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The harvest moisture content (MC) of maize (Zea mays L.) is an important factor affecting industrial processing and harvest quality. However, higher MC levels may escalate drying expenses during production. While augmented plant density has shown potential to enhance maize yield, limited information exists regarding its impact on plant density and MC interaction. This study amassed four year of field trial data from four primary maize ecological areas in China (Longitude: 89°E to 125°E, Latitude: 35°N to 44°N) to examine the relationship between plant density and MC of maize. Our analysis revealed that increasing plant density exerted an effect on the MC of maize. This effect stemmed from a combination of uncertain grain development and premature plant senescence due to overcrowding. We categorized the relationship between plant density and MC into six types: NC-Type (No-changing), I-Type (ever-increasing), L-Type (ever-lessening), V-Type (like the valley), P-Type (like the peak), and W-Type (like a wave). On average, a variation approximately 0.053 % in MC was observed when the plant population changed by 1000 plants/ha. Moreover, different maize varieties contributed to a more substantial variation in MC. Despite the negligible impact of MC variation caused by plant density on grain quality, subsequent harvest management, and industrial production of maize, there was a significant enhancement in maize yield with increased plant density. Thus, increasing plant density presents an opportunity to boost maize output without compromising quality or grain moisture levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate procalcitonin (PCT) diagnostic accuracy in discriminating gram-negative (GN) from gram-positive (GP) bloodstream infections and determining the relationship between PCT levels, infection sites, and pathogen types.Methods: Clinical and laboratory data were collected from patients with blood culture (BC)-positive sepsis between January 2014 and December 2015. PCT levels at different infection sites were compared, as was the presence of GN and GP bloodstream infection. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to assess diagnostic accuracy.Results: Of the 486 monomicrobial BCs, 254 (52.26%) were positive for GN bacteria (GNB), and 202 (42.18%) for GP bacteria (GPB). Median PCT levels were higher in BCs positive for GN (2.42ng/ml, IQR: 0.38-15.52) than in those positive for GPB (0.49ng/ml, IQR: 0.13-5.89) (P<0.001). In the ROC analysis to differentiate between GNB and GPB, the area under the curve was 0.628 (95% CI: 0.576-0.679). When the cutoffs for PCT were 10.335 and 15.000ng/ml, the specificity of GNB infection was 80.2% and 84.2%, respectively. PCT levels caused by GNB differed between Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumanni/Burkholderia cepacia, Klebsiella pneumonia and Acinetobacter baumanni. PCT levels caused by GPB differed between Staphylococcus epidermidis/Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus hominis/Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis/S.hominis/S. haemolyticus. Among patients with known infection sites, there were statistical differences in PCT levels between abdominal infection and pneumonia/infective endocarditis, urinary tract infection and pneumonia/catheter-related infection/infective endocarditis.Conclusion: PCT can distinguish between GNB and GPB infection, as well as between different bacterial species and infection sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fondaparinux, a synthetic pentasaccharide anticoagulant based on heparin antithrombin-binding domain, is derived from a chemical synthesis with more than 50 steps. Herein, we identified nine analogues separated from commercially available crude fondaparinux sodium, and tested their anticoagulant activity in vitro . Based on the activity results, the most active derivative Rrt1.17 was chemically synthesized. Biological properties in vitro and in vivo indicated that the well-defined derivative Rrt1.17 was a more efficient anticoagulant candidate compared with fondaparinux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postsurgical management of differentiated thyroid cancer in China has gained a great success in the last twenty years, but there are still gaps to be filled. Here, we briefly review the current status and also extend an outlook for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on long-term tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) therapy for pregnant women with active chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (immune clearance and reactivation phases, currently and previously diagnosed) and their infants are lacking. Pregnant women with active CHB treated with TAF and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) were enrolled in this multicenter prospective study, and infants received immunoprophylaxis. The primary outcomes were rates of adverse (safety) events in pregnant women and defects in infants and fetuses. The secondary outcomes were virologic responses in pregnant women, infants' safety, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) status, and growth conditions. One hundred three and 104 pregnant women were enrolled and 102 and 104 infants were born in the TAF and TDF groups, respectively. In the TAF group, the mean age, gestational age, alanine aminotransferase level, and viral loads at treatment initiation were 29.3 years, 1.3 weeks, 122.2 U/L, and 5.1 log 10 IU/mL, respectively. TAF was well-tolerated, and the most common adverse event was nausea (29.1%) during a mean of 2 years of treatment. Notably, 1 (1.0%) TAF-treated pregnant woman underwent induced abortion due to noncausal fetal cleft lip and palate. No infants in either group had birth defects. In the TAF group, the hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion rate was 20.7% at postpartum month 6, infants had normal growth parameters, and no infants were positive for HBsAg at 7 months. The TDF group had comparable safety and effectiveness profiles. TAF administered throughout or beginning in early pregnancy is generally safe and effective for pregnant women with active CHB and their infants. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional exercise after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is necessary. However, it may be a difficult and painful process for the patient. Desirable methods of relieving the patient's pain are worth exploring. Oral supplement of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a potential option. In the present study, we decide to investigate whether short-term administration of ATP benefits patients undergoing TKA. A total of 244 subjects were randomized to receive 120 mg ATP or placebo each day for 4 weeks. Significant differences in quadriceps strength, pain scores at postoperative days 7, 14, 21, and 28 and total opioid consumption were detected. It follows that oral supplement of ATP could benefit patients recovering from TKA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We developed a device for the treatment of Ficat and Arlet stage II and III osteonecrosis of the femoral head. This device, which we named the “super-elastic cage,” was designed to provide mechanical support for the necrotic weight-bearing area of the femoral head to prevent its collapse. The cage was used in combination with surgical removal of necrotic bone, insertion of vascularized pedical bone graft, or impacted autologous cancellous bone graft. A total of 93 hips in 62 patients at Ficat stage II to III were included in a 8-year study. Implantations were performed by 2 different approaches: Smith-Peterson approach and minimal invasive approach by the lateral side of great trochanter. The follow-up period was between 72 and 107 months. Of the femoral heads in this study, 82.7% survived. The superelastic cage implantation technique may offer an alternative treatment to the early and middle stages of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper studies maximality and totality of stable functions in the category of stable bifinite domains. We present three main results as follows, [o] [(1)] every maximum-preserving function is a maximal element in the stable function spaces; [(2)] a maximal stable function f : D → E is maximum-preserving if D is maximum-separable and E is completely separable; and [(3)] a stable bifinite domain D is maximum-separable if and only if for any locally distributive stable bifinite domain E, each maximal stable function f : D → E is maximum-preserving. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Characteristics of EEG for epilepsy at different brain areas are different. • An attention mechanism captures spatial features of seizures. • Bidirectional long short-term memory combines with attention mechanism. • Bidirectional long short-term memory extracts temporal features of seizures. Identifying epileptic seizures through analysis of the electroencephalography (EEG) signal becomes a standard method for the diagnosis of epilepsy. Manual seizure identification on EEG by trained neurologists is time-consuming, labor-intensive and a reliable automatic seizure/non-seizure classification method is needed. One of the challenges in automatic seizure/non-seizure classification is that seizure morphologies exhibit considerable variabilities. In order to capture essential seizure patterns, this paper leverages an attention mechanism and a bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) to exploit both spatial and temporal discriminating features and overcome seizure variabilities. The attention mechanism captures spatial features according to the contributions of different brain regions to seizures. BiLSTM extracts discriminating temporal features in forward and backward directions. Cross-validation experiments and cross-patient experiments over the noisy data of CHB-MIT were performed. We obtained average sensitivity of 87.30%, specificity of 88.30% and precision of 88.29% in cross-validation experiments, higher than using the current state-of-the-art methods, and the standard deviations were lower. These results indicate that our approach performs well against current state-of-the-art methods and is more robust across patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Ni/N 0.8 -CeO 2 was prepared through the capping effect of ionic liquids for the first time. • Ni/N 0.8 -CeO 2 exhibits the highest yields of saturated cycloalkanes using precious metal-free catalysts. • Ni/N 0.8 -CeO 2 excellent performance is due to the synergistic catalysis of OVs and adjacent FLPs of N/Ce3+. • FLPs of N/Ce3+ and Ni nanoparticles produce active hydrogen via a relay catalysis. • FLPs-generated hydrogen and OVs-specific oxygen recognition synergistically enhance catalytic efficiency. The catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (CHDO) of lignin into saturated cycloalkanes not only enhances the efficient utilization of lignin but also reduces reliance on high-density liquid fuels (HDLFs), given the importance of saturated cycloalkanes as key constituents of HDLFs. The main challenge in lignin CHDO towards HDLFs is efficiently removing oxygen-atom while maintaining high selectivity for the desired saturated cycloalkanes. Herein, we report for the first time the fabrication of a Ni/N 0.8- CeO 2 -500 composite with abundant oxygen vacancies (OVs) and adjacent frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), achieved through the capping effect of ionic liquids. The FLPs of N/Ce3+ within Ni/N 0.8 -CeO 2 -500, mediated by OVs, not only enhance the dispersion of Ni species but also effectively facilitate the conversion of H 2 into active hydrogen (H*) through relay catalysis involving the Ni species. This integration, combining the oxygen atom-specific recognition of OVs with the adjacent FLPs of N/Ce3+ for the tandem generation of H*, significantly promotes the adsorption/cleavage of C ar/alk −O−C alk bonds, oxygen-atom removal, and hydrogenation of aromatic rings, ultimately catalyzing the one-step production of saturated cycloalkanes. The synergistic catalytic interplay results in a remarkable yield of saturated cycloalkanes (up to 88.2 wt%) during the CHDO of Kraft lignin, representing the highest reported value under similar conditions to date. A combination of diverse characterizations, experimental analyses, and kinetic studies collectively reinforces the notion that in-situ N-doping of CeO 2 increases the electron cloud density around Ce species, forming N-Ceδ+ entities that, at high temperatures, create OVs and adjacent FLPs of N-Ce3+, collectively enhancing lignin CHDO to yield saturated cycloalkanes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess outcomes in obese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who sustained an osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) treated by percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in the improved prone position and right lateral position. Between January 2015 and May 2016, a total of 60 patients were enrolled in this randomized controlled study. Patients in group A were placed in the improved prone position for a bilateral transpedicular technique, and those in group B were placed in the right lateral position for a left transverse process-pedicle approach. Clinical and radiologic outcomes were assessed and compared between the 2 groups during the 12-month follow-up period. All operations were successfully completed without any serious sequelae. The operation time, fluoroscopic time, scores for respiratory condition during the operation, intravertebral cement volume, and incidence of cement leakage were significantly greater in group A compared with group B (P < 0.01). During the follow-up period, all patients in both groups experienced significant improvement in pain relief. Satisfactory functional improvement was obtained at 3 months postoperatively. Treatment of obese patients with COPD suffering from painful OVCF by PVP in both the improved prone position with a bilateral technique and the right lateral position with a unilateral technique was relatively safe and effective. However, unilateral PVP in the right lateral position was associated with a shorter operation time, limited fluoroscopic time, and minimal cement leakage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Conductive polymer composites (CPCs) with segregated structure exhibit outstanding electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance at low filler loadings. However, the mechanical performance is compromised due to poor interfacial adhesion resulting from the selective distribution of conductive fillers. Herein, a simple and effective approach, i.e. solid-phase extrusion (SPE), was proposed to fabricate segregated carbon nanotube (CNT)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) composites with high mechanical performance. Morphology examination revealed that both the matrix and segregated conductive network were highly oriented along the extrusion direction under the forceful flow field of SPE. The resultant SPE composites showed an excellent electrical conductivity of 74.5 S/m and a high EMI shielding effectiveness of 36.8 dB with only 4 wt% CNTs. More notably, simultaneous enhancement of the strength and fracture toughness was achieved. Compared to the counterparts with conventional segregated structure, tensile strength and elongation at break of SPE composites were significantly increased by ∼100% and ∼900%, reaching 120–140 MPa and 60%, respectively. This work demonstrates a valuable approach to prepare high-performance CPCs for EMI shielding applications. Graphical abstract Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]