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Objectives: To identify the long-term spatiotemporal trend of ozone-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) burden by sex and country and to explore potential drivers. Methods: We retrieved data of ozone-related COPD death and disability adjusted life year (DALY) from the Global Burden of Disease 2019. We used a linear regression of natural logarithms of age-standardized rates (ASRs) with calendar year to examine the trends in ASRs and a panel regression to identify country-level factors associated with the trends. Results: Global ozone-attributable COPD deaths increased from 117,114 to 208,342 among men and from 90,265 to 156,880 among women between 1990 and 2019. Although ASRs of ozone-related COPD death and DALY declined globally, they increased in low and low-middle Socio-demographic Index (SDI) regions, with faster rise in women. Elevated average maximum temperature was associated with higher ozoneattributable COPD burden, while more green space was associated with lower burden. Conclusion: More efforts are needed in low and low-middle SDI regions, particularly for women, to diminish inter-country inequality in ozone-attributable COPD. Global warming may exacerbate the burden. Expanding green space may mitigate the burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of climate change on children's mental health, specifically focusing on the increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression in children exposed to climate-related disasters. It emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to climate change education that includes mental health considerations and addresses social inequalities. The article suggests actions such as empowering education, bridging the gap in climate change education, building resilience, investing in accessible mental health care, and fostering open communication about climate change with children. It also highlights the role of communities, schools, and environmental organizations in supporting children's mental health and fostering a sense of connection to nature. By involving children in environmental projects and giving them a voice, schools and communities can help them feel empowered and hopeful, ultimately benefiting their mental well-being and contributing to a brighter future for the planet. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Observational studies have suggested associations between functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) and variations in the cerebral cortex. However, the causality of these relationships remains unclear, confounded by anxiety and depression. To clarify these causal relationships and explore the mediating roles of anxiety and depression, we applied univariate, multivariable, and mediation Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses. Method: We utilized genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data from the FinnGen database and the ENIGMA consortium, identifying genetic variants associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia (FD), and cerebral cortex structures. Data on anxiety and depression came from FinnGen and a large meta-analysis. Utilizing a bidirectional univariate MR approach, we explored correlations between FD, IBS, and cortex variations. Then, independent effects were assessed through multivariable MR. A meta-analysis of these results, incorporating data from two cohorts, aimed to increase precision. We also explored the potential mediating roles of anxiety and depression. Results: Our findings indicate a negative causal correlation between FD and the thickness of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) across both global and regional adjustments (β = -0.142, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.209 to-0.074, P.FDR = 0.004; β = -0.112, 95%CI: -0.163 to-0.006, P.FDR = 0.003) and a positive causal correlation with the globally adjusted thickness of the superior frontal gyrus (SFG) (β = 0.107, 95%CI: 0.062 to 0.153, P.FDR = 0.001). The causal correlation with the rACC persisted after multiple variable adjustments (β = -0.137, 95% CI: -0.187 to-0.087, P.FDR = 1.81 × 10-5; β = -0.109, 95%CI: -0.158 to-0.06, P.FDR = 0.002). A significant causal association was found between globally adjusted surface area of the caudal anterior cingulate cortex (cACC) and IBS (odds ratio = 1.267, 95%CI: 1.128 to 1.424, P.FDR = 0.02). The analysis showed that neither anxiety nor depression mediated the relationship between FGIDs and cerebral cortex structures. Conclusion: Our research provides significant MR evidence of a bidirectional causal relationship between FGIDs and the cerebral cortex structures. This evidence not only confirms the two-way communication along the brain-gut axis but also illuminates the underlying pathophysiology, paving the way for identifying potential therapeutic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although 2D lamellarmembranes exhibit significant potential for water purification, their tortuous and narrow interlayer channels, as well as the poor stability of the aqueous environment, constrain their application. Inspired by LEGO®'s module homogenization and precise interlocking structure, we propose the homogenization of membrane building blocks and a molecular interface unit design method based on subject-object recognition for precise and ordered assembly of 2D nanosheets. Ultrathin LEGO®-like membranes with high-density vertical slit fluid channels prepared by this strategy ensured accurate assembly to improve channel structural stability and permeation efficiency. The membranes exhibit an ultrahigh water permeance of 499.75 LMH bar-1, which is more than eight times that of the original membrane, and the permeability only decays by about 20% within 15 h. The superiority of this LEGO®-inspired design in creating highly regular parallel interlayer channels and vertical slit channels is crucial for permeability and stability enhancement. These membranes also show improved pressure and bending resistance, promising a future of diverse, high-efficiency, and scalable 2D membrane technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the clinical epidemiological characteristics including clinical features, disease prognosis of pneumococcal meningitis (PM), and drug sensitivity of S. pneumoniae isolates in Chinese children. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical, laboratory microbiological data of 160 hospitalized children less than 15 years of age with PM from January 2019 to December 2020 in 33 tertiary hospitals in China. Results: A total of 160 PM patients were diagnosed, including 103 males and 57 females The onset age was 15 days to 15 years old, and the median age was 1 year and 3 months. There were 137 cases (85.6%) in the 3 months to <5 years age group, especially in the 3 months to <3 years age group (109 cases, 68.2%); S. pneumoniae was isolated from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture in 95(35.6%), and 57(35.6%) in blood culture. The positive rates of S. pneumoniae detection by CSF metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS)and antigen detection method were 40.2% (35/87) and 26.9% (21/78). Fifty-five cases (34.4%) had one or more predisposing factors of bacterial meningitis; and 113 cases (70.6%) had one or more extracranial infection diseases Fever (147, 91.9%) was the most common clinical symptom, followed by vomiting (61, 38.1%) and altered mental status (47,29.4%). Among 160 children with PM, the main intracranial imaging complications were subdural effusion and (or) empyema in 43 cases (26.9%), hydrocephalus in 24 cases (15.0%), cerebral abscess in 23 cases (14.4%), intracranial hemorrhage in 8 cases (5.0%), and other cerebrovascular diseases in 13 cases (8.1%) including encephalomalacia, cerebral infarction, and encephalatrophy. Subdural effusion and (or) empyema and hydrocephalus mainly occurred in children < 1 years old (90.7% (39/43) and 83.3% (20/24), respectively). 17 cases with PM (39.5%) had more than one intracranial imaging abnormality. S. pneumoniae isolates were completely sensitive to vancomycin (100.0%, 75/75), linezolid (100.0%,56/56), ertapenem (6/6); highly sensitive to levofloxacin (81.5%, 22/27), moxifloxacin (14/17), rifampicin (96.2%, 25/26), and chloramphenicol (91.3%, 21/23); moderately sensitive to cefotaxime (56.1%, 23/41), meropenem (51.1%, 23/45) and ceftriaxone (63.5, 33/52); less sensitive to penicillin (19.6%, 27/138) and clindamycin (1/19); completely resistant to erythromycin (100.0%, 31/31). The cure and improvement rate were 22.5% (36/160)and 66.3% (106/160), respectively. 18 cases (11.3%) had an adverse outcome, including 6 cases withdrawing treatment therapy, 5 cases unhealed, 5 cases died, and 2 recurrences. S. pneumoniae was completely susceptible to vancomycin (100.0%, 75/75), linezolid (100.0%, 56/56), and ertapenem (6/6); susceptible to cefotaxime, meropenem, and ceftriaxone in the order of 56.1% (23/41), 51.1% (23/45), and 63.5 (33/52); completely resistant to erythromycin (100.0%, 31/31). Conclusion: Pediatric PM is more common in children aged 3 months to < 3 years old. Intracranial complications mostly occur in children < 1 year of age with fever being the most common clinical manifestations and subdural effusion and (or) empyema and hydrocephalus being the most common complications, respectively. CSF non-culture methods can facilitate improving the detection rate of pathogenic bacteria. More than 10% of PM children had adverse outcomes. S. pneumoniae strains are susceptible to vancomycin, linezolid, ertapenem, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, rifampicin, and chloramphenicol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UAV marine monitoring plays an essential role in marine environmental protection because of its flexibility and convenience, low cost and convenient maintenance. In marine environmental monitoring, the similarity between objects such as oil spill and sea surface, Spartina alterniflora and algae is high, and the effect of the general segmentation algorithm is poor, which brings new challenges to the segmentation of UAV marine images. Panoramic segmentation can do object detection and semantic segmentation at the same time, which can well solve the polymorphism problem of objects in UAV ocean images. Currently, there are few studies on UAV marine image recognition with panoptic segmentation. In addition, there are no publicly available panoptic segmentation datasets for UAV images. In this work, we collect and annotate UAV images to form a panoptic segmentation UAV dataset named UAV-OUC-SEG and propose a panoptic segmentation method named PanopticUAV. First, to deal with the large intraclass variability in scale, deformable convolution and CBAM attention mechanism are employed in the backbone to obtain more accurate features. Second, due to the complexity and diversity of marine images, boundary masks by the Laplacian operator equation from the ground truth are merged into feature maps to improve boundary segmentation precision. Experiments demonstrate the advantages of PanopticUAV beyond the most other advanced approaches on the UAV-OUC-SEG dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates potential differences in brain function among high-, average-, and low-performance college students using electroencephalography (EEG). We hypothesize that the increased academic engagement of highperformance students will lead to discernible EEG variations due to the brain's structural plasticity. 61 third-year college students from identical majors were divided into high-performance (n = 20), average-performance (n = 21), and low-performance (n = 20) groups based on their academic achievements. We conducted three EEG experiments: resting state, Sternberg working memory task, and Raven progressive matrix task. Comprehensive analyses of the EEG data from the three experiments focused on power spectral density (PSD) and functional connectivity, with coherence (COH) employed as our primary metric for the latter. The results showed that in all experiments, there were no differences in working memory ability and IQ scores among the groups, and there were no significant differences in the power spectral densities of the delta, theta, alpha1, alpha2, beta, and gamma bands among the groups. Notably, on the Raven test, compared to their high-performing peers, low-performing students showed enhanced functional connectivity in the alpha 1 (8--9 Hz) band that connects the frontal and occipital lobes. We explored three potential explanations for this phenomenon: fatigue, anxiety, and greater cognitive effort required for problemsolving due to inefficient self-regulation and increased susceptibility to distraction. In essence, these insights not only deepen our understanding of the neural basis that anchors academic ability, but also hold promise in guiding interventions that address students' diverse academic needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A machine learning model was developed to estimate the in-hospital mortality risk after congenital heart disease (CHD) surgery in pediatric patient. Methods: Patients with CHD who underwent surgery were included in the study. A Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model was constructed based onsurgical risk stratification and preoperative variables to predict the risk of in-hospital mortality. We compared the predictive value of the XGBoost model with Risk Adjustment in Congenital Heart Surgery-1 (RACHS-1) and Society of Thoracic Surgery-European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery (STS-EACTS) categories. Results: A total of 24,685 patients underwent CHD surgery and 595 (2.4%) died in hospital. The area under curve (AUC) of the STS-EACTS and RACHS-1 risk stratification scores were 0.748 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.707-0.789, p < 0.001] and 0.677 (95% CI: 0.627-0.728, p < 0.001), respectively. Our XGBoost model yielded the best AUC (0.887, 95% CI: 0.866-0.907, p < 0.001), and sensitivity and specificity were 0.785 and 0.824, respectively. The top 10 variables that contribute most to the predictive performance of the machine learning model were saturation of pulse oxygen categories, risk categories, age, preoperative mechanical ventilation, atrial shunt, pulmonary insufficiency, ventricular shunt, left atrial dimension, a history of cardiac surgery, numbers of defects. Conclusions: The XGBoost model was more accurate than RACHS-1 and STS-EACTS in predicting in-hospital mortality after CHD surgery in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key orally delivered drug metabolism processes are reviewed to aid the assessment of the current in vivo/vitro experimental systems applicability for evaluating drug metabolism and the interaction potential. Orally administration is the most commonly used state-of-the-art road for drug delivery due to its ease of administration, high patient compliance and cost-effectiveness. Roles of gut metabolic enzymes and microbiota in drug metabolism and absorption suggest that the gut is an important site for drug metabolism, while the liver has long been recognized as the principal organ responsible for drugs or other substances metabolism. In this contribution, we explore various experimental models from their development to the application for studying oral drugs metabolism of and summarized advantages and disadvantages. Undoubtedly, understanding the possible metabolic mechanism of drugs in vivo and evaluating the procedure with relevant models is of great significance for screening potential clinical drugs. With the increasing popularity and prevalence of orally delivered drugs, sophisticated experimental models with higher predictive capacity for the metabolism of oral drugs used in current preclinical studies will be needed. Collectively, the review seeks to provide a comprehensive roadmap for researchers in related fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The linear frequency-modulated frequency agile radar (FAR) can be used for synthesizing high-range-resolution profiles (HRRP), and also has excellent electronic counter-countermeasures performance. Similar to the Newtonalized orthogonal matching pursuit (NOMP) for line spectral estimation problem, the NOMP for the FAR radar termed as NOMP-FAR is designed to process each coarse range bin to extract the HRRP and velocities of multiple targets, including the guide for determining the oversampling factor and the stopping criterion. In addition, it is shown that the target will cause false alarm in the nearby coarse range bins, and a post-processing algorithm is proposed to suppress the ghost targets. Numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of NOMP-FAR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the impact of China's 2013 implementation of Basel III on bank risk-taking and its responses to monetary policy shocks using confidential loan-level data from a large Chinese bank. Guided by theory, we use a difference-in-difference identification, exploiting cross-sectional differences in lending behaviors between highrisk and low-risk bank branches before and after the new regulations. We find that, through a risk-weighting channel, changes in regulations significantly reduced bank risktaking, both on average and conditional on monetary policy easing. However, banks reduce risk-taking by increasing lending to ostensibly low-risk state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under government guarantees, despite their low average productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has posed stress on the health and well-being of both Chinese people and the public worldwide. Global public interest in this new issue largely reflects people's attention to COVID-19 and their willingness to take precautionary actions. This study aimed to examine global public awareness of COVID-19 using Google Trends.Methods: Using Google Trends, we retrieved public query data for terms of "2019-nCoV + SARS-CoV-2 + novel coronavirus + new coronavirus + COVID-19 + Corona Virus Disease 2019" between the 31st December 2019 and the 24th February 2020 in six major English-speaking countries, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Dynamic series analysis demonstrates the overall change trend of relative search volume (RSV) for the topic on COVID-19. We compared the top-ranking related queries and sub-regions distribution of RSV about COVID-19 across different countries. The correlation between daily search volumes on the topic related to COVID-19 and the daily number of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 was analyzed.Results: The overall search trend of RSV regarding COVID-19 increased during the early period of observing time and reached the first apex on 31st January 2020. A shorter response time and a longer duration of public attention to COVID-19 was observed in public from the USA, the UK, Australia, and Canada, than that in Ireland and New Zealand. A slightly positive correlation between daily RSV about COVID-19 and the daily number of confirmed cases was observed (P < 0.05). People across countries presented a various interest to the RSV on COVID-19, and public awareness of COVID-19 was different in various sub-regions within countries.Conclusions: The results suggest that public response time to COVID-19 was different across countries, and the overall duration of public attention was short. The current study reminds us that governments should strengthen the publicity of COVID-19 nationally, strengthen the public's vigilance and sensitivity to COVID-19, inform public the importance of protecting themselves with enough precautionary measures, and finally control the spread of COVID-19 globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing the scattering of light from subwavelength structures is of both fundamental and practical significance. While the scattering cross section from each channel cannot exceed the single-channel limit, it is recently reported that the total cross section can far exceed this limit if one overlaps the contribution from many channels. Such a phenomenon about enhancing the scattering from subwavelength structures in free space is denoted as the superscattering in some literature. However, the scatterer in practical scenarios is not always in free space but may be embedded in environments with non-unity refractive index n. The influence of environments on the superscattering remains elusive. Here the superscattering from subwavelength structures in the isotropic environment with near-zero index are theoretically investigated. Importantly, a smaller n can lead to a larger total cross section for superscattering. The underlying mechanism is that a smaller n can give rise to a larger singlechannel limit. Our work thus indicates that the scattering from subwavelength structures can be further enhanced if one simultaneously maximizes the single-channel limit and the contribution from many channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although patients with psoriasis frequently report seasonal changes in their symptoms, the seasonality of psoriasis has rarely been explored. This study aims to investigate the seasonal pattern of and global public interest in psoriasis using Google search data.Methods: Internet search data were collected from Google Trends. Data on the relative search volume (RSV) from January 2004 to December 2018 were retrieved using the term psoriasis. Cosinor analyses were conducted to examine the seasonality of psoriasis using data from two southern hemisphere countries (Australia and New Zealand) and four northern hemisphere countries (USA, Canada, UK and Ireland).Results: Overall, searches for psoriasis steadily decreased between 2004 and 2010, and then rose from 2011 to 2018. On cosinor analyses, RSV of 'psoriasis' displayed a significant seasonal variation worldwide (p<0.025). Further analyses confirmed the seasonality of psoriasis-related RSV in Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK and Ireland (p<0.025 for all), with peaks in the late winter/early spring months and troughs in the late summer/early autumn months. The top 11 rising topics were calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate, ustekinumab, apremilast, shampoo, eczema, guttate psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis, dermatitis, psoriatic arthritis, atopic dermatitis and arthritis.Conclusion: There was a significant seasonal pattern for psoriasis, with peaks in the late winter/early spring and troughs in the late summer/early autumn. Further studies are warranted to confirm the seasonal pattern of psoriasis using clinical data and to explore the underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface functionality and interlayer spacing changes induced by γ-ray irradiation were investigated in multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The modification effect of MWCNTs irradiated in air and epoxy chloropropane (ECP) was characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. The results indicated that γ-ray irradiation in two different media improved the amount of oxygen-containing functional groups on nanotube surface, and the irradiation in ECP was more efficient. Compared with the pristine MWCNTs, the MWCNTs irradiated in air exhibited a decrease in width of G band and intensity ratio of D to G band in the Raman spectra and an increase in intensity and diffraction angle of (002) characteristic x-ray peak. However, the MWCNTs tended to show the opposite behaviors in Raman spectra and x-ray diffraction patterns after they were irradiated in ECP. This preliminary study suggests that γ-ray irradiation in air can meaningfully decrease the interlayer distance of MWCNTs and improve the graphitization of MWCNTs, while irradiation in ECP disorders and breaks the structure of MWCNTs. It is worth expecting that MWCNTs can be functionalized by γ-rays in reactive liquid and also be employed for preventing γ-ray radiation from reaching sensitive materials at least for short term experiments in air. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report aims to summarize and evaluate the efficacy and experience of reintervention for children with postoperative pulmonary venous restenosis. Clinical data from 61 patients with postoperative pulmonary venous restenosis who underwent reintervention at Shanghai Children's Medical Center (SCMC) from September 2009 to June 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients comprised 38 boys and 23 girls, with a mean age of 15.4 ± 12.6 months (2-83 months) and a mean weight of 8.1 ± 3.4 kg (3.7–18.5 kg). The mean pulmonary venous velocity was 2.31 ± 0.47 m/s (1.86–3.22 m/s). Primary disease included 48 cases of total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, nine cases of partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage, and four cases of primary pulmonary venous stenosis. The reintervention procedures included 34 cases using the sutureless technique, ten cases using bovine pericardium enlargement, three cases using blunt enlargement, four cases of balloon dilatation, one case using stent implantation and nine cases involving more than two surgical methods. The early postoperative pulmonary venous velocity was 1.16 ± 0.20 m/s. There were five in-hospital deaths, resulting in a mortality rate of 8.2%. Fifty-six survivors were followed for 52.8 ± 46.5 months (6–103 months) with no delayed deaths. Echocardiography showed pulmonary venous anastomosis and diameter growth after reintervention, exhibiting a mean growth speed of 0.026 ± 0.013 cm/month (p < 0.05) and a mean velocity of 1.24 ± 0.26 m/s; five patients experienced varying degrees of pulmonary venous obstruction (> 1.6 m/s), but did not require reoperation. Postoperative pulmonary venous restenosis is a common complication after surgery for pulmonary venous malformations. Reintervention should be performed in the early period of pulmonary venous obstruction. Growth of pulmonary venous anastomoses was observed after performing the sutureless technique, bovine pericardium enlargement and blunt enlargement. Although balloon dilatation has a good effect in the early postoperative period, its restenosis rate is high, and strict mid- to long-term follow-up is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant functional traits have increasingly been studied as determinants of ecosystem properties, especially for soil biogeochemical processes. While the relationships between biological community structures and ecological functions are a central issue in ecological theory, these relationships remain poorly understood at the large scale. We selected nine forests along the North-South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) to determine how plant functional traits influence the latitudinal pattern of soil microbial functions, and how soil microbial communities and functions are linked at the regional scale. We found that there was considerable variation in the profiles of different substrate use along the NSTEC. Soil microorganisms from temperate forests mainly metabolized high-energy substrates, while those from subtropical forests used all the substrates equally. The soil silt content and plant functional traits together shaped the biogeographical pattern of the soil microbial substrate use. Soil organic matter decomposition rates were significantly higher in temperate forests than in subtropical and tropical forests, which was consistent with the pattern of soil microbial biomass carbon concentrations. Soil organic matter decomposition rates were also significantly and negatively related to soil dissolved organic carbon concentrations, and carboxylic acid, polymer, and miscellaneous substrates. The soil microbial community structures and functions were significantly correlated along the NSTEC. Soil carbohydrate and polymer substrate use were mainly related to soil G+ bacterial and actinomycetes biomass, while the use of amine and miscellaneous substrates were related to soil G- bacteria, fungal biomass, and the F/B ratio. The contributions of different groups of microbial biomass to the production of soil enzyme activities differed. The relationship between soil microbial community structure and functions supported that there was functional dissimilarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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BACKGROUND: Studies in adults suggested that sleep could be a significant contributor to mental health. However, little is known about their relationship in adolescents. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to examine the overall associations of full-spectrum sleep behaviors, including sleep habits, sleep problems, and sleep hygiene, with mental health problems among adolescents in Shanghai, China. DESIGN: A stratified, cluster random sample of 4,823 adolescents aged 11 to 20 years participated in a cross-sectional survey. The Adolescent Sleep Disturbance Questionnaire and the modified Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale were used to examine sleep behaviors. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire was used to evaluate mental health problems. RESULTS: Five sleep variables were found to be associated with adolescents' mental health. The five factors covered three sleep domains: sleep habits (later bedtime during weekdays), sleep problems (maintaining sleep difficulties, disorders of arousal), and sleep hygiene (poor emotion at bedtime, unstable sleep schedule). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical significance of the findings lies in the emphasis of comprehensive screening of sleep in the predicting, diagnosis, nursing, and intervention of adolescents' mental health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of random compression on the Fisher information matrix (FIM) and the Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) is studied when estimating unknown complex parameters in the perturbed linear model. A random compression matrix is considered whose elements are i.i.d. standard complex normal random variables. The FIM averaged over compression is equal to a scalar of the FIM before compression plus an additional term. The upper and lower bounds of the CRB averaged over the random compression matrix are also given. Finally, numerical results are conducted to verify our theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Geomorphologically, alluvial deposits in river systems are expected to be older on higher terraces than on the lower terraces. However, loess deposits of aeolian origin may also occur on the surface of terrace systems and as seen in the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP). Such loess is continuously, rather than episodically deposited. This study presents numerous dating results of loess cover on the Hanjiang River terrace system in the southern Qinling Mountains, an atypical loess deposit belt outside of the CLP. We name this "Hanjiang Loess". Results indicate that the Hanjiang Loess deposited on the high, middle, and low terraces are also the oldest, old, and most recent, respectively, apparently analogous with alluvial expectations. Wethus propose a modified depositional hypothesis, whereby terrace loess reflects the deposition of aeolian loess and other material, subsequent fluvial reworking. This depositional hypothesis should also be applicable to loess deposits on the river terraces in the Xiashu Loess, Quaternary Reticulate Red Clay, and Quaternary Red Clay in southern China, and other atypical loess areas outside of the CLP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nebkhas are a unique biogeomorphological aeolian landform, and widely distributed in arid and semiarid regions. Previous studies have shown that nebkhas have great potential to act as an available record of the regional climate and environmental change during the Anthropocene. However, to establish a highresolution chronological framework for the nebkhas sediments, which might be deposited recently and thus have relatively young ages, is challenging. In this study, quartz SAR-OSL and K-feldspar pIRIR150 dating methods were applied to date the nebkhas sediments from different sites in the Mu Us and Otindag dune fields in northern China. A set of tests, such as the dose recovery, anomalous fading and residual tests, were carried out to explore the applicability and reliability of the K-feldspar pIRIR150 dating protocol in this area. We also analyzed OSL signals of quartz grains with annealing step of different temperatures, to test the sensitivity of luminescence signals. The results show that pIRIR signals have relatively low residual doses and satisfaction of dose recovery ratio around 1, indicating the applicable of K-feldspar pIRIR150 protocol. Meanwhile, quartz SAR-OSL and K-feldspar pIRIR ages are generally comparable, both of which are coincided with the stratum sequences, indicates the reliability of ages. The new luminescence dating results revealed that the nebkhas in different sites of the Mu Us and Otindag dune fields are most likely formed in the past few hundreds of years, and they have probably undergone multiple phases of sand accumulation and erosion, linking with regional environmental changes as well as local disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil microorganisms play an important role in regulating nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Most of the studies conducted thus far have been confined to a single forest biome or have focused on one or two controlling factors, and few have dealt with the integrated effects of climate, vegetation, and soil substrate availability on soil microbial communities and functions among different forests. In this study, we used phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) analysis to investigate soil microbial community structure, and extracellular enzymatic activities to evaluate the functional potential of soil microbes of different types of forests in three different climatic zones along the North-South transect in eastern China (NSTEC). In general, soil enzyme activities and microbial PLFAs were higher in primary forests than in secondary forests in temperate and warm temperate regions. In the subtropical region, soil enzyme activities were lower in the primary forests than in the secondary forests and microbial PLFAs did not differ significantly between primary and secondary forests. The microbial PLFAs and enzyme activities differed considerably between broadleaved and coniferous forests. Different species of coniferous trees may cause variations in soil microbial PLFAs and enzyme activities. Both climate and forest type had significant effects on soil enzyme activities and microbial communities with a considerable interactive effect. Litter nutrients made an important contribution to variations in the soil microbial communities and enzyme activities in temperate zones, while soil micro-climate and nutrients were the main controls on the soil microbial community structure and enzymatic activities in warm temperate and subtropical zones. Our results indicate that the main controls on soil microbes and functions vary across forest ecosystems in different climatic zones, and that the effects of soil moisture content, soil temperature, and the soil N/P ratio were considerable. This information will add value to modeling of microbial processes and will contribute to carbon cycling in large-scale carbon models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The open reading frame (ORF) of hAPOA1 was inserted into the prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-T-1 to construct the recombinant plasmid pGEX-4T-1-hAPOA1, which was then transformed into Escherichia coli strain BL21. The expression of target fusion protein was induced with isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). The purified fusion protein in inclusion bodies was used to immunize New Zealand white rabbits to prepare hAPOA1 antiserum and the antibody titer was detected with indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ID-ELISA). ID-ELISA and Western Blot proved that rabbit polyclonal antibody with a high titer of 1:40 000 was produced, which may bring considerable economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To discuss the anatomical morphologies of the coronary arteries and frequencies of unusual coronary arteries in complete transposition of the great arteries and double outlet right ventricle (DORV) associated with a subpulmonic ventricular septal defect (VSD). Methods Between March 1999 and August 2012, 1,078 patients with complete transposition of the great arteries or DORV with subpulmonary VSD underwent arterial switch operations (ASOs) and were visually evaluated to classify their coronary artery morphology during open heart surgery. Results The coronary arteries could be classified into five patterns with several subtypes. Unusual coronary arteries were observed in 248 of the 1,078 cases, providing a frequency of 23.01%. The frequencies of the patients with transposition of the great arteries with intact ventricular septum (TGA/IVS), TGA/VSD, and DORV with subpulmonary VSD were 17.65, 23.28, and 31.84%, respectively. The most common morphologies were the right coronary artery (RCA) originating from sinus 1 and circumflex (CX) originating from sinus 2 (1R, AD; 2CX; 26.50%); the CX originating from sinus 2 (1AD; 2R, CX; 21.36%); the RCA, left anterior descending artery, and CX originating from single sinus 2 (2R, AD, CX; 13.24%). The in-hospital mortalities of the patients with or without unusual coronary arteries after ASO were 14.1 and 6.02%, respectively. Conclusion Patients with complete transposition of the great arteries or DORV with subpulmonary VSD have a high frequency of unusual coronary arteries, which might greatly impact on the mortality for ASO. Improving the preoperative diagnostic criteria for coronary artery morphology may significantly increase the success rate for ASOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: The optimal surgical strategies for pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PAIVS) are still not well established. This study reviewed our 15-year experience in the management of PAIVS. METHODS: Between July 1999 and June 2014, 170 patients were treated for PAIVS in our heart centre. Based on the morphology of the right ventricle (RV), age and surgical approaches, the patients were divided into two groups: the one-stage surgery group (n = 33) and the staged surgery group (n = 137), in which patients received definitive repair, including biventricular repair, 1.5 ventricular repair and univentricular palliation without or with initial intervention. The median follow-up time was 6.6 years (range: 1-15 years); survival rates, risk factors for death and clinical status after operation were assessed. RESULTS: In the one-stage surgery group, there were three deaths post operation; the estimated 1-, 5- and 15-year survival rates were 97.0, 93.7 and 88.5%, respectively. In the staged surgery group, 23 patients died, including 15 in the waiting period after initial intervention. The estimated 1-, 5- and 15-year survival rates of the staged group were 89.8, 88.2 and 69.1%, without significant difference when compared with the one-stage surgery group (P > 0.05). Independent predictors of mortality were severe RV hypoplasia (P < 0.05) and lower tricuspid valve Z-scores (P < 0.01). At the latest follow-up, most of the patients in both groups had a good clinical status after definitive repair. The re-operation rate was 16.0% (4/25) in the one-stage surgery group compared with 15.4% (6/39) in the staged surgery group. CONCLUSIONS: Both one-stage repair and the staged surgical procedure had acceptable surgical outcomes in this retrospective study. Initial intervention is suitable for neonates or younger patients to promote the growth of the RV, and one-stage definitive repair is a beneficial choice for older patients with PAIVS, in whom the growth potential of the RV is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor originating in the liver. Previous studies have indicated that O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and histone deacetylase-1 (HDAC1) play important roles in the pathogenesis of HCC. In the present study, we investigated the physical link between OGT and HDAC1. The O-GlcNAcylation of HDAC1 is overexpressed in HCC. We found that HDAC1 has two major sites of O-GlcNAcylation in its histone deacetylase domain. HDAC1 O-GlcNAcylation increases the activated phosphorylation of HDAC1, which enhances its enzyme activity. HDAC1 O-GlcNAc mutants promote the p21 transcription regulation through affecting the acetylation levels of histones from chromosome, and then influence the proliferation of HCC cells. We also found that mutants of O-GlcNAcylation site of HDAC1 affect invasion and migration of HepG2 cells. E-cadherin level is highly up-regulated in HDAC1 O-GlcNAc mutant-treated liver cancer cells, which inhibit the occurrence and development of HCC. Our findings suggest that OGT promotes the O-GlcNAc modification of HDAC1in the development of HCC. Therefore, inhibiting O-GlcNAcylation of HDAC1 may repress the progression of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: Congenital tracheal stenosis (CTS) is variable in patients with tracheal bronchus and congenital heart disease (CHD). Tracheoplasty remains a high-risk surgical treatment. METHODS: From January 2007 to December 2014, 24 CTS patients (10 males and 14 females; age 20.6 ± 13.6 months) with tracheal bronchus and CHD underwent one-stage surgical correction. Clinical features of all patients included dyspnoea, or recurrent pulmonary infections. There was long-segment CTS in 13 cases (54%), and 4 cases were associated with a bridging bronchus. Less than 50% of normal tracheal size was identified in 21 cases. Complete tracheal or bronchial rings were identified in all cases. Operative techniques included: tracheal end-to-end anastomosis in 11 cases and slide tracheoplasty in 13 cases, which included 11 cases of right upper lobe bronchus (RULB) opposite side-slide tracheoplasty. RESULTS: There were 2 operative deaths, due to postoperative tracheomalacia or residual main bronchial stenosis. The duration of postoperative hospital stay was 7-59 days, with an average of 19 days. Follow-up was completed in 19 cases. The follow-up duration was from 1 month to 7 years. Tracheal granulation occurred in 1 case. Clinical symptoms were significantly improved in the remaining patients. CONCLUSIONS: Tracheal bronchi have special anatomical features. The techniques of tracheal end-to-end anastomosis or side-slide tracheoplasty can be used to correct tracheal stenosis with satisfactory outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-performance computing environment, also known as a supercomputing environment, e-Science environment or cyberinfrastructure, is a crucial system that connects users' applications to supercomputers, and provides usability, efficiency, sharing, and collaboration capabilities. This review presents important lessons drawn from China's nationwide efforts to build and use a high-performance computing environment over the past 20 years (1995-2015), including three observations and two open problems. We present evidence that such an environment helps to grow China's nationwide supercomputing ecosystem by orders of magnitude, where a loosely coupled architecture accommodates diversity. An important open problem is why technology for global networked supercomputing has not yet become as widespread as the Internet or Web. In the next 20 years, high-performance computing environments will need to provide zettaflops computing capability and 10 000 times better energy efficiency, and support seamless human-cyber-physical ternary computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]