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Orbital-free density functional theory (DFT) is much more efficient than the orbital-dependent Kohn–Sham DFT due to the avoidance of the auxiliary one-body orbitals. The machine learning approach has been applied to build nuclear orbital-free DFT recently [Wu et al., Phys. Rev. C 105 (2022) L031303] and achieved more precise descriptions for nuclei than existing orbital-free DFTs. Here, improved machine learning nuclear orbital-free density functional is built by including the Thomas–Fermi approach as a basement. Performances of the functional are compared in detail with the ones based on the pure machine learning approach. It is found that with the Thomas–Fermi functional included, the machine-learning-based functional can achieve better performance in directly predicting the kinetic energies and in providing the ground-state properties by the self-consistent procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we develop an innovative method that assists computer-aided diagnosis in the determination process of the exact location of the femoral neck junction in plain radiographs. Our algorithm consists of two phases, i.e., coarse prediction and fine matching, which are implemented by supervised deep learning method and unsupervised clustering, respectively. In coarse prediction, standard masks are first produced by a specialist and trained in our proposed feature propagation network (FPU-Net) with supervised learning on the femoral neck dataset. In fine matching, the standard masks are first classified into different categories using our proposed three parameters with unsupervised learning. The predicted mask from FPU-Net is matched with each category of standard masks by calculating the values of intersection of union (IOU), and finally the predicted mask is substituted by the standard mask with the largest IOU value. A total of 4320 femoral neck parts in anterior–posterior (AP) pelvis radiographs collected from China Medical University Hospital database were used to test our method. Simulation results show that, on the one hand, compared with other segmentation methods, the method proposed in this paper has a larger IOU value and better suppression of noise outside the region of interest; on the other hand, the introduction of unsupervised learning for fine matching can help in the accurate localization segmentation of femoral neck images. Accurate femoral neck segmentation can assist surgeons to diagnose and reduce the misdiagnosis rate and burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a theoretical study of bichromatic weakly non-collinear Airy-type waves propagating with various amplitudes in water of infinite depth. The coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations are invoked to study the behavior of self- and cross-interacting Airy wave packets. We demonstrate that bichromatic pulses possess the main properties of single Airy wave packets—shape invariance and self-acceleration or self-deceleration—when propagating in a dispersive medium. Accounting for nonlinearity leads to a strong dependence of the structure, stability, and propagation velocity of wave pulses on their amplitude. We show that interacting pulses of Airy-type waves can form giant accelerating and decelerating waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International migration puts people's sexual and reproductive health (SRH), particularly those of women and children, at increased risk. However, many international migrants are denied access to timely and adequate SRH information, goods, and services by governments and/or service providers. This article reviews relevant international human rights treaties to argue that the barriers faced by migrants in accessing SRH care constitute violations of international law. It is well established that migrants are guaranteed access to SRH care as a part of their right to health, as well as the rights enjoyed by vulnerable populations. Increasingly, hindrance of migrants' access to SRH care is also recognized as a threat to their rights to life and equality with non-migrants. The case of Toussaint v Canada illustrates how governments may be held accountable by human rights treaty monitoring bodies when they fail to respect and fulfill migrants' right to SRH care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective prevention of chronic postoperative pain is an important clinical goal, informed by a growing body of studies. Peri-operative regional anaesthesia remains one of the most important tools in the multimodal analgesic toolbox, blocking injury-induced activation and sensitisation of both the peripheral and central nervous system. We review the definition and taxonomy of chronic postoperative pain, its mechanistic basis and the most recent evidence for the preventative potential of multimodal analgesia, with a special focus on regional anaesthesia. While regional anaesthesia targets several important aspects of the mechanistic pathway leading to chronic postoperative pain, evidence for its efficacy is still mixed, possibly owing to the heterogeneity of risk profiles within the surgical patient, but also to variation in techniques and medications reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonlinear energy sink (NES) has proven to be very effective in reducing the vibration response of structures. In this paper, a magnetic bistable nonlinear energy sink (BNES) that composed of a guided moving mass attached with linear springs and permanent magnets is proposed. To assess the seismic control performance of the proposed BNES, a shear frame model equipped with the proposed BNES is compared with the same shear frame model equipped with an optimized cubic NES and with a linear tuned mass damper (TMD) system. The results show that, in the idealized situation, where the mass and stiffness is clearly defined (no uncertainty), the BNES can achieve similar performance as a thoroughly in-tuned TMD system. Moreover, in the detuned condition, due to broadband high internal resonance capability, the proposed BNES can outperform the linear TMD and the cubic NES. The study demonstrates that the proposed BNES can be used as an efficient passive vibration absorber for structural seismic control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the compressive strength of ice under both quasi-static [M. Arakawa and N. Maeno, Mechanical strength of polycrystalline ice under uniaxial compression. Cold Reg. Sci. Tech 26 (1997), pp. 215–229.] and dynamic [X. Wu and V. Prakash, Dynamic compressive behavior of ice at cryogenic temperatures. Cold Reg. Sci. Tech 118 (2015), pp. 1–13.] loadings shows an anomalous temperature effect that the compression strength is insensitive to temperature in a specific temperature range below −100oC, it is still unclear whether the anomalous temperature exists for the tensile strength of ice at cryogenic temperatures. In this paper, the temperature-dependent dynamic tensile strength of ice 1 h under shock loading is investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. It is intriguing to see that the dynamic tensile strength of the ice exhibits a similar anomalous temperature effect, i.e. it is almost insensitive to temperature in the range 117 ∼ 163 K, which could be interpreted by the competitive mechanism between shock-induced pulverisation and melting. The evolution of the pentagonal-heptagonal defects and the ductile-to-brittle transformation are also observed with decreasing temperature, leading to the unique dynamic tensile behaviour of ice under shock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective prevention of chronic postoperative pain is an important clinical goal, informed by a growing body of studies. Peri-operative regional anaesthesia remains one of the most important tools in the multimodal analgesic toolbox, blocking injury-induced activation and sensitisation of both the peripheral and central nervous system. We review the definition and taxonomy of chronic postoperative pain, its mechanistic basis and the most recent evidence for the preventative potential of multimodal analgesia, with a special focus on regional anaesthesia. While regional anaesthesia targets several important aspects of the mechanistic pathway leading to chronic postoperative pain, evidence for its efficacy is still mixed, possibly owing to the heterogeneity of risk profiles within the surgical patient, but also to variation in techniques and medications reported in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To simulate the wave-induced response of coupled pore fluids and a solid skeleton in shallow water, a set of solutions with different formulations (fully dynamic, partly dynamic, and quasi-static) corresponding to each soil behavior assumption is presented. To deal with Jacobian elliptic functions involved in the cnoidal theory, a Fourier series approximation is adopted for expanding the boundary conditions on the seabed surface. The parametric study indicates the significant effect of nonlinearity for shallow water wave, which also enhances the effect of soil characteristics. The investigation of the applicability of reduced formulations reveals the necessity of a partly or even fully dynamic formulation for the wave-induced seabed response problem in shallow water, especially for thickened seabed. The analysis of liquefaction in the seabed indicates that the maximum depth of liquefaction is shallower, and the width of liquefaction is broader under cnoidal wave loading. The present analytical model can provide more reasonable result for the wave-induced seabed response in the range of shallow water wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of oxygen partial pressure on the thermal stability of Nd-123 superconductor thin films was investigated by means of high temperature in situ microscopy. It was found that the thermal stability of Nd-123 films decreases as the oxygen partial pressure increases. We attribute the thermal stability suppression to the increased growth rate of Nd-422 and a high concentration difference ratio. Under the assumption of quasi-equilibrium, a simplified model for peritectic melting of RE-123 was suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lattice design of a cloak for full two-dimensional elasticity is suggested when the background continuum is isotropic with Lamé parameters (λ,μ) satisfying μ ≤ λ. The lattice is polar in the sense that it elastically resists rotations; and is degenerate meaning it admits a stressless collapse mechanism. These characteristics are attained through the use of appropriately distributed restoring torques in conjunction with hinge-like spring-mass contacts. Thus, the lattice is proven to exhibit a rank-3 elasticity tensor lacking the minor symmetries. Accordingly, it rigorously adheres to the forminvariance requirements of the transformation method under the Brun–Guenneau–Movchan gauge. The cloak is numerically tested in statics and in dynamics under pressure and shear incident waves and shows satisfactory performance. Finally, a theoretical generalization extends the design to three dimensions and to arbitrarily anisotropic backgrounds so as to enable cloaking as well as other transformation-based static and dynamic field manipulation techniques in these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptocarpus shows a great diversity of shoot and flower morphology, but lacks resources for genetic studies. RAD sequencing with NGS technologies provides large amounts of genotyping data quickly and cost effectively and is very useful for genetic map construction. In this study, three approaches for constructing RAD loci were combined to build the first genetic map for Streptocarpus (Gesneriaceae). A backcross population between Streptocarpus grandis and S. rexii was used as the mapping population. The parents are both diploid (2 n  = 32) and largely autogamous. Streptocarpus grandis is unifoliate, retaining the enlarged macrocotyledon as sole foliar organ which is monocarpic, and S. rexii is rosulate and perennial. 233 backcross plants were genotyped, and the data from 200 or 150 individuals used to generate the maps. The RAD reads were assembled using a de novo approach, aligned on the reference draft genome sequences of S. rexii using BWA or Stampy, and finally all markers were analyzed combined. In the latter, 599 mappable markers were generated which were assigned to 16 linkage groups, with an average inter-marker distance of 2.6 cM. This work provides a valuable genetic resource for further studies in the large and morphologically diverse genus Streptocarpus . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After years of cuts, Canada's refugee health-care program, the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), was fully restored in 2016. In this exploratory study, eleven semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with refugee service providers in the City of Ottawa to learn about their experience with the restored IFHP to date. Five themes emerged from the interviews: service provision challenges during the years of IFHP cuts; support for IFHP restoration; entitlement gaps in the current IFHP; ongoing confusion about the IFHP; and administrative barriers deterring health professionals from IFHP participation. More research is needed to determine whether the identified challenges with the reinstated IFHP arise on a national scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: What is known: Angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) plays an important role in the development of essential hypertension (EH). Genetic factors remarkably influence circulating ACE2 level. Objective: Because heritability had remarkable effects on circulating ACE2, we designed this study to shed light on whether circulating levels of ACE2, angiotensin‐(1‐7) and angiotensin‐(1‐9) were linked to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes in ACE2 gene. Methods: A total of 213 patients with newly diagnosed mild to moderate EH were enrolled in the present study. Four ACE2 tag SNPs (rs2074192, rs4646171, rs4646155 and rs2106809) were genotyped, and major haplotypes consisting of these 4 SNPs were reconstructed for all subjects. Circulating levels of ACE2, angiotensin‐(1‐7) and angiotensin‐(1‐9) were measured using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Results: In female subjects, linear regression analysis suggested that rare alleles of ACE2 rs2074192 and rs2106809 were associated with reduced circulating angiotensin‐(1‐7) levels (P=.007 and P=.006, respectively). ACE2 haplotype CAGC was associated with elevated circulating angiotensin‐(1‐7) levels (P=.03) whereas TAGT was associated with reduced circulating angiotensin‐(1‐7) levels in females (P<.001). Univariate linear regression analysis revealed that circulating ACE2 levels were positively associated with systolic blood pressure (P=.02), mean arterial pressure (P=.02) and serum creatinine (P<.001) in females whereas circulating ACE2 levels were positively associated with age (P<.001) and serum creatinine (P<.001) in males. What is new and conclusion: ACE2 SNPs and haplotypes are associated with circulating angiotensin‐(1‐7) levels. ACE2 genetic variants may be the determinants of circulating angiotensin‐(1‐7) levels in hypertensive females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Familial eosinophilia ( FE) is a rare autosomal dominant inherited disorder characterized by the presence of lifelong peripheral eosinophilia (>1500/μL). Mapped to chromosome 5q31-q33, the genetic cause of FE is unknown, and prior studies have failed to demonstrate a primary abnormality in the eosinophil lineage. Objective The aim of this study was to identify the cells driving the eosinophilia in FE. Methods Microarray analysis and real-time PCR were used to examine transcriptional differences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( PBMC), and in purified cell subsets from affected and unaffected family members belonging to a single large kindred. Cytokine levels in serum and PBMC culture supernatants were assessed by suspension array multiplexed immunoassays. Results Whereas IL-5 m RNA expression was significantly increased in freshly isolated PBMC from affected family members, this was not accompanied by increased m RNA expression of other Th2 cytokines ( IL-4 or IL-13). Serum levels of IL-5 and IL-5 receptor α, but not IgE, were similarly increased in affected family members. Of note, IL-5 m RNA expression was significantly increased in purified CD3+ CD4+, CD14+, CD19+, and ILC2 cells from affected family members, as were IL-5 protein levels in supernatants from both stimulated PBMC and ILC2 cultures. Conclusions These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the eosinophilia in FE is secondary to dysregulation of IL-5 production in PBMC (and their component subsets). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The occurrence of osteoporosis in tuberculosis, a chronic infection, has rarely been evaluated. In this study, we found significantly higher incidence rates of osteoporosis (Adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 1.82) and osteoporotic fracture (AHR 2.33) in tuberculosis patients than matched cohorts, which suggest that osteoporosis screening should be considered in tuberculosis patients' follow-up program. The aim of this study is to determine the occurrence of incident osteoporosis in patients who completed anti-tuberculosis (TB) treatment. Introduction: Chronic inflammatory disorders are associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. Although TB is an infectious disease characterized by systemic inflammatory responses, the impact of active TB on incident osteoporosis is unclear. We used the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to investigate the association between history of active TB and incident osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. Methods: In this nationwide retrospective cohort study, active TB patients and their age- and sex-matched controls were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan during 2000-2012. The occurrence of incident osteoporosis, osteoporotic fractures, and risk factors associated with osteoporosis among TB patients and matched controls were analyzed. Results: We observed incident osteoporosis in 2.2% ( n = 86) of the TB patients and in 1.1% ( n = 162) of the matched controls. The incidence rate of osteoporosis was 4.31 and 1.80 per 1000 person-years, which was significantly higher in TB patients ( p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, TB was an independent risk factor for osteoporosis. The other independent factors associated with osteoporosis were older age, female sex, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lower income. Moreover, we demonstrated that the occurrence of osteoporotic fracture was significantly higher in TB patients. Conclusions: Patients with a history of active TB have a higher incidence rate of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enzyme ISOPENTENYLTRANSFERASE (IPT) is responsible for the rate limiting step of cytokinin biosynthesis, an important plant hormone with key roles in meristem maintenance and organ development. In this study, we isolated IPT genes from the acaulescent Streptocarpus rexii , a plant that shows an unorthodox development starting with post-germination anisocotyly, in which cytokinins play an integral role. Three adenosine phosphate- IPT s and two tRNA- IPT s were isolated from S. rexii . Their expression levels and patterns in different tissues were compared by means of realtime-PCR and mRNA in-situ hybridization. We found that each SrIPT had a distinctive expression pattern. Interestingly, in vegetative tissues as well as in meristems only the adenosine phosphate -IPT SrIPT5 and the tRNA- IPT SrIPT9 were found. In addition, they were differentially affected by external hormone application, suggesting their different regulation and expression during meristem formation and maintenance and lamina growth. Our results indicate that SrIPT s are involved in shaping the architecture of S. rexii , working differentially and redundantly, and show that differentially expressed IPT genes regulate plant form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how health care services in Canada are denied to precarious status migrants, either through outright exclusion based on immigration status, or due to the realities in migrants' lives that make it difficult for them to access health care services. The author argues that this situation is unfair, given the contribution made by precarious status migrants to Canada's sociocultural and economic fabric, and exhorts the courts and policy-makers to do more to make health care services available to these migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with two-dimensional and three-dimensional cooperative control of multiple agents formation tracking a set of given closed orbits, where each agent has intrinsic second-order non-linear dynamics and the communication topology among agents is directed. By using our previous curve extension method, the cooperative control system can be regarded as a cascade system composed of the orbit-tracking subsystem and the formation subsystem with the orbit-tracking error as input. A novel solution is established by separatively designing the orbit-tracking control law and the formation control protocol ignoring the perturbation at first and then applying input-to-state stability theory to analyse the asymptotic stability of the cascade system. It is shown that the closed-loop system is asymptotic stability if the directed communication topology contains a directed spanning tree. The effectiveness of the analytical results is verified by numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To meet an increasing market demand of conductive ink which is applicable to wide range of substrates, ultraviolet (UV) curing technique combined with nano-silver materials was used to fabricate UV electric conductive ink. Firstly, both silver nano-particles (AgNPs) and silver nano-wires (AgNWs)/poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) composites were synthesized. An ethanol solution-phase approach using hydrazine hydrate as a reducing agent was presented for an easy synthesis of large-scaleAgNPswith an average diameter of 35 nm.AgNWswith diameter of 40 nm and length up to over 10 μm were synthesized by polyol method. InAgNWssynthesis process, the main influencing factors such as the molar ratio of PVP to silver nitrate, the reaction time and PVP of different degree of polymerization were investigated. Finally, nano Ag/PVP composites, polyurethane acrylate, photoinitiator 1173 and solvents were used to fabricate UV electric conductive ink, which had an electrical conductivity on paper as high as 2.1 × 105 S/m. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents a study that investigated the variations of the electrical resistivity, the magnetization and the grain-boundary precipitates of a nickel-rich nickel-indium alloy system. Experimental procedure; Results and discussion.

Investigates the variations of the grain-boundary precipitates, the electrical resistivity and the magnetization of a Ni-8 at. tin alloy as functions of annealing temperature and annealing time. Preparation of the alloys; Microscope used to observe the grain-boundary precipitates; Information on the magnetization of the homogenized sample.

Graph: Figure 1. class="chapter-para">(a) Fundoscopy revealing Roth spots (marked by arrows) and premacular subhyaloid hemorrhage (marked by arrowhead). At ~3 months follow-up, Roth spots and premacular subhyaloid hemorrhage had disappeared (Figure 1b) and the patient's BCVA had improved to 20/40 for each eye. [Extracted from the article]

Wave propagation can be manipulated at a deep subwavelength scale through the locally resonant metamaterial that possesses unusual effective material properties. Hyperlens due to metamaterial's anomalous anisotropy can lead to superior-resolution imaging. In this paper, a single-phase elastic metamaterial with strongly anisotropic effective mass density has been designed. The proposed metamaterial utilizes the independently adjustable locally resonant motions of the subwavelengthscale microstructures along the two principal directions. High anisotropy in the effective mass densities obtained by the numerical-based effective medium theory can be found and even have opposite signs. For practical applications, shunted piezoelectric elements are introduced into the microstructure to tailor the effective mass density in a broad frequency range. Finally, to validate the design, an elastic hyperlens made of the single-phase hyperbolic metamaterial is proposed with subwavelength longitudinal wave imaging illustrated numerically. The proposed single-phase hyperbolic metamaterial has many promising applications for high resolution damage imaging in nondestructive evaluation and structural health monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to control elastic wave propagation at a deep subwavelength scale makes locally resonant elasticmetamaterials very relevant. A number of abilities have been demonstrated such as frequency filtering, wave guiding, and negative refraction. Unfortunately, few metamaterials develop into practical devices due to their lack of tunability for specific frequencies. With the help of multi-physics numerical modeling, experimental validation of an adaptive elasticmetamaterial integrated with shunted piezoelectric patches has been performed in a deep subwavelength scale. The tunable bandgap capacity, as high as 45%, is physically realized by using both hardening and softening shunted circuits. It is also demonstrated that the effective mass density of the metamaterial can be fully tailored by adjusting parameters of the shunted electric circuits. Finally, to illustrate a practical application, transient wave propagation tests of the adaptive metamaterial subjected to impact loads are conducted to validate their tunable wave mitigation abilities in real-time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the relationship between jet power and accretion for Fermi and non-Fermi blazars. We also compare the relevant parameter. Our main results are: (i) Fermi and non-Fermi blazars have significant differences in red shift, black hole mass and broad line luminosity. (ii) Fermi blazars have a higher average core-dominance parameter than non-Fermi blazars, which suggests that Fermi blazars have a strong beaming effect. (iii) We find a significant correlation between broad line emission and jet power for Fermi and non-Fermi blazars, which suggests a direct tight connection between jet and accretion. (iv) The accretion and black hole mass may have a different contribution to jet power for Fermi and non-Fermi blazars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to the multiple comorbidities and the associated complications among advanced CKD population, assessing potentially inappropriate medications (PIM) in these patients is an important task for physicians and multidisciplinary care team members. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the national pre-ESRD pay-for-performance (P4P) program on prescribing quality in Taiwan. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) maintained by the Health and Welfare Data Science Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare (HWDC, MOHW). The incidents of CKD in year 2010 were observed until the end of 2017. Adult patients who initiated maintenance dialysis therapy were enrolled. To identify the use of PIM that should be avoided in advanced CKD patients, the Beers 2019 criteria and latest Taiwan Manual of Renal Injury Prevention and Drug Safety were applied. We measured PIM use in one year before starting long-term dialysis. Results: Among 7,828 participants underwent continuous dialysis treatment, 2,119 (27.1%) were P4P patients. Most (90.4%) participants were prescribed one or more PIMs before ESRD initiation. After adjusted age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and the number of nephrologist visits, the logistic regression showed lower probability of PIM use in the P4P enrollees (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.47-0.66). The effect of P4P on PIM was more prominent in the subgroups of patients who were female and CCI≤3. Conclusions: The implementation of the pre-ESRD P4P program might reduce PIM use among CKD patients. Our results underline the strategy of financial incentives in the payment design to improve prescribing patterns. Key messages: Prescribing potentially inappropriate medications is common among patients who were approaching ESRD. The study highlights the importance of implementing the pre-ESRD P4P program to reduce PIM use in advanced CKD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), we developed a new approach to growing a-axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7−δ films (a-films) in air, which have been hard to gain in the prior art since an extremely low supersaturation (σ) is required for their formation. Instead of the conventional step-cooling from a high temperature (Th) above the peritectic temperature (Tp) directly to the growth temperature (Tg), a novel cooling plus heating mode (from Th cooling down to below Tg and then heating back to Tg) was adopted for the film growth. We found that slow cooling combined with fast heating was effective to achieve an extraordinarily low σ for preparing a-films, which are potentially appropriate for Josephson junction devices. Most importantly, the correlation between the cooling mode and the driving force was reviewed, which provided universal guidance for finely tuning supersaturation of the solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely accepted that the mechanical behaviour of lead-rubber bearing for bridge will change distinctly with temperature variation. This paper outlines an experimental study for 300 × 300 square type lead-rubber bridge bearing. The experimental results of temperature dependency for horizontal shear performance of lead-rubber bearing are presented. It can be seen that the horizontal shear stiffness of the bearing will be reduced as the temperature rises. The horizontal damping ratio of the bearing will be reduced as the temperature increases, but such a trend will not be obvious when the temperature is higher than 23°C. By using the classical regression analysis, estimation of the formula for temperature dependency for horizontal shear stiffness and horizontal damping ratio of 300 × 300 mm square lead-rubber bearings are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using liquid phase epitaxy, a novel approach was developed to grow a-axis oriented YBa2Cu3O7-d films (a-films) under an air atmosphere, which has been difficult previously since its formation requires extremely low supersaturation. In our new method, instead of conventional cooling from the saturated to supersaturated state, an extremely small driving force for film growth was generated from the unsaturated through saturated to supersaturated state. By controlling the amount of fresh solvent and the melting time before cooling down the Y-Ba-Cu-O solution, a growth region width up to 30 K was acquired for preparing a-films. Significantly, this work provides a low-cost and convenient way to produce high-quality a-films, which are potentially suitable for Josephson junction devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese encephalitis ( JE) is a disease that threatens both human and animal populations in Asian countries, and the causative agent of JE, Japanese encephalitis virus ( JEV), has recently changed from genotype III ( GIII) to genotype I ( GI). However, a test for the rapid differentiation of GI and GIII JEV is still unavailable, especially one that can be used for mosquito-based surveillance. We have designed GI- and GIII-specific primer sets for the rapid detection and differentiation of GI and GIII JEV by multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (multiplex RT- PCR). The GI-specific and GIII-specific primer sets were able to specifically amplify the target gene from GI and GIII JEV, respectively. The limitations of detection were 0.00225 and 0.225 pfu for the GI-specific and GIII-specific primers, respectively. Using a mixture of GI-specific and GIII-specific primers, the multiplex RT- PCR was able to specifically detect and differentiate GI and GIII JEV. The multiplex RT- PCR was able to successfully differentiate GI and GIII virus in JEV-infected mosquitoes. Thus, a sensitive and specific multiplex RT- PCR system for the rapid detection and differentiation of GI and GIII JEV has been developed, and this test is likely to be valuable when carrying out mosquito-based JEV surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using liquid-phase epitaxy, a novel approach is reported for preparing a pure a-axis-oriented YBa2Cu3O y film ( a-film) on a (110) NdGaO3 substrate in ambient air, which is hard to achieve through conventional processes since its formation requires an extremely low supersaturation state. In the new process, instead of commonly used growth processes in a metastable zone, a-films were grown in an unstable zone of the Y-Ba-Cu-O solution. Under that circumstance, a homogeneous nucleation catastrophe occurred in the solution, leading to instantaneous consumption of most of the supersaturated Y solute. Thus a high degree of supersaturation rapidly relaxed to an ultra-low level. By controlling either the cooling rate or the growth temperature, a wide window for the formation of the a-film was gained. In principle, this new method should be universally valid for more crystal or film growth processes, particularly when an ultra-low supersaturation is required in solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeThis study compared the general and ocular biometric characteristics of normal, primary angle closure (PAC), and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) patients to better understand the possible relationship between differences in ocular parameters that might predict risk for PACG in PAC patients.MethodsOne hundred normal, 90 PAC, and 90 PACG eyes were retrospectively reviewed. General characteristics such as age, gender, body height, body weight, blood pressure, pulse, systemic diseases, and education level were recorded. Ocular findings included visual acuity, intraocular pressure, refraction, cup to disc ratio, and ocular biometry. Ocular biometry was obtained by A-scan ultrasonography (Digital A/B scan 5500; Sonomed Inc., Lake Success, NY, USA). The parameters recorded were anterior chamber depth (ACD), lens thickness (LT), axial length (AXL), lens/axial length factor (LAF), and relative lens position (RLP).ResultsAlthough the controls, PAC group, and PACG group were found to be significantly different in age (62.7±9.8; 65.3±7.5; and 66.0±7.4, respectively), there were no gender differences. With regard to ocular parameters, the ACD tended to decrease and the LT and LAF tended to increase from normal to PAC to PACG. The eyes of the PACG group had significantly shallower ACD (P<0.001) and thicker lens (P<0.001) than those of the PAC group. While PAC had similar lens position to the control group, PACG had more anteriorly positioned lens than the PAC group (P<0.001). Logistic regression analysis found a significant association between a decrease in ACD and increased risk of PACG (odds ratio (OR)=3.59 for 0.2 mm decrease in ACD) as well as a significant association between an increase in LT and increased risk of PACG (OR=1.30).ConclusionsIn addition to LT, a shallower ACD owing to a change in RLP may have a role in the progression from PAC to PACG. Owing to the differences of certain biometric characteristics between PAC and PACG, A-scan ultrasonography might potentially be used for the early detection of PACG in PAC eyes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bean anthracnose is a seedborne disease of common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris) caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. Using seed that did not test positive for the pathogen has been proven to be an effective strategy for bean anthracnose control. To quantify the extent of anthracnose seed infection, a real-time PCR-based diagnostic assay was developed for detecting C. lindemuthianum in seeds of the commercial bean class navy bean. The ribosomal DNA ( rDNA) region consisting of part of the18 S rDNA, 5.8S rDNA, internal transcribed spacers ( ITS) 1, 2 and part of the 28 S rDNA of seven races of C. lindemuthianum, 21 isolates of Colletotrichum species and nine other bean pathogens were sequenced with the universal primer set ITS5/ ITS4. Based on the aligned sequence matrix, one primer set and a probe were designed for a SYBR Green dye assay and a Taq Man MGB (minor groove binder) assay. The primer set was demonstrated to be specific for C. lindemuthianum and showed a high sensitivity for the target pathogen. The detection limit of both assays was 5 fg of C. lindemuthianum genomic DNA. To explore the correlation between the lesion area and the DNA amount of C. lindemuthianum in bean seed, seeds of the navy bean cultivar Navigator with lesions of different sizes, as well as symptomless seeds, were used in both real-time PCR assays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Ansamycins are a family of macrolactams that are synthesized by type I polyketide synthase ( PKS) using 3-amino-5-hydroxybenzoic acid ( AHBA) as the starter unit. Most members of the family have strong antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer and/or antiviral activities. We aimed to discover new ansamycins and/or other AHBA-containing natural products from actinobacteria. Methods and Results Through PCR screening of AHBA synthase gene, we identified 26 AHBA synthase gene-positive strains from 206 plant-associated actinomycetes (five positives) and 688 marine-derived actinomycetes (21 positives), representing a positive ratio of 2·4-3·1%. Twenty-five ansamycins, including eight new compounds, were isolated from six AHBA synthase gene-positive strains through TLC-guided fractionations followed by repeated column chromatography. To gain information about those potential ansamycin gene clusters whose products were unknown, seven strains with phylogenetically divergent AHBA synthase genes were subjected to fosmid library construction. Of the seven gene clusters we obtained, three show characteristics for typical ansamycin gene clusters, and other four, from Micromonospora spp., appear to lack the amide synthase gene, which is unusual for ansamycin biosynthesis. The gene composition of these four gene clusters suggests that they are involved in the biosynthesis of a new family of hybrid PK- NRP compounds containing AHBA substructure. Conclusions PCR screening of AHBA synthase is an efficient approach to discover novel ansamycins and other AHBA-containing natural products. Significance and Impact of the Study This work demonstrates that the AHBA-based screening method is a useful approach for discovering novel ansamycins and other AHBA-containing natural products from new microbial resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild rice Zizania latifolia is a perennial emergent aquatic plant widely distributed across China. Wild populations of Z. latifolia are important to aquatic ecosystems and are valuable genetic resources for breeding. However, they have been faced with significant habitat losses in recent decades. For 10 nuclear microsatellites, high levels of genetic diversity ( HE = 0.572-0.636) were found across seven surveyed populations from central China. The main factors responsible for that were its long life history and predominant outcrossing reproductive system. Low genetic differentiation among populations was found based on Wright's FST = 0.098. Similarly, AMOVA analysis showed only 7.73% of the total molecular variation was attributed to inter-population differentiation. The weak population structure of Z. latifolia could be due to high gene flow mediated by water or birds ( Nm = 2.30, M = 2.18). Importantly, most populations exhibited mutation-drift disequilibrium, suggesting a recent population decline. Based on the results, wild populations of Z. latifolia are expected to lose genetic diversity and increase genetic structure in future generations. Therefore, conservation management is urgently needed to maintain the genetic resources of Z. latifolia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic experiments were performed by in situ observationofthe YBa2Cu3Oz(Y123or YBCO) melting. Remarkably, the superheating phenomenon was identifiedto exist in all commonly used YBCO thin films, that is, films depositedon MgO, LaAlO3(LAO), and SrTiO3(STO) substrates,suggesting a universal superheating mode of the YBCO film. Distinctively,YBCO/LAO films were found to possess the highest level of superheating,over 100 K, mainly attributed to the lattice match effect of LAO substrate,that is, its superior lattice fit with Y123 delaying the Y123 dissolvingand inferior lattice matching with Y2BaCuO5(Y211)delaying the Y211 nucleation. Moreover, strong dependence of the thermalstability on the substrate material for Y123 films was also foundto be associated with the substrate wettability by the liquid andthe potential element doping from the substrate. Most importantly,the understanding of the superheating behavior is widely valid formore film/substrate constructions that have the same nature as theYBCO film/substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the spatial and temporal trends of water quality in the Yuqiao Reservoir (Ji County, Tianjin) in China, water quality data for ten physical and chemical parameters from three monitoring stations (S1, S2 and S3) was collected from 1989 to 2007 and from an other three stations (S4, S5 and S6) during the period of 1999-2007. A one-way ANOVA was employed to evaluate the spatial variation of water quality for each station. The results showed that there were statistically significant spatial differences for most water quality parameters except temperature and dissolved oxygen in the entire reservoir, and the concentrations of most parameters were higher in the uppermost part of the reservoir. The temporal trend study was conducted using the Seasonal-Kendall's test. The results revealed improving trends of water quality from 1989 to 2007, including a reduction of total phosphorous, temperature and biochemical oxygen demand and an increase of dissolved oxygen. High N:P ratios, ranging from 52.61 to 78.75, indicated that the reservoir was a phosphorous-limited environment. This study suggests long-term spatial and temporal variations of water quality in the Yuqiao Reservoir, which could be informative for water quality managers and scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transition metal oxide-based resistor random access memory (RRAM) takes advantage of oxygen-related defects in its principle of operation. Since the change in resistivity of the material is controlled by the oxygen deficiency level, it is of major importance to quantify the kinetics of the oxygen diffusion, key factor for oxide stoichiometry. Ab initio accelerated molecular dynamics techniques are employed to investigate the oxygen diffusivity in amorphous hafnia (HfOx, x = 1.97, 1.0, 0.5). The computed kinetics is in agreement with experimental measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, for the first time, we report a strengthened superheating effect caused by a buffering YBa2Cu3Oy (Y123 or YBCO) layer in a Nd1+xBa2-xCu3O7-y (Nd123 or NdBCO) thin film with a MgO substrate (i.e., NdBCO/YBCO/MgO thin film). In cold-seeding melt-textured (MT) growth the NdBCO/YBCO/MgO film presented an even higher superheating level, about 20°C higher than that of non-buffered NdBCO film (i.e., NdBCO/MgO film). Using this NdBCO/YBCO/MgO film as the seed and under a maximum processing temperature (Tmax) of up to 1120°C, we succeeded in growing various RE1+xBa2-xCu3O7-y (REBCO, RE = Gd, Sm, Nd, RE refers to rare elements) bulk superconductors. Pole figure (x-ray 8-scan) measurement reveals that the NdBCO/YBCO/MgO film has better in-plane alignment than NdBCO/MgO film, indicating that the induced intermediate layer improves the crystallinity of the NdBCO film, which could be the main origin of the enhanced thermal stability. In short, possessing higher thermal stability and enduring a higher Tmax in the MT process, the NdBCO/YBCO/MgO film is beneficial to the growth of bulk superconductors in two aspects: (1) broad application for REBCO materials of high peritectic temperature (Tp); (2) effective suppression against heterogeneous nucleation, which is of great assistance in growing large and high-performance REBCO crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new design of a broadband circularly polarized (CP) square slot antenna is presented. An excellent CP bandwidth can be obtained by using a novel coplanar waveguide (CPW) fed structure, which consists of a widened square tuning stub at the end of an asymmetric inverted-L signal strip and a pair of I-shaped strips along they -axis at two opposite sides of the square tuning stub. Axial ratio (AR) bandwidth can be significantly enhanced by adjusting the length of the pair of I-shaped strips. The antenna has been investigated numerically and experimentally. Experimental results show that the antenna possesses an impedance bandwidth of as large as 50% with voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) less than 2 and a 3 dB AR bandwidth of 51.7% relative to the centre frequency of 2.2 GHz. The 3 dB gain variations are less than 1 dBi within the CP bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the wear resistance and track of austenite- and martensitic-based white cast iron (AWCI and MWCI) containing 8.5% chromium have been investigated with micro-fricative wear tester, optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy with EDS (SEM-EDS), and 3D digital microscope. The results show that significant differences exist in the hardness (AWCI: HRC41.2, MWCI: HRC55.8) and impact toughness (AWCI: 28.6 J cm, MWCI: 20.3 J cm) between as-forged AWCI and forged + heat-treated MWCI samples. At 20 N load, due to AWCIs' low resistance matrices (pearlite and austenite), the wear performance is poor. The depth of the wear track in AWCI sample was 45.479 μm, lower than 70.810 μm in MWCI sample, indicating that the wear performance of AWCI sample was better than that of MWCI at 120 N. Additionally, associating with oxide film and wear debris on the samples' surfaces, the sliding friction coefficient of AWCI increases with load increasing from 20 N to 60 N then decreases with load increasing from 60 N to 120 N, whereas the friction coefficient for MWCI decreases with load in the range of 20-60 N then increases with load increasing from 60 to 120 N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increasing usage of steel casting connections in building structures in recent years, no systematical research has been carried out on the structural design of the connections due to the complexity of the configurations and stress distribution. In this paper, important issues on structural design of cast steel connections, including material properties, design criteria, theoretical and experimental stress/deformation analysis techniques, are addressed based on engineering applications and research experience. Of the three potential design criteria for cast steel connections, fully plasticity criterion is basically not applicable, whereas the elasticity criterion and partial plasticity criterion are usually used and the corresponding design methods are recommended. Through case studies, stress distribution and empirical equation estimating the resistance of certain joints with relatively regular configuration are demonstrated. Experimental analysis techniques are also discussed in the aspects of loading systems and appropriate simulation of restraints. For a cast steel joint with complicated configuration, experiment is a reliable way to verify its actual quality and structural capacity; results thus obtained can be used to validate corresponding finite element analysis, so that more exact information on the joint behavior may become available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We examined cervical cancer incidence before and after nationwide cervical cancer screening was initiated in Taiwan in mid-1995.Results: The invasive cancer incidence decreased by 47.8% during 1995-2006. The carcinoma in situ incidence increased 1.7-fold during 1995-2000, and decreased by 19.6% during 2000-2006.Conclusion: The Taiwan national programme has significantly decreased invasive cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Maternal thyroid hormone deficiency is the most common disorder of thyroid function during pregnancy and can influence the outcome for mother and foetus. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of thyroid hormone deficiency during the first half of pregnancy in iodine sufficient areas of China. Materials and methods Four thousand eight hundred pregnant women from 10 hospitals during the first 20  weeks of gestation were enrolled in this study. All sera obtained from pregnant women were measured for thyrotropin, free thyroxine and thyroid peroxidase antibody. Screening for thyroid hormone deficiency was performed on pregnant women using gestational age-specific reference intervals or non-pregnant population reference intervals. Results With gestational age-specific reference intervals as the criterion, the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism at 4, 8, 12,16 and 20 weeks of gestation was 4·59%, 6·15%, 4·68%, 4·53% and 5·96%, respectively, and the prevalence of hypothyroxinaemia was 3·69%, 1·11%, 2·92%, 1·29% and 2·29%, respectively. Different prevalence was obtained when non-pregnant population reference intervals was used as the criterion. If non-pregnant population reference intervals were used, the percentage of potentially misclassified cases of subclinical hypothyroidism were 0·18%, 2·85%, 4·1%, 3·24%, and 3·21%, respectively, and 3·45%, 0·66%, 2·34%, 1·29%, and 1·83%, respectively, in potentially misclassified cases of hypothyroxinaemia. Conclusions The percentage of potentially misclassified cases of subclinical hypothyroidism and hypothyroxinaemia in pregnant women decreased by using the gestational age-specific reference intervals as a diagnostic criteria during the first half of pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although ethics consultation has been introduced to clinical practice for many years, the results of empirical studies to evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation are still controversial. The design of randomised controlled trials is considered the best research design to evaluate the effect of a clinical practice on the outcomes of interests. In order to understand the effects of ethics consultation, we conducted this search for studies with the design of randomised controlled trials to evaluate ethics consultation. Objective: To provide an integrated review of studies with the design of randomised controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation. Methods: PubMed was used to search for studies using the randomised controlled trial design to evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation. The search term used was "ethics consultation". The selection criterion was limited to "randomised controlled trial". Results: Four articles that met both search criteria were retrieved. One of these articles reported a study that did not actually use the design of a randomised controlled trial and is excluded from the following discussion. Conclusions: To apply randomised controlled trials to evaluate the effectiveness of ethics consultation is extremely difficult as long as two issues are not resolved: the standardisation of ethics consultation and a placebo for ethics consultation to eliminate the placebo effect. Thus, the results generated by the design of randomised controlled trials are always problematic. Furthermore, as long as the two issues exist, the results generated by the design of quantitative research methods always pose problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel single-stage resonant converter with power factor correction is presented. Most of the researched power factor corrected rectifiers cascade a boost-type converter with the system. It is found that the half-bridge resonant converter, when the duty cycles are greater than 50%, can simplify the front end of the boost-type converter to a novel single-stage converter. To reduce the converter size and weight and to achieve ripple-free input current, coupled inductor techniques are used in the proposed converter. The operation principle and system steady analysis of the adopted converter are discussed in detail. A prototype has been built to demonstrate the system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes an improved transformer with an integrated magnetic circuit of the push–pull converter. For high-power server-type applications, the push–pull forward converter has been proven to have significantly better performance than the buck converter. This topology also provides a built-in input filter, and thus a smooth input current. All the magnetic components are integrated in a single core. The simulation of integrated magnetic and magnetic-circuit analysis identifies the proposed transformer correctly. Comparison is given of experimental results of discrete and integrated transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]