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Li Ran,1 Xiaodong Tan,1,2 Yubin Zhang3 1Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Nursing, Wuchang University of Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Management and Administration, Wuchang District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiaodong Tan, Fax +8627 68758648, Email 00300469@whu.edu.cnIntroduction: Facing a grim public challenge caused by COVID-19, many countries decide to live with it for a long time, whereas China continues to enforce precise community-based public health management. This paper summarized China’s approaches and aimed to provide illumination for health services decision-makers.Methods: We systematically reviewed the construction of precise community-based public health management from three aspects: organizational structure, service content, and flexible adjustment, and summed up four essential elements for success. Then, we selected 9 typical countries to compare their non-pharmaceutical strategies and daily new cases.Results: China’s community-based public health management has a clear four-level organizational structure. It has worked on infection control, surveillance for new cases, management of contacts, health education, medicare service, outdoor environment disinfection, and living material supply in different stages, and the daily new confirmed cases in Wuhan sustainedly declined to zero. The outbreak was relatively well contained in China, Italy, and Germany as of June 2020, as they adopted stricter movement restrictions, social distance, and patient tracking.Conclusion: China’s experience has proved the feasibility of non-pharmaceutical strategies responding to COVID-19. The precise community-based public health management strategy can be considered, as it’s pretty much the same as public health and social measures (PHSMs) advocated by WHO.Keywords: COVID-19, public health management, community, pandemic response

Xue Tian,1,* Feiyue Yang,2,* Fenghu Li,1 Li Ran,1 Jianying Chang,1 Jiehui Li,1 Wei Hong,3 Lang Shan,1 Yanjun Du,1 Lili Hu,1 Fan Mei,1 Mingyuan He,1 Yongxia Li,1 Heran Wang,1 Kai Zuo,1 Bo Zhou,4 Shuying Chen,1 Wanli Mao1 1Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550004, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital, Guiyang, 550004, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Radiotherapy, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550004, People’s Republic of China; 4Surgical Department of Gynecological Oncology, The Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550004, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Fenghu Li; Li Ran Email 769654418@qq.com; ranli171@hotmail.comPurpose: To examine the clinical significance of unoperated cervical cancer patients treated with different neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) schemes followed by concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy (CCRT).Methods: This retrospective analysis included women with locally advanced cervical cancer treated with NACT-CCRT between September 2011 and September 2014. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy included paclitaxel plus cisplatin (TP group; 62 patients) or paclitaxel plus loplatin (TL group; 58 patients), which were administered three weekly, and cisplatin or loplatin, which were administered weekly for synchronous chemotherapy. External beam radiation therapy (50.4– 56.35 Gy/28 f, 180– 215 cGy/f, 5 f/w) was followed by intracavitary brachytherapy (5 Gy per fraction, mostly 5 fractions, Ir192 based).Results: One hundred twenty women were included in the analysis. The complete/partial response rate was 99.2% after treatment. The one-year, three-year, and five-year survival rates were 99.2%, 82.5%, and 70.8%, respectively. In the TP and TL groups, the three-year and five-year survival rates were 85.5% vs 77.6% and 75.8% vs 65.5%, respectively, with no significant difference. The 5-year overall survival (OS) rates between patients with stage IIB and stage IIIB disease were not significantly different (69.2% vs 64.7%). In the TP group, grade 3 or 4 digestive reactions were more frequent than those in the TL group. Leukopenia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia were more common in the TL group. No significant difference was found in anemia, radiation enteritis, radiation proctitis, or radiation cystitis between the groups.Conclusion: Lobaplatin may be used as an alternative drug for patients with severe digestive system reactions or contraindications to cisplatin, but hematological toxicity must be considered, particularly in dose-intensive schemes. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemotherapy and radiotherapy (NACT-CCRT) warrants further prospective study in cervical cancer patients with a wide range of tumor invasion (eg, mass size ≥ 5 cm or stage IIIB).Keywords: cervical cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, survival benefit, side effects

Jiao-Yang Li,1,2 Jing Yang,1,2 Xiao-Yan Qi,1 Yan-Hua Luo,1 Ya-Di Wang,1,2 Zhe-Zhen Liao,1,2 Li Ran,1 Xin-Hua Xiao,1,2 Jiang-Hua Liu1,2 1Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jiang-Hua Liu; Xin-Hua Xiao Email jianghua990@hotmail.com; xinhua0102@163.com

Xiaofen Li,1 Hai Huang,1,2 Longyao Ran,3 Chao Fang,4 Yongyang Yu,4 Manxi Luo,5 Meng Qiu1 1Department of Abdominal Oncology, West China Hospital of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Oncology, People’s Hospital of Deyang City, Deyang, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Medical Administration, West China Hospital of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, West China Hospital of Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 5Faculty of Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, AustraliaCorrespondence: Meng QiuDepartment of Abdominal Oncology, West China Hospital of Medicine, Sichuan University, No. 37 Guo Xue Xiang, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, People’s Republic of ChinaTel + 86-28-85422589Fax + 86-28-85423609Email qiumeng33@hotmail.comBackground: Ovarian metastasis from colorectal cancer (CRC) is rare and lacks standard treatment. The benefit of metastatectomy remains to be elucidated. This study was conducted to assess the impact of metastatectomy on survival outcome and explore prognostic factors in ovarian metastatic CRC patients.Methods: Information of ovarian metastatic CRC patients between January 2008 and December 2017 were collected retrospectively from database of West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate disease-specific survival (DSS) after diagnosis of ovarian metastasis, and multivariate Cox regression analysis was applied to identify prognostic factors.Results: Totally, 68 female patients from a cohort of 2170 cases were eligible. The median age at diagnosis was 46.5 years. The median DSS was 25.0 months (95% confidence interval (CI): 21.0– 29.0 months). Kaplan–Meier analysis and Log rank test showed that complete resection of ovarian metastases (median DSS: 33.0 months) could significantly prolong patients’ survival time, compared with palliative and no resection (median DSS: 20.0 months and 22.0 months, respectively), regardless of systemic chemotherapy (P< 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated regional lymph nodes metastasis of primary tumor (hazard ratio (HR): 3.438, 95% CI: 1.094– 10.810, P=0.035), primary tumor resection (HR: 6.436, 95% CI: 1.770– 23.399, P=0.005), differentiation grade (HR: 0.272, 95% CI: 0.107– 0.693, P=0.006), complete resection of ovarian metastases (vs palliative resection: HR: 17.091, 95% CI: 3.040– 96.099, P=0.001; vs no resection: HR: 9.519, 95% CI: 1.581– 57.320, P=0.014), and systemic chemotherapy (HR: 3.059, 95% CI: 1.089– 8.595 P=0.034) were independent prognostic factors.Conclusion: Complete resection of ovarian metastases could independently predict favorable survival in ovarian metastatic CRC, while palliative resection could not improve patients’ prognosis compared with no resection.Keywords: ovarian metastasis, colorectal cancer, metastatectomy

Rui Gao,1,2 Xiaowen Wu,1,3 Zhi Huang,1,3 Bi Wang,1,4 Fenghu Li,5 Hui Xu,1,4 Li Ran51Key Laboratory of Endemic and Ethnic Diseases, The Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Biology in Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 550002, People’s Republic of China; 2Guizhou International Travel Healthcare Center, Guiyang 550005, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Medical Imaging of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550002, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Paediatrics, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Guiyang City, Guiyang 550003, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Breast and Gynecologic Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550004, People’s Republic of ChinaBackground：Aloe-emodin, an anthraquinone present in aloe latex, has been shown to have anti-proliferative properties in cervical cancer disease, all cases of which are almost caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), with the products of E6/E7. It is suggested that aloe-emodin may play an important role in HPV-induced cervical cancer cells.Methods：Hela and SiHa cells were treated with various concentrations of aloe-emodin. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to identify the cell growth and apoptosis. The expressions of HPV E6, E7 and GLUT1 (glucose transporter-1) were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot (WB). The glucose uptake, lactate production and ATP production in HeLa and SiHa cells were also investigated.Result：The results indicate that aloe-emodin promoted the apoptosis of HeLa and SiHa cells and decreased the expressions of HPV-related protein E6 and E7. Furthermore, aloe-emodin inhibited glucose metabolism by reducing GLUT1 expression. Overexpression of GLUT1 significantly weakened the apoptosis induced by aloe-emodin in HeLa cells.Conclusion：In this study, we found that aloe-emodin induce apoptosis of cervical cancer cells, which was associated with HPV E6 and E7 and glucose metabolism.Keywords: cervical cancer, aloe-emodin, E6/E7, glucose metabolism

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 385 drilled organic-rich sediments with sill intrusions on the flanking regions and in the northern axial graben in Guaymas Basin, a young marginal rift basin in the Gulf of California. Guaymas Basin is characterized by a widely distributed, intense heat flow and widespread off-axis magmatism expressed by a dense network of sill intrusions across the flanking regions, which is in contrast to classical mid-ocean ridge spreading centers. The numerous off-axis sills provide multiple transient heat sources that mobilize buried sedimentary carbon, in part as methane and other hydrocarbons, and drive hydrothermal circulation. The resulting thermal and geochemical gradients shape abundance, composition, and activity of the deep subsurface biosphere of the basin. Drill sites extend over the flanking regions of Guaymas Basin, covering a distance of ~81 km from the from the northwest to the southeast. Adjacent Sites U1545 and U1546 recovered the oldest and thickest sediment successions (to ~540 meters below seafloor [mbsf]; equivalent to the core depth below seafloor, Method A [CSF-A] scale), one with a thin sill (a few meters in thickness) near the drilled bottom (Site U1545), and one with a massive, deeply buried sill (~356–430 mbsf) that chemically and physically affects the surrounding sediments (Site U1546). Sites U1547 and U1548, located in the central part of the northern Guaymas Basin segment, were drilled to investigate a 600 m wide circular mound (bathymetric high) and its periphery. The dome-like structure is outlined by a ring of active vent sites called Ringvent. It is underlain by a remarkably thick sill at shallow depth (Site U1547). Hydrothermal gradients steepen at the Ringvent periphery (Holes U1548A–U1548C), which in turn shifts the zones of authigenic carbonate precipitation and of highest microbial cell abundance toward shallower depths. The Ringvent sill was drilled several times and yielded remarkably diverse igneous rock textures, sediment–sill interfaces, and hydrothermal alteration, reflected by various secondary minerals in veins and vesicles. Thus, the Ringvent sill became the target of an integrated sampling and interdisciplinary research effort that included geological, geochemical, and microbiological specialties. The thermal, lithologic, geochemical, and microbiological contrasts between the two deep northwestern sites (U1545 and U1546) and the Ringvent sites (U1547 and U1548) form the scientific centerpiece of the expedition. These observations are supplemented by results from sites that represent attenuated cold seepage conditions in the central basin (Site U1549), complex and disturbed sediments overlying sills in the northern axial trough (Site U1550), terrigenous sedimentation events on the southeastern flanking regions (Site U1551), and hydrate occurrence in shallow sediments proximal to the Sonora margin (Site U1552). The scientific outcomes of Expedition 385 will (1) revise long-held assumptions about the role of sill emplacement in subsurface carbon mobilization versus carbon retention, (2) comprehensively examine the subsurface biosphere of Guaymas Basin and its responses and adaptations to hydrothermal conditions, (3) redefine hydrothermal controls of authigenic mineral formation in sediments, and (4) yield new insights into many geochemical and geophysical aspects of both architecture and sill–sediment interaction in a nascent spreading center. The generally high quality and high degree of completeness of the shipboard datasets present opportunities for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaborations during shore-based studies. In comparison to Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 64 to Guaymas Basin in 1979, sophisticated drilling strategies (for example, the advanced piston corer [APC] and half-length APC systems) and numerous analytical innovations have greatly improved sample recovery and scientific yield, particularly in the areas of organic geochemistry and microbiology. For example, microbial genomics did not exist 40 y ago. However, these technical refinements do not change the fact that Expedition 385 will in many respects build on the foundations laid by Leg 64 for understanding Guaymas Basin, regardless of whether adjustments are required in the near future.

Xiaodong Tan,1,2 Li Ran,2 Fucui Liao3 1School of Nursing, Wuchang University of Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Health Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Medical Insurance and Management, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xiaodong TanWuchang University of Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail 00300469@whu.edu.cnFucui LiaoZhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail 371381804@qq.comAbstract: The contactless food supply and delivery system of Raytheon Mountain Hospital is an innovative action to solve the dining problem and balance nutrition for medical staff and patients. The system was established according to five approval criteria, including localization, experience in hospital meal service, sufficient raw materials and supporting facilities, food safety, and high execution in dispatching. From the preparation phase to service optimization and improvement, the service model of the full collection of food and beverage information, point-to-point distribution, contactless food delivery, one-stop ordering, and full coverage of separately eating is established to safeguard the contactless food supply and delivery system operating smoothly. As of April 15, 2020 Raytheon Mountain Hospital had been operating safely for 68 days with no occurrence of food safety accident.Keywords: COVID-19, food delivery, medical staff, nutrition, Raytheon Mountain Hospital

Background Modelling species richness across an elevation gradient has long attracted attention, and at same time places some significant obstacles to research. Many interpretations of patterns and corresponding mechanisms for species distributions are made without consideration of multiple confounding factors. What are factors that affect species richness with elevation? The answer may contribute to better understanding of the elevational distribution patterns and mechanisms.In this study, we performed the research on species richness of nematode-trapping fungi (NTF) across an elevation gradient in Yunnan, China.Results The results showed that sampling patterns, sampling altitude range, and human disturbance in sampling site could affect the resulting patterns of species richness significantly.Conclusion The results suggested that future studies on the elevational gradients of species richness should address these factors, and try to adopt the high-sampling patterns to reduce the observation bias.

Background: Global countries are suffering from a shortage of health professionals, turnover intention is closely related to job satisfaction and burnout, making good use of these relationship could alleviate the crises. Methods: This research was conducted in Huangpi, China. Convenience sampling methods and self-designed questionnaires was used. 1370 of valid samples were collected with 97.72% effective rate. Descriptive analyses were conducted to describe social demographic factors. The structural equation model (SEM) was performed to adjust model fitting, and the mediation effect test was carried out by using the bootstrap method. Sobel-Z test was used to verify the significance of mediation effect. Results: The mean age was 36.98 (SD=9.84). The fitting indices of hypothetical model is not good. After the adjustments, for job satisfaction, turnover intention and burnout, the Cronbach’s is 0.976, 0.910, 0.879, respectively. 2/df =5.590, GFI=0.932, AGFI=0.901, CFI=0.977, NFI=0.973, IFI=0.977, TLI=0.970, RESEA=0.058. The revised model fitted well, and the SEM was put up by using the bootstrap method. The mediating effect is partial, and Soble-Z test indicates that the mediation effect is significant. Burnout is negatively correlated with job satisfaction (p

Carbon transport in river systems is an important component of the global carbon cycle. Most rivers of the world act as atmospheric CO2 sources due to high riverine CO2 partial pressure (pCO2). By determining the pCO2 from alkalinity and pH, we investigated its spatial and temporal variation in the Yellow River watershed using historical water chemistry records (1950s–1984) and recent sampling along the mainstem (2011–2012). Except the headwater region where the pCO2 was lower than the atmospheric equilibrium (i.e. 380 μatm), river waters in the remaining watershed were supersaturated with CO2. The average pCO2 for the watershed was estimated at 2810 ± 1985 μatm, which is 7-fold the atmospheric equilibrium. As a result of severe soil erosion and dry climate, waters from the Loess Plateau in the middle reaches had higher pCO2 than that from the upper and lower reaches. From a seasonal perspective, the pCO2 varied from about 200 μatm to > 30 000 μatm with higher pCO2 usually occurring in the dry season and lower pCO2 in the wet season (at 73% of the sampling sites), suggesting the dilution effect of water. While the pCO2 responded exponentially to total suspended solids (TSS) export when the TSS concentration was less than 100 kg m−3, it decreased slightly and remained stable if the TSS concentration exceeded 100 kg m−3. This stable pCO2 is largely due to gully erosion that mobilizes subsoils characterized by low organic carbon for decomposition. In addition, human activities have changed the pCO2 dynamics. Particularly, flow regulation by dams can diversely affect the temporal changes of pCO2, depending on the physiochemical properties of the regulated waters and adopted operation scheme. Given the high pCO2 in the Yellow River waters, large potential for CO2 evasion is expected and warrants further investigation.

A method of core–shell-like gradient permeation of Er3+ on the surface of grain was used to prepare xEr3+-Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 ceramics. The structure and photoluminescence properties were investigated both on the gradient and homogenous doping. The XRD patterns exhibited a single rhombohedra phase. The photoluminescence measurements showed a maximum value at x = 1.5 wt% for the gradient xEr3+-Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 ceramics, and a maximum value at x = 2.0 wt% for the homogenous one, also critical concentrations of elimination of segregation of large strip grains. Significantly, an enhanced efficiency of bright green emission at about 550 nm was observed in the gradient Er3+-Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 ceramics. In structure a critical concentration of elimination of segregation of large strip grains corresponds to the highest PL peak. The possible mechanism was discussed that concentration quenching effect is supposed due to the degeneration effect of multi-rare earth ions to allow energy transfer accompany with non-radiative loss. Gradient concentration will cause gradient overlapping energy levels to restrict energy transfer to enhance luminescence effect.

Sea salt aerosol (SSA) is one of the major components of primary aerosols and has significant impact on the formation of secondary inorganic particles mass on a global scale. In this study, the fully online coupled WRFChem model was utilized to evaluate the SSA emission scheme and its influence on the nitrate simulation in a case study in Europe during 10-20 September 2013. Meteorological conditions near the surface, wind pattern and thermal stratification structure were well reproduced by the model. Nonetheless, the coarse-mode (PM1-10) particle mass concentration was substantially overestimated due to the overestimation of SSA and nitrate. Compared to filter measurements at four EMEP stations (coastal stations: Bilthoven, Kollumerwaard and Vredepeel; inland station: Melpitz), the model overestimated SSA concentrations by a factor of 8-20. We found that this overestimation was mainly caused by overestimated SSA emissions over the North Sea during 16-20 September. Over the coastal regions, SSA was injected into the continental free troposphere through an "aloft bridge" (about 500 to 1000m above the ground), a result of the different thermodynamic properties and planetary boundary layer (PBL) structure between continental and marine regions. The injected SSA was further transported inland and mixed downward to the surface through downdraft and PBL turbulence. This process extended the influence of SSA to a larger downwind region, leading, for example, to an overestimation of SSA at Melpitz, Germany, by a factor of ∼20. As a result, the nitrate partitioning fraction (ratio between particulate nitrate and the summation of particulate nitrate and gas-phase nitric acid) increased by about 20%for the coarsemode nitrate due to the overestimation of SSA at Melpitz. However, no significant difference in the partitioning fraction for the fine-mode nitrate was found. About 140% overestimation of the coarse-mode nitrate resulted from the influence of SSA at Melpitz. In contrast, the overestimation of SSA inhibited the nitrate particle formation in the fine mode by about 20% because of the increased consumption of precursor by coarse-mode nitrate formation. © Author(s) 2016.

1.1 Background: Nurses are frequently exposed to occupational hazards in terms of blood borne infections during daily patient care activities in hospitals from low income countries like India and South Africa. Knowledge and awareness related to occupational health and safety can make them cautious and observe standard safety measures effectively and protect them from acquiring blood borne infections. 1.2 Objective: To evaluate the effect of in-service education workshop on occupational health and safety in terms of knowledge and awareness among nurses in a tertiary level care facility of India. 1.3 Methods: Using a pre-experimental research design, knowledge and awareness of 49 conveniently enrolled nurses on occupational health and safety was evaluated before and after a one day in-service education workshop organized at a single centre study in. Pre-tested and validated knowledge and awareness questionnaire (α = 0.85) related to occupational health and safety was used along with subject data sheet for the data collection. 1.4 Results: Majority of nurses (75.7%) were more than 30 years with the mean age and range 37.2±7.7, and 25-51 respectively, females (93.9%), having diploma in nursing as professional qualification (69.4%), nearly 50% of nurses were holding the designation of sister grade –II and equal number were holding administrative posts. Majority of nurses (73.5%) were vaccinated against hepatitis B and 26.5% of nurses had sustained needle stick injuries during patient activities and all received primary first aid care in terms of wound cleaning using soap and water and none received the post exposure prophylaxis. All nurses had attended one or more in-service education program on infection control and prevention. Baseline knowledge and awareness scores of the nurses were 36.1±8.9 (11-52, max score 69). There was significant difference between the pre and post workshop knowledge and awareness scores of nurses (36.1±8.9 vs. 55.1± 7.1, p < 0.001). 1.5 Conclusion: The majority of nurses were lacking knowledge and awareness regarding occupational hazards, and this lack was corrected after the in-service education workshop. 1.6 Recommendations: Periodic in-service training courses on occupational health and safety should be provided in order to keep the nurses’ knowledge and awareness updated regarding occupational health and safety.

Atmospheric ammonia (NH3) plays an important role in atmospheric aerosol chemistry. China is one of the largest NH3 emitting countries with the majority of NH3 emissions coming from agricultural practices, such as fertilizer application and livestock production. The current NH3 emission estimates in China are mainly based on pre-defined emission factors that lack temporal or spatial details, which are needed to accurately predict NH3 emissions. This study provides the first online estimate of NH3 emissions from agricultural fertilizer application in China, using an agricultural fertilizer modeling system which couples a regional air quality model (the Community Multi-scale Air Quality model, or CMAQ) and an agro-ecosystem model (the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate model, or EPIC). This method improves the spatial and temporal resolution of NH3 emissions from this sector. We combined the cropland area data of 14 crops from 2710 counties with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land use data to determine the crop distribution. The fertilizer application rates and methods for different crops were collected at provincial or agricultural region levels. The EPIC outputs of daily fertilizer application and soil characteristics were input into the CMAQ model and the hourly NH3 emissions were calculated online with CMAQ running. The estimated agricultural fertilizer NH3 emissions in this study were approximately 3 Tg in 2011. The regions with the highest modeled emission rates are located in the North China Plain. Seasonally, peak ammonia emissions occur from April to July. Compared with previous researches, this study considers an increased number of influencing factors, such as meteorological fields, soil and fertilizer application, and provides improved NH3 emissions with higher spatial and temporal resolution.

This study presents a new technique for detecting rotor electrical faults in wind turbine doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs), controlled by a stator field-oriented vector control scheme. This is a novel method aimed at detecting and identifying rotor electrical asymmetry faults from within the rotor-side inverter control loop, using the error signal, to provide a future method of generator condition monitoring with enhanced detection sensitivity. Simulation and experimental measurements of the proposed signals were carried out under steady-state operation for both healthy and faulty generator conditions. Stator current and power were also investigated for rotor electrical asymmetry detection and comparison made with rotor-side inverter control signals. An investigation was then performed to define the sensitivity of the proposed monitoring signals to fault severity changes and a comparison made with previous current, power and vibration signal methods. The results confirm that a simple spectrum analysis of the proposed control loop signals gives effective and sensitive DFIG rotor electrical asymmetry detection.

Metal oxide varistors are widely used in many power electronics circuits to protect against transient over voltages. Certain applications are very demanding on the energy handling capability of the varistors. This paper gives an overview of the failure modes of ZnO varistors and investigates their characteristics when subjected to repetitive current pulses. It describes the puncture failure mode caused by melting of a region in the varistor of local current concentration. Experimental tests are performed to evaluate the puncture energy using an infrared imaging camera. A relationship between the energy absorption and the varistor maximum surface temperature is obtained. It is shown that the destructive energy depends strongly on the uniformity of the varistor; the more uniform, the higher the energy handling capability. The paper also presents the results of nondestructive tests using a scanning acoustic microscope to evaluate the uniformity of the varistor.

We studied the temporal relationship between human immunodeficiency type 1 (HIV-1) quasispecies in tissues and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of infected individuals. Sequential PBMC and tissue samples from various organs obtained at autopsy from three patients who died of AIDS-related complications were available for analysis. Biological HIV-1 clones were isolated from PBMC samples, and cellular tropism and syncytium-inducing (SI) capacity were determined. Genomic DNA was isolated from 1 cm3 of organ tissue, and proviral DNA was amplified by means of PCR and cloned with the PGEM-T vector system. A 185-bp region encompassing the third variable domain of the virus envelope, known to influence HIV-1 biological properties, was sequenced. HIV-1 could be amplified from all PBMC and organ samples, except from liver tissue for two patients. Both SI and non-syncytium-inducing (NSI) genotypes could be detected in the different tissues. Tissue-specific quasispecies were observed in brain, lung, and testis. Lymphoid tissues, such as bone marrow, lymph node, and spleen, harbored several different variants similar to those detected in blood in the last PBMC samples. In general, only tissues in which macrophages are likely to be the main target cell for HIV-1 harbored NSI HIV-1 sequences that clustered separately. Both SI and NSI sequences that clustered with sequences from late-stage PBMC were present in other tissues, which may indicate that the presence of HIV-1 in those tissues is secondary to lymphocyte infiltration rather than to tissue tropism of HIV-1 itself. These data suggest that the viral reservoir may be limited, which will have important implications for the success of HIV-1 eradication

Residues 259-284 of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase exhibit sequence homology with other nucleic acid polymerases and have been termed the "helix clamp" (Hermann, T., Meier, T., Gotte, M., and Heumann, H. (1994) Nucleic Acids Res. 22, 4625-4633), since crystallographic evidence indicates these residues are part of two alpha-helices (alpha H and alpha I) that interact with DNA. Alanine-scanning mutagenesis has previously demonstrated that several residues in alpha H make important interactions with nucleic acid and influence frameshift fidelity. To define the role of alpha I (residues 278-286) during catalytic cycling, we performed systematic site-directed mutagenesis from position 277 through position 287 by changing each residue, one by one, to alanine. Each mutant protein was expressed and, except for L283A and T286A, was soluble. The soluble mutant enzymes were purified and characterized. In contrast to alanine mutants of alpha H, alanine substitution in alpha I did not have a significant effect on template.primer (T.P) binding as revealed by a lack of an effect on Km, T.P, Ki for 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine 5'-triphosphate, koff, T.P and processivity. Consistent with these observations, the fidelity of the mutant enzymes was not influenced. However, alanine mutagenesis of alpha I lowered the apparent activity of every mutant relative to wild-type enzyme. Titration of two mutants exhibiting the lowest activity with T.P (L282A and R284A) demonstrated that these mutant enzymes could bind T.P stoichiometrically and tightly. In contrast, active site concentrations determined from "burst" experiments suggest that the lower activity is due to a smaller populations of enzyme bound productively to T.P. The putative electrostatic interactions between the basic side chains of the helix clamp and the DNA backbone are either very weak or kinetically silent. In contrast, interactions between several residues of alpha H and the DNA minor groove, 3-5 nucleotides from the 3'-primer terminus, are suggested to be critical for DNA binding and fidelity.

This hospital phlebotomy team tackled their age-old turn around time (TAT) problem by implementing a technology that is becoming commonplace in a variety of businesses. Through the use of two-way communication headsets, this hospital laboratory significantly reduced TAT, improved service perceptions by the medical and nursing staffs, and diminished stress levels of the venipuncture team.

Objective: This study is to determine the efficacy of the Chinese clinical program of Ultrasound Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (USgHIFU) in the Bulgarian patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Methods: Patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma from China and Bulgaria were enrolled in the study. All patients received the same clinical procedure of USgHIFU treatment and follow-up. The patient characteristics, the USgHIFU treatment and evaluation parameters including complications, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain scores, tumor size, serum CA19-9 levels, survival rates and survival times were comparatively studied in Chinese and Bulgarian patients. Results: There was no significant difference in clinical parameters of Chinese and Bulgarian patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma, such as the ratio of male/female, mean age, tumor size, and TNM stage. Similarly, no statistical significance was found in USgHIFU procedure including treatment time, the ratio of USgHIFU time to treatment time, USgHIFU time, average power and total energy. After USgHIFU treatment, four patients with complications were recorded. The VAS pain scores post-USgHIFU were decreased. Besides, the tumor shrunk after treatment, and the one-year survival rate for the Chinese and Bulgarian patients were 26.0% and 37.0%, respectively. The results showed no statistical significance between patients from China and Bulgaria. Additionally, the serum CA19-9 content did not show significant change in Chinese and Bulgarian patients after USgHIFU treatment. Conclusion: A good consistency in treatment efficacy of USgHIFU was found in Chinese and Bulgarian patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma, suggesting that the Asian-originated USgHIFU treatment for advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma may be also suitable for European patients.

A concern with the isolation transformer in a dual active bridge (DAB) dc–dc converter is the dc bias in magnetization. This article proposes a fluxgate-based current sensor to measure the dc component mixed with a large, high-frequency ac current. Compared with a commercial Hall effect current sensor, the proposed sensor significantly reduces measurement error. This article presents the working principle and design considerations. A prototype is demonstrated for dc bias elimination control in a DAB converter.\ud