Search

Background This study examined the effects of microbial agents on the enzyme activity, microbial community construction and potential functions of inter-root soil of aubergine (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.). This study also sought to clarify the adaptability of inter-root microorganisms to environmental factors to provide a theoretical basis for the stability of the microbiology of inter-root soil of aubergine and for the ecological preservation of farmland soil. Methods Eggplant inter-root soils treated with Bacillus subtilis (QZ_T1), Bacillus subtilis (QZ_T2), Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (QZ_T3), Verticillium thuringiensis (QZ_T4) and Verticillium purpureum (QZ_T5) were used to analyse the effects of different microbial agents on the inter-root soils of aubergine compared to the untreated control group (QZ_CK). The effects of different microbial agents on the characteristics and functions of inter-root soil microbial communities were analysed using 16S rRNA and ITS (internal transcribed spacer region) high-throughput sequencing techniques. Results The bacterial diversity index and fungal diversity index of the aubergine inter-root soil increased significantly with the application of microbial fungicides; gas exchange parameters and soil enzyme activities also increased. The structural and functional composition of the bacterial and fungal communities in the aubergine inter-root soil changed after fungicide treatment compared to the control, with a decrease in the abundance of phytopathogenic fungi and an increase in the abundance of beneficial fungi in the soil. Enhancement of key community functions, reduction of pathogenic fungi, modulation of environmental factors and improved functional stability of microbial communities were important factors contributing to the microbial stability of fungicide-treated aubergine inter-root soils.

Background FAR1/FHY3 transcription factors are derived from transposase, which play important roles in light signal transduction, growth and development, and response to stress by regulating downstream gene expression. Although many FAR1/FHY3 members have been identified in various species, the FAR1/FHY3 genes in maize are not well characterized and their function in drought are unknown. Method The FAR1/FHY3 family in the maize genome was identified using PlantTFDB, Pfam, Smart, and NCBI-CDD websites. In order to investigate the evolution and functions of FAR1 genes in maize, the information of protein sequences, chromosome localization, subcellular localization, conserved motifs, evolutionary relationships and tissue expression patterns were analyzed by bioinformatics, and the expression patterns under drought stress were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results A total of 24 ZmFAR members in maize genome, which can be divided into five subfamilies, with large differences in protein and gene structures among subfamilies. The promoter regions of ZmFARs contain abundant abiotic stress-responsive and hormone-respovensive cis-elements. Among them, drought-responsive cis-elements are quite abundant. ZmFARs were expressed in all tissues detected, but the expression level varies widely. The expression of ZmFARs were mostly down-regulated in primary roots, seminal roots, lateral roots, and mesocotyls under water deficit. Most ZmFARs were down-regulated in root after PEG-simulated drought stress. Conclusions We performed a genome-wide and systematic identification of FAR1/FHY3 genes in maize. And most ZmFARs were down-regulated in root after drought stress. These results indicate that FAR1/FHY3 transcription factors have important roles in drought stress response, which can lay a foundation for further analysis of the functions of ZmFARs in response to drought stress.

Background: During a vaccination plateau phase, traditional vaccination promotion strategies such as the mobilization of government and community appear to have limited impact on expanding the coverage. New strategies to promote vaccination are needed especially in older adults. Our study aimed to assess college students’ intention to encourage coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination among their grandparents and its correlates. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in China from May to June 2022. We collected information on socio-demographics of college students and their grandparents, constructs of health belief model (HBM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) for college students, and college students’ intention to encourage COVID-19 vaccination among their grandparents. Multilevel logistic regression models were performed to assess correlates of intention. Results: We enrolled 2681 college students who reported information for 6302 grandparents. 2272 students (84.7 %) intended to encourage COVID-19 vaccination for 4744 (75.3 %) grandparents. Intention was associated with having received a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine (AOR 3.28, 95 % CI 1.68–6.42), having ever lived with their grandparents (2.07, 1.46–2.93), and having grandparents who regularly went outdoors (2.85, 1.70–4.76). HBM and TPB models showed that college students who had higher levels of perceived susceptibility (1.79, 1.12–2.87), perceived severity (1.52, 1.12–2.06) of COVID-19 among their grandparents, and higher levels of subjective norms (2.88, 1.61–5.15) were more likely to have the intention. Conclusion: College students’ intention to encourage COVID-19 vaccination among their grandparents was high. It may be potentially viable to engage college students in promoting COVID-19 and other routine vaccination among older adults.

Abstract Background College students generally have good knowledge about COVID-19 and may facilitate COVID-19 vaccination in family. The purpose of this study is to understand college students’ willingness to persuade their grandparents to initiate COVID-19 vaccination and the effect of their persuasion. Methods A combined cross-sectional and experimental study will be conducted online. In the cross-sectional study (Phase I), eligible participants are college students who are aged ≥ 16 years and have at least one living grandparent aged ≥ 60 years who has/have not completed the COVID-19 vaccination. Participants self-complete Questionnaire A to collect information on the socio-demographics of themselves and their grandparents, their knowledge about older adults’ COVID-19 vaccination, as well as Health Belief Model (HBM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) predictor variables. The primary outcome at Phase I is college students’ willingness to persuade grandparents to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Those who are willing to persuade grandparents and participate in a follow-up survey will be invited to participate in a randomized controlled trial (Phase II). At Phase II, eligible participants are those who have at least one living grandparent aged ≥ 60 years who completed the COVID-19 initial vaccination series but has/have not received a booster dose. At the baseline, participants self-complete Questionnaire B to collect information on individual grandparents’ COVID-19 vaccination status, attitude towards and intention to COVID-19 booster dose. Participants will then be randomly allocated 1:1 to either intervention arm (one-week smartphone-based health education on older adults’ COVID-19 vaccination plus two weeks’ waiting period) or control arm (three weeks’ waiting period). At the end of week three, participants in both arms self-complete Questionnaire C to collect information on their grandparents’ COVID-19 vaccination status. The primary outcome at Phase II is the uptake rate of COVID-19 booster dose among grandparents. Secondary outcomes include grandparents’ attitude and intention to get a COVID-19 booster dose. Discussion No previous study had measured the effect of college students’ persuasion on COVID-19 vaccination uptake in older adults. Findings from this study will provide evidence for innovative and potentially feasible interventions that further promote COVID-19 vaccination in older adults. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR2200063240. Registered 2 September 2022.

IntroductionThe health and economic benefits of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination targeted at men who have sex with men (MSM) in developing settings have been rarely assessed. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of different HPV vaccination strategies among MSM in China.MethodsA Markov model was developed to simulate HPV transmission dynamics among a total of 30.73 million MSM in China. The corresponding natural history included 6 states: susceptible, infected with low-risk subtypes, high-risk subtypes, anogenital warts and anal cancer, and deaths from anal cancer. MSM were divided into three age groups with cut-off points of 27 and 45 years. Alternative vaccination strategies were built by allocating bivalent, quadrivalent, nine-valent, or no vaccine to each of the groups. We generated the prevented infections and deaths by vaccination compared with baseline (no vaccination) and calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) to determine the optimal strategy.ResultsThe model showed that in 10 years, at baseline, the existing cases of anogenital warts would reach 5,464,225 (IQR, 4,685,708-6,174,175); that of anal cancer would reach 1,922.95 (1,716.56-2,119.93), resulting in 940.55 (732.27-1,141.87) deaths. Under 50% vaccination coverage among one age group, the prevented cases of anogenital warts were maximized with quadrivalent vaccines allocated to MSM aged 27-45 years; that of anal cancer were maximized when offering nine-valent vaccines to the same group. Under 50% vaccination coverage among all groups, the lowest ICER (34,098.09 USD/QALY, 31,146.54-37,062.88) was reached when only quadrivalent vaccines were provided. Based on this strategy, when the annual vaccination rate increased by 30%, the ICER (33,521.75 USD/QALY, 31,040.73-36,013.92) would fall below three times China’s per capita GDP. When the vaccine price decreased by 60%, the ICER was reduced to 7,344.44 USD/QALY (4,392.89-10,309.23), indicating good cost-effectiveness taking China’s per capita GDP as a threshold.ConclusionsHPV vaccination can effectively reduce the prevalence and mortality of related diseases among MSM in China, especially quadrivalent vaccines for anogenital warts and nine-valent vaccines for anal cancer. MSM aged 27-45 years were the optimal group for vaccination. Annual vaccination and appropriate adjustment of vaccine price are necessary to further improve the cost-effectiveness.

The gut microbiome profile in patients with pathological scars remains rarely known, especially those patients who are susceptible to pathological scars. Previous studies demonstrated that gut microbial dysbiosis can promote the development of a series of diseases via the interaction between gut microbiota and host. The current study aimed to explore the gut microbiota of patients who are prone to suffer from pathological scars. 35 patients with pathological scars (PS group) and 40 patients with normal scars (NS group) were recruited for collection of fecal samples to sequence the 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) V3-V4 region of gut microbiota. Alpha diversity of gut microbiota showed a significant difference between NS group and PS group, and beta diversity indicated that the composition of gut microbiota in NS and PS participants was different, which implied that dysbiosis exhibits in patients who are susceptible to pathological scars. Based on phylum, genus, species levels, we demonstrated that the changing in some gut microbiota (Firmicutes; Bacteroides; Escherichia coli, etc.) may contribute to the occurrence or development of pathological scars. Moreover, the interaction network of gut microbiota in NS and PS group clearly revealed the different interaction model of each group. Our study has preliminary confirmed that dysbiosis exhibits in patients who are susceptible to pathological scars, and provide a new insight regarding the role of the gut microbiome in PS development and progression.

BackgroundSystematic reviews and meta-analyses based on observational studies have shown voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) may reduce HIV risk among men who have sex with men (MSM). There is a lack of randomized controlled trial (RCT) data assessing the efficacy of VMMC. ObjectiveThe primary objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of VMMC for preventing HIV acquisition among MSM who primarily engage in insertive anal sex. MethodsA multicenter RCT will be conducted among MSM in 8 cities in China. Eligible participants are men aged 18-49 years who self-report ≥2 male sex partners in the past 6 months, predominantly practice insertive anal sex, and are willing to undergo circumcision. Interested men who satisfy inclusion criteria will be tested for HIV 1 month before enrollment and at enrollment, and only those who are HIV negative will be enrolled. At baseline, all enrolled participants will be asked to report sociodemographic characteristics and sexual behaviors; provide a blood sample for HIV, syphilis, and herpes simplex virus type 2 testing; and provide a penile swab for human papillomavirus testing. Participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. Those in the intervention group will receive VMMC and undergo a web-based weekly follow-up assessment of postsurgery healing for 6 consecutive weeks. All participants will be tested for HIV at 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month follow-ups. All participants will also be asked to report sexual behaviors and undergo repeat herpes simplex virus type 2 and human papillomavirus testing at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. The primary end point is HIV seroconversion. Secondary end points are the safety and satisfaction with VMMC and the changes in sexual behaviors after VMMC. The grouped censored data will be analyzed by intention-to-treat approach. ResultsRecruitment for the RCT began in August 2020 and continued through July 2022. Data collection is expected to be completed by July 2023, and full data analysis is going to be completed by September 2023. ConclusionsThis study will be the first RCT to assess the efficacy of VMMC in preventing HIV infection among MSM. Results from this trial will provide preliminary evidence for the potential efficacy of VMMC to reduce incident HIV infection among MSM. Trial RegistrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000039436; https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=63369 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/47160

Background Trihelix transcription factors play important roles in triggering plant growth and imparting tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses. However, a systematical analysis of the trihelix transcription factor family under heat and drought stresses in maize has not been reported. Methods PlantTFDB and TBtools were employed to identify the trihelix domain-containing genes in the maize genome. The heat-regulated transcriptome data for maize were obtained from NCBI to screen differentially expressed ZmTHs genes through statistical analysis. The basic protein sequences, chromosomal localization, and subcellular localization were analyzed using Maize GDB, Expasy, SOMPA, TBtools, and Plant-mPLoc. The conserved motifs, evolutionary relationships, and cis-elements, were analyzed by MEME, MEGA7.0 and PlantCARE software, respectively. The tissue expression patterns of ZmTHs and their expression profiles under heat and drought stress were detected using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results A total of 44 trihelix family members were discovered, and members were distributed over 10 chromosomes in the maize genome. A total of 11 genes were identified that were regulated by heat stress; these were unevenly distributed on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 10. ZmTHs encoded a total of 16 proteins, all of which were located in the nucleus; however, ZmTH04.1 was also distributed in the chloroplast. The protein length varied from 206 to 725 amino acids; the molecular weight ranged from 22.63 to 76.40 kD; and the theoretical isoelectric point (pI) ranged from 5.24 to 11.2. The protein’s secondary structures were mainly found to be random coils and α-helices, with fewer instances of elongation chains and β-rotations. Phylogenetic relationship analysis showed that these can be divided into five sub-groups. The conserved domain of ZmTHs was GT1 or MyB_DNA-Bind_4. The protein and gene structure of ZmTHs differed greatly among the subfamilies, while the structures within the subfamilies were similar. The promoter of ZmTHs contained abundant tissue-specific expression cis-acting elements and abiotic stress response elements. qRT-PCR analysis showed that ZmTHs expression levels were significantly different in different tissues. Furthermore, the expression of ZmTH08 was dramatically up-regulated by heat stress, while the expression of ZmTH03, ZmTH04, ZmTH05, ZmTH06, ZmTH07, ZmTH09, ZmTH10, and ZmTH11 were down-regulated by heat stress. Upon PEG-simulated drought stress, ZmTH06 was significantly up-regulated, while ZmTH01 and ZmTH07 were down-regulated. Conclusions We performed a genome-wide, systematic identification and analysis of differentially expressed trihelix genes under heat and drought stresses in maize.

IntroductionMen who have sex with men (MSM) are increasingly using geosocial networking (GSN) mobile applications (apps) to socialize in the community. Our study aimed to compare sexual behaviors between app-using MSM (app users) and non-app-using MSM (non-app users), and evaluate the association between app use and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).MethodsEligible MSM were recruited from January to August 2017 in three metropolitan cities: Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Wuxi. A self-completed tablet-based questionnaire was collected about socio-demographic characteristics, sexual behaviors and app use. Blood samples were collected to test for HIV and syphilis. Rectal swabs taken by nurses and urine samples taken by participants themselves were collected to test for gonorrhea and chlamydia. Anogenital warts were checked by a clinician. Chi square tests and logistic regression were used to compare the prevalence of STIs and the characteristics between app users and non-app users.ResultsA total of 572 MSM were included in our analysis, 59.9, 25.7, and 23.4% MSM were recruited from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuxi, respectively. The majority of participants were 20–29 years old (61.7%). 89.0% of MSM had ever used at least one GSN app, and 63.8% MSM had anal intercourse (AI) partners found via apps. Among app users, 62.7% spent

BackgroundTo assess whether HIV self-testing (HIVST) has a better performance in identifying HIV-infected cases than the facility-based HIV testing (HIVFBT) approach.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among men who have sex with men (MSM) by using an online questionnaire (including information on sociodemographic, sexual biography, and HIV testing history) and blood samples (for limiting antigen avidity enzyme immunoassay, gene subtype testing, and taking confirmed HIV test). MSM who were firstly identified as HIV positive through HIVST and HIVFBT were compared. Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used to explore any association between both groups and their subgroups.ResultsIn total, 124 MSM HIV cases were identified from 2017 to 2021 in Zhuhai, China, including 60 identified through HIVST and 64 through HIVFBT. Participants in the HIVST group were younger (≤30 years, 76.7% vs. 46.9%), were better educated (>high school, 61.7% vs. 39.1%), and had higher viral load (≥1,000 copies/ml, 71.7% vs. 50.0%) than MSM cases identified through HIVFBT. The proportion of early HIV infection in the HIVST group was higher than in the HIVFBT group, identified using four recent infection testing algorithms (RITAs) (RITA 1, 46.7% vs. 25.0%; RITA 2, 43.3% vs. 20.3%; RITA 3, 30.0% vs. 14.1%; RITA 4, 26.7% vs. 10.9%; all p < 0.05).ConclusionsThe study showed that HIVST has better HIV early detection among MSM and that recent HIV infection cases mainly occur in younger and better-educated MSM. Compared with HIVFBT, HIVST is more accessible to the most at-risk population on time and tends to identify the case early. Further implementation studies are needed to fill the knowledge gap on this medical service model among MSM and other target populations.

Ascorbate peroxidase (APX) plays an important role in scavenging H2O2 and balancing ROS content in plant cells, which is of great significance for the growth and development of life and resistance to external stress. However, up to now, APXs in Brassica napus (B. napus) have not been systematically characterized. In this study, a total of 26 BnaAPX genes were identified, which were distributed on 13 chromosomes and divided into five phylogenetic branches. Gene structure analysis showed that they had a wide varied number of exons while BnaAPXs proteins contained more similar motifs in the same phylogenetic branches. qRT-PCR analysis of 26 BnaAPX gene expression patterns showed that three putative cytosol BnaAPX genes BnaAPX1, BnaAPX2, BnaAPX9, two putatice microsomal genes BnaAPX18 and BnaAPX25 were up-regulated rapidly and robustly under high salt, water shortage and high temperature stresses. In addition, the above three abiotic stresses led to a significant increase in APX activity. The results provide basic and comprehensive information for further functional characterization of APX gene family in B. napus.

Emergency event monitoring is a hot topic in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Benefiting from the progress of Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology, it is possible to process emergency events locally by using the computing capacities of redundant nodes in large-scale WSNs. However, it is challenging to design a resource scheduling and computation offloading strategy for a large number of nodes in an event-driven dynamic environment. In this paper, focusing on cooperative computing with a large number of nodes, we propose a set of solutions, including dynamic clustering, inter-cluster task assignment and intra-cluster one-to-multiple cooperative computing. Firstly, an equal-size K-means clustering algorithm is proposed, which activates the nodes around event location and then divides active nodes into several clusters. Then, through inter-cluster task assignment, every computation task of events is alternately assigned to the cluster heads. Next, in order to make each cluster efficiently complete the computation tasks within the deadline, a Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG)-based intra-cluster one-to-multiple cooperative computing algorithm is proposed to obtain a computation offloading strategy. Simulation studies show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is close to that of the exhaustive algorithm and better than other classical algorithms and the Deep Q Network (DQN) algorithm.

The influence of the outer reinforcement layers on the repair structure and aerodynamic performance was studied. Firstly, a continuous damage mechanics model was established, and the 3D Hashin criterion and cohesive zone material model were used to analyze the damage repair model. The failure load deviation was 5.5%. Secondly, on the basis of the γ−Reθ transition model and SST–ω turbulence model, the aerodynamic analysis model of DU300 airfoil was established. The numerical simulation results showed that the lift coefficient and pressure distribution at the angle of attack of 10° and 15° were deviated from the experimental values by 2%. Furthermore, 27 structural repair models, nine 2D aerodynamic repair models, and a 3D full-scale blade model were designed. It was found that, when the repair length accounted for 60% of the total model length, the failure load increased by 22%, but the aerodynamic power with the repair length of 10 m was decreased by 0.137%. When the repair area was large and the repair height was from 4 mm to 6 mm, the failure load was greatly increased by about 30%, and the aerodynamic pressure distribution and static pressure field fluctuated significantly. The results show that the structural and aerodynamic characteristics were closely related to the repair parameters.

Diabetes exacerbates brain damage in cerebral ischemic stroke. Our previous study has demonstrated that after cerebral ischemia, type 2 diabetes rats displayed worse neurological outcomes, larger cerebral infarction and severer blood-brain barrier disruption. However, our knowledge of the mechanisms of how diabetes impacts the cerebrovascular repair process is limited. This study was aimed to characterize structural alterations and potential mechanisms in brain microvessels before and after ischemic stroke in type 2 diabetic rats treated with high-fat diet and streptozotocin (HFD/STZ). Furtherly, we tested our hypothesis that dysregulated intercellular Jagged1-Notch1 signaling was involved in the dysfunctional cerebral neovascularization both before and after ischemic stroke in HFD/STZ rats. In our study, we found increased yet dysfunctional neovascularization with activated Jagged1-Notch1 signaling in the cerebrovasculature before cerebral ischemia in HFD/STZ rats compared with non-diabetic rats. Furthermore, we observed delayed angiogenesis as well as suppressed Jagged1-Notch1 signaling after ischemic stroke. Our results elucidate the potential mechanisms underlying diabetes-related cerebral microvasculature dysfunction after ischemic stroke.

ABSTRACTSince Dec 2019, China has experienced an outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV. A travel ban was implemented for Wuhan, Hubei on Jan 23 to slow down the outbreak. We found a significant positive correlation between population influx from Wuhan and confirmed cases in other cities across China (R2 = 0.85, P

Sudden extinction of a microturbojet engine combustor was encountered during the engine accelerating process, which motivates the present work to optimize the combustor performance. Numerical results show that by decreasing the primary zone air-introducing area and increasing the dilution zone air-introducing area, the primary zone air percentage is reduced from 39.35% to 32%, and the primary zone excess air ratio is reduced from 1.122 to 0.915, which is believed to be beneficial for flame stability both in terms of residence time and rich burn. Meanwhile, the vortex flow pattern in the primary zone varies little as the variations of the airflow distribution. The new engine, which is equipped with the optimized combustor, is tested by experiments. The successful accelerating to the rotating design speed demonstrates the effectiveness of combustor optimization work.

In this paper, we develop a new online walking controller for biped robots, which integrates a neural-network estimator and an incremental learning mechanism to improve the control performance in dynamic environment. With the aid of an iteration algorithm for updating, some newly incoming data can be used straightforwardly to update into the original well-trained model, in order to avoid a time-consuming retraining procedure. On the other hand, how to maintain the zero-moment-point stability and counteract the effect of yaw moment simultaneously is also a key technical problem to be addressed. To this end, an interval type-2 fuzzy weight identifier is newly developed, which assigns weight for each walking sample to deal with the imbalanced distribution problem of training data. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme has been verified through a full-dynamics simulation and a practical robot experiment.

The optimal flowering time for bioenergy crop Miscanthus is essential for environmental adaptability and biomass accumulation. However, little is known about how genes controlling flowering in other grasses contribute to flowering regulation in Miscanthus. Here, we report on the sequence characterization and gene expression of Miscanthus sinensisGhd8, a transcription factor encoding a HAP3/NF-YB DNA-binding domain, which has been identified as a major quantitative trait locus in rice, with pleiotropic effects on grain yield, heading date and plant height. In M. sinensis, we identified two homoeologous loci, MsiGhd8A located on chromosome 13 and MsiGhd8B on chromosome 7, with one on each of this paleo-allotetraploid species’ subgenomes. A total of 46 alleles and 28 predicted protein sequence types were identified in 12 wild-collected accessions. Several variants of MsiGhd8 showed a geographic and latitudinal distribution. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that MsiGhd8 expressed under both long days and short days, and MsiGhd8B showed a significantly higher expression than MsiGhd8A. The comparison between flowering time and gene expression indicated that MsiGhd8B affected flowering time in response to day length for some accessions. This study provides insight into the conserved function of Ghd8 in the Poaceae, and is an important initial step in elucidating the flowering regulatory network of Miscanthus.

Pesticide residue is a major problem in food safety. It is particularly important to detect pesticides in fruits and vegetables quickly and effectively The near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) technique was explored as a technique to predict organochlorine pesticides in Mesona chinensis Benth. Fourty-three samples were sacaned powder in a Antaris II FT-NIR. Samples were split into two sets, one set used as calibration (n=35) where the remaining samples (n=S) were used as validation set. The hexachlorocyclohexane (BHC). dichlorodiphenyltricliloroethane (DDT) and organochlorine residues were determined by gas chromatography as the reference ratio. The prediction model of total BHC. DDT and organochlorine of mesona chinensis benth was established by partial least square (PLS) method, which were optimized by the optimal spectral band range, spectral pretreatment and regression. Moreover, the prediction ability of the model was verified by validation set. The models gave the results that RMSEC. Rc. RMSEP and Rp of BHC. DDT and organochlorine residues respectively were 0.996. 0.9384, 0.151 and 0.9964; 1.21, 0.9889. 0.409. 0.9852: 2.21. 0.9423, 0.481, 0.9953. The relative errors of the predicted values are within 0.68% - 0.38% and - 0.34% - 6.88% and - 0.46% - 0.58% of the total validation set. It can be seen that the three models have good prediction effect, high precision and high stability, that is. NIR can be used as a simple, non-destructive, reliable and rapid method for the determination of organochlorine pesticide residues in mesona chinensis benth.

Many regional hydrological regime changes are complex under the influences of climate change and human activities, which make it difficult to understand the regional or basin al hydrological status. To investigate the complexity of precipitation and the runoff time series from 1960 to 2012 in the Jing River Basin on different time scales, approximate entropy, a Bayesian approach and extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition were employed. The results show that the complexity of annual precipitation and runoff has decreased since the 1990sand that the change occurred in 1995. The Intrinsic Mode Function (IMF)-6 component decomposed by extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition of monthly precipitation and runoff was consistent with precipitation and runoff. The IMF-6 component of monthly precipitation closely followed the 10-year cycle of change, and it has an obvious correlation with sunspots. The correlation coefficient is 0.6, representing a positive correlation before 1995 and a negative correlation after 1995. However, the IMF-6 component of monthly runoff does not have a significant correlation with sunspots, and the correlation coefficient is only 0.41, which indicates that climate change is not the dominant factor of runoff change. Approximate entropy is an effective analytical method for complexity, and furthermore, it can be decomposed by extreme-point symmetric mode decomposition to obtain the physical process of the sequences at different time scales, which helps us to understand the background of climate change and human activity in the process of precipitation and runoff.

Copula functions have been extensively used to describe the joint behaviors of extreme hydrological events and to analyze hydrological risk. Advanced marginal distribution inference, for example, the maximum entropy theory, is particularly beneficial for improving the performance of the copulas. The goal of this paper, therefore, is twofold; first, to develop a coupled maximum entropy-copula method for hydrological risk analysis through deriving the bivariate return periods, risk, reliability and bivariate design events; and second, to reveal the impact of marginal distribution selection uncertainty and sampling uncertainty on bivariate design event identification. Particularly, the uncertainties involved in the second goal have not yet received significant consideration. The designed framework for hydrological risk analysis related to flood and extreme precipitation events is exemplarily applied in two catchments of the Loess plateau, China. Results show that (1) distribution derived by the maximum entropy principle outperforms the conventional distributions for the probabilistic modeling of flood and extreme precipitation events; (2) the bivariate return periods, risk, reliability and bivariate design events are able to be derived using the coupled entropy-copula method; (3) uncertainty analysis highlights the fact that appropriate performance of marginal distribution is closely related to bivariate design event identification. Most importantly, sampling uncertainty causes the confidence regions of bivariate design events with return periods of 30 years to be very large, overlapping with the values of flood and extreme precipitation, which have return periods of 10 and 50 years, respectively. The large confidence regions of bivariate design events greatly challenge its application in practical engineering design.

Intermittent hydrothermal treatment was introduced into the synthesis of SAPO-34 molecular sieves to control the nucleation and the growth in the crystallization. The effect of the crystallization time, the order of long-time and short-time crystallization in two-stage crystallization, and frequency in multi-stage crystallization on synthesis, physicochemical properties and catalytic performance for conversion of methanol to light olefins (MTO) has been studied. The results show that pure SAPO-34 can be obtained with increasing crystallization time. The interruption of the initial crystallization is more beneficial for improving the Si distribution and the MTO catalytic performance of SAPO-34 molecular sieves. The sample obtained by repeatedly alternating heating and cooling during crystallization shows smaller particle size, higher acidity, longer lifetimes and higher yields of ethylene than that obtained by the conventional continuous crystallization at high temperature.

The efficacy of 400mg efavirenz (EFV) once daily is reported to be similar to that of 600mg EFV. However, EFV-related toxic and side effects of 400mg EFV are significantly reduced. Here, the feasibility of reducing EFV to 400mg once a day in HIV-infected/AIDS patients was evaluated. Fifty patients were included. Patients were given 3TC+TDF+400mg EFV (n=25) or 3TC+TDF+600mg EFV (n=25). The proportion of patients with HIV RNA < 40 copies/mL and the adverse events served as the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. HIV inhibition rates of the 3TC+TDF+400mg EFV group and 3TC+TDF+600mg EFV group were both 56.52% at week 24 and respectively 100%, 91.3% at week 48. During 48 weeks, 27 cases of adverse events were reported in the 3TC+TDF+400mg EFV group, lower than those in the 3TC+TDF+600mg EFV group, which had 39 cases. Compared with the 3TC+TDF+400mg EFV group, the incidence of transaminase, dizziness, hyperlipidemia and rashes all increased in the 3TC+TDF+600mg EFV group (P>0.05). No serious adverse events of the central nervous system occurred. The incidence of depression, sleep disturbance, and vertigo were similar (P>0.05). The efficacy of 400mg EFV is comparable to 600mg EFV. However, patients receiving 400mg EFV have fewer adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]