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Wheat is a crucial grain crop in China, but its yield has been severely reduced by a number of pests. Identifying the pest's distribution range is vital for its effective control. Therefore, based on distribution data and environmental variables, the MaxEnt model was used herein to predict the suitability areas for habitation by Sitobion miscanthi in China now and in the future (2021–2040, 2041–2060, 2061–2080, and 2081–2100). The results showed that terrain roughness was the most important environmental variable in determining the distribution of S. miscanthi. Furthermore, the current suitability areas reached an area of 1.91 × 106 km2, mainly distributed in southern, eastern, and northeastern China, such as Hebei, Shandong, and Anhui provinces. Under future environmental conditions, the suitability areas for its habitation are expected to primarily expand in the northwest, especially in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, and move northwest. Moreover, the high suitability areas for habitation by this pest showed a trend of continuous increase, indicating a high probability of outbreaks. The findings on the suitability areas for S. miscanthi to inhabit at present and in the future, as determined here, are conducive to the implementation of management and control measures to enhance wheat yield and ensure food security in China. • Terrain roughness was the most important variable in determining the distribution. • Currently suitable areas mainly lied in southern, eastern, and northeastern China. • Suitable areas are expected to primarily expand in the northwest in the future. • Highly suitable areas showed a trend of continuous increase in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polylactic acid (PLA)/polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) blend is a fully degradable polymer blend with balanced strength and toughness. However, the performance of PLA/PBAT blends deteriorates significantly after undergoing physical aging. In this work, dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and methyl methacrylate-glycidyl methacrylate copolymer (P(MMA-co-GMA)) were used respectively for reactive compatibilization by dynamic vulcanization. The effects of dynamic vulcanization on the interfacial compatibility and thus on the mechanical properties of PLA/PBAT blends were evaluated using nanomechanical mapping. Results show that the degree of interfacial compatibilization can be determined by the interface length of microscopic Young's moduli distribution between PLA and PBAT. A longer interfacial length indicates an enhanced interfacial interaction between the components in the blend, which leads to improved macroscopic mechanical properties. Moreover, the improvement of interfacial compatibility allows the PLA/PBAT blends to maintain higher mechanical properties after physical aging, which provides an experimental basis for the design of PLA-based blends with both high mechanical properties and resistance to physical aging. [Display omitted] • Visualization of interfacial compatibilization between PLA and PBAT using AFM-based nanomechanical measurements. • Comparing the effects of different interfacial compatibilization methods in PLA/PBAT blends. • PLA/PBAT/P(MMA-co-GMA) blend has excellent mechanical properties and physical aging resistance. • The enhancement mechanism of interfacial compatibilization on the mechanical properties of PLA-based blends was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Few studies have investigated the spatial variation in road traffic indicators associated with lung cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between road traffic-related indicators and lung cancer risk and to estimate its spatial variability. The population-based case control study was conducted, including all the newly diagnosed lung cancer patients (cases) and colorectal cancer patients (controls) in Jiading District, Shanghai from 2014 to 2016. Traffic intensity variable (traffic intensity in a 500 m buffer), residential distance to major road or highway, and greenness exposure at the residence were estimated for each individual. We conducted unconditional logistic regression with adjustment for age, sex, smoking status and NDVI values and geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR). The clustering of lung cancer risk was analyzed by Bernoulli model of the SaTScan software. This study included 1461 lung cancer patients and 954 colorectal cancer patients. In multivariate logistic regression, smoking [OR 1.25 95% CI (1.15–1.35)], living <50 m from the major road [OR 1.43 95% CI (1.02–2.03)] were significantly associated with lung cancer risk. Residential Proximity to highway, residential greenness, and traffic intensity were not significantly associated with lung cancer risk. The GWLR model showed that the degree of correlation between residential proximity to major road and lung cancer risk varied geographically. The SaTScan results showed a lung cancer cluster in the southwest of Jiading District, Shanghai. Our study suggested that the distance from residence to the main road was significantly associated with lung cancer risk, which varied geographically. It is helpful to further study the traffic factors' spatial variation related to lung cancer risk and carry out reasonable regional planning. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • We assessed the varied effects of traffic indicators on lung cancer in different regions. • Research subjects were all newly diagnosed lung or colorectal cancer patients from 2014 to 2016 in Jiading District. • The geographically weighted logistic regression model was applied to evaluate the regional lung cancer risk. • There was the regional difference in the impact of residential distance from the main road on lung cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoclasts (OC) are bone-specific multinucleated giant cells (MNCs) derived from the monocyte/macrophage hematopoietic lineage cells. Inhibiting osteoclast formation is considered as an effective therapeutic approach for the treatment of the pathological bone loss. In this study, we investigated effects of 17-hydroxy-jolkinolide A (HJA), an ent-abietane diterpenoid isolated from the dried root of Euphorbia fischeriana , on osteoclastogenesis induced by RANKL. The results showed that HJA significantly inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast formation from primary bone marrow macrophages (BMMs). HJA also prevented bone resorption by mature osteoclasts in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, the expression of osteoclastic marker genes, such as tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), cathepsin K (Cts K) and MMP-9, was significantly inhibited by HJA. Furthermore, HJA also significantly inhibited RANKL-induced activation of NF-κB and phosphorylation of MAPK. Our results indicate that HJA has an inhibitory role in the bone loss by preventing osteoclast formation as well as its bone resorptive activity. Therefore, HJA may be useful as a therapeutic reagent for bone loss-associated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of annealing on structure and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of Ta2O5/SiO2 dielectric mirrors were investigated. Ta2O5/SiO2 multilayer was prepared by ion beam sputtering (IBS), then annealed in air under the temperature from 100 to 400 °C. Microstructure of the samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Absorption of the multilayer was measured by surface thermal lensing (STL) technique. The laser-induced damage threshold was assessed using 1064 nm free pulsed laser at a pulse length of 220 μs.It was found that the center wavelength shifted to long wavelength gradually as the annealing temperature increased, and kept its non-crystalline structure even after annealing. The absorbance of the reflectors decreased after annealing. A remarkable increase of the laser-induced damage threshold was found when the annealing temperature was above 250 °C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Osteoclasts (OC) are large multinucleated cells derived from monocyte/macrophage precursors. Suppressing osteoclastogenesis is considered as an effective therapeutic approach to erosive bone disease. The root of Acorus tatarinowii Schott , a well-known traditional Chinese medicine was used to treat rheumatosis and other inflammatory disease. However, the effects of tatarinan O (TO), one of the lignin-like compounds isolated from the roots of Acorus tatarinowii Schott during bone development are still unclear. In the present study, we explored the effect of TO on RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis in vitro. TO was found to suppress osteoclast differentiation from RANKL-stimulated mouse bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) without significant cytotoxicity. TO also dose-dependently suppressed bone resorption activity of mature osteoclasts. Additionally, TO apparently inhibited the expression of osteoclastic marker genes, such as MMP-9, Cts K and TRAP. Furthermore, our results showed that TO decreased RANKL-induced expression of c-Fos and NFATc1 without influencing NF-κB activation and MAPK phosphorylation. Hence, for the first time we revealed that TO dose-dependently inhibited osteoclastogenesis from RANKL-stimulated mouse BMMs via decreasing the expression of NFATc1 and c-Fos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We demonstrated a 1.57 μm continuous-wave differential absorption lidar (CW-DIAL) for atmospheric CO 2 profile detection based on the Scheimpflug imaging principle with a self-made 3 W continuous-wave laser, a 250 mm receiving telescope, and a high dynamic range InGaAs array detector. • We successfully obtained multiple atmospheric CO 2 profiles over 3000 m and showed the spatial and temporal distribution in the horizontal direction with a cumulative measurement time of 2010 s and a range resolution of 100 m. • The results of our developed CW-DIAL are compared with a CO 2 sensor GMP343. The correlation is 0.99962 with a relative error of 1 %, demonstrating the system's capability to capture the concentration profile of atmospheric CO 2. Differential absorption Lidar (DIAL) is a powerful technique for remote sensing of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2). After decades of continuous evolution, traditional pulsed-based CO 2 DIAL has made great progress and gradually comes into applications, but unfortunately these setups still face some dilemmas, such as complex structure, high cost, and poor maintainability. These inherent defects hinder the large-scale promotion application of traditional pulsed-based CO 2 DIAL. Here, we demonstrated a 1.57 μm continuous-wave differential absorption lidar (CW-DIAL) for atmospheric CO 2 profile detection based on the Scheimpflug principle with a high dynamic range near-infrared (SWIR) array detector. A tunable SWIR distributed-feedback (DFB) laser is used as the seed light source, feeds to a self-made erbium-ytterbium co-doped fiber amplifier and obtain final output power to about 3 W of 1.57 μm. A reflective telescope is employed to collect the atmospheric backscattered signal which is finally shapely imaged in a high dynamic range InGaAs array detector. Multiple atmospheric CO 2 profiles were obtained over 3000 m with a cumulative measurement time of 2010s and a range resolution of 100 m. The detection results were also compared with a CO 2 Sensor (GMP343), yielding a correlation coefficient of 0.99962 and a relative error of 1 %. The preliminary results confirm our developed CW-DIAL has the ability to detect the spatiotemporal distribution of atmospheric CO 2. Given its compact structure, low power consumption and cost, it has enormous potential application in many areas for the range-resolved CO 2 concentration profiles detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although high-resolution single-pixel imaging (SPI) can be achieved by under-sampling, low sampling ratio (SR) strategies often result in a loss of image details and lower image quality. Due to the limited memory of the spatial light modulator (SLM) and the time necessary to load such vast numbers of patterns, high-resolution SPI at high sampling rates has not yet been realized. In this work, we propose a one-dimensional single-pixel imaging (1D-SPI) technique to reconstruct high-quality images that can even surpass the full resolution of the SLM at 100% sampling ratio with extremely low data throughput. Only nearly one-thousandth as many modulation patterns as traditional 2D modulation methods are required, which significantly reduces the demand for massive memory capacity and the time to load these patterns. A 1540 × 1024 resolution SPI image is successfully demonstrated experimentally, indicating its tremendous promise in applications such as industrial inspection and satellite remote sensing. • A SPI method that can exceed resolution of spatial light modulators is proposed. • A High-resolution SPI is realized with very low data throughput. • High-quality SPI results are reconstructed at 100% sampling ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose a physical model-driven untrained deep convolutional autoencoder network for SPI and validate its performance from simulations and experiments. • We designed an end-to-end SPI reconstruction network, which can better reconstruct high-quality images from under-sampled measurements. • We perform a comparative study through the simulations and experiments. The results demonstrate that UCAN outperforms other existed SPI methods, including DGI, TVAL3, and GIDC. Single-pixel imaging (SPI) is a novel imaging modality which captures the images with a single-pixel detector by using a lot of time-varying modulation patterns. Nowadays, SPI reconstructions with data-driven deep learning had been verified for high-quality reconstructions under low sampling ratios. However, it faces a dilemma of hard-to-get sufficient training sets in many practical applications, e.g., long-range single-pixel imaging fields. Here, a model-driven SPI reconstruction method based on untrained convolutional autoencoder network (UCAN) is proposed. This framework does not need to pre-train on any dataset and can be automatically optimized, then eventually produce the restored images through the interplay between the neural network and the SPI physical model. Simulations confirm the superiorities of the proposed method over many other existed algorithms in the SPI field. Also, the reconstructions for long-range single-pixel imaging in real urban atmospheric environments demonstrate that our method has better denoising performance. We believe that the present work provides an alternative framework for SPI and paves the way for practical applications, e.g., long-range optical remote sensing and low-irradiative biological imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The influence of the fluctuation of CO 2 concentration in the lower atmosphere is discussed in the measurement of XCO 2. • A weighting function optimized method is provided considering the actual CO 2 concentration profile and the proportion of the lower weighting function. • The method corrects the bias in the measurement and relaxes the atmosphere sensitivity to pressure. • More appropriate wavelengths have been provided for the further reference of development of an IPDA lidar. Abstract Weighting function can affect the retrieval of the column gas mixing ratio of integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) lidar because it contains the vertical distribution information of the target gas. In order to optimize the wavelengths within the 1.57 um spectral band for IPDA lidar for CO 2 measurement. The temperature, pressure and water vapor (TPH) sensitivity and the proportion of the weight function integration in the lower layer part to the total atmosphere layer (R) of each wavelength are calculated. The measurement errors of each wavelength are simulated with CO 2 fluctuation in the lower layer. The specific wavelength with the R value of 0.6 has been found to be a stable measurement bias which does not change with fluctuations, so the R value of 0.6 is used to optimize the wavelength for measurement CO 2. The simulation results show that the measurement error via wavelength is smaller than 0.05 ppm, when the TPH sensitivity is smaller than 0.95 and when R is about 0.6. This proposed method can be applicable for the further airborne or space-borne lidar development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Osteoclasts are multinucleated cells that originate from hemopoietic stem cells. Targeting over activated osteoclasts is thought to be an effective therapeutic approach to osteoporosis. In a previous study, we reported that Tatarinan O , a lignin-like compound, suppressed RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. In this study, we further examined the effects on osteoclast formation of three lignin-like compounds including Tatarinan N (TN), Tatarinan U (TU) and Tatarinan V (TV), all containing a common structure of asarone. We found that only TN suppressed RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation, bone resorption pit formation and F-acting ring formation. TU and TV did not influence RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. We also found that TN dose-dependently inhibited the expression of osteoclastogenesis-associated genes, including TRAP, cathepsin K and MMP-9. Furthermore, we found that TN down-regulated the key transcription factor NFATc1 and c-Fos by preventing the activation of NF-κB and phosphorylation of MAPKs including ERK1/2 and p38 but not JNK. TN attenuated calcineurin expression via suppression of the Btk-PLCγ2 cascade and reduction of intracellular Ca2+, modulating NFATc1 activation. Taking together, our results indicated that TN might have therapeutic potential for osteoporosis. Highlights • Tatarinan N inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclast formation, F-actin ring formation and bone resorption. • Tatarinan N suppressed RANKL-induced expression of TRAP, CTSK, MMP-9, c-Fos and NFATc1. • Tatarinan N inhibited RANKL-induced activation of NF-κB and phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and p38. • Tatarinan N attenuated Btk/PLCγ2/Ca2+ oscillation/calcineurin signaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiogenesis has been recognized as a critical factor in developing solid tumors and hematological malignancies. How angiogenesis affects the molecular pathways in malignancies is still a mystery. The angiopoietin family, one of the known molecular mediators for angiogenesis, encourages angiogenesis by attaching to Tie receptors on cell surfaces. Angiopoietin, Tie, and particularly the molecular pathways they mediate have all been the subject of recent studies that have established their diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic potential. Here, we've reviewed the function of molecular pathways impacted by the Angiogenin and Tie system in hematological malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep convective clusters (DCCs) constitute a complex regime with a variety of types of cloud parameterization in multiple global climate models (GCMs). This study develops a method to identify tropical DCCs and presents regional differences in cloud occurrence, surface precipitation and a vertical survey of ice water content among separated DCCs, connected DCCs and mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) determined by collocating data from MODIS, AMSR-E, CPR and CALIOP instruments on board A-Train satellites. The results reveal that separated DCCs and MCSs occur frequently over East Asia, while connected DCCs are more common over the warm pool of the West Pacific in June-August and over South America in December-February. Higher surface convective precipitation rates occur more frequently in MCSs than in separated and connected DCCs in non-monsoon areas. However, connected DCCs have a large ice water content (IWC) at 10–15 km similar to that of MCSs, and these clusters are more intense than those in separated DCCs. Remarkably large anvil-stratiform clouds connected with multiple deep convective cores in connected DCCs can be easily confused with MCSs if the cloud top brightness temperature in the horizontal view is the only parameter being considered. Combined observational data of surface precipitation of DCCs will be helpful for distinguishing connected DCCs and MCSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lidar, radiosonde, and ground-based in situ nephelometer measurements made during an intensive field campaign carried out from July to September 2014 at the Xinzhou meteorological station were used to determine the aerosol hygroscopic growth effect in a cloud-capped, well-mixed boundary layer. Aerosol hygroscopic properties at 355 and 532 nm were examined for two cases with distinct aerosol layers. Lidar-derived maximum enhancement factors in terms of aerosol backscatter coefficient derived using a relative humidity ( RH ) reference value of 85% were 1.19 at 532 nm and 1.10 at 355 nm for Case I and 2.32 at 532 nm and 1.94 at 355 nm for Case II. To derive the aerosol particle hygroscopic growth factor at specific RH values, the Kasten and Hänel models were used. A comparison of the goodness of fit for the two models showed that the Kasten model performed better. The hygroscopic growth curve for RH >90% was much steeper than that for RH in the range of 85–90%. The slopes of the lidar-derived enhancement factor curve (measured from 85% to 95% RH ) and the nephelometer-derived enhancement factor curve (measured from 40% to 62% RH ) in Case I show similar trends, which lends confidence to using lidar measurements for studying aerosol particle hygroscopic growth. Data from a ground aerosol chemical speciation monitor showed that the larger values of aerosol hygroscopic enhancement factor in Case II corresponded to greater mass concentrations of sulfate and nitrate in the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A dual-frequency, ground-based microwave radiometer (WVR-1100) is used to investigate the behavior of the atmosphere in terms of zenith brightness temperature ( T B ) at 23.8 and 31.4 GHz respectively. Some experimental findings in SKYNET Hefei site from September 2002 to August 2012 are presented. The cumulative distributions of T B at both frequencies for all sky conditions show four different regions, while only two regions can be identified for clear, lightly cloudy and cloudy condition. Annual cycle of T B at 23.8 GHz is apparently remarkable, indicating the large annual cycle of atmospheric water vapor. Regular seasonal variations of T B are observed with the strongest value in summer and the weakest in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scanning polarization Mie lidar (SPML) system has been developed and is described. The lidar system has two detection channels to receive the parallel and perpendicular polarization components at the laser wavelength of 532 nm, which indicates the nonsphericity of aerosol and cloud particles. It can take the horizontal, vertical and conical scans of the atmosphere with the elevation and azimuth motors. This paper discusses the current capability of the SPML lidar and its results. The observation shows that the SPML lidar can provide the multi-dimensional views of the atmosphere which is impossible to achieve with other ground-based vertically pointing lidars. It is helpful to track and monitor aerosol plumes in urban area, to determinate the planetary boundary layer height and to enhance the measurement of atmosphere in the lower height where the geometrical form factor of lidar system affects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Chemically reactive atmospheric species play a crucial role in tropospheric processes which affect regional air quality and global climate change. Contrary to long-lived species such as greenhouse gases, interference-free accurate and precise concentration assessments of strongly reactive short-lived species represent a real challenge. In this paper, we report on the recent progress in spectroscopic instrumental developments for monitoring of OH, NO3, HONO and NO2 by using modern photonic sources (Quantum Cascade Laser, distributed feedback diode laser, light emitting diode) in conjunction with high-sensitivity spectroscopic measurement techniques such as multi-pass cell based long optical path length absorption spectroscopy, wavelength-modulation enhanced off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy, Faraday rotation spectroscopy, incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy. The main techniques available for routine atmospheric measurements of OH, NO3 and HONO are overviewed, in comparison with the emerging modern photonic spectroscopy techniques. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A reconstruction method is presented to deal with spatially misaligned and turbulence degraded images that contain shift and rotation motion. This method is implemented through bringing the channels into spatial alignment via image registration and then restoring the original images by a new multiframe blind deconvolution. A frequency domain technique is introduced to precisely register the spatially misaligned images. New priori information of temporal signatures is adopted to constrain the solution in the blind deconvolution. Results show that by the proposed method high quality image can be recovered from spatially misaligned and turbulence degraded images. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: HfO2 films were deposited by electron beam evaporation with different deposition parameters. The properties such as refractive index, weak absorption, and laser induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) of these films have been investigated. It was found that when pulsed Nd:YAG 1064nm laser is used to investigate LIDT of films: Metallic character is the main factor that influences LIDTs of films obtained from Hf starting material by ion-assisted reaction, and films prepared with higher momentum transfer parameter P have fewer metallic character; The ion-assisted reaction parameters are key points for preparing high LIDT films and if the parameters are chose properly, high LIDT films can be obtained. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To explore the vertical distribution of the aerosol optical parameters over Jinhua City, southeast China, a Dual-wavelength Mie Polarization Raman Lidar (DMPRL) system was operated to obtain the atmospheric backscattering signals from June 2013 to May 2014. Profiles of aerosol occurrence frequency and aerosol optical parameters, including backscattering ratio, particle depolarization ratio, and color ratio, were retrieved from the lidar signals. The cases with a cloud base below 6 km and profiles on rainy days were eliminated. The multi-layer vertical aerosol structure was found in Jinhua area and the altitude-resolved optical properties varies with seasons. In autumn, winter and spring, the aerosol layer occurrence frequencies were higher than summer at 3–6 km, especially in spring. The mean particle depolarization ratio at 4–6 km exceeded 0.1 in autumn, winter, and spring, whereas it was <0.05 in summer. Aerosol with high color ratios appeared at 0–2 km in autumn. The analysis of one-year backward trajectories exhibits a dust dominating aerosol layer at 4–6 km in autumn, winter, and spring, a partially sea salt dominating aerosol layer at 0–2 km in autumn and a partially dust aerosol layer at 0–2 km in winter. Six cases were used to study the influence of aerosol advection and local sources vertical aerosol properties distribution. Through our analysis, aerosols at different altitudes are influenced by different sources, which are important for understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of aerosol layers over Jinhua. The vertical distribution of aerosol properties in Jinhua area is affected by locally emitted aerosol , transported dust and ocean aerosol. • Multi-layer aerosol with corresponding properties observed by lidar over Jinhua. • High occurrences of aerosol layers were found at 3–6 km except summer. • Source-related aerosol vertical distribution dominated especially at 4–6 km. • Larger particles with high color ratios appeared at 0–2 km in autumn. • Regional and transported source aerosols affected the vertical aerosol properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced schistosomiasis has become a major public health problem in areas with a heavy burden of schistosomiasis infection. Our objective was to determine the incidence and prevalence of advanced schistosomiasis and risk factors associated with case fatality of advanced schistosomiasis. Data were abstracted from hospitalization records of patients with advanced schistosomiasis from Hunan Province, China. The incidence and prevalence of advanced schistosomiasis were determined and the risk factors for death in advanced patients were assessed using logistic regression analysis. A total of 10,362 patients with advanced schistosomiasis were recruited into our study and 65% of them were categorized as the ascites type. There were 1249 deaths between 2005 and 2018 and the case fatality was 12.05%. The incidence of advanced schistosomiasis increased from 2002 to 2010, peaked in 2010 and then leveled off. The prevalence of advanced schistosomiasis increased from 2005 to 2014, and was stable afterwards. HBV was a risk factor for death in advanced patients (adjusted odds ratio (aOR=1.93, 95% confidence interval (CI: 1.55 to 2.41). Patients without splenectomy had a higher risk of death (aOR=1.29, 95%CI: 1.08 to 1.56). Upper gastrointestinal bleeding was positively associated with the risk of death (aOR=1.42, 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.76). Besides, abnormal ALT, ascites and anemia were also significantly associated with the risk of death in advanced patients. Advanced schistosomiasis was effectively controlled in recent years. Splenectomy could reduce the case fatality of advanced patients. HBV infection, abnormal ALT, upper gastrointestinal bleeding and anemia also predicted the risk of death for advanced patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oncomelania hupensis is the intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum. In a marshland of Dongting Lake, the abundance of the snail plunged in 1999 and disappeared in 2000, for which the reasons remain unclear. Soil samples were collected from three locations: 1) Qianliang Lake where no snail was found, 2) Junshan Park where remained infested with O. hupensis and 3) Jianxin Farm in between. We compared the physicochemical characteristics and microbial compositions of soil samples from the three sites. All tested physicochemical characteristics of soil samples, except for pH, were similar for samples from Qianliang Lake and Junshan Park marshlands. Both bacterial and fungal community structures varied among the samples from three sites. Fungal diversity was significantly negatively correlated with moisture and total phosphorus and was positively correlated with fluoride and chloride. Soil microbial communities were different between sites with and without O. hupensis snails, but whether some identified abundant taxa are a reason for the disappearance of O. hupensis needs to be confirmed. • Soil bacterial and fungal diversities varied among sites with and without snails. • Soil fungal diversity was negatively correlated with moisture and total phosphorus. • Soil fungal diversity was positively associated with fluoride and chloride. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]