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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features and outcomes of children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) missed by neonatal screening. METHODS: The clinical and laboratory date of 31 children with CH missed by neonatal screening from February 2015 to February 2022 in Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center were retrospectively analyzed. Whole-exome high-throughput sequencing analysis was performed in 17 patients. RESULTS: Among the 31 patients, 19 cases (61.3%) were preterm, 12 cases (38.7%) were term neonates. The median value of gestation age was 36 (26-40) weeks, birth weight was 2.35 (0.75-3.70) kg, diagnosed age was 20 d (7 d-4 years), dry blood spot thyrotropin was 4.18 (0.34-8.97) mU/L. Nine cases (29.0%) were same-sex twins and 4 cases (12.9%) had a family history of hypothyroidism. The initial clinical symptoms were growth retardation in 11 cases (35.5%), prolonged jaundice in 7 cases (22.6%), short stature, abdominal distension, fetal edema and goiter in 1 case (3.2%), respectively. Genetic analysis of the 17 children showed that DUOX2 gene mutations were detected in 10 cases (6 cases with biallelic mutations and 4 cases with monoallelic mutations), of whom 3 had a family history of hypothyroidism. A total of 22 patients were reevaluated at the age of 2-3 years, of whom 17 cases (77.3%) were transient CH and 5 cases (22.7%) were permanent CH. Among the 10 cases with DUOX2 gene mutations, 6 cases were transient CH, 1 case was permanent CH, and 3 cases (< 3 years old) were still under treatment with L-thyroxine. CONCLUSIONS: False negative results on neonatal screening for CH often occurs in preterm birth, low birth weight, same-sex twins, family history of hypothyroidism, and DUOX2 defects are the common molecular pathogenesis, most of whom are transient CH. Thyroid function should be evaluated in time for children with unexplained slow growth and delayed jaundice regression.

Objectives To determine correlations of serum beta 2-microglobulin (β2-MG) level with disease activity and renal involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Two hundred eligible SLE patients were assigned into remission and active stage groups according to SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) scores. They were also assigned into kidney damage and no kidney damage groups. Serum β2-MG, Scr, ALB, BUN, anti-dsDNA, complements C3, C4 and 24-h urinary total protein (UTP) were detected. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated. Correlations of β2-MG level with SLEDAI score and eGFR were subjected to Spearman analysis. Affecting factors were explored by logistic multivariate regression analysis, and predictive values of β2-MG level for SLE, disease activity and renal damage were assessed by ROC curves. Results β2-MG, Scr, ALB, C3, C4, anti-dsDNA and UTP levels, eGFR and SLEDAI score were different between patients with different disease activities, and, except for eGFR, also between patients with different renal damage degrees (p Conclusions Serum β2-MG levels in SLE patients are correlated positively with disease activity and negatively with renal involvement, being highly sensitive and specific for predicting SLE, disease activity and eGFR.

This study used a voxel-wise degree centrality (DC) method to evaluate differences in brain activity between patients with non-neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (non-NP-SLE) and healthy controls (HCs) and to assess the relationship of DC values with clinical and neuropsychological data. Thirty-two female patients with non-NP-SLE and 28 well-matched HCs were recruited and underwent resting-state functional MRI. Differences in spontaneous brain activity between the two groups were evaluated using a DC method. Correlations between the altered DC values of specific brain regions and clinical and neuropsychological data were explored using Spearman correlation analysis. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was applied to differences in DC values in specific brain regions to determine their value in distinguishing patients with non-NP-SLE from HCs. Compared with HCs, DC values in patients with non-NP-SLE were significantly lower in the bilateral postcentral gyrus and the orbital part of the left superior frontal gyrus (LFMO). DC values in some specific brain regions such as the bilateral postcentral gyrus and the LFMO correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination scores in both subject groups. In patients with non-NP-SLE, DC values of the right postcentral gyrus were positively correlated with IgA levels, and DC values of the LFMO were positively correlated with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 scores, as well as IgA levels. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis revealed that the DC values of specific brain regions can be used to differentiate patients with non-NP-SLE from HCs.

In order to transform the dredged sediment (DS) into an efficient water-absorbing ceramsite (EWAC), the coal fly ash (CFA) and expansion agent were used to blend, expand, and sinter with the DS in the Dian Lake-China. A new type of high EWAC was prepared with the absorption ratio of 66.71%, which was much higher than similar products. The heavy metals leaching (HML) of EWAC showed that the concentration of As was 0.90 mg/L and the Hg, Pb, Cd, and Cr were too low to be detected. The characterization analysis showed that the EWAC cross section contained a lot of hydroxyl, ether, and P-Cl hydrophilic group by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area (SSA) test method. The above groups and structures could greatly improve the water absorption (WA) performance of the EWAC. What's more, the SSA of the EWAC could reach 4.468 m2 /g. The results of Comsol Multiphysics indicated that the SSA and average pore size (APS) of the EWACs were 10 and 6 times higher than the commercial ceramsites, respectively. The research provided the utilization of the DS with technical and theoretical basis for the construction of sponge city. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The article was focus on the utilization of dredged sediment (DS) and coal fly ash (CFA) for the basic material preparation technology and its toxicity test as the sponge city. First, the raw materials were the DS in Dian Lake (Kunming, Yunnan, China) and CFA (thermal power plants), which were all belonged to the hazardous solid waste and was made to the efficient water-absorbing ceramsite (EWAC). Second, the water absorption (WA) performance of the EWAC was improved greatly whose absorption ratio was much higher than similar products reached 66.71%. The specific surface area (SSA) and average pore size (APS) of the EWACs were 10 and 6 times higher than the commercial ceramsites (CCs), respectively. Finally, the heavy metals leaching (HML) of As was 0.90 mg/L, and the HML of Hg, Pb, Cd, and Cr was all lower than 0.05 mg/L, which could not only not cause secondary pollution but provide the new ideas for the resource utilization of large amount of DS. So, we thought this article was suitable for the journal.

In the research, the ultrasound was introduced to the electric-assisted micro-electrolysis system to improve the treatment efficiency of phenol simulated wastewater. The results showed that the phenol removal efficiency was significantly enhanced by the electric-assisted micro-electrolysis method in the presence of ultrasound, which could reach 88.61% under the initial value of pH 4, an iron dosage of 50 g/L, a mass ratio of iron/carbon of 1:1, and the initial phenol concentration of 100 mg/L. The degradation kinetics of phenol was in accordance with a second-order kinetic model. The synergistic effect of the ultrasonic and electric-assisted micro-electrolysis method was obvious with a synergistic factor at 98.02%. The degradation mechanism of phenol was that the treatment could effectively destroy the benzene ring structure of phenol in the liquid phase with ring-opening reaction and small molecules substances generated. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The article was the pretreatment of coking wastewater. First, the synergistic effects between ultrasound and electrochemical method through the removal ratio of phenol were found. Second, it was showed that the initial pH and applied intensity of voltage had the effects on removal ratio of phenol by the UEME method. Third, the synergy factor (Syn ) between ultrasonic and electrochemical method was 98.02%. Finally, the mechanism of the UEME degradation of phenol was researched. The technology could effectively improve the biodegradability of coking wastewater and provide conditions for subsequent biochemical treatment. So, we thought this article was suitable for the journal.

Along with the aging of the population and miniaturization of family structure, the problem of the left-behind elderly has become more and more prominent in China. According to the Report on the family development in China (2015) released by the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, left-behind elderly people account for half of the total number of the elderly, of whom 10% live alone. The left-behind elderly not only suffer physiological obstacles such as body function decline, but also face a lack of support at the material level and loneliness at the spiritual level, which greatly affects their quality of life, accounting for their lower life satisfaction than that of the ordinary elderly. The rural areas of Sichuan Province are relatively backwards in terms of economic level and have limited pension security. Therefore, the left-behind elderly in rural areas are confronted with more complicated and severe pension problems compared with those in urban areas. Meanwhile, limited by economic and regional factors, a large number of rural labor forces in Sichuan Province have transferred to cities. These long-time migrant workers cannot provide material, spiritual and life care support for their left-behind parents in rural areas in a timely fashion, which changes their filial piety behaviors, and this affects the life satisfaction of the rural left-behind elderly. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the living conditions of empty-nest elderly and their children’s filial piety in rural areas of Sichuan province in order to verify the influence mechanism of filial piety on the life satisfaction of the elderly, and to explore how to improve the rural empty-nest elderly’s life satisfaction, enabling the elderly to live a healthy and happy life.

The DFT method has been employed in the exploration on dihydrogen-bonded amine-borane complexes, with a special emphasis on the dimerization and substituent group effect. Stable dihydrogen bonded complexes can be generated from these amine-borane monomers with the appearance of NH(δ+)…H(δ-)B interactions. The binding energy decreases gradually with the increase of the steric effect of the substituents. The substituent group number mainly varies the C-N bond length. The dimerization generates close H…H and influences predominantly the N-B distance. The effect of dimerization on IR and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectra is stronger than that of the number of substituent groups, which leads to distinct NBO charge variation on α-C. Both the substituent group number and dimerization enhance the chemical shift difference between hydrogen atoms covalently bonded to N and B, Δδ H-H, which can be hired as an index for structural determination. It is proposed that amine-borane complexes with more substituent groups in higher degree of polymerization are potentially interesting materials for hydrogen storage. Graphical Abstract Both the number of substituent group and dimerization enhance the chemical shift difference of hydrogen atoms covalently bonded on N and B, Δδ H-H, which can be employed as an index for the structural determination.

A novel direct-laser writing fabrication process for micro-axicons is demonstrated. A fiber-axicon-generated Bessel beam was utilized to write on UV-curable optical epoxy to form new axicons and axicon arrays, and geometrical parameters of the replicated epoxy axicons were analyzed in terms of both apex angle and proximity of the writing axicons. The shape of the fabricated axicons was demonstrated to be controllable through laser exposure, proximity, and apex angle of the source axicon, and the fabricated axicons are capable of generating a quality Bessel beam with an excellent focusing performance. Published version

To investigate the relationship between the uncooperative behaviors of first-visit-dental children and correlative factors that include children's temperament, severe of dental caries and so on in order to help dentists to make personal dentistry therapy plan for each child to prevent and deal with children's uncooperative behaviors.From the pediatric dentistry clinic, 195 first-visit-dental children (aged 3-7 years) from Dec. 2007 to Dec. 2008 were randomly selected to accept dental examination and accepted corresponding treatment according to personal therapy plans. Children's clinic behavior was valued during treatment. The parents were asked to complete NYLS temperament parents scale questionnaires for 3-7 years old children.Among the 195 children, there were 114(58.46%) had dental fear and anxiety(DFA) and 66 (33.85%) had dental behavior management problem (DBMP). As the children's age increased, the incidence of DBMP decreased. There were no statistical relationship between genders and children's DFA/DBMP. The children's severity of dental caries was related to their dental behavior, the more serious the caries, the more incident the DFA/DBMP of children. There were no statistically significant differences for the DFA/DBMP of temperament type children. But the score of sensory threshold was higher in DFA children, while physiological rhythmicity was lower in DBMP, the differences were significant.In order to reduce the incidence of DFA/DBMP, we should pay more attention to children with serious caries, and provide them individual behavior management for different ages and temperament.

A printable microlens on fiber end for coupling between a laser diode to a single-mode fiber (SMF) is demonstrated. The fiber microlens fabricated by the novel technique based on laser direct writing using a quasi-Bessel beam has gained high coupling efficiency, long working distance, and sufficient alignment tolerance. A coupling efficiency of 53.5% was measured for SMF coupling at a working distance of 16 μm. The tolerances for a 1-dB loss increment for translational displacements and angular deviations between the fiber microlens and the laser diode were 2.5 and 1.2 μm, and 2.0 and 5.0 degrees, respectively. The printable fabrication of a microlens on a fiber endface by laser direct writing allows for a batch process to reproduce a multiple microlens with a high consistency in a simple and fast fabrication cycle, with no need of individual fiber loading and unloading.