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Puerarin extends longevity of flies by improving climbing activity, ATP production, and stress resistance but repressing fecundity. Puerarin promotes lysosome-involved autophagy via inhibiting TOR phosphorylation, resulting in longevity of flies.

Objectives This study intends to evaluate prenatal screening risk assessment performance based on biological variation to help clinical laboratories realize their own screening performance and set the appropriate performance specifications for prenatal screening risk assessment in China. Methods Fifteen samples with detailed clinical information were distributed to participants and the prenatal screening Down syndrome risk assessment of each sample were submitted. Three levels of performance specification (optimum, desirable, minimum) derived from biological variation were used to evaluate laboratory prenatal screening risk assessment performance. Results A total of 797 laboratories participated in the survey project. There are 216 laboratories using serological double-marker test and 581 laboratories using serological triple-marker test. For each screening protocol, more than 92.00% laboratories meet minimum performance specifications, more than 84.00% laboratories meet desirable performance specifications, and only about 62.50%laboratories meet optimum performance specifications. The Feltz and Miller test indicated that there were no significant statistical differences in the RCV for double-marker screening in 5 platforms and triple-marker screening in 6 platforms. Conclusions The risk assessment of prenatal screening in the second trimester in China can be improved further. It is appropriate to choose desirable performance specifications for external quality assurance organizations to evaluate the risk assessment performance.

In atomic and molecular physics, the Pöschl-Teller potential and its modified form (hyperbolic Pöschl-Teller potential) are particularly significant potentials. It is of great importance to study the Schrödinger equation with those potentials. In this paper, we further extend the hyperbolic Pöschl-Teller potential through generalizing the superpotential of that potential of the form Atanh (αx)-Bcoth (αx) to the more general form -Atanh (npx)-Bcoth (mpx). First, we introduce briefly the shape invariance and the potential algebra in supersymmetric quantum mechanics. Second, we derive three additive shape invariances, which are related to parameters A and B of the partner potentials with the generalized superpotential, and discuss the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues in detail. Although the superpotential has two parameters, those shape invariances still belong to the one-parameter form. The reason is that there is always a constraint relationship between A and B in the additive shape invariance of the partner potentials. Third, through the potential algebra approach, we obtain the relevant shape invariance and calculate the corresponding eigenvalue of the Schrödinger equation with the potential of the generalized superpotential. The calculation shows that the algebraic form shape invariance of the partner potentials with that superpotential is anastomotic to the above. Last, we make a summary and outlook.

PurposeTo explore the genotypes and allele frequencies of α, β and α+β thalassemias in Li minorities, which resided in Hainan Province of China for a long time.MethodsIn the present study, 1,438 newborns of the Li minority were collected from January 2020 to April 2021. The genotypes of thalassemia were detected by fluorescence PCR and verified by flow-through hybridization PCR analyses. Rare genotypes were detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism electrophoresis and Sanger DNA sequencing.ResultsAmong 1,438 participants, 1,024 (71.2%) were diagnosed with any kind of thalassemia. Among all thalassemia carriers, 902 (88.09%) subjects were diagnosed with α-thalassemia, and 18 subtypes of α-thalassemia were detected, with the top three genotypes being −α4.2/αα (25.39%), −α3.7/αα (22.62%) and αWSα/αα (16.96%). Thirty-two (3.13%) patients were β-thalassemia carriers, and 6 types of β-thalassemia genotypes were detected. The top two genotypes were βCD41–42/βN (46.88%) and β−28/βN (18.75%). Additionally, 90 (8.79%) cases were α + β-thalassemia, and the top two genotypes were −α3.7/αα, βCD41–42/βN (30.00%) and −α4.2/αα, βCD41–42/βN (26.67%). Furthermore, two genotypes (−α4.2/HKαα and βCD76 GCT > CCT/βN) were first identified in Hainan Province, and βCD76 GCT > CCT/βN was first identified in China.ConclusionNewborns of Li have a higher prevalence of thalassemia for a long period, and further education on the impact of thalassemia, follow-up studies of the clinical manifestation and treatment and proper intervention methods should be designed to reduce the burden of thalassemia and enhance the quality of life in Li newborns.

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-chl-10.1177_17475198231177955 for Preparation, crystal structure, time-dependent density theory and properties of a novel organic-inorganic hybrid up-conversion luminescence tetranuclear complex by Wen-Quan Zeng, Wei Huang, Chuan-Hui He, Rong Zou, Wei-Kang Jin, Xiu-Guang Yi and Kun-Zhong Yang in Journal of Chemical Research

Supplemental material, sj-doc-2-chl-10.1177_17475198231177955 for Preparation, crystal structure, time-dependent density theory and properties of a novel organic-inorganic hybrid up-conversion luminescence tetranuclear complex by Wen-Quan Zeng, Wei Huang, Chuan-Hui He, Rong Zou, Wei-Kang Jin, Xiu-Guang Yi and Kun-Zhong Yang in Journal of Chemical Research

Real‐time monitoring of three‐dimensional stress in the field is an effective approach to detect evolving stress in roof rock and to evaluate rock bursts risk. However, the sensors or data transmission cables may be damaged due to the volatile environment found in coal mines, which can lead to the loss of relevant monitoring data, and some critical information for rock burst prediction may be missed entirely. A number of methods that use historical data to predict missing data or future structural states have been proposed. However, the performance of these methods is poor when the training data are insufficient owing to lack of data. To address this issue, a methodology framework is proposed to predict the mining‐induced stress when some monitoring data are missing. The framework uses a long short‐term memory neural network integrated with the transfer learning method. The proposed method can transfer the knowledge learned from complete monitored data of adjacent sensor to target sensor to boost forecasting. A case study has been conducted to evaluate the method. The results show that the developed model can significantly improve the prediction performance for the target domain, which can be improved further by increasing the size of the target domain training data available.

Tumor suppressive properties have been identified in the mammalian sterile cell line, 20 like kinase-1 (MST-1) and the role they may have in prostate cancer (PCa) has yet to be elucidated due to the paucity of reports. The goal of this study is to investigate the expression and the potential role of MST1 in the development and progression of PCa. The expression level of MST1 in PCa was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), qPCR and western blotting, and the clinicopathological parameters of PCa patients underwent statistical analysis. MST1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), androgen receptor (AR), and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) proteins were analyzed by western blot. A cell counting kit, CCK-8 assay and a transwell migration assay were used to assess the proliferation and migration capacity of C4-2 cells. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells, (HUVECs) were used in a tubule formation assay to evaluate prostate cancer angiogenesis. The results of this study documents that the expression level of MST1 is downregulated in PCa and the downregulation closely correlates with the metastatic status of patients. (p < 0.05). Overexpression of MST1 significantly inhibits C4-2 cells' proliferation and migration. In addition, overexpression of MST1 significantly inhibits VEGF, AR, NSE expression, and the angiogenesis of PCa. This study suggests that MST1 downregulation may play a role as a tumor suppressor gene in the pathogenesis and progression of prostate cancer. MST1 downregulation also inhibits the neuroendocrine differentiation and the angiogenesis of early-stage prostate cancer cells.

The occurrence of rockburst in coal mines is closely related to the three-dimensional stress in coal and rock mass. Through hydraulic fracturing measurements in roof, the three-dimensional stress in roof before and after hydraulic fracturing as well as during working face advancing was monitored, and the effect of hydraulic fracturing in roof on controlling rockburst was studied. The test results show that (1) after hydraulic fracturing, the three principal stresses in roof decreased remarkably, whose maximum reduction was about 20%, while the elastic strain energy in roof decreased by about 31% as well; (2) as the working face advanced, the three principal stresses in roof in front of the working face would increase continuously until reaching peaks and induce the strata fracture, and the variation of the elastic strain energy in roof was basically consistent with that of the magnitude of three-dimensional stress; (3) with hydraulic fracturing, the position of the peak stress moved from 11 m to 21 m in front of the working face, the peaks of the three principal stresses decreased, whose maximum reduction was about 32%, and the peak of the elastic strain energy in roof also significantly decreased by about 51%. The field investigation shows that hydraulic fracturing in roof can release the stress and elastic strain energy in coal and rock mass instantaneously, and will reduce the risk of rockburst; hydraulic fracturing in roof can be an effective pre-destressing method to reduce the stress and energy concentration in coal and rock mass during mining, and will prevent the risk of rockburst.

Heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) are involved in the regulation of plant growth and development. Furthermore, HSFs regulate the expression of a series of genes related to various abiotic stress adaptations. HSFs usually form homotrimers to activate their transcriptional activity and function. Here, we review the basic structure, subcellular localization, transcriptional regulation, functional diversity of HSFs, and their roles in plant adaptation to abiotic stresses, such as extreme temperature, salinity, drought, strong light and oxidative stress,热激转录因子(HSFs)参与了植物生长发育的调控以及多种非生物胁迫适应基因的表达调控。HSFs通常形成同源三聚体,激活转录活性从而发挥功能。本文综述了热激转录因子的基本结构、亚细胞定位、转录调控、功能多样性及其在植物适应极端温度、盐害、干旱、强光和氧化胁迫等非生物胁迫过程中的作用。HSFs是提高高等植物抗多重胁迫的优质候选基因,对其深入研究具有重要的应用价值。未来,通过生物基因工程等手段利用HSFs提高各类作物抗性具有广阔的发展前景。.

To overcome the problem that Bi3+-activated phosphors suffer from, it is an urgent need to realize narrow-band light emission of Bi3+-activated phosphors, which not only improves their luminescence...

In this paper, a novel failure-distribution-dependent H∞ fuzzy fault-tolerant control algorithm is proposed for a type of multiple-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) nonlinear bilateral teleoperation systems with partial actuator failures and time-varying communication delays. At first, the nonlinear systems are modeled as T-S fuzzy systems with multiple time-varying delays. The upper bound and lower bound of the transmission delays are incorporated in the stability analysis. When actuator failures exist in both master and slave robot, based on the characteristic of failures and delays, H∞ fuzzy fault-tolerant controllers are designed by using free-weight matrix approach. After this, a sufficient condition is provided to ensure the mean square stable of the closed-loop system with a disturbance attenuation level γ. Finally, numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Clarifying the changing trends and driving factors of soil respiration in fragile habitats under the background of climate change is of great significance for understanding the regional carbon cycle and the conversion of ecosystem carbon source and sink functions. This research focused on grasslands that had been naturally abandoned and restored for 12 years in the loess hilly region of northern Shaanxi, using an open top chamber (OTC) and artificially increased natural rainfall to simulate climate warming and precipitation increase and their interaction. Furthermore, we used a combination of field monitoring and indoor analysis to explore soil water content, temperature, and nutrient characteristics and the response characteristics of soil respiration rate to warming and increased precipitation and further analyzed the key factors driving changes in soil respiration. The results showed that:① warming (W) significantly increased the 5 cm soil temperature, with an average increase of 1.34℃ throughout the sampling year, whereas the increased precipitation (P50%) treatment significantly reduced the 5 cm soil temperature, reducing the average 5 cm soil temperature during the entire sampling year by 0.88℃ and increasing the soil water content (SWC) at the same time. The SWC was 13.12% and 16.45% higher than that in the control (CK), respectively. In addition, compared with that in the CK, the treatment of warming and increased precipitation (WP50%) not only increased soil temperature but also increased SWC; in general, the increase in temperature and precipitation played an antagonistic effect on the influence of soil temperature and humidity. ② P50% significantly increased the content of soil organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and labile organic carbon, causing changes in the soil stoichiometric ratio and the distribution characteristics of labile-recalcitrant carbon components, whereas W did not have a significant impact on organic carbon. In addition, soil total nitrogen and phosphorus and available nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients were not significantly different between treatments. ③ P50% significantly increased the

In this paper, a review of numerical methods for design and analysis of nano/micro-sized optical waveguides is carried out. Besides discussing various types of optical waveguides, design of few structures is also presented using FDTD, BPM, and FEM algorithms. Subsequently, few optical devices based upon integration of more than one optical waveguide have also been revealed. Modal effective index analysis and its impact on waveguide designing/signal propagation has also been brought into consideration. Optical waveguides characterization has been carried out by computing second-order and higher order dispersion characteristics, which is vital for information interchange and other nonlinear phenomena. It is anticipated that this effort will help readers in understanding the requirement (subsequently selection) of tools for the design and analysis of optical waveguides.

Although the mortality rate of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is relatively low, the recurrence rates of PTC remain high. The high recurrence rates are related to the difficulties in treatment. Gene expression profiles has provided novel insights into potential therapeutic targets and molecular biomarkers of PTC. The aim of the present study was to identify mRNA signatures which may categorize PTCs into high-and low-risk subgroups and aid with the predictions for prognoses. The mRNA expression profiles of PTC and normal thyroid tissue samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Differentially expressed mRNAs were identified using the ‘EdgeR’ software package. Gene signatures associated with the overall survival of PTC were selected, and enrichment analysis was performed to explore the biological pathways and functions of the prognostic mRNAs using the Database for Visualization, Annotation and Integration Discovery. A signature model was established to investigate a specific and robust risk stratification for PTC. A total of 1,085 differentially expressed mRNAs were identified between the PTC and normal thyroid tissue samples. Among them, 361 mRNAs were associated with overall survival (P

A salt-tolerant, Gram-negative, rod-shaped and yellow-pigmented bacterium, designated strain AY-3RT, was isolated from rhizosphere soil of a desert xerophyte, Haloxylon ammodendron, sampled at Badain Jaran Desert, Alxa region, Inner Mongolia, PR China. Growth of this strain was observed at 20–42 °C (optimum, 28–30 °C), at pH 6.0–9.0 (optimum, pH 6.0–7.0) and at 0–8 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum, 3 %). Results of phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain AY-3RT was a member of the genus Altererythrobacter , with the highest similarity to Altererythrobacter aerophilus Ery1T (97.6 %), followed by Altererythrobacter xinjiangensis S3-63T (96.9 %). The predominant fatty acids (>10.0 %) were C18 : 1ω7c, C17 : 1ω6c and summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c). The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, sphingoglycolipid and one unknown polar lipid. The predominant respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-10. The G+C content of the genomic DNA of strain AY-3RT was 66.3 mol%. On the basis of the data from this polyphasic taxonomic study, strain AY-3RT represents a novel species of the genus Altererythrobacter , named Altererythrobacter rhizovicinus sp. nov. (=MCCC 1K03572T=KCTC 72280T).

The accurate determination of the risk of cancer recurrence is a critical unmet need in managing thyroid cancer (TC). Although numerous studies have successfully demonstrated the use of high throughput molecular diagnostics in TC prediction, it has not been successfully applied in routine clinical use, particularly in Chinese patients. In our study, we objective to screen for characteristic genes specific to PTC and establish an accurate model for diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of PTC. We screen the differentially expressed genes by Python 3.6 in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. We discovered a three-gene signature Gap junction protein beta 4 (GJB4), Ripply transcriptional repressor 3 (RIPPLY3), and Adrenoceptor alpha 1B (ADRA1B) that had a statistically significant difference. Then we used Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database to establish a diagnostic and prognostic model to verify the three-gene signature. For experimental validation, immunohistochemistry in tissue microarrays showed that thyroid samples’ proteins expressed by this three-gene are differentially expressed. Our protocol discovered a robust three-gene signature that can distinguish prognosis, which will have daily clinical application.

BACKGROUND We analyzed the 2019 external quality assessment (EQA) results to evaluate the analytical performance of maternal serum prenatal screening for Down Syndrome (DS) in the first trimester in China. METHODS In each round, five lyophilized EQA samples with detailed clinical information were distributed to participants and used to test the concentration of human chorionic gonadotropin free beta subunits (free β-HCG) and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) to calculate the risk value of DS. The robust coefficient of variability (CV) was calculated or test results for free β-HCG and PAPP-A using analytes and major measurement platforms. For DS risk values, the robust CV was calculated using a professional calculation platform. Failed EQA results were analyzed using serum marker testing results and DS risk values. RESULTS EQA results were collected from 242 laboratories in round 1 and 239 laboratories in round 2. Total acceptable rates of testing results for free β-HCG and PAPP-A ranged from 95.04% to 97.91%. Overall acceptable rates of DS risk values ranged from 97.52% to 97.90%. The proportion of laboratories exhibiting satisfactory performance was higher in round 2 than in round 1 for serum marker testing results and DS risk values. The robust CV for risk values for each sample were significantly higher than those of serum markers. Three EQA result failure types were found, including result reporting errors, serum marker concentration testing errors, and DS risk calculation errors. CONCLUSIONS The analytical performance of maternal serum prenatal screening for DS in the first trimester in China can be improved further.

Background This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate laboratory quality in China and explore factors affecting laboratory errors through analyzing the external quality assessment (EQA) results of quality indicators (QIs). Methods According to model 3 (interpretive) of the proficiency testing scheme, the National Center for Clinical Laboratories of China (CNCCL) developed a questionnaire for 15 QIs. Clinical laboratories from different provinces of China participated in the EQA program of QIs annually and submitted data via an online reporting system named Clinet-EQA. The results of QIs were expressed in percentage and sigma value or minute. Three levels of quality specifications (QSs) were defined based on percentile values. Furthermore, the QIs were analyzed by disciplines, hospital scales and information construction levels of participant laboratories. Results A total of 3450 laboratories nationwide continuously attended the EQA program and submitted complete data from 2015 to 2018. The performance of most QIs has improved year by year. QIs in post-analytical gained the best performance with sigma values that varied from 5.3σ to 6.0σ. The comparison of results among different disciplines showed significant differences for five QIs. More than half of QIs had statistical differences among different hospital scales measured by hospital grades and number of hospital beds. The performance of nine QIs were influenced by information construction levels of participant laboratories. Conclusions The overall laboratory quality in China has improved since the initiation of EQA program for QIs, but the performance of some QIs was still unsatisfactory. Therefore, laboratories should make efforts for continuous quality improvement based on information provided by QSs.

Ag3PO4/Cu2O composites were prepared by a facile wet chemical method. The specimens were examined by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The specimens exhibited an excellent photocatalytic activity on the degradation of RhB than pure Ag3PO4 and Cu2O. Furthermore, the photocatalyst specimen was found to exhibit higher efficiency in hydrogen conversion. It was found that a 30 wt% Ag3PO4-loaded specimen showed an excellent hydrogen generation performance. The excellent photocatalytic activity was ascribed to the separation of e–h pairs via the Z-scheme method composed of Ag, Ag3PO4 and Cu2O. This study demonstrated the potential approach to the photocatalytic splitting water to release hydrogen as well as the environmental purification of organic pollutants under visible-light irradiation.

Source camera identification, which means identifying the camera source of a given image, has become one of the most important branches of digital image forensics. In order to improve the detection accuracy, the feature dimensions used in existing methods are increasing, and consequently Support Vector Machine (SVM) seems no longer applicable. In this paper, an ensemble classifier is introduced into to source camera identification, which uses the fusion features to capture software-related, hardware-related, and statistical characteristics left on the images by digital camera. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method can achieve near 100% accuracy for camera brand and model identification, and also outperforms the baseline methods in identifying different camera individuals.

Purpose: Prunella vulgaris (PV), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been used to treat patients with thyroid disease for centuries in China. The purpose of the present study was to investigate its bioactive ingredients and mechanisms against Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) using network pharmacology and molecular docking technology to provide some basis for experimental research. Methods: Ingredients of the PV formula were retrieved from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology (TCMSP) database. Additionally, HT-related genes were retrieved from the UniProt and GeneCards databases. Cytoscape constructed networks for visualization. A protein–protein interaction (PPI) network analysis was constructed, and a PPI network was built using the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) database. These key targets of PV were enriched and analyzed by molecular docking verification, Gene Ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment. Results: The compound–target network included 11 compounds and 66 target genes. Key targets contained Jun proto-oncogene (JUN), hsp90aa1.1 (AKI), mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1), and tumor protein p53 (TP53). The main pathways included the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway, the TNF signaling pathway, the PI3K–Akt signaling pathway, and the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. The molecular docking results revealed that the main compound identified in the Prunella vulgaris was luteolin, followed by kaempferol, which had a strong affinity for HT. Conclusion: Molecular docking studies indicated that luteolin and kaempferol were bioactive compounds of PV and might play an essential role in treating HT by regulating multiple signaling pathways.

We determined the complete mitochondrial genomes of Crenidorsum turpiniae, a new record whitefly pest on tea-tree. The mitogenome of C. turpiniae is 15,427 bp long and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes and a putative control region (GenBank: MN934936). The whole base composition of the heavy strand for A, C, G and T is 30%, 12.24%, 15.82% and 41.87%, respectively, with an AT bias (-16%). All PCGs use ATN as start codon (N, any nucleotide), except for NAD6 uses TTG. Most of the PCGs use TAA as a stop codon. The length of 16SrRNA and 12SrRNA gene are 1277 bp and 768 bp, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that C. turpiniae and Tetraleurodes acaciae had a closer genetic relationship.

The silicon carbide (SiC)/metal composite armors with the composite cover on the front of the SiC plate were impacted by 12.7mm armor piercing incendiary (API) projectiles at velocities from 412.6m/s to 802.2m/s. The resulting projectile core and ceramic fragments were collected and then screened through a range of standard sieving screens. The mass distributions of fragments produced by projectile and ceramic impacting each other were obtained. The failure mechanism of the rigid-brittle core of 12.7mm API projectile after impacting SiC/metal composite armor was studied by examination of the failed core. The results show that the cumulative mass of core and ceramic fragments follow the Schuhmann distribution law. With the increase of impact velocity, the mass proportion of small core fragments increases, while for ceramic fragments, the mass proportion of fragments in different fractions does not change. The failure mechanism of the large equivalent diameter fragment ( >8mm) is tensile brittle fracture mainly. In contrast, the local plastic shear fracture exists on the fragments with an equivalent diameter of less than 2mm.

Clarifying the characteristic of soil enzymatic activity and stoichiometry variations as well as their influencing factors following farmland abandonment have important implications for understanding soil nutrient availability after revegetation and for illuminating the underlying mechanisms of soil nutrient cycling in ecosystems. To determine microbial nutrient limitations after farmland abandonment and to explore the driving factors of the variations in soil enzymatic activity and stoichiometry along a chronosequence of abandoned farmlands (0-, 10-, 20-, and 30-year-old) in the Loess Hilly Region, China, the potential activities of carbon (C)-, nitrogen (N)-, and phosphorus (P)-acquiring enzymes, soil physicochemical properties, and plant diversity and family composition were measured. The results showed that the activities of

The complete mitochondrial genome of Cofana yasumatsui (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae) is sequenced. Based on annotation, the mitochondrial genome is 15,019 bp, has an A + T content of 77.2% (A = 42.0%, T = 35.2%, G = 10.0%, C = 12.8%), which is the classical structure for insect mitogenome. All PCGs started with ATN, except ATP8 and ND5 starting with TTG. All PCGs used TAN as stop codon, except ND5 stopping with single T. The phylogenetic relationship of C. yasumatsui clustered together with Cicadella viridis, Homalodisca coagulata, Homalodisca vitripennis, and Bothrogonia ferruginea from Cicadellinae. This is identical with the result of the traditional taxonomy.

Soil aggregates are important carriers of soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation, and play an important role in the evaluation of soil structure and quality. Natural recovery can promote change in soil aggregate structure and quantity via the redistribution of SOC in the aggregates. Natural restoration from farmland is an important vegetation restoration model on the Loess Plateau. The changes in soil aggregate structure and soil carbon stock after natural restoration have received extensive attention. However, little is known about the continuous study of soil changes on the abandoned grassland during the recovery process. Therefore, to understand how SOC accumulates in the process of natural recovery and quantitatively analyze the contribution of aggregates to the total soil carbon pool, we selected four abandoned grasslands of different restoration ages on the Loess Plateau, China, and studied the changes in soil structure, soil total organic carbon (TOC), soil C:N, soil aggregate distribution, soil aggregate stable index (mean weight diameter, MWD; geometric mean diameter, GMD), and aggregate-associated SOC changes as well as their correlations from 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm soil layers in abandoned grasslands. In addition, we calculated the contribution of aggregates with different sizes to soil TOC stock. The results showed that:① natural restoration increased the macroaggregate amount, MWD, and GMD, but decreased the amount of microaggregate and silt-and clay-sized fractions. There are significant differences in the distribution and stability of aggregates between different soil layers; the promotion effect of the surface was higher than that of the subsurface soils. ② In the 42 years after abandoning recovery, soil TOC stock, macaggregate-and mesaggregate-associated SOC stock increased significantly, and varied with soil depth and years of abandonment (1.92 times, 10.2 times, and 3.61 times). In contrast, micaggregate-associated SOC stock decreased significantly, and silt-and clay-sized fractions-associated SOC stock showed no distinct change. In addition, natural restoration promoted the ratio of C:N; nevertheless, the ratio of C:N under the surface showed a reduced phenomenon after 42 years of abandonment. ③ The improvement in soil TOC stock depends primarily on changes in the macaggregate-associated organic carbon stocks, which account for 80% of macaggregate, and the significant increase in the amount of macaggregate is the main reason for the high contribution.The results of our study suggest that natural restoration is conducive to the accumulation of soil organic carbon, and improvement in soil structure and stability. Macroaggregate is the key factor in soil organic carbon accumulation and soil structure improvement in the process of natural restoration.

Objective To investigate the value of platelet count in evaluating the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods A total of 158 CHB patients who underwent liver biopsy in our hospital were included, and the clinical characteristics of these patients were retrospectively analyzed. The diagnostic values of platelet count, aspartate aminotransferase‐to‐platelet ratio index (APRI), and the fibrosis index based on four factors (FIB‐4) for significant fibrosis (F ≥ 2) and early cirrhosis (F = 4) stages in CHB patients were assessed by the use of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results The median (F0: 221.0; F1: 210.0; F2: 188.0; F3: 171.0; and F4: 155.5) and mean rank (F0: 120.4; F1: 100.1; F2: 82.2; F3: 67.9; and F4: 49.5) of platelet count decreased along the aggravation of fibrosis (F0‐F4). The areas under the ROC curve for the platelet count in diagnosis of significant fibrosis stage was 0.70, which had no significant difference with FIB‐4 (0.73) and APRI (0.68) in diagnostic efficacy (P = .428). The areas under the ROC curve of platelet count in diagnosis of early cirrhosis were 0.72, which had no significant difference with FIB‐4 (0.76) and APRI (0.68) (P = .094). Conclusion The platelet count, as a simple and non‐invasive index, could evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis in CHB individuals. At the same time, the diagnostic efficiency of platelet count to evaluate the significant liver fibrosis and early cirrhosis is comparable to FIB‐4 and APRI.

In order to realize sugarcane bud orientation and positioning seeding, a sugarcane bud tracking and positioning method based on improved GOTURN algorithm is proposed. This method takes the segmented image of sugarcane in natural environment as the object, and uses YCbCr color space to convert the image into binary value. After a series of morphological treatments of expansion and corrosion, the area of the cane bud is obtained by frame selection. Finally, the sugarcane bud is tracked by the GOTURN algorithm, and the width of the frame of the cane bud frame is compared at different angles to define the minimum width of the cane bud For qualified positioning. In this way, the continuous and dynamic intelligent recognition of sugarcane seed characteristics by the sugarcane seeding device is realized.

This subject is based on the pre-cut sugarcane planting machine, combined with the agronomic requirements of the sugarcane buds to be planted in the horizontal direction during the sugarcane planting process, to study the sugarcane directional planting system. The cut cane seed segments are placed in the sugarcane planting machine seed box. The initial orientation of the cane buds on the cane seeds is different. Therefore, the combination of machine vision and mechanical structure is used to identify and adjust the direction of the cane buds on the cane seeds. An important step in the planting plan. Adjusting the centroid of the cane bud to the horizontal direction is the key point of the machine vision recognition scheme. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate a reasonable visual recognition scheme and evaluation index. By comparing different cane bud visual detection algorithms, it is found that the convolutional neural network is more suitable for the cane bud. The recognition and positioning of the sugarcane has a success rate of 90%, which provides a research foundation for the intelligent and precise planting of sugarcane.

Background Customer satisfaction is one of quality indicators which can be used to identify quality defects in the total process and remind clinical laboratories to take measures to improve the process. This study mainly reviewed and analyzed the general situation through a customer satisfaction survey in clinical laboratories in China and described the overall customer satisfaction of outpatients and inpatients. Methods Surveys in this study could be divided into two stages. The first stage was to investigate the general situation through a customer satisfaction survey in Chinese clinical laboratories. In the second stage, clinical laboratories carried out nationwide surveys on the satisfaction of outpatients and inpatients. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were applied to determine the relationship between the general characteristics of patients and patient satisfaction. Results The recovery rate in the first stage was 34.54%. In the second stage, we received 12,919 outpatient questionnaires and 11,818 inpatient questionnaires. Outpatients and inpatients had a common trend: satisfaction rates increased with age and decreased with frequency of visit. Patients who possessed a bachelor degree or above had a higher satisfaction rate than those who had only received a high school education or below. Conclusions There was a high level of patient satisfaction with clinical laboratory services, but aspects of dissatisfaction still existed, which provided opportunities for clinical laboratories in China to improve their service quality.

Background This study aimed to evaluate the ability of comment providers who were responsible for interpreting results in clinical laboratories in China and to improve the quality of interpretative comments. Methods Basic information and interpretative comments for five cases of 1912 routine chemistry External Quality Assessment (EQA) participant laboratories were collected by web-based EQA system in May 2018. EQA organizers assigned scores to each key phrase of comments based on predetermined marking scale and calculated total scores for each participant’s answer. Final scores and ranking were calculated according to scores of cases. Finally, we comprehensively analyzed the type of hospital and the professional title of participants. Results In total, 772 clinical laboratories, 1472 participants, from different Chinese provinces submitted interpretative comments. Median scores, interquartile ranges and score ranges of the five cases were 13 (11–15, 1–20), 13 (10–16, 0–20), 15 (12–17, 0–21), 7 (5–9, −2 to 14) and 12 (10–13, −2 to 18). The final scores and ranking of participants that came from tertiary hospitals were higher than those from secondary and other hospitals; however, there were no significant differences (0.774). When grouped by professional title, we found that although no significant variability existed among senior, intermediate, junior and others (0.699), it existed between laboratory physicians and technicians, as the median final scores of the former were higher than the latter. Conclusions Practice and quality of interpretative comments are indeed different among different laboratories and participants in China. Laboratories should train and assess the interpretative ability of personnel. EQA organizers should also improve the scoring method and establish peer assessors team through this survey.

Objective To understand the reasons for proficiency testing (PT) failures, toward the goal of continuous improvement of laboratory services. Methods Laboratories participating in PT of routine chemistry testing provided by the National Center for Clinical Laboratories (NCCL) of China were given 3 schemes for handling PT failures in 2016. If they had unsatisfactory PT performance, they were notified and requested to investigate failure errors and submit data regarding those errors. Results Failure types were distributed as follows, per error group: Clerical, 10.2%; Methodological, 16.2%; Equipment, 23.6%; Technical, 37.4%; PT Evaluation, 0.5%; Unexplained, 11.5%; and Other, 0.7%. Reasons unique to the PT process accounted for 15.6% of all reasons. Corrective actions mainly included correcting calibration, maintaining or changing equipment, strengthening reagent management, rewriting procedures, and retraining staff members. Conclusions The causes for PT failures relate mainly to laboratory problems, not to the PT process itself. Therefore, PT sponsored by the NCCL is an effective evaluation tool for laboratory performance. Also, laboratories should strive to improve analytical performance.

Background: Internal quality control (IQC) is essential for precision evaluation and continuous quality improvement. This study aims to investigate the IQC status of blood gas analysis (BGA) in clinical laboratories of China from 2014 to 2017. Methods: IQC information on BGA (including pH, pCO2, pO2, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl−) was submitted by external quality assessment (EQA) participant laboratories and collected through Clinet-EQA reporting system in March from 2014 to 2017. First, current CVs were compared among different years and measurement systems. Then, percentages of laboratories meeting five allowable imprecision specifications for each analyte were calculated, respectively. Finally, laboratories were divided into different groups based on control rules and frequency to compare their variation trend. Results: The current CVs of BGA were significantly decreasing from 2014 to 2017. pH and pCO2 got the highest pass rates when compared with the minimum imprecision specification, whereas pO2, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl− got the highest pass rates when 1/3 TEa imprecision specification applied. The pass rates of pH, pO2, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl− were significantly increasing during the 4 years. The comparisons of current CVs among different measurement systems showed that the precision performance of different analytes among different measurement systems had no regular distribution from 2014 to 2017. The analysis of IQC practice indicated great progress and improvement among different years. Conclusions: The imprecision performance of BGA has improved from 2014 to 2017, but the status of imprecision performance in China remains unsatisfying. Therefore, further investigation and continuous improvement measures should be taken.

The results of trueness verification for blood lead measurement were analyzed in a 2016 nationwide external quality assessment (EQA) survey, in order to evaluate current approaches of blood lead measurement in Chinese Laboratories and their traceability to certified reference materials (CRMs). A panel of 2 frozen whole blood CRMs with values assigned by an absolute quantitative method was provided to 12 laboratories with satisfactory performances from the 2015 blood lead EQA scheme. Participants were required to measure the samples 5 times each day for 3 consecutive days and report all 15 data, which were then calculated for means and standard deviations. Data were statistically analyzed by adopted method groups, before comparing with the assigned values to assess the trueness of blood lead measurement using different approaches. Eleven laboratories reported on schedule, rendering a reporting rate of 91.7 %. The target values for the two batches were (37.6 ± 2.7) μg/L and (124.6 ± 4.5) μg/L, respectively. By the evaluation criterion of target value ± 20 µg/L, the pass rates were 72.7 % for the lower concentration and 54.5 % for the higher concentration, while 5 out of 11 laboratories delivered satisfactory results for both CRMs. The overall performance of the few participating laboratories in this EQA survey was basically acceptable by CLSI standard on the whole, yet barely desirable for the higher concentration. Therefore, trueness verification of blood lead measurement with CRMs is potentially necessary for national EQA schemes, which can be imperative as part of the validation procedures of analytical methods in clinical settings.

Zinc oxide nanorods with germanium doping were prepared by ion implantation and annealing treatment method, the microstructural and optical properties of which were studied by means of the X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and transmission electron microscopy measurements. The pristine sample exhibited a remarkable ultraviolet emission owing to the band edge emission from the zinc oxide matrix, indicated a good crystalline quality. Three emission peaks appeared after germanium ions were doped into zinc oxide nanorods. The 513 nm photoluminescence peak was ascribed to the transition between the vacancy defect in zinc oxide matrix. Photoluminescence peaks located at 548 and 778 nm were ascribed to germanium ions luminescence center in zinc germanate grain and germanium monoxide luminescence center. The light emission tuning was obtained by germanium doping and annealing treatment, which may help the development of the practical optoelectronic devices based on zinc oxide nanomaterials.

The study of the mechanical properties and failure behaviors for coal with different bedding structures at various medium strain rates is of great importance for revealing the mechanism of rock burst. In our study, we systematically analyze the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), acoustic emission (AE) characteristics, failure pattern, and risk of rock burst on coal specimens with two bedding orientations under ranged in strain rates from 10−4 s−1 to 10−2 s−1. The results reflect that and the bedding direction and the strain rates significantly affect the UCS and failure modes of coal specimens. The UCS of coal specimens with loading directions perpendicular to bedding planes (horizontal bedding) increases logarithmically with increasing strain rate while the UCS increases first and then decreases of coal specimens with loading directions parallel to bedding planes (vertical bedding). The AE cumulative energy of the specimens with horizontal bedding is an order of magnitude higher than that of specimens with vertical bedding. However, it is independent of the strain rates. The energy release rates of these two types of bedded coal specimens increase in a power function as the strain rate increases. The coal specimens with horizontal bedding show violent failure followed by the ejection of fragments, indicating a high risk of rock burst. On the other hand, the coal specimens with vertical bedding exhibit a tensile splitting failure with a low risk of rock burst. Strain localization is a precursor of coal failure, and the concentration area of local principal strain is highly consistent with the initial damage area, and the area where the principal strain gradient is significantly increased corresponds to the fracture initiation area.

Roof rocks in coal mines are subjected to the combination of in situ stresses and dynamic stresses induced by mining activities. Understanding the mechanical properties of roof rocks under static and dynamic loads at medium strain rates is of great significance to revealing the mechanism of rock bursts. In this study, we employ the digital image correlation (DIC) technique to investigate the energy concentration and dissipation behaviors, failure mode, and deformation characteristics of roof rocks under combined static and dynamic loads. Our results show that both the static pre-stress and dynamic loading rate have significant effects on the uniaxial compressive strength of rock specimens. From the energy principle, when the static pre-stress is the same, both elastic strain energy density and dissipated energy density increase with increasing dynamic loading rate. The hazard of rock bursts increases with decreasing static pre-stress and increasing dynamic loading rate. At higher dynamic loading rates, more cracks are generated, and the failure becomes more violent. The crack initiation, propagation and coalescence processes are identified, and the failure mode is closely related to the evolution of the global principal strain field of the rock specimens.