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La1-xSrxMnO3 is a well-known oxygen electrode for reversible solid oxide cells (RSOCs). However, its poor ionic conductivity limits its performance in redox reaction. In this study, we selected Sm0.5Sr0.5CoO3-δ (SSC) as catalyst and Sm0.2Ce0.8O1.9 (SDC) as ionic conductor and sintering inhibitor to co-modify the La0.65Sr0.35MnO3 (LSM) oxygen electrode through an alternate infiltration method. The infiltration sequence of SSC and SDC showed an influence on the morphology and performance of LSM oxygen electrode, and the influence was gradually weakened with the increasing infiltration time. The polarization resistance of the alternately infiltrated LSM-SSC/SDC electrode was 0.08 Ω cm2 at 800 °C in air, which was 3.36% of the LSM electrode (2.38 Ω cm2). The Ni-YSZ/YSZ/LSM-SSC/SDC single cell attained a maximum power density of 1205 mW cm−2 in SOFC mode at 800 °C, which was 8.73 times more than the cell with LSM electrode. The current density achieved 1620 mA .cm−2 under 1.5 V at 800 °C in SOEC mode and the H2 generation rate was 3.47 times of the LSM oxygen electrode.

The epidemic of obesity and its co-mortalities has reached an alarming level worldwide. Currently, metabolic surgeries, especially the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and vertical sleeve gastrectomy, are the most effective and sustainable treatments for obesity, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as other metabolic diseases. However, the invasive nature of the surgeries limits their broad applications to the general public. Therefore, developing alternative non-invasive approaches to mimic metabolic surgery is an important direction of the field. Recent studies have identified several potential metabolic surgery-induced downstream endocrine mediators, among which bile acids are key candidate signaling molecules. Bile acids are profoundly altered by metabolic surgery, which contributes to the metabolic effects of the surgery. In this review, we focus on the most recent studies on the roles of bile acids and bile acid receptors farnesoid X receptor and Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 in mediating the metabolic effects of metabolic surgery. We conclude that targeting bile acid pathways may be a promising pharmacological approach to mimic the beneficial effects of metabolic surgery.

Objective To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of a cohort of patients referred to pediatric hospice and home-based palliative care (HBPC) programs across Ohio in 2016. Study design Retrospective cohort study of patients referred to hospice/HBPC from 3 pediatric palliative care programs in Ohio in 2016. Demographic and clinical data were extracted from the medical record and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results There were 209 patients referred: 49 (24%) to hospice and 160 (77%) to HBPC. The most common diagnoses were genetic/chromosomal syndromes (23%), neurologic or neurodegenerative conditions (23%), and cancer (21%). Durable medical equipment use was frequent (85%), with gastrostomy or jejunostomy tubes (22%) the most common. Most patients (64%) retained full-code resuscitation status. Fifty-seven patients (27%) died before July 1, 2018: 37 in hospice (18% of the overall cohort, 65% of decedents) and 20 in HBPC (10% of the overall cohort, 35% of decedents). Sixty-seven percent of hospice and 40% of HBPC patients died at home. Conclusions Pediatric hospice and HBPC programs serve a diverse cohort of patients. Patients referred to pediatric HBPC programs commonly die and are likely to die at home despite not being enrolled in hospice care. The high proportion of decedent HBPC patients indicates that the notion of hospice vs palliative care may present a false dichotomy in many children with life-limiting conditions. Reimbursement models for HBPC should reflect the clinical similarity to hospice in the care of children with life-limiting illnesses.

Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is a significant detriment to postsurgical recovery and a risk factor for prolonged opioid use. Emerging evidence suggests the estimated heritability for chronic pain is 45% and that genetic factors partially explain individual susceptibility to CPSP. The aim of this study was to systematically review, assess quality, and summarize the studies in humans that have investigated genetic factors associated with CPSP. We also conducted a meta-analysis to derive a single effect size for evaluable genetic associations with CPSP. Our comprehensive literature search included review of 21 full-text articles evaluating variants of 69 genes for association with CPSP. We found significant gene variant associations reported for variants/haplotypes of 26 genes involved in neurotransmission, pain signaling, immune responses and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, with CPSP. Six variants of 5 genes (COMT: rs4680 and rs6269, OPRM1: rs1799971, GCH1: rs3783641, KCNS1: rs734784 and TNFA: rs1800629), were evaluated by more than one study and were included in the meta-analysis. At rs734784 (A>G) of KCNS1, presence of G allele marginally increased risk of CPSP (Additive genetic model; Odds ratio: 1.511; 95% CI 1-2.284; P value: .050), while the other variants did not withstand meta-analyses criteria. Our findings demonstrate the role of genetic factors with different functions in CPSP, and also emphasize that single genetic factors have small effect sizes in explaining complex conditions like CPSP. Heterogeneity in surgical cohorts, population structure, and outcome definitions, as well as small number of available studies evaluating same variants, limit the meta-analysis. There is a need for large-scale, homogenous, replication studies to validate candidate genes, and understand the underlying biological networks underpinning CPSP. PERSPECTIVE: Our systematic review comprehensively describes 21 studies evaluating genetic association with CPSP, and limitations thereof. A meta-analysis of 6 variants (5 genes) found marginally increased risk for CPSP associated with rs734784 A>G of the potassium voltage-gated channel gene (KCNS1). Understanding genetic predisposition for CPSP will enable prediction and personalized management.

Designing an optimal subsidy scheme for marine disaster index insurance (MDII) for households in coastal areas of China remains a managerial challenge. The issue of subsidies for disaster insurance has received extensive research attention, but extant studies are confined to the issue of whether to subsidize, lacking focus on how and how much to subsidize. In the existing marine disaster index insurance pilots in China, there are varying levels and scales of subsidies in spite of premium subsidies. To design an optimal subsidy scheme for marine disaster index insurance in China, this paper proposes an optimal insurance model of marine disaster index insurance with government subsidy. Excluding the behaviors of the policyholders and insurance firms, the model captures the behaviors of the subsidy scheme from the government. Furthermore, employing the storm surge disasters, the optimal trigger scheme and subsidy scheme are designed and estimated. The results recommend that the optimal subsidy ratio for MDII in China needs to be at least 92.54%. Moreover, this value increases when there are more potential victims of marine disasters who choose to insure MDII, while the total subsidy decreases. Evidently, the subsidies for pilots of MDII in China are inadequate to meet the conditions for operation currently, which explains the dilemma of the MDII in China’s pilots. These findings provide theoretical evidence for the optimization of the MDII in China.

In combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors, photodynamic therapy can induce robust immune responses capable of preventing local tumor recurrence and delaying the growth of distant, untreated disease (ie. the abscopal effect). Previously, we found that repeated photodynamic therapy (R-PDT) using porphyrin lipoprotein (PLP) as a photosensitizer, without the addition of an immune checkpoint inhibitor, can induce the abscopal effect. To understand why PLP mediated R-PDT alone can induce the abscopal effect, and how the addition of an immune checkpoint inhibitor can further strengthen the abscopal effect, we investigated the broader immune mechanisms facilitated by R-PDT and combination R-PDT + anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (αPD-1) in a highly aggressive, subcutaneous AE17-OVA mesothelioma dual tumor-bearing C57BL/6 mice. We found a 46.64-fold and 61.33-fold increase in interleukin-6 (IL-6) after R-PDT and combination R-PDT + αPD-1 relative to PBS respectively, suggesting broad innate immune activation. There was a greater propensity for antigen presentation in the spleen and distal, non-irradiated tumor draining lymph nodes, as dendritic cells and macrophages had increased expression of MHC class II, CD80, and CD86, after R-PDT and combination R-PDT + αPD-1. Concurrently, there was a shift in the proportions of CD4+ T cell subsets in the spleen, and an increase in the frequency of CD8+ T cells in the distal, non-irradiated tumor draining lymph nodes. While R-PDT had an acceptable safety profile, combination R-PDT + αPD-1 induced 1.26-fold higher serum potassium and 1.33-fold phosphorus, suggestive of mild laboratory tumor lysis syndrome. Histology revealed an absence of gross inflammation in critical organs after R-PDT and combination R-PDT + αPD-1 relative to PBS-treated mice. Taken together, our findings shed light on how the abscopal effect can be induced by PDT and strengthened by combination R-PDT + αPD-1, and suggests minimal toxicities after R-PDT.

Quorum sensing (QS) signaling plays a significant role in the natural regulation of biofilm formation. Multiple species QS systems in wastewater treatment processes have received significant attention in recent years and this study presents a long-term analysis of QS signaling, bacterial structures and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) during biofilm formation, detachment and reformation processes. Six types of Acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) were found to be closely related to different phases of biofilm development, with both QS and quorum quenching (QQ) strains being identified as drivers of various biofilm phases and 10 strains presenting a close relationship with AHLs (p 0.05). Meanwhile, QS strain Sphingomonas rubra was immobilized and added into reactor systems, resulting in significant increase in AHL content, EPS production, and adhesion strength of biofilm (p 0.05), which might promote biofilm formation processes during long-term stable operation. This study provides a potentially simple and economical way to improve activity and stability of MBBR in complex wastewater systems.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine changes in human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence among young men from a Midwest metropolitan area over the six years after vaccine introduction, including HPV prevalence in men overall, in vaccinated men to examine vaccine impact and in unvaccinated men to examine herd protection. An exploratory aim was to examine associations between number of vaccine doses and HPV prevalence. METHODS: Men aged 14–26 years reporting male-female and/or male-male sexual contact were recruited from a primary care clinic, sexually transmitted disease clinic, and community setting during two waves of data collection: 2013–2014 (N = 400) and 2016–2017 (N = 347). Participants completed a questionnaire and were tested for penile, scrotal and anal HPV. Changes in prevalence of any (≥1 type) and vaccine-type HPV (HPV6, 11, 16, and/or 18) were examined using propensity score weighted logistic regression. Associations between number of doses and HPV infection were determined using chi-square tests and logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of men with a history of ≥1 HPV vaccine doses increased from 23% to 44% (p < 0.001) from waves 1 to 2. After propensity score weighting, infection with ≥1 vaccine-type HPV significantly decreased among all men (29% to 20%; 31% decrease; odds ratio [OR] = 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.44–0.88) and unvaccinated men (32% to 21%; 36% decrease; OR = 0.56, 95%CI = 0.34–0.86); there was a non-significant decrease (21%) among vaccinated men. Associations between number of doses and HPV prevalence were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of vaccine-type HPV decreased among all, vaccinated, and unvaccinated men six years after HPV vaccine recommendation, supporting vaccine impact and herd protection. Decreases in vaccine-type HPV in all men appear to be due to decreases in unvaccinated men, suggesting that the full impact of vaccination has yet to be realized. Continued monitoring and efforts to vaccinate men prior to sexual initiation are warranted.

Auction is a useful trade manner for digital goods procurements in e-market places. In this paper, we present a novel prior-free auction mechanism for supplier that serves online buyers. As the recommended the auction mechanism, the supplier has incomplete knowledge of the distribution of buyers’ valuations and makes a decision to accept or to reject each bid before each buyer leaves. To analyze auction performance without making assumptions about the prior input distribution, the competitive analysis of online algorithmic mechanism is motivated. We extend the original model to present a competitive risk analysis framework by introducing risk and forecast. Moreover, a λ -tolerance algorithmic mechanism and an n-phase λ -tolerance algorithmic mechanism are proposed. They enable a supplier to utilize and exploit forecast under different risk tolerances. Solutions of these risk algorithms yield many insights as follows: a supplier’s risk management performance, i.e., the restricted competitive ratio can be improved by putting reasonable forecasts comparing with the traditional competitive analysis; a supplier can also control his risk behavior even if the forecast is incorrect; this risk framework provides a smooth generalization for a supplier’s riskless choices and risky choices. .

The development of a bone tissue engineering scaffold with a biologically active surface for fast bone cell adhesion, proliferation, and extracellular matrix mineralization has been hotly pursued in recent years. However, most substrate materials do not show enough biological activity. Here, polydopamine-assisted immobilization of strontium (Sr) endows a three-dimensional reduced graphene oxide/polypyrrole (3D rGO/PPY) composite scaffold with higher bioactivity. Compared to the bare 3D rGO/PPY scaffold, 3D rGO/PPY modified with Sr (3D rGO/PPY/PDA/Sr) has a higher surface roughness. Moreover, benefiting from the introduction of Sr, the 3D rGO/PPY/PDA/Sr scaffold can significantly enhance early adhesion and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells on the 2nd day of culture. Additionally, ALP activity and extracellular matrix mineralization are distinctly enhanced.

Absolute This paper measures the regional oceanic economic performance in China's 11 coastal areas from 2007 to 2014 using a dynamic growth efficiency framework. We construct a new global Malmquist ocean performance index (GMOPI), which integrates the global benchmark technology with the slacks-based measure (SBM) and Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) productivity index. This index can successfully eliminate a common infeasibility problem encountered in ML cross-period problem. Furthermore, the labour input, capital input, economic output, and environmental output contribution indexes are proposed by internally decomposing the GMOPI, which can explain which factor could bias technological progress. The empirical results indicate two different modes of China's oceanic economic growth during the examined time period, i.e., a volatility phase (2007–2010) and a stability phase (2011–2014). Moreover, the factor contribution indexes show that the low contribution scores for environmental integrity and capital in the volatility phase. The findings highlight the need for the further strengthening of environmental and investment policies in China.

The objective of this study was to establish a quantitative response to biofilm aging from perspectives of metabolic activity and microbial community applied in distinct wastewater. Biofilms developed on soft, integrated and suspended biocarriers in three full-scale aerobic bioreactors under stable operations from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants, were tracked for more than 11 weeks for biofilm aging study. Results showed the first evidence of biofilm aging in full-scale aerobic bioreactors by adenylate energy charge (AEC) that biofilm needed to be reactivated when AEC was less than 0.6. Biofilm aged more easily on soft and integrated biocarriers and high salinity, high organic contents and high suspended sludge concentration accelerated the aging process of biofilm. Caldilinea and Acinetobacter predominated in aging biofilm on suspended biocarriers. This study offered a novel evaluation methodology of biofilm aging and was believed to provide important reference for biofilm regulation in biofilm-based wastewater treatment process.

The impact of different orientational angle of ion incidence on SEU and MCU are studied in dual DICE SRAM according to directionality of different sensitive pairs. The results show the worst orientational angle for SEU and MCU in dual DICE SRAM is incident with large tilting angle along the well even if nodal spacing of N/P sensitive pairs is the smallest. Ion tilt incidence with this orientational angle will greatly decrease SEU threshold and increase SEU cross section. At high LET, SEU saturation cross-sections in dual DICE design only has a small improvement by 40% over 6-T design whether ion incidence is normal or tilt due to charge sharing. Based on MCU topological pattern in dual DICE and 6-T design, the extent of charge diffusion and pararistic bipolar effect is quantified. Implications and application of the results for heavy ion SEU testing and RHBD technique in nanometer technology are presented.

We have developed ultrasmall porphyrin-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) nanoparticles (20 nm), called "porphyrinHDL," that have a high density of porphyrin molecules and dissociate rapidly upon tumor cell accumulation to become fluorescent and photoactive. This is introduced as a novel activatable photosensitizer for image-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT). Here, we report the studies of these nanoparticles targeted to scavenger receptor class B type I (SR-BI) expressed on lung cancer cells as a first step toward development of a minimally invasive treatment for peripheral lung cancer and metastatic lymph nodes of advanced lung cancer.The in vitro uptake of porphyrinHDL and the corresponding PDT efficacy were evaluated in both SR-BI-positive and SR-BI-negative lung cancer cell lines. A clinically relevant orthotopic lung cancer model in mice was used to examine fluorescence activation and quantification of uptake in tumor. In addition, we investigated the effect of porphyrinHDL-mediated PDT.PorphyrinHDL promoted proper intracellular uptake in the H460 human lung cancer cell line. When irradiated with a 671-nm PDT laser, porphyrinHDL produced significant therapeutic effectiveness in vitro. After systemic administration in mice with orthotopic lung cancer xenografts, porphyrinHDL demonstrated selective accumulation and photoactivation in tumor with significantly enhanced disease-to-normal tissue contrast. Moreover, porphyrinHDL-PDT significantly induced cell apoptosis in lung tumors (73.2%) without toxicity in normal tissues or damage to adjacent critical structures.SR-BI-targeted porphyrinHDL-mediated PDT of lung cancer is selective and effective in vitro and in vivo. These initial proof-of-principle studies suggest the potential of a "smart" PDT approach for highly selective tumor ablation.

Deficiency of researches on biotic community-driven biofilm activity makes biofilm regulation lack of quantitative response for decades. Based on three full-scale aerobic bioreactors in wastewater treatment plants, this study for the first time linked microbial respiratory activity with phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) of biofilm developed on fixed and suspended carriers. Results showed that C16:00, C18:00, C16:1, ω7c, C18:1, ω7c, C12:00 and C18:1ω9c were top six biomarkers of PLFA among different sources of samples and Gram-negative bacteria (G−) was more abundant than Gram-positive bacteria (G+) with average G−/G+ of 2.98. It’s interesting to find defective revealing of PLFA-based biofilm activity by specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR). Further modeling indicated that C16:00 achieved the optimal quantitative response to STOUR with the best model of composite, growth, or exponential curve (R2 = 0.416, p = 0.005). This research was promising to provide important reference for biofilm regulation and accurate control of biofilm-based process.

The complexity of natural ingredients and the diversity of preparations are the major obstacles to the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). A more comprehensive characterization of herbal compounds using different types of chromatographic separation techniques and covering a diverse polarity range can help evaluate the quality of TCMs. In this study, we first proposed a comprehensive method for characterizing compounds derived from Imperatae Rhizoma by combining the complementary strengths of UPCC-QTOF-MS (ultra-performance convergence chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry) with UPLC-QTOF-MS (ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry). The method based on the UNIFI scientific platform significantly shortened the analysis time and enabled a more comprehensive characterization of known and unreported compounds. Meanwhile, a feature-based molecular network (FBMN) was established on the Global Natural Product Social (GNPS) to infer potential compounds by rapidly classifying and visualizing these components. A total of 62 compounds in Imperatae Rhizoma were jointly characterizedand classified into six types. In comparison, the UPCC-QTOF-MS technology individually characterized 17 components, including lactones, phenols, aldehydes, phenylpropanoids, and small polar organic acids. The UPLC-QTOF-MS technology characterized 16 compounds mainly phenylpropionic acids, flavonoid glycosides, and chromone glycosides. Furthermore, three types of characteristic compounds could be well aggregated into an FBMN approach. Five possible potential new compounds were detected through the supplementary identification of GNPS and the correlation analysis of vicinal known compounds. The strategy was first applied to Imperatae Rhizoma and facilitated the characterization of a large quantity of data to provide comprehensive chemical composition results. This approach can be easily extended to the study of the material basis of other herbs or preparations in order to improve the accuracy of herb quality evaluation.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) is associated with metabolic abnormalities and changes in lipid processing. Fatty acids (FAs) are important signaling molecules in the body and are the main raw materials for lipid synthesis. To explore the lipidomic profile of serum fatty acids in mice, we put the mice on a high-fat diet (HFD) to induce NAFLD. We applied a targeted metabolic analysis approach using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and established a method for simultaneous determination of 36 medium and long-chain fatty acids in the serum of mice. This method was validated for linearity, range, limit of detection (LOQ), limit of quantification (LOD), precision, accuracy, and recovery. The levels of most FA species and total FAs were increased in the HFD group (n=9) compared with the lean group (n=9). The principal component analysis (PCA) and the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) of all FA species were analyzed in both groups. We found that palmitic acid (16:0), stearic acid (18:0), oleic acid (18:1), and arachidonic acid (20:4) were significantly different (VIP＞1, p＜0.05 and FC＞1.5) in the two groups. We also calculated serum indices measure the activities of different enzymes involved in fatty acid metabolism. The de novo lipogenesis index, elongase index, n-6 FAs, saturated FAs, unsaturated FAs, and SCD1 index 2 were increased in the HFD group compared with the lean group while the n-3 FAs, n-3/n-6 of the index, and SCD1 index 1 were decreased in the HFD group compared with the lean group. Relationships between major FA species and biochemical indicators (LDL-C, TC, TG, ALT, and AST) were evaluated by Pearson analysis. The serum FA concentrations (C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, and C20:4) and serum indices ( De novo lipogenesis index, elongase index, saturated FAs, unsaturated FAs and n-6 FAs) positively correlated with LDL-C, TC, TG, ALT, and AST. Collectively, our study provides insights into NAFLD and its effect on lipid metabolism.

This paper investigated the influences of different dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration (0.71–1.32, 2.13–3.02 and 4.31–5.16 mg/L) on cell membrane characteristics and microbial population distribution of moving biofilm reactors. Two representative reactors, i.e., moving bed biofilm reactors and integrated fixed-film activated sludge were operated. Results indicated that both DO concentration of 0.71–1.32 mg/L and 4.31–5.16 mg/L could increase membrane lipid mobile fraction (49.4%-67.4%) of the microbes, however, through prompting the synthesis of branched fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids, respectively. For the biofilms, the abundance of Bacteroidetes decreased and Actinobacteria increased with the increase of DO levels. The lowest EfOM content and the highest microbial diversities (1.14–1.52) was observed at DO of 2.13–3.02 mg/L. Redundancy analysis showed that changes of DO levels could alter cell membrane properties and bacterial community structures, and subsequently significantly influenced effluent organic matter composition of moving biofilm reactors.

Life-course exposure to stress is associated with a wide-range of health outcomes. Early childhood adversity may affect an individual's future response to stress. This is of particular concern during pregnancy as early maternal stress may impact the stress response in pregnancy, altering fetal exposure. We therefore hypothesized maternal childhood adversity may interact with distress experienced in pregnancy affecting maternal cortisol accumulation in pregnancy. Analyses were conducted within the PRegnancy and Infant Development (PRIDE) Study, a cohort of mother-infant pairs participating in Every Child Succeeds, a home visiting program in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thirty (of 53) healthy pregnant mothers contributed a hair sample and completed a battery of psychologic and stress measures including the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Scale. We used linear models to estimate the association between symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatization, both pregnancy and perceived stress and cortisol deposition; we generated multiplicative interaction terms generated and models stratified by the dose of ACEs (≥2/

Single-event multiple transients (SEMTs) measurement based on an on-chip self-triggered method is performed. Measurement results for guard-ring hardened inverter chains of two layout designs, including a source/drain sharing design and a conventional design, are compared under pulsed laser irradiation. Pulsed laser exposures with different energies show that the guard-ring hardened inverter chain with a source/drain sharing design is more sensitive to single-event double transients (SEDTs). It is found that SEDTs with small temporal differences can be merged into single-event single transients (SESTs) thanks to the pulse broadening effect. A layout-hardened design for SEDTs in the guard-ring hardened inverter chain is also suggested.

Startup of biofilm process triggered by initial adhesion of bacteria is difficult in high ammonia nitrogen wastewater treatment. In this study, the influence of two commonly used N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs), N-Hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL) and N-Octanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C8-HSL), on the adhesion of soluble macromolecules and bacteria in four types of high ammonia nitrogen wastewater to surfaces of model biocarriers (i.e. polystyrene, polyamide and polyethylene terephthalate) was investigated by using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) monitoring technology. Results showed that the adhesion was enhanced by the addition of exogenous AHLs and there was more microbial retention attributed by C8-HSL. Greater deposition amount was generally found on PS and better enhanced performances of the adhesion were found on PA surface. Furthermore, viscoelastic film formed under synchronous high-low salinity and organic content and dominant bacteria of real wastewater determined the role of exogenous AHLs. The method of adding moderate amount of exogenous AHLs into bioreactors has important implications for accelerating the startup process treating high ammonia nitrogen wastewater by biofilm process.

Background Despite the role of monocytes in the pathogenesis of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), it remains unclear how different subtypes of monocytes regulate and contribute to this pathogenesis. Methods We examined the numbers of different subsets of monocytes by flow cytometry in 21 SAP, 15 mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) and 13 healthy controls (HC). The concentrations of plasma cytokines were assessed by cytometric bead array. Disease severity was evaluated based on the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II score and plasma C-reactive proteins (CRP) levels. Results Compared with the numbers in MAP patients and HC, we observed that the numbers of CD14 + CD163 − , CD14 + CD163 − MAC387 + , CD14 + CD163 − IL-12 + M1 monocytes, and CD115 + , CD204 + , IL-10 + M2 monocytes were significantly increased in SAP patients. In addition, these patients showed higher plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-10. Furthermore, the number of CD14 + CD163 − , CD14 + CD163 − MAC387 + M1 monocytes and the plasma IL-12 concentration showed a positive association with the CRP level, while the number of CD204 + , IL-10 + M2 monocytes and the plasma IL-10 concentration showed a positive correlation with the APACHE II score. Importantly, the CD115 + M2 subset displayed a positive correlation with both the CRP level and APACHE II score, and treatment of SAP significantly reduced the number of this subset. Conclusions The CD14 + CD163 + CD115 + M2 monocyte count appears to be important factor in determining the severity and prognosis of SAP. Both the pro- and anti-inflammatory monocytes appear to participate in the pathogenesis of SAP.

Study Objective Evidence suggests that vaccine-type human papillomavirus (HPV) prevalence may decrease in unvaccinated women after HPV vaccine introduction, indicating herd protection. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with vaccine-type HPV (i.e. absence of herd protection) after vaccine introduction. Design We conducted three cross-sectional studies from 2006-2014 (n = 1180): wave 1 (2006-2007), wave 2 (2009-2010), and wave 3 (2013-2014). Setting Participants were recruited from a hospital-based teen health center and a community health department. Participants We recruited 13-26 year-old young women; those included in this analysis had not received an HPV vaccine. Interventions and Main Outcome Measures The outcome measure was infection with at least one vaccine-type HPV (HPV6, 11, 16, 18). Results Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that in wave 1 (before vaccine introduction), history of anal intercourse (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.1-3.0), age 18-21 vs 13-17 years (OR = 2.1, CI = 1.2-3.6), and Black/multiracial vs White race (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.1-3.0) were associated with vaccine-type HPV in unvaccinated women. In wave 2, no variables were associated with HPV. In wave 3, sexually transmitted infection history (OR = 3.6, CI = 1.3-9.7) was associated with HPV. Conclusion We did not identify a consistent set of modifiable risk factors associated with vaccine-type HPV after vaccine introduction across the three study waves, underscoring the urgency of vaccination for primary HPV prevention and the limitations of relying on herd protection.

Start-up of biofilm process initiated by the deposition of soluble matters on biocarriers is a very important yet time-consuming procedure. However, rapid start-up methods especially in the enhancement of soluble matters deposition have been rarely addressed. In this study, a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) was applied to investigate the influences of calcium ion and rhamnolipid (RL) on the deposition of soluble matters from real and synthetic industrial wastewaters with different configurations of organics (bovine serum albumin and sodium alginate) and ionic strength on the model biocarriers polystyrene and polyamide. Results showed that deposition was effectively promoted by the addition of Ca2+ and along with the increase in Ca2+ content. However, RL enhanced the deposition effectively only in hyperhaline wastewater through breaking hydration repulsion and decreased the deposition in low-salinity wastewater, and its influence to the deposited layer property exhibited characteristics of negative feedback. The combined use of Ca2+ and RL had a better enhancement effect than that of separate use and the mechanism involved can not be soundly explained only by Derjaguin−Landau−Verwey−Overbeek (DLVO) theory. The strategy of mediating the deposition of soluble matters on different biocarriers by adding Ca2+ and RL has important implications for regulating biofilm formation to accelerate the start-up process in attached-growth bioreactors.

This paper presents a real-time forecasting procedure that utilizes multiple factors with different sampling frequencies to predict the weekly carbon price. Novel combination-MIDAS models with five weight-type schemes are proposed for evaluating the forecast accuracy. The evidence shows that combination-MIDAS models provide forecasting performance gains over traditional models, which supports the use of mixed-frequency data that consist of economic and energy indicators to forecast the weekly carbon price. It is also shown that, Coal is the best predictor for carbon price forecasting and that forecasts that are based on Crude have similar trends to actual carbon prices but are higher than the actual prices.

We examined longitudinally the relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine-related risk perceptions and initiation of sexual activity among adolescent women over 30 months after HPV vaccination.Participants included 91 sexually inexperienced women aged 13-21 years receiving the HPV vaccine who completed at least three of five study visits. At every visit, participants completed surveys assessing HPV vaccine-related risk perceptions (perceived risk of sexually transmitted infections [STIs] other than HPV, perceived need for safer sexual behaviors), and sexual initiation. Outcomes were sexual initiation and age of sexual initiation. Associations between risk perceptions and outcomes were examined using ordered logistic regression models for sexual initiation and interval censored survival analyses for age of sexual initiation.Mean age at baseline was 14.9 years (standard deviation [SD] 1.4). Most participants perceived themselves to be at risk of STIs other than HPV (mean scale score = 4.0/10; SD 2.1) and perceived a need for safer sexual behaviors (mean scale score = 1.5/10; SD 1.5). By 30 months, 65 participants (78%) initiated sex. Perceived risk of STIs and perceived need for safer sexual behaviors were not associated with sexual initiation or age of sexual initiation. Older age at baseline was associated with sooner sexual initiation (p = .02) and older age at sexual initiation (p .001). Results of ordered logistic regression and survival analyses were unchanged when controlling for baseline age.HPV vaccine-related risk perceptions were not associated with sexual initiation or age of sexual initiation, providing further support that HPV vaccine-related risk perceptions are unlikely to lead to riskier sexual behaviors.

With technology scaling, a common and efficient strategy to improve the soft error vulnerability of sensitive nodes is to place well/substrate contacts frequently. This paper reports a revised method to integrate the impact of well contacts on SEE response with the bias-dependent SE compact model for circuit simulation. After modifying the SE sub-circuit with resistors and current source placed between the n-well and p-well contacts and then calibrating the parameters by layout-level TCAD simulation results, the resulting model is able to evaluate the SEE vulnerability of devices and circuits with various well contacts. Besides, it is able to evaluate the hardness performance of well contact optimization before fabrication.

Biofilm development plays an important role in facilitating wastewater treatment. The ultrasonic time domain reflectometry (UTDR) is presented for the first time as a tool to assess the initial biofilms development process on bio-carriers. The experiments were carried out with bio samples gathered from practical municipal wastewater and industrial wastewater, respectively. The in-situ and non-invasive UTDR technique was applied to visualize and evaluate the biofilm development process on slices through using the 2D and 3D wavelet analysis by a false color scale. Especially, the distinguished biofilms thickness was observed during the initial biofilm development process via a differential signal, and the relatively dense degree of biofilm were also obtained at the same time. The UTDR measurement could distinguish the initial adherence, reversible adhesion and irreversible adhesion during the initial biofilm formation process. In addition, the UTDR response correlates well with the off-line measurements of the biofilm thickness via an atomic force microscope and optical coherence tomography, suggesting that UTDR-based characterization is a useful tool for in-situ investigating the dynamic processes of predefined biofilm development used for wastewater treatment.

The objective of this study was to explore nitrogen removal, especially effluent dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) composition, relative genes and microbial community structures with four individual nitrogen sources at 5 °C. Results show that effluent DON did not have dependent relationship with the TN removal rate (urea > ammonia chloride > L -Alanine > D -Alanine). With the same influent TN, the highest effluent DON was formed with urea; the lowest DON was fed with ammonia chloride. The main DON composition was the product of cell metabolism excluding urea, rather than the original substrate. Glutamic acid synthesizing process was of great importance to DON accumulation at 5 °C. The nitrogen source type was important to the diversity and heterogeneity of the nitrogen removal genes. Bacterial population structure using redundancy analysis (RDA) showed Simplicispira occupied a higher abundance remarkably in the reactors feeding with urea, and Dyadobacter occupied higher feeding with l -Alanine.

The aim of this study was to determine whether an observed increase in non-vaccine-type human papillomavirus (HPV) in unvaccinated women during the first eight years after vaccine introduction may be explained by differences in demographics or sexual behaviors, instead of type replacement. We analyzed data from three cross-sectional surveillance studies of 13–26 year-old women (total N = 1180). For women recruited from a health department clinic, older age (OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2–1.6) and consistent condom use with main partner in the past 3 months (OR = 11.6, 95% CI: 3.4–40) were associated with being unvaccinated. For women recruited from a teen health center African American race (OR = 0.2, 95% CI: 0.07–0.7) and having Medicaid health insurance (OR = 0.3, 95% CI: 0.1–0.7) were inversely associated with being unvaccinated. The observed increase in non-vaccine-type HPV prevalence in unvaccinated women may be explained by differences between unvaccinated and vaccinated women.

Our screening data revealed the threat macrolide antibiotics, especially azithromycin (AZN), posed to human health with its increasing occurrence in water environment. The electrochemical sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) is a promising platform that caters for the next generation of intelligent wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by virtue of its wide tolerance to water from all sources and in-situ monitoring. However, low initiation potentials of cross-linking monomers contributed by the electron-rich circumstance allowed them to usurp sites designed for functional monomers when electrically stimulated, leading to an unsatisfactory binding capacity. Another uncertainty is that multiple reaction sites of cross-linking monomers granted them complex polymerization routes and made it difficult to ensure the consistency of preparation. Serval monomers had been investigated with electrochemical tools and the performance of sensors constructed with these monomers were compared in this study. Based on the results, we proposed a protocol in which a novel functional monomer possessing a stronger electron-donating group, phenyl, was adopted to compete for the dominance in electropolymerization. Beyond that, the cross-linking monomer was modified with electron-withdrawing groups to raise its initiation potential. A monothiophene with a moderate initiation potential was also recruited as the linker to address the steric hindrance. In this way, polymerization proceeded in a specific order. It is worth mentioning that the Marangoni flow is an ideal tool to deal with the Coffee-ring deposition while drop-casting. The resulting sensor showed good performance with a limitation of detection (LOD) of 0.120 μM for AZN and a satisfactory selectivity, and the design can be applied to constructing sensors for a variety of macrolide antibiotics.

OBJECTIVES: Determine ancestry-specific interactions between circulatory folate concentrations, haplotypes of the one-carbon (1C) pathway genes and risk of higher-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN2+) in the US post-folic acid fortification era. METHODS: Study included self-reported African American and Caucasian American women positive for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes and diagnosed with ≤ CIN1 (non-cases, n = 340) or CIN2+ (cases, n = 337). Plasma and red blood cell (RBC) folate, vitamins B12 (B12) and C, and total carotene levels were measured. 660 single nucleotide polymorphisms of the 1C pathway genes and 104 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) were analyzed using buffy coat DNA and customizable Illumina GoldenGate arrays. Global African ancestry (GA) was estimated using the AIMs. Ancestry-based African American (AFR) had GA ≥ 0.8 and European Americans (EA) otherwise. Common haplotype blocks (n = 50) were tested for interactions with circulatory folate using logistic regression adjusting for age, education, body mass index (BMI), body fat %, smoking, parity, hormonal contraception use, plasma total carotene, B12 and C. False discovery rate

Single-event transient (SET) induced soft errors are becoming more and more a threat to the reliability of electronic systems in space. The SET pulse width is an important parameter characterizing the possibility of an SET being latched by a sequential element such as a flip-flop. This paper improves the widely used on-chip self-triggered SET measurement circuit by changing it from a single SET measurement module to a combination of two modules. One module is responsible for measuring narrow SET pulse widths while the other is responsible for measuring modest and wide SET pulse widths. In this way, the range of measurable SET pulse width is increased. Pulsed laser facility is used to simulate single-event transients induced by single-particles. Experimental results demonstrate that the minimum accurately measured SET pulse width is decreased from 166.5 ps to 33.3 ps after adopting the proposed design when compared with the original one. SET pulse width broadening effect was also observed using the measurement system. The broadening factor was measured to be 0.123–0.143 ps/inverter.

Phosphorus (P) recovery from biogas slurry has recently attracted considerable interest. In this work, ultrasound/H2O2 digestion coupled with ferric oxide hydrate/biochar (HFO/biochar) adsorption process was performed to promote P dissolution, release, and recovery from biogas slurry. The results showed that the optimal total phosphorus release efficiency was achieved at an inorganic phosphorus/total phosphorus ratio of 95.0% at pH 4, 1mL of added H2O2, and ultrasonication for 30min. The P adsorption by the HFO/biochar followed pseudo second-order kinetics and was mainly controlled by chemical processes. The Langmuir-Freundlich model matched the experimental data best for P adsorption by HFO/biochar at 298 and 308K, whereas the Freundlich model matched best at 318K. The maximum amount of P adsorbed was 220mg/g. The process was endothermic, spontaneous, and showed an increase in disorder at the solid-liquid interface. The saturated adsorbed HFO/biochar continually releases P and is most suitable for use in an alkaline environment. The amount of P released reached 29.1mg/g after five extractions. P mass balance calculation revealed that 11.3% of the total P can be made available.