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Tropical cyclone (TC) annual frequency forecasting is significant for disaster prevention and mitigation in Guangdong Province. Based on the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis and NOAA Extended Reconstructed global sea surface temperature (SST) V5 data in winter, the TC frequency climatic features and prediction models have been studied. During 1951-2019, 353 TCs directly affected Guangdong with an annual average of about 5.1. TCs have experienced an abrupt change from abundance to deficiency in the mid to late 1980 with a slightly decreasing trend and a normal distribution. 338 primary precursors are obtained from statistically significant correlation regions of SST, sea level pressure, 1000hPa air temperature, 850hPa specific humidity, 500hPa geopotential height and zonal wind shear in winter. Then those 338 primary factors are reduced into 19 independent predictors by principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, the Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), the Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) and the Long Short-term Memory Networks and Fully Connected Layers (LSTM-FC) models are constructed relying on the above 19 factors. For three different kinds of test sets from 2010 to 2019, 2011 to 2019 and 2010 to 2019, the root mean square errors (RMSEs) of MLR, GPR and LSTM-FC between prediction and observations fluctuate within the range of 1.05-2.45, 1.00-1.93 and 0.71-0.95 as well as the average absolute errors (AAEs) 0.88-1.0, 0.75-1.36 and 0.50-0.70, respectively. As for the 2010-2019 experiment, the mean deviations of the three model outputs from the observation are 0.89, 0.78 and 0.56, together with the average evaluation scores 82.22, 84.44 and 88.89, separately. The prediction skill comparisons unveil that LSTM-FC model has a better performance than MLR and GPR. In conclusion, the deep learning model of LSTM-FC may shed light on improving the accuracy of short-term climate prediction about TC frequency. The current research can provide experience on the development of deep learning in this field and help to achieve further progress of TC disaster prevention and mitigation in Guangdong Province.

Visible light communication (VLC) can offer the advantages of license and electromagnetic interference (EMI) free wireless transmission. As optical signal does not interference with the radio-frequency (RF) signal, VLC can be used to augment RF wireless communication to provide extra communication capacity while without degrading the performance of both signals. In order to achieve high performance VLC transmission, optical alignment between the optical transmit (Tx) and receiver (Rx) is very critical to enhance the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Optical beam-steering at the Tx can be utilized to ensure narrow optical beam can reach the Rx; however, complicated and active tracking are required. Lenses or compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs) can be install in front of the Rx for focusing to enhance the SNR. However, these will limit the Rx field-of-view (FOV) and making the VLC transmission more subjected to misalignment issue. Hence, many creative optical antennas have been proposed and demonstrated using special optical materials as well as special Rx to enhance the FOV of VLC systems. However, they have their limitations, such as data rates and FOVs. In this work, we put forward and demonstrate a bi-direction free-space VLC system supporting multiple moveable Rxs using a light-diffusing optical fiber (LDOF). The downlink (DL) signal is launched from an head-end or central office (CO) far away to the LDOF at the client side via a free-space transmission. When the DL signal is launched to the LDOF, which acts as an optical antenna to re-transmit the DL signal to different moveable Rxs. The uplink (UL) signal is sent via the LDOF towards the CO. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, the LDOF is 100 cm long and the free space VLC transmission between the CO and the LDOF is 100 cm. 210 Mbit/s DL and 850 Mbit/s UL transmissions, meeting the pre-forward-error-correction bit error rate (pre-FEC BER = 3.8 × 10−3) threshold are achieved.

The development of shale gas, an unconventional energy source, will help improve China's energy structure. The National Energy Administration of China has included it in the national strategic emerging industry, which is also one of the five high-end novel growth industry plans in Sichuan Province. Drilling engineering is the key technology of shale gas exploration, while drilling waste fluid is one of the most representative wastes in the drilling process. The drilling waste fluid has the characteristics of a large amount of production, a complex composition, and a high treatment cost. The treatment of drilling waste fluid is critical for the long-term development of the surrounding environment of drilling operations sites. The effect of anions and cations on the performance of drilling fluid is studied by taking the apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity, dynamic shear force, and medium pressure filtration loss of the drilling fluid as the main indicators. Combined with the numerical simulation of the Box-Behnken module in the software of Design Expert, the requirements for the preparation of drilling fluid by recycling water-based drilling fluid are determined as follows: (1) polymer drilling fluid:hardness ≤ 1.00 g/L，Al3+ ≤ 4.80 g/L，Fe3+ ≤ 0.20 g/L，pH=7~10; (2) polysulfo nate dril-ling fluid: hardness ≤ 3.35 g/L，Al3+ ≤ 10.00 g/L，Fe3+ ≤ 2.80 g/L，SO4 2- ≤ 20.00 g/L pH=7~10; (3) Potassium polysulfonate drilling fluid: hardness ≤ 96.00 g/L，Al3+ ≤ 1.85 g/L，Fe3+ ≤1.65 g/L，SO4 2- ≤50.00 g/L, pH=7~10.

Mytilus coruscus is a dominant shellfish in the Yangtze estuary and its adjacent sea area. Food deprivation often occurs during their growth due to fluctuations in algal abundance caused by seasonal freshwater flushing and high-density aquaculture mode. To investigate the coping strategies of M. coruscus to starvation stress, electron microscopy and differential proteomic analysis were performed on the critical feeding organ gill of the mussels after 9 days of starvation. The electron microscopy results showed that the cilia of the mussel gills were dissolved, and the gaps between gill filaments widened under starvation. Differential proteomic analysis revealed that phagocytosis-related proteins such as ATPeV1E, ATPeV1C, LAMP1_2 and CTSL were significantly upregulated, and the phagocytosis pathway was significantly enriched (p < 0.05). In addition, the corin content in gill and myeloperoxidase level as well as the number of dead cells in blood were both significantly increased (p < 0.05). What’s more, proteomic data suggested that immune maintenance, cellular transport and metabolism related pathways were significantly enriched, which illustrated an immune and metabolism responses under starvation. This study reveals for the first time that phagocytosis functions as an essential strategy for M. coruscus to cope with starvation, which provides new scientific knowledge and a theoretical basis for understanding the adaptation mechanisms of mussel to starvation and for rational optimization of mussel culture patterns.

To conduct an anti-tumor research by using targeted drug-loaded cell-derived microparticles to target the tumor microenvironment and enhance NK cell killing function. In this experiment, we obtained HepG2 tumor cell-derived microparticles by physical extrusion, high speed centrifugation and filtration, modified the hepatocellular carcinoma targeting peptide SP94 on the surface of microparticles and encapsulated the TGF-β inhibitor SB505124. Finally we validated and analyzed whether the new drug delivery system can target to tumor site and enhance the anti-tumor function of NK cells. This type of novel targeted cell-derived microparticles drug delivery system will provide a novel idea for tumor immunotherapy.

Purpose: To illustrate the biological influences of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) NBAT-1 (neuroblastoma associated transcript 1) on HCC progression and the molecular mechanism of action. Methods: NBAT-1 levels in HCC tissues and cell lines were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The relationship between NBAT-1 and prognosis in HCC was analyzed. After knockdown of NBAT-1 in HepG2 and Hep3B cells, proliferative and migratory changes were assessed by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and Transwell assay, respectively. The interaction between NBAT-1 and CYLD was confirmed by subcellular fraction determination and RNA binding protein immunoprecipitation (RIP). Rescue experiments were conducted to verify the involvement of CYLD in HCC cell functions regulated by NBAT-1. Results: NBAT-1 was downregulated in HCC tissues. Its level was much lower in metastatic or advanced stage HCC patients (p < 0.05), showing a certain prognostic potential. Knockdown of NBAT-1 stimulated proliferative and migratory potentials in HepG2 and Hep3B cells. NBAT-1 was mainly distributed in the cell cytoplasm. The mRNA and protein levels of CYLD were downregulated in HCC cells by NBAT-1 knockdown, displaying a positive interaction. CYLD was involved in the regulatory effect of NBAT-1 on HCC progression. Conclusion: Through a positive interaction with CYLD, NBAT-1 inhibits the malignant progression of HCC. These findings provide a potential approach to the development of targeted therapies for HCC.

Five metabolites (1–5), including two new sesquiterpenoids, designated ganodermanol L (1) and 4α,15-epoxyeudesmane-1β,6α,11-triol (2), together with three known structurally related compounds (3-5), have been isolated from the cultures of Streptomyces sp. XM17, a bacteria residing in the fresh feces of the giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca. The structures of 1–2 were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D- and 2D-NMR (1H-1H COSY, HMQC, HMBC and NOESY) experiments. Furthermore, the absolute configuration of 1 was established by single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analyses. Of noted, these compounds were found to possessed antiviral activities using the ‘pretreatment of virus’ approach with IC50 values ranging from 4 to 30 nM, indicating that these sesquiterpenoids were potent in inhibiting the entry of influenza A virus.

Nicotinamide riboside kinase (NRK) plays an important role in the synthesis of β -nicotinamide nucleotide (NMN). NMN is a key intermediate of NAD+ synthesis, and it actually contribute to the well-being of our health. In this study, gene mining technology was used to clone nicotinamide nucleoside kinase gene fragments from S. cerevisiae, and the ScNRK1 was achieved a high level of soluble expression in E. coli BL21. Then, the reScNRK1 was immobilized by metal affinity label to optimize the enzyme performance. The results showed that the enzyme activity in the fermentation broth was 14.75 IU/mL, and the specific enzyme activity after purification was 2252.59 IU/mg. After immobilization, the optimum temperature of the immobilized enzyme was increased by 10°C compared with the free enzyme, and the temperature stability was improved with little change in pH. Moreover, the activity of the immobilized enzyme remained above 80% after four cycles of immobilized reScNRK1, which makes the enzyme more advantageous in the enzymatic synthesis of NMN.

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The viscous interaction of fluid is understood as the response to deformation, which is proportional to the strain rate. This model has gradually become the standard since Stokes, and has become the basis of the classical flow theory, namely the Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations. However, it has never been accurately verified in the curved laminar flow. Here, a distinctive unambiguous simple experiment is designed to falsify the viscosity model of deformation, and instead a new model is proposed, that is, the viscous friction originates from the slip of fluid layering at molecular scale. Though Newton contributed the initial idea of slip viscosity, the new model cannot be formulated without the help of modern differential geometry. From the new model, the analytical solution of laminar Taylor-Couette (T-C) flow between two concentric cylinders can reproduce the result of the ideal experiment proposed by Newton as the outer cylinder being infinite, which was once considered a mistake of Newton. A significant difference with the solution of the N-S equations when the outer cylinder is relatively large can be used to distinguish the viscosity models, even for the simplest case with both cylinders rotating with the same angular velocity. The accurate measurement data by the LDA support the slip model, and the consequent flow theory inevitably leads to a new vision in turbulence research., Comment: 25 pages, 14figures, 2 tables

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Additional file 1: Supplementary Figure 1. Distributionof 19-mer frequency in Ridgeia piscesaegenome. The short-insert paired-end reads (180 bp) were used to generate the19-mer frequency curve. Theheterozygous rate and the genome size were determined based on the k-merdistribution. Supplementary Figure 2. The phylogenetic tree of R.piscesae and 14 other lophotrochozoans.The tree wasreconstructed with single-copy orthologs using a maximum likelihood approach.The ultrafast bootstrap (UFBoots) value is listed above each of the nodes.Supplementary Figure 3. Genomic organization of Hox gene clusters in 4vestimentiferan tubeworms and 11 other metazoans. Hox genes are indicated as rectangles.The orientations of genes are indicated by arrows below the genes. The genecomposition and orientation of Hox clusters are consistent between two vent-dwellingtubeworms (R. pachyptila and R. piscesae), but slightly differentbetween vent- and seep-dwelling tubeworms. Supplementary Figure 4.Alignment of hemoglobins in four tubeworms. Each tubeworm has two copies of A1 chain, one copy of A2 chain, and onecopy of B2 chain in hemoglobins of tubeworms. A group of B1 chain in hemoglobinwere found in each of four species. Free cysteine was found in A2, B2, and B1chains in hemoglobin. Supplementary Table 1. Statistics of the genome sequencing data of Ridgeia piscesae. Supplementary Table 2. Statistic of the R. piscesae genome assembly. Supplementary Table 3. Assessment of genome coverage ratebased on short-insert paired-end reads remapping analysis. SupplementaryTable 4. Assessment of gene coveragerate using Trinity assembled sequences (Unigenes). SupplementaryTable 5. BUSCO evaluationof R. piscesae genome assembly. Supplementary Table 6. Summary of annotated repeats in R.piscesae genome. Supplementary Table 7. Statistics of functional annotated gene models in the genome of R.piscesae. Supplementary Table 8. Information of genomes used to perform phylogenomic analysis. Supplementary Table 9. Exon and intronlengths of genes in four Vestimentiferan tubeworms. Supplementary Table 10. Expression levels of hemoglobin genes withfree cysteine in R. piscesae. Supplementary Table 11. Gene families were significantly expandedin the genomes of all four tubeworms. SupplementaryTable 12. Gene families were significantly expanded in the genomes of twoseep-dwelling tubeworms. Supplementary Table 13. Positively selected genes (PSGs) in R.piscesae. Supplementary Table 14. Summary of genome assemblies using two other assemblers

Additional file 1: Fig. S1. Representative images showing the scoring process by the automated quantitative pathology imaging system. Fig. S2. Violin plots displaying the expression level of representative markers in each cell cluster. Fig. S3. Kaplan-Meier survival curves for total α-SMA+ CAFs, lamina propria α-SMA+ CAFs and stromal α-SMA+ CAFs in the generation (n=103) and validation (n=99) dataset of patients with ESCC. Fig. S4. The number of intratumoral macrophages correlates with clinical outcome in ESCC patients. Fig. S5. The density of CD68+ and CD163+ MØs correlates with clinical outcome in patients with ESCC. Fig. S6. Crucial cell-to-cell interaction pathways among the distinct cell populations predicted by CellChat. Fig. S7. Cell-to-cell communication among the CAFs and other cell types. Fig. S8. Differentially-expressed gene (DEG) enrichment analysis for α-SMA+ CAFs. Supplementary Table S1. The clinicopathological parameters of 11 patients profiled by scRNA-seq. Supplementary Table S2. Metal-conjugated antibodies and element-containing reagents used for IMC. Supplementary Table S3. Clinicopathological characteristics in the generation and validation dataset of patients with ESCC. Supplementary Table S4. Correlation between markers and clinicopathological characteristics in the generation and validation datasets. Supplementary Table S5. Differential expressed genes between α-SMA+ CAFs and α-SMA- CAFs. Supplementary Table S6. Univariate and multivariate analyses of factors associated with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in the generation and validation datasets of patients with ESCC.

We demonstrate a free-space bi-directional visible-light-communication (VLC) system using a light-diffusion-fiber (LDF) optical antenna. It allows 360o field-of-view (FOV) noncontact and moveable VLC detection, achieving 210-Mbit/s downlink and 850-Mbit/s uplink transmissions.

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Additional file 1: Table S1. PRISMA checklist. Table S2. Search strategy. Table S2. Search strategy. Table S3. Inclusion and partial exclusion for patients with active TB. Table S4. Inclusion and partial exclusion for populations with very low risk of TB exposure. Table S5. Inclusion and partial exclusion for high-risk populations. Table S6. Populations considered high-risk. Table S7. Details of excluded criteria. Table S8. QUADAS-2 adapted quality assessment criteria for patients with active TB. Table S9. Quality score of 12 studies for patients with active TB. Table S10. QUADAS-2 adapted quality assessment criteria for populations with very low risk of TB exposure. Table S11. Quality score of 7 studies for populations with very low risk of TB exposure. Table S12. QUADAS-2 adapted quality assessment criteria for high-risk groups. Table S13. Quality score of 31 studies for high-risk groups. Table S14. Reasons for exclusion of 42 studies that were read in full-text review. Table S15. Characteristics of the 12 studies included in the sensitivity analysis. Table S16. Characteristics of the 7 studies included in the specificity analysis. Table S17. Characteristics of the 31 studies included in the positive rates. Table S18. Linearregression test of funnel plot asymmetry results of QFT-PLUS compared to QFT-GIT, T-SPOT.TB and TST in three populations. Figure S1. Forest plot of studies estimating the sensitivity of QFT-Plus (A) and QFT-GIT (B) in patients with active tuberculosis. Figure S2. Forest plot of studies estimating the sensitivity of QFT-Plus (A) and T-SPOT.TB (B) in patients with active tuberculosis. Figure S3. Forest plot of studies estimating the specificity of QFT-Plus (A) and QFT-GIT (B) in populations with very low risk of TB exposure. Figure S4. Forest plot of studies estimating the specificity of QFT-Plus (A) and T-SPOT.TB (B) in populations with very low risk of TB exposure. Figure S5. Forest plot of studies estimating the specificity of QFT-Plus (A) and TST (B) in populations with very low risk of TB exposure. Figure S6. Forest plot of studies estimating the positive rate Plus (A) and QFT-GIT (B) in high-risk populations. Figure S7. Forest plot of studies estimating the positive rate of QFT-Plus (A) and T-SPOT.TB (B) in high-risk populations. Figure S8. Forest plot of studies estimating the positive rate of QFT-Plus (A) and TST (B) in high-risk populations. Figure S9. Forest plot of studies estimating the sensitivity in patients with active tuberculosis for age of the participants (A), TB burden of the areas (B) and number of participants (C) subgroup analysis of QFT-PLUS compared with QFT-GIT. Figure S10. Forest plot of studies estimating the sensitivity in patients with active tuberculosis for number of participants subgroup analysis of QFT-PLUS compared with T-SPOT.TB. Figure S11. Forest plot of studies estimating the Specificity in populations with very low risk of TB exposure for TB burden of the areas (A) and number of participants (B) subgroup analysis of QFT-PLUS compared with QFT-GIT. Figure S12. Forest plot of studies estimating the positive rate in high-risk populations for age of the participants (A), TB burden of the areas (B), number of participants (C) and population (D)subgroup analysis of QFT-PLUS compared with QFT-GIT. Figure S13. Forest plot of studies estimating the positive rate in high-risk populations for age of the participants (A), TB burden of the areas (B), number of participants (C) and population (D)subgroup analysis of QFT-PLUS compared with T-SPOT.TB. Figure S14. Forest plot of studies estimating the positive rate in high-risk populations for age of the participants (A), TB burden of the areas (B), number of participants (C) and population (D)subgroup analysis of QFT-PLUS compared with TST. Figure S15. Sensitivity analysis of QFT-PLUS compared to QFT-GIT (A) and T-SPOT.TB (B) in patients with active TB. Figure S16. Sensitivity analysis of QFT-PLUS compared to QFT-GIT (A), T-SPOT.TB (B) and TST(C) in populations with very low risk of TB exposure. Figure S17. Sensitivity analysis of QFT-PLUS compared to QFT-GIT (A), T-SPOT.TB (B) and TST(C) in high-risk populations. Figure S18. Funnel plot of QFT-PLUS compared to QFT-GIT in patients with active TB. Figure S19. Funnel plot of QFT-PLUS compared to QFT-GIT (A) and TST (B) in high-risk populations.

We propose and demonstrate visible-light-communication (VLC) system using spatial-light-modulator (SLM) and orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing non-orthogonal-multiple access (OFDM-NOMA), illustrating the flexibilities of optical-beam steering and data-rate allocation for multiple users.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Distribution of platelet parameters throughout pregnancy among women with preeclampsia or without preeclampsia. Table S2. Diagnostic performance of platelet parameters during pregnancy for the detection of preeclampsia based on receiver-operating characteristic analysis. Table S3. Detection rates for preeclampsia＜37, ≥37 weeks of gestation, and for all preeclampsia for 5 and 10% false-positive rates based on maternal characteristics and platelet parameters 12-15 gestational weeks (n=6381). Table S4. The incremental value of platelet parameters at 12-15 gestational weeks for preeclampsia prediction (n=6381). Table S5. Platelet parameters of pregnant women with multiple measurements during 16-19 gestational weeks. Figure S1. Associations between platelet parameters during 12-15 weeks of gestation and preeclampsia with a restricted cubic spline function. Figure S2. Associations between platelet parameters during 16-19 weeks of gestation and preeclampsia with a restricted cubic spline function.

BackgroundPancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a fatal malignancy with a low resection rate. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy (RT) are the main treatment approaches for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, and neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy is considered a promising strategy to increase the resection rate. Recently, immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy has shown remarkable efficacy in several cancers. Therefore, the combination of ICI, chemotherapy, and concurrent radiotherapy is promising for patients with potentially resectable pancreatic cancer, mainly referring to locally advanced (LAPC) and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC), to increase the chances of conversion to surgical resectability and prolong survival. This study aims to introduce the design of a clinical trial.MethodsThis is an open-label, single-arm, and single-center phase II trial. Patients with pathologically and radiographically confirmed LAPC or BRPC without prior anti-cancer treatment or severe morbidities will be enrolled. All patients will receive induction therapy and will be further evaluated by the Multiple Disciplinary Team (MDT) for the possibility of surgery. The induction therapy consists of up to four cycles of gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 and nab-paclitaxel 125 mg/m2via intravenous (IV) infusion on days 1 and 8, along with tislelizumab (a PD-1 monoclonal antibody) 200 mg administered through IV infusion on day 1 every 3 weeks, concurrently with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) during the third cycle of treatment. After surgery, patients without progression will receive another two to four cycles of adjuvant therapy with gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel, and tislelizumab. The primary objectives are objective response rate (ORR) and the R0 resection rate. The secondary objectives are median overall survival (mOS), median progression free survival (mPFS), disease control rate (DCR), pathological grade of tumor tissue after therapy, and adverse reactions. Besides, we expect to explore the value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in predicting tumor response to induction therapy and survival outcome of patients.DiscussionThis is a protocol for a clinical trial that attempts to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combination of anti-PD-1 antibody plus chemotherapy and radiotherapy as the induction therapy for LAPC and BRPC. The results of this phase II study will provide evidence for the clinical practice of this modality.Clinical Trial Registrationhttp://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=53720&htm=4, identifier ChiCTR2000032955.

Immune monotherapy does not appear to work in patients with pancreatic cancer so far. We are conducting a clinical trial that combines programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) inhibitor with chemotherapy and concurrent radiotherapy as induction therapy for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer (BRPC). Here, we report a case with a pathologic complete response (pCR) and no postoperative complications after the induction therapy. The patient received four cycles of induction therapy and achieved a partial response (PR) with a significant decline of tumor marker carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). Also, peripheral blood samples were collected during the treatment to investigate serial circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) dynamic changes in predicting the tumor response and outcomes in patients. Our result suggested that PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy and concurrent radiotherapy is a promising mode as induction therapy for patients with potentially resectable pancreatic cancer. In this case, serial ctDNA alterations accurately provide a comprehensive outlook of the tumor status and monitor the response to the therapy, as validated by standard imaging.

BackgroundPrevious epidemiological studies have found positive associations between maternal infections and childhood leukaemia; however, evidence from prospective cohort studies is scarce. We aimed to examine the associations using large-scale prospective data.MethodsData were pooled from six population-based birth cohorts in Australia, Denmark, Israel, Norway, the UK and the USA (recruitment 1950s-2000s). Primary outcomes were any childhood leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL); secondary outcomes were acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and any childhood cancer. Exposures included maternal self-reported infections [influenza-like illness, common cold, any respiratory tract infection, vaginal thrush, vaginal infections and urinary tract infection (including cystitis)] and infection-associated symptoms (fever and diarrhoea) during pregnancy. Covariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated using multilevel Cox models.ResultsAmong 312 879 children with a median follow-up of 13.6 years, 167 leukaemias, including 129 ALL and 33 AML, were identified. Maternal urinary tract infection was associated with increased risk of any leukaemia [HR (95% CI) 1.68 (1.10-2.58)] and subtypes ALL [1.49 (0.87-2.56)] and AML [2.70 ([0.93-7.86)], but not with any cancer [1.13 (0.85-1.51)]. Respiratory tract infection was associated with increased risk of any leukaemia [1.57 (1.06-2.34)], ALL [1.43 (0.94-2.19)], AML [2.37 (1.10-5.12)] and any cancer [1.33 (1.09-1.63)]; influenza-like illness showed a similar pattern but with less precise estimates. There was no evidence of a link between other infections and any outcomes.ConclusionsUrinary tract and respiratory tract infections during pregnancy may be associated with childhood leukaemia, but the absolute risk is small given the rarity of the outcome.

Due to the popularity of different high bandwidth applications, it is becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy the huge data capacity requirements, since the traditional electrical interconnects suffer significantly from limited bandwidth and huge power consumption. Silicon photonics (SiPh) is one of the important technologies for increasing interconnect capacity and decreasing power consumption. Mode-division multiplexing (MDM) allows signals to be transmitted simultaneously, at different modes, in a single waveguide. Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and orthogonal-frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) can also be utilized to further increase the optical interconnect capacity. In SiPh integrated circuits, waveguide bends are usually inevitable. However, for an MDM system with a multimode bus waveguide, the modal fields will become asymmetric when the waveguide bend is sharp. This will introduce inter-mode coupling and inter-mode crosstalk. One simple approach to achieve sharp bends in multimode bus waveguide is to use a Euler curve. Although it has been reported in the literature that sharp bends based on a Euler curve allow high performance and low inter-mode crosstalk multimode transmissions, we discover, by simulation and experiment, that the transmission performance between two Euler bends is length dependent, particularly when the bends are sharp. We investigate the length dependency of the straight multimode bus waveguide between two Euler bends. High transmission performance can be achieved by a proper design of the waveguide length, width, and bend radius. By using the optimized MDM bus waveguide length with sharp Euler bends, proof-of-concept NOMA-OFDM experimental transmissions, supporting two MDM modes and two NOMA users, are performed.

Rainfall is one of the most significant natural factors for inducing landslides. The shallow saturated zone formed in slopes during rainfall is an important factor in inducing shallow landslides. In this paper, the characteristics and influencing factors of the saturated zone in soil slopes, and the relationship between the soil surface permeability coefficient and the rainfall intensity are analyzed. In this research, the equation that characterizes the rainfall intensity by the soil saturation is built based on the Mualem-van Genuchten model, which mathematically describes the soil water characteristics of unsaturated soils. Using this model, the target saturation of the slope surface during rainfall can be determined accurately, with an average deviation of − 0.008. Based on the equations, the innovative critical curve model of the rainfall intensity−time required to form the shallow saturated zone is established and calculated. The influence of the soil material, slope angle, rainfall intensity and antecedent rainfall on the critical curve for the shallow saturated zone is analyzed. The results indicate that for slopes of 30°~40°, it is easy for the shallow saturated zone to form, and the previous rainfall after more than 16 days has little impact on the critical curve. Furthermore, an innovative landslide prediction model, based on the critical curve for the shallow saturated zone and I-D modeling, is proposed to provide benchmarks for the prediction-specific characteristics of deep or shallow landslides, which is verified by the case of the Madiwan landslide.

Objective To explore the expression and genotypes of thymidylate synthase (TS) in patients of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with different clinicopathological characteristics. Methods The expression profiles of TS were examined by immunohistochemical staining and quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in 160 patients with NSCLC. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to detect TS-5′UTR tandem repeats, G/C nucleotide polymorphisms, and 3′UTR 6 bp deletion/insertion polymorphisms. The relationships between clinicopathological characteristics and TS expression or genotypes were investigated through χ 2 test. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was used to analyze the association between TS expression and overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of NSCLC patients. Results The expression levels of TS protein and TS gene in NSCLC tissues were significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues (P < 0.05). Furthermore, high expression of TS protein and 5′UTR polymorphism of TS gene showed significant correlation with differentiation, TNM stage, and lymph node metastases. The frequency of −6 bp/−6 bp genotypes in patients with NSCLC was 43.13% (69/160), which was higher than others. In addition, the rate of TS protein overexpression in NSCLC patients with 3R/3R was 79.79%, which was higher than others. Interestingly, high expression of TS protein predicted shorter DFS and OS and lower 3-year DFS rate and 3-year OS rate. Conclusions The expression levels of TS in NSCLC were significantly increased and may help to predict the prognosis of NSCLC, and high expression of TS protein and 5′UTR polymorphism of TS gene were significantly related to differentiation, TNM stage, and lymph node metastases.

Fei-xia Chang,1 Dun-hui Fan,2 Gang Huang,3 Jian-hong He2 1Radiology Department, Dunhuang City Hospital, Dunhuang, 736200, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of General Surgery, Dunhuang City Hospital, Dunhuang, 736200, People’s Republic of China; 3Radiology Department, Gansu Provincial People’s Hospital, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Fei-xia Chang, Imaging Center Department, Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child-care Hospital, No.143, Qilihe North Street, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China, Email changfx2021@126.comBackground: To assess whether the fat signal intensity and fat fraction (FF) of the lumbar vertebrae as measured on the Dixon chemical shift magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique can be correlated with the lumbar vertebra bone mineral density (BMD) measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).Methods: Forty-five patients were retrospectively collected, and 180 lumbar vertebral bodies (L1-L4) were included. All patients underwent DXA and MRI examinations of the lumbar spine. Taking the T value of DXA as the gold standard and using the diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization: T score ≥ − 1.0SD as normal, − 1.0 ∼ − 2.5SD as osteopenia, and ≤ − 2.5SD as osteoporosis. Meanwhile, the signal intensity on T2WI was measured, and FF of L1-L4 vertebral bodies was calculated on MRI images. Bone marrow fat FF calculation formula: FF = [Mfat/(Mfat + Mwater)] × 100% (Mwater and Mfat refer to the total pixel signal intensity value of the region of interest in water image and lipid image, respectively). Finally, the association of signal intensity and FF with DXA was evaluated.Results: Totally 180 vertebral bodies in 45 patients were enrolled. According to the T value, they were divided into the normal group (n = 70), osteopenia group (n = 40), and osteoporosis group (n = 70). The fat signal intensity of the normal group, osteopenia group, and osteoporosis group were 96.6 ± 21.8, 154.5 ± 48.7, 216.3 ± 92.6, and the FF were 30.1 ± 6.2%, 52.6 ± 7.6%, 77.5 ± 7.9%, respectively. Among the three groups, the lumbar T2 fat signal intensity and FF had statistical differences (P < 0.01). Besides, the lumbar fat signal intensity and FF were negatively related to DXA (r =− 0.65 and − 0.93, P < 0.01).Conclusion: The fat content calculated using the Dixon chemical shift MRI had an inverse relation with BMD. Moreover, the Dixon chemical shift MRI might provide complementary information to osteoporosis-related research fields.Keywords: magnetic resonance, water-lipid separation technology, vertebral body signal intensity, fat fraction, osteoporosis

Previous studies have revealed that laser power and energy density are significant factors affecting the quality of parts manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM). The normalized equivalent density E0* and dimensionless laser power q*, which can be regarded as a progress on the understanding of the corresponding dimensional quantities, are adopted in this study to examine the defects, melt pool shape, and primary dendrite spacing of the SLM-manufactured 316L stainless steel, because it reflects the combined effect of process parameters and material features. It is found that the number of large defects decreases with increasing E0* due to enough heat input during the SLM process, but it will show an increasing trend when excessive heat input (i.e., utilizing a high E0*) is imported into the powder bed. The q* plays an important role in controlling maximum temperature rising in the SLM process, and in turn, it affects the number of large defects. A large q* value results in a low value of absolute frequency of large defects, whereas a maximum value of absolute frequency of large defects is achieved at a low q* even if E0* is very high. The density of the built parts is greater at a higher q* when E0* remains constant. Increasing the melt pool depth at relatively low value of E0* enhances the relative density of the parts. A narrow, deep melt pool can be easily generated at a high q* when E0* is sufficiently high, but it may increase melt pool instability and cause keyhole defects. It is revealed that a low E0* can lead to a high cooling rate, which results in a refined primary dendrite spacing. Relatively low E0* is emphasized in selecting the process parameters for the tensile test sample fabrication. It shows that excellent tensile properties, namely ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation to failure of 773 MPa, 584 MPa, and 46%, respectively, can be achieved at a relatively low E0* without heat treatment.

The geotechnical earthquake engineering profession has struggled with the inherent complexity of the multiphase soil response to cyclic loading owing to the progressive nature of the generation of excess pore pressure (EPP) and degradation of soil stiffness and strength. One approach to improve understanding of the cyclic response and correlate the transition from a two-phase saturated soil to a single, fluid-phase liquefied soil is to treat the soil as a non-Newtonian viscous liquid. However, the work to date suggests that the viscous fluid model approach can only be implemented following the onset of sustained soil liquefaction. This paper presents a unified thixotropic fluid model and framework that effectively links the pre-shear soil fabric and its progressive cyclic response to the onset and maintained state of soil liquefaction. The framework treats the soil fabric as a fluid net-type structure proposed for use with thixotropic fluids, and presents the constitutive state and rate equations describing the deconstruction of the liquefiable soil fabric in response to cyclic loading. The unified framework uses physically meaningful soil parameters that can be obtained from common cyclic laboratory tests to seamlessly link the state-dependent and shear-strain-rate-dependent nature of soils to the generation of EPP, the latter of which is shown to increase in significance as EPP accumulates. The proposed thixotropic-induced excess pore pressure model should prove advantageous for use in forward modelling of the stress–strain rate response of liquefiable soil and generation of EPP.

Amplitude variation with offset (AVO) inversion has been widely used in reservoir characterization to predict lithology and fluids. However, some existing AVO inversion methods that use [Formula: see text] norm regularization may not obtain the block boundary of subsurface layers because the AVO inversion is a severely ill-posed problem. To obtain sparse and accurate solutions, we have introduced the [Formula: see text] minimization method as an alternative to [Formula: see text] norm regularization. We used [Formula: see text] minimization for simultaneous P- and S-impedance inversion from prestack seismic data. We first derived the forward problem with multiangles and set up the inversion objective function with constraints of a priori low-frequency information obtained from well-log data. Then, we introduced minimization of the difference of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] norms, denoted as [Formula: see text] minimization, to solve this objective function. The nonconvex penalty function of the [Formula: see text] minimization method is decomposed into two convex subproblems via the difference of convex algorithm, and each subproblem is solved by the alternating direction method of multipliers. Compared to [Formula: see text] norm regularization, the results indicate that [Formula: see text] minimization has superior performance over [Formula: see text] norm regularization in promoting blocky/sparse solutions. Tests on synthetic and field data indicate that our method can provide sparser and more accurate P- and S-impedance inversion results. The overall results confirm that our method has great potential in the detection and identification of fluids.

Cyanobacterial blooms pose a serious threat to aquatic environmental health and have emerged as a primary issue in the recovery of eutrophic lakes. In order to comprehensively establish the effects of cyanobacterial blooms on nutrients in the aquatic environment, nutrient migration and transformation were studied in freshwater and sediments during cyanobacterial bloom decomposition. Cyanobacteria and sediments were collected from Zhushan Bay, in Taihu Lake, and the process of cyanobacterial decomposition was simulated in the laboratory. The focus of this research was to assess the effects of cyanobacterial decomposition on physicochemical parameters and nutrient concentrations in water, the vertical distribution of nutrients in sediments. We also determined the moisture content (ΔCw) and organic matter content (ΔOM) in surface sediments. Correlations were assessed between cyanobacterial decomposition and nutrient concentrations in water, with ΔCw and ΔOM in surface sediments simultaneously analyzed. In the water column, electric conductivity (Ec) was found to significantly increase, while dissolved oxygen (DO) and oxidation reduction potential (ORP) rapidly reduced. In addition, pH initially decreased and then increased, while ultraviolet light (UV254) exhibited an opposite trend, which was related to the release and degradation of organic matter during the decomposition of cyanobacteria. Other nutrient concentrations were found to increase gradually with time, with the exception of nitrate nitrogen (NO3−–N), indicating that nutrients undergo temporal transitions between forms during cyanobacterial decomposition. Cyanobacterial decomposition causes ΔOM and ΔCw to increase in surface sediment layers, affecting the vertical distribution of nutrient species in the sediment. The water-sediment interface nutrient flux intensity was ranked in the order total nitrogen (TN) > ammonia nitrogen (NH4+–N) > NO3−–N > total phosphorus (TP), which was related to the settlement of cyanobacterial debris during cyanobacterial decomposition. Good binomial relationships (R2 > 0.90, p

Groundwater contamination by stray gas (mainly methane) in areas of shale-gas development has captured publics, political and scientific attention. However, the sources and potential mechanisms of groundwater contamination are still debated. Noble gases can provide useful information on fluid migration for discerning the scale, conditions, and physical mechanisms. In this study, details about analytical technology and theoretical approach of noble gases in tracing groundwater contaminations are presented. In addition, applications of noble-gases isotopes for determining contamination sources and potential pathways are explored and reviewed. Recent developments are discussed and highlighted with focusing on new utilities of noble-gas isotope parameters in evaluating groundwater contamination. Some usages of indicators (4He/20Ne, CH4/36Ar, 4He/CH4, etc.) are discussed through specific research articles. And it is a new trend to make comprehensive use of multiple geochemical parameters to determine the occurrence, source, and process of methane pollution in groundwater.

In this research, a novel packed anoxic/oxic moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) was established to achieve high-organic matter removal rates, despite the carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of 2.7–5.1 in the influent. Simultaneous nitrification–denitrification (SND) was investigated under a long sludge retention time of 104 days. The system exhibited excellent performance in pollutant removal, with chemical oxygen demand and total nitrogen (TN) enhanced to 93.6–97.4% and 34.4–60%, respectively. Under low C/N conditions, the nitrogen removal process of A/O MBBR system was mainly achieved by anaerobic denitrification. The increase of C/N ratio enhanced SND rate of the aerobic section, where dissolved oxygen was maintained at the range of 4–6 mg/L, and resulted in higher TN removal efficiency. The microbial composition and structures were analyzed utilizing the MiSeq Illumina sequencing technique. High-throughput pyrosequencing results indicated that the dominant microorganisms were Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes at the phylum level, which contributes to the removal of organics matters. In the aerobic section, abundances of Nitrospirae (1.12–29.33%), Burkholderiales (2.15–21.38%), and Sphingobacteriales (2.92–11.67%) rose with increasing C/N ratio in the influent, this proved that SND did occur in the aerobic zone. As the C/N ratio of influent increased, the SND phenomenon in the aerobic zone of the system is the main mechanism for greatly improving the removal rate of TN in the aerobic section. The C/N ratio in the aerobic zone is not required to be high to exhibit good TN removal performance. When C/NH4+ and C/TN in the aerobic zone were higher than 2.29 and 1.77, respectively, TN removal efficiency was higher than 60%, which means that carbon sources added to the reactor could be saved. This study would be vital for a better understanding of microbial structures within a packed A/O MBBR and the development of cost-efficient strategies for the treatment of low C/N wastewater.

This study investigates the morphological changes in cyanobacterial and microbial distribution characteristics of surface sediments, throughout different cyanobacterial blooms periods in Zhushan Bay, Taihu Lake. Comparative microscopic analysis of cyanobacterial morphology (n = 36) was performed during the formation period (W1), stationary period (W2), decline period (W3) and decomposition period (W4). Simultaneously, sequence analysis was performed on microbial 16S rRNA genes in sediments (n = 36) by high-throughput sequencing. The coverage of the sequencing library was very high (100%) indicating that the sequencing results well represented the microbes present in samples, among which the species richness in W4 was the highest, while the species distribution uniformity was low. The microbial abundance distribution in all four periods showed that Firmicutes (33.45%), Cyanobacteria (30.44%), Proteobacteria (27.17%) and Bacteroidetes (7.2%) were the dominant flora, with W1 dominated by Cyanobacteria, W2 dominated by Firmicutes, W3 dominated by Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria, and W4 dominated by Proteobacteria. There were significant differences in microbial species abundance and distribution observed during each cyanobacterial bloom period and synchronous microorganisms in the sediment regulated bacterial abundance and distribution through signal transduction of various proteases. The findings of this study help to establish the impact of cyanobacteria blooms on the sediment environment and benefit the comprehensive assessment of hazard presented by cyanobacteria to the aquatic environment.

A new magnetoelectric (ME) sensing combination based on a magnetostrictive Terfenol-D rod and electret membrane has been proposed. AC signal and dc bias magnetic field dependences of the induced ac voltage were investigated using the traditional dynamic ME measurement. The results show that the induced ac voltage is strongly dependent on the applied ac signal and dc bias magnetic field. A significant ME response with high sensitivity and high tunability was obtained, and the optimized ME voltage output with high output power is observed for a zero bias dc magnetic field. The minimum limit of detection and maximum dc bias field tunability are 0.056 mA (or 5.27 $\times \,\,10^{-{7}}$ T) and 98.42%, respectively. In addition, both the induced ac voltage and output power are strongly dependent on the frequency of the driving ac signal magnetic field. A wide working frequency range and high energy conversion efficiency are observed with this combination. These findings not only provide insight into the dynamic measurement of ME response beyond ME materials but also provide a new type of sensing combination, possessing potential application in ME sensors, energy converters, switches, and magnetic detectors.

A stain of Pseudomonas sp. Lphe-2, which could degrade phenanthrene as the main carbon and energy source, was isolated from the aerobic sludge of a coking plant. Then its biodegradation characteris...

In the present study, a hazard model of severe convective weather was constructed on the basis of meteorological observational data obtained in Guangdong Province between 2003 and 2015. In the analysis, quality control was first conducted on the severe convective weather data, and the kriging method was then used to interpolate each hazard-formative factor. The weights of which were determined by applying the coefficient of variation method. The results were used to establish the hazard-formative factor model of severe convective weather. The cities showing the greatest hazards for severe convective weather in Guangdong Province include Yangjiang, Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, and Qingyuan.