Search

Objectives: Good's syndrome (GS) is a rare secondary immunodeficiency which is characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia and thymoma. This study aims to investigate the expression and distribution of B cells in thymoma tissue, given that B cells had been found to be reduced or absent in peripheral blood or bone marrow. Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed thymoma tissues from 5 GS patients at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University and Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. Tissues from 20 patients with simple thymoma were used as controls. Immunohistochemistry analyses were performed to detect the markers CD19, CD20, PAX5 and CD138 to evaluate the expression of B cells or plasma cells. Results: Compared to the control group, 4 GS patients exhibited a complete absence of B cells in their thymoma tissue, while 1 GS patient exhibited a notable reduction in B cells. The expression levels of CD19, CD20 and PAX5 in the thymoma tissues of GS patients were dramatically lower than those in the control group (0 vs. 85%, 20 vs. 85%, 20 vs. 85%, respectively; P < 0.05). However, no significant difference was observed in the expression frequency of CD138 between the thymoma tissues of the two groups (0 vs. 30%, P > 0.05). Conclusion: This is the first report of B cell deficiency in 5 thymoma tissues of GS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the performance indexes, such as safety, reliability and acoustic stealth, of a submarine, it is significant to optimize the dynamic characteristics of its propulsion shafting. The alignment state of a shafting has a coupling effect on its whirling vibration characteristics, and the multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) theory can fully consider the coupling relationships between different disciplines like this, which is a scientific and effective method to achieve the design optimization of shafting dynamics. However, the iterative calculation of high-precision numerical models greatly restricts the optimization efficiency of this method. Aiming at this problem, in this paper, an MDO model was established based on the coupling dynamic analysis of submarine propulsion shafting, and the Kriging surrogate model was used to predict the state variables within each subdiscipline. Along with the reduction of computational expense, the MDO of the alignment and whirling vibration characteristics of the shafting was achieved. The studied results can be applied to the design process of submarine propulsion shafting, which can provide technical and theoretical support for improving the optimization efficiency of its coupling dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edible mushroom products, encompassing both cultivated and wild varieties, are highly favored by consumers due to their rich nutritional profiles, including significant levels of proteins and amino acids. These mushrooms have extensive applications across the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries, making the edible mushroom industry a vital component of global poverty alleviation efforts. Taking China as an example, the country produces over 45 million tons of edible mushrooms annually, accounting for 94.01% of the world's total production, thereby establishing itself as the leading global producer of edible mushrooms. However, alongside the rapid expansion of this industry, concerns have emerged regarding counterfeit products and incidents of poisoning resulting from the consumption of toxic wild mushrooms. As follows, to advance the development and integrity of the mushroom production and processing industry: (1) This study presents the situation of counterfeit edible mushrooms and elucidates the factors contributing to the production of fraudulent products from both subjective and non-subjective perspectives. (2) We provide a detailed introduction to 22 varieties of freshly cultivated edible mushrooms and commonly encountered wild edible mushrooms in the Chinese consumer market, proposing the application of DNA barcoding, environmental DNA analysis, and other technologies for the future authentication of counterfeit mushroom products. (3) Concurrently, we present an overview of mushroom poisoning incidents in China from 2010 to 2023, emphasizing the challenges in mitigating the risks associated with wild mushroom consumption and preventing food poisoning, thereby necessitating heightened consumer caution. (4) Finally, we offer four recommendations aimed at ensuring the healthy, stable, and sustainable growth of the edible mushroom industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In China, in addition to green tides and red tides, outbreaks of Cnidaria (jellyfish organisms), Annelida (Urechis unicinctus Drasche, 1880), Mollusca (Philine kinglipini S. Tchang, 1934), Arthropoda (Acetes chinensis Hansen, 1919), and Echinodermata (Asteroidea organisms (commonly known as starfish), Ophiuroidea organisms, and Acaudina molpadioides Semper, 1867) not only damage marine resources, tourism, coastal industries, and navigation but also profoundly impact ecosystems near nuclear plants, beaches, and infrastructures, endangering human lives. This article suggests measures to mitigate future disasters, emphasizing enhanced monitoring and integration into China's marine ecological disaster monitoring system. This review is conducive to enhancing researchers' comprehension and reflection regarding biological disasters in marine ecosystems. Owing to global climate change or the ever-more frequent human activities in the offshore areas, it is highly probable that an imbalance in the offshore ecosystem has been induced. However, the importance of maintaining and protecting marine ecosystems' balance cannot be overstated. In recent years, various marine disasters have occurred frequently, such as harmful algal blooms (green tides and red tides), storm surge disasters, wave disasters, sea ice disasters, and tsunami disasters. Additionally, overpopulation of certain marine organisms (particularly marine faunas) has led to marine disasters, threatening both marine ecosystems and human safety. The marine ecological disaster monitoring system in China primarily focuses on monitoring and controlling the outbreak of green tides (mainly caused by outbreaks of some Ulva species) and red tides (mainly caused by outbreaks of some diatom and dinoflagellate species). Currently, there are outbreaks of Cnidaria (Hydrozoa and Scyphozoa organisms; outbreak species are frequently referred to as jellyfish), Annelida (Urechis unicinctus Drasche, 1880), Mollusca (Philine kinglipini S. Tchang, 1934), Arthropoda (Acetes chinensis Hansen, 1919), and Echinodermata (Asteroidea organisms, Ophiuroidea organisms, and Acaudina molpadioides Semper, 1867) in China. They not only cause significant damage to marine fisheries, tourism, coastal industries, and ship navigation but also have profound impacts on marine ecosystems, especially near nuclear power plants, sea bathing beaches, and infrastructures, posing threats to human lives. Therefore, this review provides a detailed introduction to the marine organisms (especially marine fauna species) causing marine biological disasters in China, the current outbreak situations, and the biological backgrounds of these outbreaks. This review also provides an analysis of the causes of these outbreaks. Furthermore, it presents future prospects for marine biological disasters, proposing corresponding measures and advocating for enhanced resource utilization and fundamental research. It is recommended that future efforts focus on improving the monitoring of marine biological disasters and integrating them into the marine ecological disaster monitoring system. The aim of this review is to offer reference information and constructive suggestions for enhancing future monitoring, early warning systems, and prevention efforts related to marine ecological disasters in support of the healthy development and stable operation of marine ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Ants are ecologically dominant insects in most terrestrial ecosystems, with more than 14,000 extant species in about 340 genera recorded to date. However, genomic resources are still scarce for most species, especially for species endemic in East or Southeast Asia, limiting the study of phylogeny, speciation and adaptation of this evolutionarily successful animal lineage. Here, we assemble and annotate the genomes of Odontoponera transversa and Camponotus friedae, two ant species with a natural distribution in China, to facilitate future study of ant evolution. Data description: We obtained a total of 16 Gb and 51 Gb PacBio HiFi data for O. transversa and C. friedae, respectively, which were assembled into the draft genomes of 339 Mb for O. transversa and 233 Mb for C. friedae. Genome assessments by multiple metrics showed good completeness and high accuracy of the two assemblies. Gene annotations assisted by RNA-seq data yielded a comparable number of protein-coding genes in the two genomes (10,892 for O. transversa and 11,296 for C. friedae), while repeat annotations revealed a remarkable difference of repeat content between these two ant species (149.4 Mb for O. transversa versus 49.7 Mb for C. friedae). Besides, complete mitochondrial genomes for the two species were assembled and annotated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 30-year-old female patient with a history of long-lasting thrombocytopenia was misdiagnosed with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) at multiple hospitals. Despite treatment with corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulin, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, her thrombocytopenia persisted. Further examination revealed platelet clumping on blood smears, indicating pseudothrombocytopenia triggered by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-dependent antibodies. Whole-exome genetic tests eventually confirmed a pathogenic mutation associated with type 2B von Willebrand disease (VWD), a condition that can cause thrombocytopenia and is often confused with ITP. This case highlights the importance of considering VWD in patients with mucocutaneous bleeding symptoms and the need for thorough evaluation to avoid misdiagnosis and unnecessary procedures. [Extracted from the article]

This study aims to assess the ecological restoration effects of Vallisneria natans in a multitrophic level ecosystem. The water-purification effects of two hierarchical configuration modes of V. natans-Bellamya aeruginosa and V. natans-B. aeruginosa-Hyriopsis cumingii were studied. Results show that a V. natans and B. aeruginosa configuration ratio of 15:2 stabilizes water quality at Grade IV (TN ≤ 1.5 mg/L, TP ≤ 0.3 mg/L), and increasing B. aeruginosa density significantly reduces total phosphorus. The V. natans, B. aeruginosa, and H. cumingii configuration at 15:2:10 stabilizes water at Grade III (TN ≤ 1.0 mg/L, TP ≤ 0.2 mg/L), with a positive correlation between H. cumingii density and chlorophyll-a removal. Furthermore, the filtration and biocycling actions of B. aeruginosa (snails) and H. cumingii (mussels) significantly reduce levels of Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphorus (TP), and Ammonium (NH4+-N) in water, thus enhancing the self-purification capacity of the water bodies. However, the bioturbation effect of H. cumingii can temporarily increase phosphorus release from sediments, leading to a short-term rise in TP concentration in the water. Overall, the study concludes that multitrophic level ecosystems are effective in purifying water quality and offer significant ecological restoration benefits. This research provides crucial data support for future construction and ecological restoration projects involving multitrophic level approaches in China's rivers and lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are often used in smart devices. Due to its low battery capacity, the lifespan of the headset needs to be improved by reducing the decay of the Li-ion battery capacity. Here, an electrochemical-thermal coupling model and a capacity fade model based on the pseudo-two-dimensional (P2D) model are established by COMSOL multi-physics field simulation software. The aging behavior of the Li-ion battery during cycling and the effects of different factors on the battery capacity are investigated; the condition of the battery is further predicted. The simulation parameters include charge–discharge rate, initial concentration of lithium ions in the liquid phase, and radius of the anode particles. The results show that the electrolyte diffusion coefficient increases with the increase of temperature in the range of 1000–1600 mol/m3 concentration. However, the initial concentration of 1600 mol/m3 leads to a higher concentration increment (421 mol/m3) during 3000 cycles; it aggravates the concentration polarization. The larger particle radius forms a thicker SEI film. When the radius rises from 2 to 12.5 μm, the thickness and resistance of the SEI film increase to 1136.51 nm and 6.685 m Ω ∙m2, respectively. It consumes more lithium ions and increases the cycle time under the same current. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer remains a disease with one of the highest mortality rates worldwide. The poor water solubility and tissue selectivity of commonly used chemotherapeutic agents contribute to their poor efficacy and serious adverse effects. This study proposes an alternative to the traditional physicochemically combined modifications used to develop targeted drug delivery systems, involving a simpler surface modification strategy. cRGDyK peptide (RGD)-modified PLGA nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with paclitaxel were constructed by coating the NP surfaces with polydopamine (PD). The average particle size of the produced NPs was 137.6 ± 2.9 nm, with an encapsulation rate of over 80%. In vitro release tests showed that the NPs had pH-responsive drug release properties. Cellular uptake experiments showed that the uptake of modified NPs by tumor cells was significantly better than that of unmodified NPs. A tumor cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that the modified NPs had a lower IC50 and greater cytotoxicity than those of unmodified NPs and commercially available paclitaxel formulations. An in vitro cytotoxicity study indicated good biosafety. A tumor model in female BALB/c rats was established using murine-derived breast cancer 4T1 cells. RGD-modified NPs had the highest tumor-weight suppression rate, which was higher than that of the commercially available formulation. PTX-PD-RGD-NPs can overcome the limitations of antitumor drugs, reduce drug toxicity, and increase efficacy, showing promising potential in cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many algae respond to the CO2 limitation in seawater by inducing a CO2 concentrating mechanism (CCM) to obtain sufficient inorganic carbon to meet their photosynthetic needs, and Ulva sp. is a model population suitable for studying the ecological adaptability of macroalgae. As the dominant species of green tide disaster, Ulva sp. often faces strong inorganic carbon restriction due to its rapid growth and high population density and must have evolved a variety of carbon acquisition strategies, such as CCM, to overcome these limitations. This paper briefly summarizes the position and function of the important components of CCM (inorganic carbon transporters, carbonic anhydrase, Rubisco, and pyrenoid) and introduces several indexes suitable for evaluating the relative function of CCMs in macroalgae from the aspects of affinity between photosynthesis and Rubisco for CO2, and carbonic anhydrase inhibitor. The methods of judging the carbon sequestration pathway of Ulva sp., the CCM responses of diversity under different carbon sources, and the related genes that may be involved in the operation of CCMs were summarized. This work could provide a reference for revealing the CCMs of macroalgae and lay a foundation for further research on the inorganic carbon utilization strategy of the Ulva sp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to assess the impact of antiviral drugs (fluvoxamine,remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r), molnupiravir, andnirmatrelvir/ritonavir (NRV/r)) on health care utilization (HCU) inCOVID-19 patients. We summarized findings from randomized controlledtrials (RCTs) and observational studies. We systematically searched four medical databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library) for COVID-19 studies up to February 15, 2023. A comprehensive review, meta-analysis, sensitivity analysis, and subgroup analysis were conducted. Pooled effects with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for antiviral drugs' impact on hospitalization, mechanical ventilation (MV), and intensive care unit (ICU) outcomes. Our analysis included 34 studies (584,978 patients). Meta-analysisindicated potential benefits: remdesivir and molnupiravir potentiallyreduced MV risk, and NRV/r correlated with lower hospitalizationrates. However, LPV/r did not notably curb HCU. Remdesivir waspreferable for high-risk COVID-19 patients, while molnupiravir andNRV/r were recommended for those aged 60 and above. Remdesivir, molnupiravir, and NRV/r may reduce HCU during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to limited study details and significant heterogeneity in effect estimates, further precise evidence is crucial, especially concerning emerging variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coesite-bearing eclogites and garnet-bearing granitic gneisses from the Yangkou area in the middle portion of Sulu ultrahigh pressure (UHP) metamorphic belt records three stages of metamorphism: I) Prograde to peak stage, II) Early retrograde stage, and III) Late retrograde stage. The prograde stage is recorded in the core to mantle in garnet and Si (3.38–3.43) in phengite in eclogite that has the assemblage of Grt-Omp-Amp-Phg-Lws (+ Qtz + Rt + H2O), and the P-T conditions are constrained at 25–27 kbar and 585–595°C. Stage II is constrained by Xgr (0.48–0.55) in garnet from mantle to rim, XAn (0.009–0.011) from mantle to rim in plagioclase of granitic gneiss, and the P–T conditions are estimated to be 29–35 kbar and 865–990°C with the mineral assemblage of Grt-Bt-Pl-Phg-Liq (+ Qtz/Coe). Stage III is constrained by two P-T ranges: mineral assemblage of Grt-Ep-Bt-Pl-Phg-Liq (+ Qtz) and Xgr (0.45–0.72) from mantle to rim in garnet in granitic gneiss constrained an earlier P-T range of 22–23 kbar and 800–820°C, while Xgr (0.34–0.39) and Xpy (0.16–0.18) from mantle to rim in garnet in eclogite in the assemblage of Grt-Omp-Amp-Phg-LL (+ Qtz + Rt + H2O) constrained a later P-T range of 17–18 kbar and 675–690°C. The formation and evolution of these assemblages have important implications for the generation and differentiation of continental crust through the operation of plate tectonics. The data suggest that both mafic and granitic rocks in the Yangkou area subducted to a depth of more than 115 km and underwent UHP metamorphism. The three stages of metamorphism in the study area are consistent with the regional well-established metamorphic evolution history, from UHP eclogite facies, through HP/HT eclogite facies, to amphibole eclogite facies with the timing of 230, 225, and 195 Ma, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air-conditioning systems account for 40–60% of the energy consumption of buildings, and most of this figure corresponds to the cooling and dehumidification process of air-conditioning units. Compared with traditional compressed air-conditioning systems, solid adsorption dehumidification systems possess good potential to improve indoor air quality and reduce buildings' energy consumption. However, there are still some problems that prevent the use of solid adsorption dehumidification systems, such as their complexity and high regeneration temperatures. The key to solving the above problem is the discovery of more suitable adsorbents. In this paper, poly N-isopropylacrylamide/polypyrrole (PNIPAm/PPy) hydrogel was selected as the research object, and the performance of the dehumidification material and its potential for application in solid dehumidification systems were studied. It was found that the pore structure of PNIPAm/PPy was relatively complex and that there were abundant pores with uneven pore sizes. The minimum pore size was about 4 μm, while the maximum pore size was about 25 μm, and the pore sizes were mostly distributed between 8 and 20 μm. Abundant and dense pores ensure good hygroscopic and water-releasing properties of the resulting hydrogel. The PPy inside the hydrogel acts as both a hygroscopic and photothermal agent. In an environment with a relative humidity of 90%, 60%, and 50%, the hygroscopic efficiency of PNIPAm/PPy reached 80% in about 75, 100, and 120 min, and the corresponding unit equilibrium hygroscopic capacity values were 3.85 g/g, 3.72 g/g, and 3.71 g/g, respectively. In the initial stage, the moisture absorption increased with the increase in time; then, the increase in moisture absorption decreased. When the temperature was below 40 °C, the hygroscopic performance of PNIPAm/PPy was almost temperature-independent. The PNIPAm/PPy with different thicknesses showed similar moisture absorption efficiency. The lowest desorption temperature of PNIPAm/PPy was 40 °C, which indicates that low-grade energy can be used for material desorption. And the higher the temperature, the faster the desorption rate of PNIPAm/PPy and the higher the desorption amount. It can be seen that the PNIPAm/PPy hydrogel presents good desorption performance and can be used repeatedly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a significant public health problem, repeat-induced abortion is a challenge to women's sexual and reproductive health. Despite many studies in this area, they lack consensus regarding risk factors for repeat-induced abortion. A global systematic review was conducted to analyze prevalence of repeat-induced abortion among women worldwide and determine correlated risk factors. Three electronic databases were systematically searched. Data on prevalence of repeat-induced abortion and related factors were extracted and pooled using a meta-analysis and narrative approach. Sixty-five (which were published between 1972 and 2021) of 3,706 articles were included, consisting of a total of 535,308 participants from 25 countries. The overall pooled prevalence of repeat-induced abortion was 31.3 percent (95 percent CI 25.7 percent, 36.9 percent). Of 57 exposures extracted, 33 factors were significantly correlated with repeat induced abortion, comprising 14 individual demographic factors (i.e. age, education, marriage, etc.), three reproductive history-related factors (i.e. parity, age at sexual debut, and time since sexual debut), five contraception-related factors (i.e. contraceptive use at sexual debut, attitude toward contraceptive use, etc.), four abortion-related factors (i.e. age at the index abortion, previous abortion at the index abortion, etc.), and seven sexual partner-related factors (i.e. multiple sexual partners, sexual partner's age, etc.). The study findings highlight the problem of repeat-induced abortion worldwide and suggest the need for government and civil society in each country to increase efforts to reduce the alarming risk of repeat-induced abortion among women and improve their sexual and reproductive health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unbalanced allocation of healthcare resources is a major challenge that hinders access to healthcare. Taking Shenzhen as an example, this study aimed to enhance equity in obtaining healthcare services, through measuring and visualizing the spatial accessibility of community healthcare centers (CHC), and optimizing CHC geospatial allocation. We used the number of health technicians per 10,000 to represent the CHC's service capacity, combined with resident points and census data to calculate the population the CHC needs to carry, and then analyzed the accessibility based on the Gaussian two‐step floating catchment area method. In 2020, five regions in Shenzhen had better spatial accessibility scores: Nanshan (0.250), Luohu (0.246), Futian (0.244), Dapeng (0.226), and Yantian (0.196). The spatial accessibility of CHCs shows a gradual decrease from the city center to the edge, which is affected by economic and topographic factors. With the support of the maximal covering location problem model, we selected up to 567 candidate locations for the new CHC, which could improve Shenzhen's accessibility score from 0.189 to 0.361 and increase the coverage population by 63.46% within a 15‐min impedance. By introducing spatial techniques and maps, this study provides (a) new evidence for promoting equitable access to primary healthcare services in Shenzhen and (b) a foundation for improving the accessibility of public service facilities in other areas. Plain Language Summary: This study aimed to enhance equity in obtaining primary healthcare services for residents. Taking Shenzhen, China as an example, measuring and visualizing the spatial accessibility of community healthcare centers, and optimizing its geospatial allocation to reduce the barriers for residents to healthcare institutions. Key Points: The problem of unbalanced allocation of primary healthcare resources is gradually emergingShenzhen residents have unequal access to primary healthcare within 15‐minEconomic and topographic factors affect the inequity of access to primary healthcare in Shenzhen [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Golden tide macroalgae have been accumulating in the Southern Yellow Sea (SYS) for several years, causing serious damage to local coastal economy and ecosystems. However, little is known about the environmental and ecological significance of the epizoans drifting on the floating macroalgae. In this study, floating macroalgae collected from four stations were identified as Sargassum horneri. Furthermore, morphological and molecular (based on the Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit I, COI) identification revealed that the 28 epizoans on the macroalgae consisted of four crustacean (Ampithoe lacertosa, Idotea metallica, Apohyale sp., and Peramphithoe tea). Apohyale sp. and P. tea were found at all stations, while A. lacertosa is found at only one station. The weight range of Apohyale sp., P. tea, I. metallica, and A. lacertosa is 0.0037~0.0420 g, 0.0057~0.0304 g, 0.0222~0.6592 g, and 0.0047 g, respectively. The specific roles of these epizoans in the golden tide in SYS deserve further study. Our results provide a reference for future studies of invasive macroalgae and epizoans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic designs for ship propulsion shafting can be categorised as complex multi-disciplinary coupling systems. The traditional single disciplinary optimisation design method has become a bottleneck, restricting the further improvement of shafting design. In this paper, taking a complex propulsion shafting as the object, a dynamic analysis model of the propeller-shafting-hull system was established. In order to analyse the coupling effect of propeller hydrodynamics on shafting dynamics, the propeller's hydrodynamic force in the wake flow field was calculated as the input for shafting alignment and vibration analysis. On this basis, the discipline decomposition and analysis of the subdisciplines in design of shafting dynamics were carried out. The coupling relationships between design variables in the subdisciplines were studied and the Multi-disciplinary Design Optimisation (MDO) framework of shafting dynamics was established. Finally, taking the hollowness of the shaft segments and the vertical displacement of bearings as design variables, combined with the optimal algorithm, the MDO of shafting dynamics, considering the coupling effect of the propeller-shafting-hull system, was realised. The results presented in this paper can provide a beneficial reference for improving the design quality of ship shafting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eclogites from the Guanshan and Yangkou areas of the Sulu orogen consist of garnet, omphacite, phengite, amphibole, quartz/coesite, rutile, and ilmenite. Garnet exhibits weak compositional zoning where Xgr decreases from the core to the mantle and then increases towards the rim, coupled with an increase in Xpy from the core to the mantle and then decrease towards the rim. Phase equilibria modelling with pseudosections calculated using THERMOCALC in the NCKFMASHTO system for the Guanshan and Yangkou eclogites records two stages of metamorphism: (I) prograde associated with quick subduction (Stage-I) and (II) retrograde associated with quick exhumation (Stage-II). Stage-I is recorded in the core-mantle zoning of garnet and Si content in phengite in the Guanshan and Yangkou eclogites with a mineral assemblage of Grt-Omp-Amp-Phg-Qtz-Rt ± Lws, and the P-T conditions are constrained at 22–26 kbar and 600–615 °C in Guanshan, while 24–26 kbar and 595–600 °C in Yangkou. The peak P-T conditions (Pmax = 33 kbar; T = 685 °C) of Guanshan eclogites are revealed by the maximum Si content in phengite and the minimum Xgr in the garnet mantle with the mineral assemblage of Grt-Omp-Phg-Coe-Rt ± Lws. The value of Pmax suggests that the subduction depth of the Guanshan eclogites exceeds 110 km. Stage-II is recorded in the mantle-rim zoning of garnet, and its P-T conditions are estimated to be 12–15 kbar and 780–820 °C for the Guanshan eclogites reflected by the assemblage of Grt-Omp-Amp-Pl-LL-Qtz-Rt ± ilm, and 13–14 kbar and 770–790 °C for the Yangkou eclogites by the assemblage of Grt-Omp-Amp-Pl-LL-Qtz-Rt. The two stages of metamorphism in the study areas are overall consistent with the regional metamorphic events, from ultra-high-pressure eclogite facies, through high pressure eclogite facies, to amphibole eclogite facies, with the ages of 245, 227 and 195 Ma, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary Talaromyces marneffei misdiagnosed as smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis Lung CT strongly suggested pulmonary tuberculosis and was misdiagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis in clinics, even after 1 year of antituberculosis drugs in this patient. Keywords: Talaromyces marneffei; tuberculosis EN Talaromyces marneffei tuberculosis 816 818 3 08/22/23 20230801 NES 230801 The global burden of tuberculosis (TB) is escalating and has become a major health challenge. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a letter published in the journal Clinical Rheumatology. The authors are responding to a study that analyzed the prognosis of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in patients with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody–associated vasculitis (AAV). The authors of the letter highlight the importance of considering hypogammaglobulinemia, a condition characterized by low levels of immunoglobulins, in the prognosis of IFIs in AAV patients. They discuss previous studies that have shown a close association between hypogammaglobulinemia and severe infections in AAV patients. The authors suggest that screening and monitoring IgG levels, as well as considering immunoglobulin replacement therapy, could help reduce the risk of IFIs in vulnerable AAV patients. However, they note that further research is needed to validate the role of immunoglobulin replacement therapy in preventing IFIs in this patient population. [Extracted from the article]

With global warming, in recent years, golden tides have frequently occurred off the coasts of China. Sargassum horneri, which attach to aquaculture rafts, can float and form small-scale golden tides after falling off. Temperature will affect the growth and reproduction of algae. In order to explore whether the temperature is the potential influence factor of the golden tide outbreak, in this study, the effects of global warming on the growth and proliferation of S. horneri in the mussel aquaculture area of Gouqi Island will be discussed. Samples of the macroalgae were collected monthly from August 2021 to July 2022 at various stages of its life cycle, and the relationship between algal growth and temperature was analyzed based on the concept of effective accumulated temperature, combined with the parameters of sea surface temperature, photosynthetic rate, growth rate, and growth cycle. Based on the continuous temperature variation observed, the growth cycle could be divided into five stages: the decreasing temperature period (October to November), the low-temperature adaptation period (December), the second suitable low-temperature period (January to February), and the high-temperature decay period (February to May). The effective accumulated temperature stored by S. horneri from 2021 to 2022 was 2772.4 °C·d; compared with previous studies, it decreased by about 800 °C·d. The winter temperature in 2022 was higher than the average temperature in the previous 5 years, allowing the macroalgae to enter the reproductive period in advance. This had a significant impact on the blooming time of golden tides and led to an earlier outbreak and extinction. Therefore, in the future, we can set up a monitoring system for the early warning of golden tides according to the change of SST in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green tides originate from the rapid growth of green macroalgae and their large accumulation. In the past few decades, the severity and frequency of green tides have increased and the range of their geographical distribution has widened. In recent years, Ulva meridionalis Horimoto et Shimada has been reported in many countries. This species has stable morphological characteristics, and its length can reach 3 m in indoor cultures. Its cells contain pyrenoids, and the sporangium and gametangium of each cell contain 8 spores and 16 gametes, respectively, which confer a high proliferation potential. The phylogenetic tree constructed in this study showed that the Internal Transcribed Spacer sequence identified U. meridionalis with a high identification reliability, and the genetic relationship between U. meridionalis and Ulva pertusa in the ITS sequence was close. The haplotype network analysis clarified the relationship of the U. meridionalis samples collected from four different sea areas in China and indicated that they were closely related. Five haplotypes were identified: Hap_2 and Hap_1 were the most frequent, and they were also the haplotypes shared among the three groups. The degree of subspecies formation was not reached among these U. meridionalis samples collected from the Chinese seas. Up to 20 years ago, U. meridionalis had only been recorded in Japan. After 2011, it has been found to be widely distributed in the United States, China, French New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Australia, where it proliferates. It has spread as a new kind of green tide-forming macroalga. The present study found that U. meridionalis is widely distributed in the Chinese seas; specifically, there have been small-scale blooms in the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, and the South China Sea. Further investigations should focus on establishing whether U. meridionalis will cause large-scale green tide events in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Follicular helper T cells (Tfh) drive proliferation and differentiation of B cells into plasma cells, leading to antibody production; however, their role in multiple myeloma (MM) is unknown. We aimed to determine the alteration of Tfh subsets and their clinical significance in patients with MM. Method Forty-nine patients with MM were recruited in this study, including 12 newly diagnosed patients, 10 relapsed patients, and 8 patients who received autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) from Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. Total CD4 + CXCR5 + CD25lowCD127intermediate-high Tfh cells, CXCR3 + CCR6−Tfh1 cells, CXCR3−CCR6−Tfh2 cells, and CXCR3−CCR6 + Tfh17 cells from the peripheral blood of these patients were analyzed by flow cytometry. Result Although total Tfh cells were not significantly changed in patients with MM compared to that in healthy controls (HCs), the Tfh17/Tfh ratio was significantly elevated in patients with MM compared to that in HCs (P = 0.0001). Importantly, relapsed patients had higher Tfh17/Tfh ratio than the newly diagnosed patients (P = 0.0077). Moreover, the Tfh17/Tfh ratio was significantly decreased in patients with MM who received ASCT (post-ASCT) when compared to that in HCs and non-ASCT patients (P < 0.0001), but no change was observed between post-ASCT patients and HCs (P = 0.7498). Conclusion The Tfh17/Tfh ratio was significantly elevated in patients with MM, especially in relapsed patients, indicating that Tfh17 cells may play a critical role in the clinical progression of MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioindicators can provide pollution information with longer temporal duration and larger spatial scale. It is an ideal strategy for long-term monitoring of bioaccumulative contaminants. Bioindicator monitoring has been widely used; however, there were seldom detailed studies about bioindicator methodology in literature. The present study proposed a bioindicator framework suitable for the local conditions of China, including selection of bioindicator species, evaluation of impact factors, and derivation of threshold values using per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) as an example. The criteria that proper bioindicator species should meet and the procedure how the bioindicator species is selected were proposed, under which crucian carp (Carassius auratus) was selected as the local bioindicator for studied PFASs. Several factors which may affect accumulation of contaminants in bioindicators were suggested to produce reliable and comparable results. Derivation method of bioindicator thresholds for ecological risk assessment of aquatic ecosystems was firstly developed. The long-term and short-term ecological thresholds of perfluorooctanesulfonate using crucian carp as bioindicator are 3.329 and 1.402 μg/g wet weight respectively. Using the long-term thresholds derived from chronic toxicity data and the accumulative concentrations of contaminants obtained by bioindicator results, the bioindicator monitoring can be used for long-term ecological risk surveillance. The threshold derivation method can extend the application of bioindicator monitoring from the occurrence study to ecological risk surveillance, which is especially important for China who has made progresses on regular contaminant control and starts to be concerned about the ecological risks of the emerging contaminants. The framework can be used to create national and regional long-term freshwater bioindicator monitoring programs, with the purposes of ecological risk assessment, occurrence and temporal trend study, pollution source identification, international convention fulfillment, retrospective study, etc. The bioindicator framework will benefit the aquatic environmental safety and the hazardous chemical management in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we give the nth derivertive criterion for functions belonging to function spaces H K 2 . Furthermore, some sufficient conditions for coefficients of the linear differential equation f (k) + A k − 1 (z) f (k − 1) + ⋯ + A 1 (z) f ′ + A 0 (z) f = A k (z) are found such that all solutions belong to the H K 2 spaces, where A j (z) are analytic functions in D , j = 0 , ... , k. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the quantitative association between short-term exposure to air pollution and respiratory disease outpatient visits among children in China. Methods: We searched articles from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2020 in six peer-reviewed literature databases following PRISMA guidelines. Results: Of 2668 records, 33 were included in meta-analysis. The pooled excess risks of respiratory disease outpatient visits among children in China per 10 μg/m3 increase were 0.75% (95% CI: 0.54%, 0.96%) for PM2.5, 0.70% (95% CI: 0.50%, 0.89%) for PM10, 0.82% (95% CI: 0.58%, 1.05%) for SO2, 1.61% (95% CI: 1.25%, 1.98%) for NO2 and 0.74% (95% CI: 0.01%, 1.46%) for O3. In subgroup analysis, air pollution had a greater impact in southern or central cities, cold seasons, and areas with high relative humidity. Conclusions: Short-term exposure to air pollution was significantly associated with an increased excess risk of respiratory disease outpatient visits among children in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finally, given her history of asthma, eosinophilia, eosinophilic pneumonia, and vasculitis as confirmed by skin biopsy, a diagnosis of ANCA-negative EGPA was confirmed. Keywords: Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis; Asthma; Pulmonary tuberculosis EN Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis; Asthma; Pulmonary tuberculosis 1 3 3 06/23/23 20230621 NES 230621 Fang Yang, Jiwei Zhao and Jieying Wang contributed equally to this work. [Extracted from the article]

Background: The prevalence of infectious diseases remains one of the major challenges faced by the Chinese health sector. Policymakers have a tremendous interest in investigating the spatiotemporal epidemiology of infectious diseases. We aimed to review the small-scale (city level, county level, or below) spatiotemporal epidemiology of notifiable infectious diseases in China through a systematic review, thus summarizing the evidence to facilitate more effective prevention and control of the diseases.Methods: We searched four English language databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) and three Chinese databases (CNKI, WanFang, and SinoMed), for studies published between January 1, 2004 (the year in which China's Internet-based disease reporting system was established) and December 31, 2021. Eligible works were small-scale spatial or spatiotemporal studies focusing on at least one notifiable infectious disease, with the entire territory of mainland China as the study area. Two independent reviewers completed the review process based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.Results: A total of 18,195 articles were identified, with 71 eligible for inclusion, focusing on 22 diseases. Thirty-one studies (43.66%) were analyzed using city-level data, 34 (47.89%) were analyzed using county-level data, and six (8.45%) used community or individual data. Approximately four-fifths (80.28%) of the studies visualized incidence using rate maps. Of these, 76.06% employed various spatial clustering methods to explore the spatial variations in the burden, with Moran's I statistic being the most common. Of the studies, 40.85% explored risk factors, in which the geographically weighted regression model was the most commonly used method. Climate, socioeconomic factors, and population density were the three most considered factors.Conclusions: Small-scale spatiotemporal epidemiology has been applied in studies on notifiable infectious diseases in China, involving spatiotemporal distribution and risk factors. Health authorities should improve prevention strategies and clarify the direction of future work in the field of infectious disease research in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genera Monostroma and Gayralia belong to the order of monostromatic green algae; however, their taxonomic delimitation remains controversial at the genus level. This study attempts to address this issue through the combined analysis of the morphology and nuclear-encoded Internal Transcribed Spacer region sequences of monostromatic green algal samples collected in the South China Sea. Our phylogenetic data revealed that the monostromatic specimens were separated into the M. nitidum clade, G. brasiliensis clade, and a single Monostroma sp. clade, and that the inter-genera genetic distance between the Monostroma and Gayralia genera was lower than that observed within the Monostroma genus. All the specimens presented similar morphology in their single cell-layered thallus, with irregularly arranged cells, rounded cell corners, a parietal chloroplast, and predominantly one (>90%) pyrenoid. Their most obvious morphological difference was in thallus thickness and size. Moreover, the monostromatic specimens of the M. nitidum clade corresponded to the morphological description of the M. nitidum-type specimens. The genus Monostroma was erected earlier than the genus Gayralia. Therefore, we propose to assign the genus Gayralia to Monostroma based on the morphological and phylogenetic analysis and genetic distance data presented here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the strength and significance of the associations of health workforce with multiple health outcomes and COVID-19 excess deaths across countries, using the latest WHO dataset. Multiple log-linear regression analyses, counterfactual scenarios analyses, and Pearson correlation analyses were performed. The average density of health workforce and the average levels of health outcomes were strongly associated with country income level. A higher density of the health workforce, especially the aggregate density of skilled health workers and density of nursing and midwifery personnel, was significantly associated with better levels of several health outcomes, including maternal mortality ratio, under-five mortality rate, infant mortality rate, and neonatal mortality rate, and was significantly correlated with a lower level of COVID-19 excess deaths per 100 K people, though not robust to weighting by population. The low density of the health workforce, especially in relatively low-income countries, can be a major barrier to improving these health outcomes and achieving health-related SDGs; however, improving the density of the health workforce alone is far from enough to achieve these goals. Our study suggests that investment in health workforce should be an integral part of strategies to achieve health-related SDGs, and achieving non-health SDGs related to poverty alleviation and expansion of female education are complementary to achieving both sets of goals, especially for those low- and middle-income countries. In light of the strains on the health workforce during the current COVID-19 pandemic, more attention should be paid to health workforce to strengthen health system resilience and long-term improvement in health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The typical rod-shaped HbC crystals in the peripheral blood smear often provide the diagnostic clue to the HbC disease. This case highlights that a careful review of blood film morphology may be helpful to detect HbC disease, although this case's routine blood test is normal and do not meet the rules of re-examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interleukin-26 (IL-26) is an atypical proinflammatory cytokine due to its binding to circulating double-stranded DNA and direct antibacterial activity. Although IL-26 has been confirmed to be involved in the pathophysiology of cancer, chronic inflammatory diseases and infections, the diagnostic and prognostic values of IL-26 levels in syphilis patients are not clear. This study aimed to investigate IL-26 levels in different stages of syphilis progression. Methods: A total of 30 healthy controls and 166 patients with syphilis at different stages of disease progression were enrolled. Serum IL-26 levels were quantified in accordance with the protocols of RayBio® Human Interleukin-26 Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits. Clinical laboratory diagnostic parameters and blood analysis data were detected and collected according to clinical medical laboratory standards. Results: The levels of serum IL-26 were significantly higher in neurosyphilis patients than in healthy subjects (6.87 (4.36, 12.14) and 1.67 (0.09, 4.89) pg/μL, respectively; ****p < 0.0001), latent syphilis (1.48 (0.40, 2.05) pg/μL, ****p < 0.0001), seroresistant syphilis (0.81 (0.20, 2.91) pg/μL, ****p < 0.0001) and secondary syphilis (1.66 (0.41, 4.25) pg/μL, ****p < 0.0001) with data presented as the median with interquartile range. The concentration of serum IL-26 was most sensitive to serum low-density lipoprotein concentration (r = − 0.438, **p = 0.004) in latent syphilis, urine epithelial cells (r = 0.459, **p = 0.003) in seroresistant syphilis, and serum creatinine levels (r = 0.463, **p = 0.004) and urea creatinine ratio levels (r = 0.500, **p = 0.008) in secondary syphilis patients. There was no significant correlation with the concentration of IL-26 and toluidine red unheated serum test (TRUST) titers in each type of syphilis patient. Conclusion: Circulating IL-26 in serum displays diagnostic potential in the progression of neurosyphilis and warrants further evaluation in clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance degradation with intraspeaker variability is a hot topic in speaker recognition. Accuracy dropping over time has become a common and accepted phenomenon in the field of speaker recognition. In China, many people travel between their birthplace and workplaces. Different cultural atmospheres and customs have an effect on the pronunciation of speech. The ongoing work focuses on time-varying and region-changed factors that are caused by population migration. This paper introduces a time-varying and region-changed speech database (TRSD) collected from 55 university students over 3 years. In total, it contains 3795 utterances. To study the impact of the time-varying and region-changed factors on speaker identification and explore hidden factors that may lead to performance degradation, there are also many experimental studies for the database. In the experiments, the changes in characteristic parameters (pitch, intensity, formant and spectrogram) are analyzed and grouped by gender and birthplace. The Gaussian mixture model-universal background model, deep neural network model, i-vector/PLDA and x-vector/PLDA are evaluated on TRSD to provide a reference performance. For the time-varying and region-changed factors, this paper also provided three kinds of corresponding solutions: speaker model adaption, cepstral mean normalization and mel-frequency cepstrum coefficient normalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to limited coverage, radio access provided by ground communication systems is not available everywhere on the Earth. It is necessary to develop a new three-dimensional network architecture in a bid to meet various connection requirements. Space–air–ground integrated networks (SAGINs) offer large coverage, but the communication quality of satellites is often compromised by weather conditions. To solve this problem, we propose an extended extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm in this paper, which can predict the communication attenuation caused by rainy weather to satellite communication links, so as to avoid large path loss caused by bad weather conditions. Firstly, we use Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled sensors to collect weather-related data. Then, the system feeds the data to the extended ELM model to obtain a category prediction for blockage caused by weather. Finally, this information helps the selection of the data transmission link and thus improves the satellite routing performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel methodology to create metallic waveguides with multilayer integrated vertical-electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structure is proposed in this article, and the structure realizes low-cost millimeter-wave (mmWave) slot array antennas. A multilayer stack of easy-to-process thin metallic etching plates is introduced to design mmWave waveguide using compression fit instead of diffusion bonding and welding assembly process. The electromagnetic (EM) wave leakage from the gaps between the metallic plates is suppressed using the vertical-EBG structure and antiphasing feeding. The dispersion diagrams of the vertical-EBG unit cell are investigated to illustrate the suppression of leakage. Another leakage wave intercepting methodology is adopted by antiphase feeding to prevent leakage wave from the adjacent slot subarrays. Finally, two examples of 2 $\times $ 8 and 8 $\times $ 8 slot array antennas are presented to verify our design concept. The measured impedance bandwidths of the two antennas are 77.1–84.6 GHz (9.3%) and 78.6–84.9 GHz (7.7%). In addition, the 3 dB broadside gain bandwidths are 73.1–85.3 GHz (15.1%) and 76.8–84.4 GHz (9.4%). The results show the aperture efficiencies up to 56.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-sulfur petroleum coke (petcoke) is generally used as fuel in industries, but the S and N in petcoke will damage the environment during the combustion process. Gasification of petcoke could reduce pollution from S/N-containing compounds. Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) is a new direction with good potential because of its high activity and accelerated reaction characteristics. This work used the reactive molecular dynamics (ReaxFF) simulation to explore the removal and conversion mechanisms of S and N during the SCWG of petcoke. The simulation results showed increasing the pressure and temperature could improve the desulfurization speed. S removal began with the conversion of thiophene-S into C1–4S (mainly C2S) or COS, followed by the conversion into H1–2S in the presence of a large number of hydrogen atoms. The removal of N began with the conversion of pyrrole/pyridine-N into C1–3N(mainly CN). Then, CHON and CON were successively formed. The behaviour of S/N in SCWG could be summarised as follows: thiophene-S → CxS + H → HS + H → H2S, thiophene-S → CxOS + H → CHOS, pyrrole/pyridine-N → CxN/HCxN → CN → CHON → CON, H2N → HON. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulva prolifera has been identified as the dominant species of the world's largest green tides occurring in the Yellow Sea, China, using the molecular markers of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 5S ribosomal DNA (5S rDNA). In this study, these two markers were successfully located on the chromosomes of U. prolifera using the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technique. The ITS rDNA probe was localized on chromosome number 1 of gametophytes and the 5S rDNA probe appeared on chromosome number 6. Dual-colour FISH was also performed, and the locations of the two markers were consistent with single-colour localization, indicating a precise gene location. The localization of these rDNAs using the FISH technique facilitated the identification of individual chromosomes and a karyotype analysis of Ulva, which is beneficial for understanding the blooming mechanism of green tides in the Yellow Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a novel unequal power divider based on an inverted microstrip gap waveguide. This new geometry can achieve a large power ratio of the two output ports and a small phase difference less than 5°. Based on this novel geometry, a few distinctive unequal power dividers with different output power ratios were proposed for designing a low sidelobe array antenna at 39 GHz. To verify the design, a $16\times 16$ antenna array was designed and measured. The measurement results indicate that the entire array antenna achieves a −10 dB impedance bandwidth of 18.5% (in the range of 35.9–43.2 GHz), a gain greater than 29 dBi from 37.5 to 41.8 GHz, and an antenna efficiency greater than 50% over the entire operating frequency band. Based on the application of the newly invented distribution network, the proposed array antenna is below −23 dB on both the E- and H-planes at 37–42 GHz. Furthermore, the radiation pattern of the entire array complies with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)-Class II standard for all azimuth angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)