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Abstract Background Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) could improve the diagnosed efficiency of pathogens in bloodstream infections or sepsis. Little is known about the clinical impact of mNGS test when used for the early diagnosis of suspected infections. Herein, our main objective was to assess the clinical efficacy of utilizing blood samples to perform mNGS for early diagnosis of suspected infections, as well as to evaluate its potential in guiding antimicrobial therapy decisions. Methods In this study, 212 adult hospitalized patients who underwent blood mNGS test in the early stage of suspected infections were enrolled. Diagnostic efficacy of mNGS test and blood culture was compared, and the clinical impact of mNGS on clinical care was analyzed. Results In our study, the total detection rate of blood mNGS was significantly higher than that of culture method (74.4% vs. 12.1%, P

Yunnan Province is part of the Yun-Gun Plateau in southwest China with rich ecological resources and special geographic features, resulting in considerable ecological security. This study used the pressure-state-response (PSR) model to vertically evaluate Yunnan’s ecological security and horizontally compare ecological security between Yunnan and other four neighbouring provinces (Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Guangxi) during 2000–2020. We also elaborated on the ecological security of Yunnan’s unique geographical features, such as plateau lakes, karst mountains, and tropical rainforest areas. The results show that the ecological security in Yunnan Province improved overall, with a slow increase (2000–2006), a fluctuating decline (2007–2012), and a sharp jump (2013–2020). The ecological security level climbed from ‘critical safe’ to ‘comparative safety’. The pressure layer was the largest contributor to the increase from 2000 to 2011, whereas the response layer was the main determinant of the upward trend since 2012. Despite its better performance early in the study period, Yunnan’s ecological security index (ESI) rose at a lower rate since 2011 than ESIs of neighbouring provinces in the southwest. Within Yunnan, unique geographical regions have roughly consistent ESIs as the entire province. The exception was the tropical rainforest area, with lower ESI than in other parts of Yunnan. We then discussed implications for enhancing ecological security in Yunnan, including real-time monitoring platforms, green innovations and different environmental regulations. The results provide insight beneficial to the improvement of ecological-security evaluation and the ecological sustainable development of Yunnan.

Traditional culture is usually regarded as the response to environmental change. In this paper, we tried to investigate the impact of natural calamity on the cultural formation by a case study of Yellow River flooding region (YRFR). Using national population censuses and Chinese General Social Survey data and the regression discontinuity design, we estimated the influence of YRFR on the formation of cultures, including gender norms, religious beliefs, and trust. The results suggested that inner YRFR residents preferred boys than girls, believed in religions but repelled foreign religions, and lacked the trust in others in spite of their more trust on governmental organizations. Finally, we conducted robustness checks and discussed the possible influencing paths.

Abstract Background RNA-sequencing was performed to explore the bovine liver transcriptomes of Holstein cows to detect potential functional genes related to lactation and milk composition traits in dairy cattle. The bovine transcriptomes of the nine liver samples from three Holstein cows during dry period (50-d prepartum), early lactation (10-d postpartum), and peak of lactation (60-d postpartum) were sequenced using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Results A total of 204, 147 and 81 differentially expressed genes (DEGs, p

WIPI proteins are mammalian PROPPIN family phosphoinositide effectors that recognize a WIPI-interacting-region (WIR)-motif to recruit other regulators during autophagosome formation. Here, the authors combine structural and functional studies and present the crystal structure of human WIPI3 with a bound ATG2A WIR-peptide and observe that the WIR-motif binds to three sites in blades 1-3 of WIPI3 and mutating these binding sites impairs the ATG2A-mediated autophagic process.

This paper is aimed at improving the performance of a building-integrated photovoltaic thermal (BIPV/T) system driven by a refrigerant pump. The research is aimed at optimizing and upgrading the BIPV/T system to address the shortcomings of the original system by replacing roll-bond PV/T units with improved heat transfer features. The system’s connecting form was redesigned using a liquid separator to solve the uneven distribution of the refrigerant on the PV/T façade. We proposed the variable frequency refrigerant pump that can be adjusted to suit the working condition. An experimental study was performed to analyze the electrical and thermal efficiency of the proposed system. The results show that the electrical efficiency of the BIPV/T system was 8% which is 14.3% higher than the traditional BIPV system, while in the test period, the BIPV/T system average COP was 3.4. The thermal and comprehensive efficiencies were 20% and 42%, respectively. Besides, the proposed system’s average COP was 3.7 times greater than the original BIPV/T system.

Abstract RNA sequencing has been extensively used to study specific gene expression patterns to discover potential key genes related to complex traits of interest in animals. Of note, a new regulatory mechanism builds a large-scale regulatory network among transcriptome, where lncRNAs act as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to sponge miRNAs to regulate the expression of miRNA target genes post-transcriptionally. In this study, we sequenced the cDNA and sRNA libraries of nine liver samples from three Holstein cows during dry period, early lactation, and peak of lactation with HiSeq platform. As a result, we identified 665 genes, 57 miRNAs and 33 lncRNAs that displayed differential expression patterns across periods. Subsequently, a total of 41ceRNA pairs (lncRNA-mRNA) sharing 11 miRNAs were constructed including 30 differentially expressed genes. Importantly, 12 among them were presented in our large metabolic networks, and predicted to influence the lipid metabolism through insulin, PI3K-Akt, MAPK, AMPK, mTOR, and PPAR signaling pathways, thus, these genes were considered as the most promising candidates for milk fat formation. To our knowledge, this is first investigation to profile the ceRNA regulatory networks of liver transcriptome that could affect milk fat synthesis in bovine, providing a new view of the regulatory mechanism of RNAs.

Cryptosporidiumfelis is an important cause of feline and human cryptosporidiosis. However, the transmission of this pathogen between humans and cats remains controversial, partially due to a lack of genetic characterization of isolates from cats. The present study was conducted to examine the genetic diversity of C. felis in cats in China and to assess their potential zoonotic transmission. A newly developed subtyping tool based on a sequence analysis of the 60-kDa glycoprotein (gp60) gene was employed to identify the subtypes of 30 cat-derived C. felis isolates from Guangdong and Shanghai. Altogether, 20 C. felis isolates were successfully subtyped. The results of the sequence alignment showed a high genetic diversity, with 13 novel subtypes and 2 known subtypes of the XIXa subtype family being identified. The known subtypes were previously detected in humans, while some of the subtypes formed well-supported subclusters with human-derived subtypes from other countries in a phylogenetic analysis of the gp60 sequences. The results of this study confirmed the high genetic diversity of the XIXa subtype family of C. felis. The common occurrence of this subtype family in both humans and cats suggests that there could be cross-species transmission of C. felis.

The Internet of things presents tremendous opportunities for the energy management and occupant comfort improvement in smart buildings by making data of environmental and equipment parameters more readily and continuously available. Long-range (LoRa) technology provides a comprehensive wireless solution for data acquisition and communication in smart buildings through its superior performance, such as the long-range transmission, low power consumption and strong penetration. Starting with two vital indicators (network transmission delay and packet loss rate), this study explored the coverage and transmission performances of LoRa in buildings in detail. We deployed three LoRa receiver nodes on the same floor and eight LoRa receiver nodes on different floors in a 16-story building, respectively, where data acquisition terminal was located in the center of the whole building. The communication performance of LoRa was evaluated by changing the send power, communication rate, payload length and position of the wireless module. In the current research, the metrics of LoRa were quantified to facilitate its practical application in smart buildings. To the best of our knowledge, this may be the first academic research evaluating RTT performance of LoRa via practical experiments.

Photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) technology refers to the integration of a photovoltaic (PV) and a conventional solar thermal collector, representing the deep exploitation and utilization of solar energy. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of a solar PVT cogeneration system based on specific building energy demand using theoretical modeling and experimental study. Through calculation and simulation, the dynamic heating load and electricity load is obtained as the basis of the system design. An analytical expression for the connection of PVT collector array is derived by using basic energy balance equations and thermal models. Based on analytical results, an optimized design method was carried out for the system. In addition, the fuzzy control method of frequency conversion circulating water pumps and pipeline switching by electromagnetic valves is introduced in this paper to maintain the system at an optimal working point. Meanwhile, an experimental setup is established, which includes 36 PVT collectors with every 6 PVT collectors connected in series. The thermal energy generation, thermal efficiency, power generation and photovoltaic efficiency have been given in this paper. The results demonstrate that the demonstration solar PVT cogeneration system can meet the building energy demand in the daytime in the heating season.

Building energy consumption monitoring and management system have been developed widely in China in order to gain the real-time data of energy consumption in buildings for analyzing it in the next state work. This paper describes a low-cost and small-sized collector based on the STM32 microcontroller, which can be placed in a building easily to implement the work of data acquisition, storage, and transmission. The collector gathers the electricity, water, heat, and energy consumption data through the RS485 field bus and stores the data into an SD card with mass storage, finally, using Internet to finish the communication and transmission to data server through TCP protocol. The collector has been used in application for two years, and the results show that the system is reliable and stable.