIV prevention and care.

We grew Sr-doped Bi2Se3 thin films using molecular beam epitaxy, and their high quality was verified using transmission electron microscopy. The thin films exhibited weak antilocalisation behaviours in magneto-resistance measurements, a typical transport signature of topological insulators, but were not superconducting. In addition, the carrier densities of the non-superconducting thin-film samples were similar to those of their superconducting bulk counterparts. Atom-by-atom energy-dispersive X-ray mapping also revealed similar Sr doping structures in the bulk and thin-film samples. Because no qualitative distinction between non-superconducting thin-film and superconducting bulk samples had been found, we turned to a quantitative statistical analysis, which uncovered a key structural difference between the bulk and thin-film samples. The separation between Bi layers in the same quintuple layer was compressed whereas that between the closest Bi layers in two neighbouring quintuple layers was expanded in the thin-film samples compared with the separations in pristine bulk Bi2Se3. In marked contrast, the corresponding changes in the bulk doped samples showed opposite trends. These differences may provide insight into the absence of superconductivity in doped topological insulator thin films.

Background: Treatment of myoclonic seizures in myoclonic epilepsy with ragged-red fibers (MERRFs) has been empirical and ineffective. Guideline on this disease is not available. Additional trials must be conducted to find more suitable treatments for it. In this study, the antimyoclonic effects of monotherapies, including levetiracetam (LEV), clonazepam (CZP), valproic acid (VPA), and topiramate (TPM) compared to combination therapy group with LEV and CZP on MERRF, were evaluated to find a more advantageous approach on the treatment of myoclonic seizures. Methods: Treatments of myoclonic seizures with VPA, LEV, CZP, and TPM were reported as monotherapies in 17 MERRF patients from Qilu Hospital between 2003 and 2016, who were diagnosed through clinical data and genetic testing. After 1–4 months of follow-up (mean: 82.9 ± 28.1 days), 12 patients that exhibited poor responses to monotherapy were given a combined treatment consisting of LEV and CZP subsequently. The follow-up period was 4–144 months (mean: 66.3 ± 45.3 months), the effective rates of monotherapy group (17 patients) and combination therapy group (12 patients) were analyzed by Chi-square test. Results: The m.8344 A>G mutation was detected in all patients. There were four patients with partial response (4/17, two in the CZP group and two in the LEV group), ten patients with stable disease (10/17, six in the CZP group, three in the LEV group, and one in the TPM group), and three patients with progressive disease (3/18, two in the VPA group and one in the TPM group). Twelve of the patients with LEV combined with CZP showed a positive effect and good tolerance (12/12), eight of them demonstrated improved cognition and coordination. There was a significant difference between the monotherapy group and combination therapy group in the efficacy of antimyoclonic seizures (χ2 = 13.7, P < 0.001). Conclusions: LEV in combination with CZP is an efficient and safe treatment for myoclonic seizures in patients with this disease exhibiting the m.8344A>G mutation. Key words: Clonazepam; Levetiracetam; Myoclonic Epilepsy with Ragged-Red Fibers; Myoclonic Seizures