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Guanidine- and thiourea-based complexes have been the subject of extensive study due to their wide range of potential applications, including but not limited to anti-cancer drugs, ion transporters, and sensors. Building upon previous work done in this group, we aimed to demonstrate a new series of organometallic complexes based on functionally diverse guanidine and thiourea ligands. Herein, the synthesis and characterization of new platinum, rhodium, and cobalt complexes is presented. While most of these complexes conformed to properties and behaviours in line with previous work, one complex based on a Pt(II) and guanidine derivative exhibited unusual supramolecular properties, demonstrating a larger self-assembled dimer consisting of six Pt(II) cations.

Background: Ustekinumab, a human immunoglobulin G1 monoclonal antibody that binds to and inhibits interleukin (IL)-12/IL-23, is indicated for multiple immune-mediated diseases. Ustekinumab is actively transported across the placenta and theoretically could impact pregnancy outcomes. Limited data on pregnancy outcomes with ustekinumab exposure are available. Aim: To assess pregnancy outcomes in patients exposed to ustekinumab during pregnancy. Methods: Cumulative data on medically confirmed ustekinumab-exposed pregnancies from the manufacturer's Global Safety Database were summarised. Descriptive data for pregnancy outcomes were presented overall and by patient subgroups. Results: As of 31 August 2020, 408 medically confirmed, prospective, maternal ustekinumab-exposed pregnancies with reported outcomes were identified. The mean maternal age was 31 years. Of the 420 pregnancy outcomes (including 4 sets of twins),a,b 340 (81%) were live births, 51 (12.1%) spontaneous abortions, 25 (6%) elective/induced abortions, 3 (0.7%) stillbirths and 1 (0.2%) ongoing pregnancy with foetal congenital anomaly (CA). Among 340 live births, 33 (9.7%) were born pre-term. The rate of major CAs was similar by indication (Crohn's disease vs psoriasis), ustekinumab dose (45 mg vs 90 mg) and timing and duration of maternal exposure to ustekinumab. Prospective outcomes of pregnancies with paternal periconceptional ustekinumab exposure (n = 87) included 92% live births (1.2% major CA), 5.7% spontaneous abortions and 2.3% elective/induced abortions. Conclusions: Rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes or CAs with ustekinumab exposure were consistent with rates reported for the US general population and do not suggest a higher risk associated with maternal or paternal exposure to ustekinumab.

An indoor visible light positioning system using the received signal strength intensity method and the trilateration technique with user mobility support is proposed for applications, e.g. healthcare. Accurate position information of medical staffs and patients is required for data transmission, tracking, navigation, etc. Seamless data transmission while user is on the move has been conceptualized considering the optical network formed by photosensor (light emitting diode)-based transmitters. Efficiency of these services depends on the position accuracy. To investigate factors contributing to higher position errors in a practical environment, the proposed system is evaluated. Evaluation is done through simulation and experiment for different channel conditions, and the receiver rotation due to user mobility. Simulation results show an average two-dimensional position error of 0.32 m in a channel with a strong background light illumination level of − 60 dBm. Experimental results show that the mean position error is 0.7 m in a normal daytime indoor light condition.

PDF - 1128K, Figure S1. Knockdown of CDK7 and CDK9 can inhibit RNAP II CTD P-Ser2 and P-Ser5. Figure S2. LY2857785 and flavopiridol inhibit MCL-1, XIAP protein expression and induce CASP-3 and cleaved PARP in AML cell MV-4-11. Table S1. LY2857785 inhibits solid tumor cell proliferation and induces apoptosis. Table S2. 261 probsets gene signature in sens and res cell lines. Table S3. LY2857785 inhibits proliferation of normal human hematopoietic cells in vitro.

XLSX - 54K, Table S2. 261 probsets gene signature in sens and res cell lines in Excel format.

DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II (RNAP II) largest subunit RPB1 C-terminal domain (CTD) kinases, including CDK9, are serine/threonine kinases known to regulate transcriptional initiation and elongation by phosphorylating Ser 2, 5, and 7 residues on CTD. Given the reported dysregulation of these kinases in some cancers, we asked whether inhibiting CDK9 may induce stress response and preferentially kill tumor cells. Herein, we describe a potent CDK9 inhibitor, LY2857785, that significantly reduces RNAP II CTD phosphorylation and dramatically decreases MCL1 protein levels to result in apoptosis in a variety of leukemia and solid tumor cell lines. This molecule inhibits the growth of a broad panel of cancer cell lines, and is particularly efficacious in leukemia cells, including orthotopic leukemia preclinical models as well as in ex vivo acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia patient tumor samples. Thus, inhibition of CDK9 may represent an interesting approach as a cancer therapeutic target, especially in hematologic malignancies. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(6); 1442–56. ©2014 AACR.

Urban dwellers’ use of public and private green spaces may have changed during the early years of the Covid-19 pandemic due to movement restriction. A survey was deployed in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia 1 year after the start of Covid-19 restrictions (April 2021) to explore relationships of mental health and wellbeing to different patterns of private yard versus public green space visitation. More frequent yard use during the initial year of Covid-19 was correlated with lower stress, depression, and anxiety and higher wellbeing. However, greater duration of yard visits (week prior to survey) was associated with higher stress, anxiety, and depression scores, potentially because individuals may seek to use nature spaces immediately available for emotional regulation during difficult times. The results highlight the importance of yards for mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic and that relationships between nature interaction and mental health may be context and timeframe dependent.

To check the accuracy of column-average dry air CO2 mole fractions (XCO2) retrieved from Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO-2) data, a similar quantity has been measured from the Multi-functional Fiber Laser Lidar (MFLL) aboard aircraft flying underneath OCO-2 as part of the Atmospheric Carbon and Transport (ACT) – America flight campaigns. Here we do a lagged correlation analysis of these MFLL–OCO-2 column CO2 differences and find that their correlation spectrum falls off rapidly at along-track separation distances under 10 km, with a correlation length scale of about 10 km, and less rapidly at longer separation distances, with a correlation length scale of about 20 km. The OCO-2 satellite takes many CO2 measurements with small (∼3 km2) fields of view (FOVs) in a thin ( km wide) swath running parallel to its orbit: up to 24 separate FOVs may be obtained per second (across a ∼6.75 km distance on the ground), though clouds, aerosols, and other factors cause considerable data dropout. Errors in the CO2 retrieval method have long been thought to be correlated at these fine scales, and methods to account for these when assimilating these data into top-down atmospheric CO2 flux inversions have been developed. A common approach has been to average the data at coarser scales (e.g., in 10 s long bins) along-track, then assign an uncertainty to the averaged value that accounts for the error correlations. Here we outline the methods used up to now for computing these 10 s averages and their uncertainties, including the constant-correlation-with-distance error model that was used to summarize the OCO-2 version 9 XCO2 retrievals as part of the OCO-2 flux inversion model intercomparison project. We then derive a new one-dimensional error model using correlations that decay exponentially with separation distance, apply this model to the OCO-2 data using the correlation length scales derived from the MFLL–OCO-2 differences, and compare the results (for both the average and its uncertainty) to those given by the current constant correlation error model. To implement this new model, the data are averaged first across 2 s spans to collapse the cross-track distribution of the real data onto the 1-D path assumed by the new model. Considering correlated errors can cause the average value to fall outside the range of the values averaged; two strategies for preventing this are presented. The correlation lengths over the ocean, which the land-based MFLL data do not clarify, are assumed to be twice those over the land. The new correlation model gives 10 s XCO2 averages that are only a few tenths of 1 ppm different from the constant correlation model. Over land, the uncertainties in the mean are also similar, suggesting that the +0.3 constant correlation coefficient currently used in the model there is accurate. Over the oceans, the twice-the-land correlation lengths that we assume here result in a significantly lower uncertainty on the mean than the +0.6 constant correlation currently gives – measurements similar to the MFLL ones are needed over the oceans to do better. Finally, we show how our 1-D exponential error correlation model may be used to account for correlations in inversion methods that choose to assimilate each XCO2 retrieval individually and also to account for correlations between separate 10 s averages when these are assimilated instead.

Many epithelial compartments undergo constitutive renewal in homeostasis but activate unique regenerative responses following injury. The clear corneal epithelium is crucial for vision and is renewed from limbal stem cells (LSCs). Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we profiled the mouse corneal epithelium in homeostasis, aging, diabetes, and dry eye disease (DED), where tear deficiency predisposes the cornea to recurrent injury. In homeostasis, we capture the transcriptional states that accomplish continuous tissue turnover. We leverage our dataset to identify candidate genes and gene networks that characterize key stages across homeostatic renewal, including markers for LSCs. In aging and diabetes, there were only mild changes with

Earth is undergoing a devastating extinction crisis caused by human impacts on nature, but only a fraction of society is strongly concerned and acting on the crisis. Understanding what determines people's concern for nature, environmental movement activism, and personal conservation behavior is fundamental if sustainability is to be achieved. Despite its potential importance, the study of the genetic contribution to concern for nature and proenvironmental behaviors has been neglected. Using a twin data set (N = 2312), we show moderate heritability (30%–40%) for concern for nature, environmental movement activism, and personal conservation behavior and high genetic correlations between them (.6–.7), suggesting a partially shared genetic basis. Our results shed light on the individual variation in sustainable behaviors, highlighting the importance of understanding both the environmental and genetic components in the pursuit of sustainability.

Residential yards are a significant component of urban socio‐ecological systems; residential land covers 11% of the United States and is often the dominant land use within urban areas. Residential yards also play an important role in the sustainability of urban socio‐ecological systems, affecting biogeochemical cycles, water and the climate via individual‐ and household‐level behaviours. Spatial contagion has been observed in yard vegetation in several cities, potentially due to social norms that compel neighbours to emulate or conform to specific aesthetic qualities or management regimes. Residents may feel obliged to mow their front yards or prune their trees, creating patterns of spatial autocorrelation in residential neighbourhoods. In this study, we examined the spatial autocorrelation of several yard vegetation characteristics in both front and backyards in Boston, MA, USA. Our study area included 1,027 Census block groups (sub‐neighbourhood areas) and 175,576 parcels with matched front‐backyard pairings (n = 351,152 yards in total) across Boston's metropolitan area. We spatially defined ‘neighbours’ in five ways to better account for the potentially variable nature of how conformity or contagion manifests in empirical terms. We anticipated front yards to have stronger spatial autocorrelation due to the more publicly visible nature of these green spaces. We found positive and significant spatial autocorrelation in all measured vegetation variables, in both front and backyards. Unexpectedly, spatial autocorrelation tended to be higher in backyards for tree canopy variables but higher in front yards for turf grass cover. Among block groups, different socio‐economic variables, such as median household income, predicted spatial autocorrelation of vegetation characteristics. Our results were sensitive to how neighbours were spatially defined. Our results further underscore the importance of backyards as critical areas for sustaining an urban tree canopy, and show that spatial patterns vary across different social groups. The importance of ‘neighbour’ definition indicates opportunities to think carefully about the mechanisms driving spatial autocorrelation and the scales at which patterns develop. The identification of these mechanisms will have important implications for scales of policy and implementation for urban and suburban greening. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

High-fidelity and large-scale hydrological models are increasingly used to investigate the impacts of human activities and climate change on water availability and quality. However, the detailed representations of real-world systems and processes contained in these models inevitably lead to prohibitively high execution times, ranging from minutes to days. Such models become computationally prohibitive or even infeasible when large iterative model simulations are involved. In this study, we propose a generic two-level (i.e., watershed- and subbasin-level) model parallelization schema to reduce the run time of computationally expensive model applications through a combination of model spatial decomposition and the graph-parallel Pregel algorithm. Taking the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) as an example, we implemented a generic tool named GP-SWAT, enabling watershed-level and subbasin-level model parallelization on a Spark computer cluster. We then evaluated GP-SWAT in two sets of experiments to demonstrate the ability of GP-SWAT to accelerate single and iterative model simulations and to run in different environments. In each test set, GP-SWAT was applied for the parallel simulation of four synthetic hydrological models with different input/output (I/O) burdens. The single-model parallelization results showed that GP-SWAT can obtain a 2.3–5.8-times speedup. For multiple simulations with subbasin-level parallelization, GP-SWAT yielded a remarkable speedup of 8.34–27.03 times. In both cases, the speedup ratios increased with an increasing computation burden. The experimental results indicate that GP-SWAT can effectively solve the high-computational-demand problems of the SWAT model. In addition, as a scalable and flexible tool, it can be run in diverse environments, from a commodity computer running the Microsoft Windows operating system to a Spark cluster consisting of a large number of computational nodes. Moreover, it is possible to apply this generic tool to other subbasin-based hydrological models or even acyclic models in other domains to alleviate I/O demands and to optimize model computational performance.

Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) promise a future where natural, human and technical elements help solving many of the issues plaguing cities. Pollution reduction, increased human wellbeing and climate change adaptation are only some of the challenges targeted by NBSs. However, under the warming climate affecting many of the world’s cities, most of modern NBSs will be highly impacted by the same climate factors they hope to mitigate. As in the case of extreme temperatures or altered water availability, these factors can impact and cause the failure in the organisms, technical elements and governance structures that NBSs rely upon, thus decreasing performance, reliability and sustainability of these solutions. In this commentary we propose critical considerations related to designing, building and managing “climate-ready” NBSs – defined as local integrated solutions able to cope with or adapt to climate change. We do so by highlighting examples in heat- and drought-stricken areas across Australian cities as they sit at the global forefront of a hotter world. We discuss in detail i) tolerance and adaptability of NBS to new climates, ii) NBS design for weather extremes and climate-safety margins, iii) NBS trialing and prototyping, and iv) planning for “climate-ready” NBSs. In doing so, we highlight caveats and limitations to propose an implementation framework to make NBSs not only work, but succeed, in a hotter urban world; one that sees 50 °C as a critical limit to sustain urban life and nature.

1. Due to seasonal breeding, geese breeds from Southern China have low egg yield. The genetic makeup underlying performance of local breeds is largely unknown, and few studies have investigated this problem. This study integrated 21 newly generated and 50 publicly existing RNA-seq libraries, representing the hypothalamus, pituitary and testis, to identify candidate genes and importantly related pathways associated with seasonal breeding in male Lion-Head geese.2. In total, 19, 119 and 302 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected in the hypothalamus, pituitary and testis, respectively, of male Lion-Head geese between non-breeding and breeding periods. These genes were significantly involved in the neuropeptide signalling pathway, gland development, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, JAK-STAT signalling pathway, cAMP signalling pathway, PI3K-Akt signalling pathway and Foxo signalling pathway.3. By integrating another 50 RNA-seq samples 4, 18 and 40 promising DEGs were confirmed in hypothalamus, pituitary and testis, respectively.4.

With the continuous development of smart grids, communication networks carry more and more power services, and at the same time, they are also facing more and more security issues. For example, some malicious software usually uses encryption technology or tunnel technology to bypass firewalls, intrusion detection systems, etc., thereby posing a serious threat to the information security of smart grids. At present, the classification of network traffic mainly depends on the correct extraction of network protocol characteristics. However, the process of extracting network features by some traditional methods is time-consuming and overly dependent on experience. In order to solve the problem of accurate classification of power network traffic, this paper proposes a method of convolutional neural network based on genetic algorithm optimization (GACNN) and data statistical analysis. This method can simultaneously extract the time characteristics between different packet groups and the spatial characteristics in the same packet group. Therefore, it greatly saves manpower and gets rid of the dependence on experience value. The proposed method has been tested and verified on the UNSW-NB15 dataset and the real dataset collected by the power company. The results show that the proposed method can correctly classify abnormal network flows and is much better than traditional machine learning methods. In large-scale real network flow scenarios, the detection rate of the proposed method exceeds 97%, while the traditional method is generally less than 90%.

Gardening has the potential to improve health and wellbeing, especially during crises. Using an international survey of gardeners (n=3743), this study aimed to understand everyday gardening experiences, perspectives and attitudes during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Our qualitative reflexive thematic and sentiment analyses show that during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, gardening seemed to create a safe and positive space where people could socially connect, learn and be creative. Participants had more time to garden during the pandemic, which led to enhanced connections with family members and neighbours, and the ability to spend time in a safe outdoor environment. More time gardening allowed for innovative and new gardening practices that provided enjoyment for many participants. However, our research also highlighted barriers to gardening (e.g. lack of access to garden spaces and materials). Our results illustrate the multiple benefits of gardening apparent during COVID-19 through a lens of the social-ecological model of health.

Obesity is recognized as a significant risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Studies have supported the notion that obesity accelerates AD-related pathophysiology in mouse models of AD. The majority of studies, to date, have focused on the use of early-onset AD models. Here, we evaluate the impact of genetic risk factors on late-onset AD (LOAD) in mice fed with a high fat/high sugar diet (HFD). We focused on three mouse models created through the IU/JAX/PITT MODEL-AD Center. These included a combined risk model with APOE4 and a variant in triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (Trem2R47H). We have termed this model, LOAD1. Additional variants including the M28L variant in phospholipase C Gamma 2 (Plcg2M28L) and the 677C > T variant in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (Mthfr677C >T) were engineered by CRISPR onto LOAD1 to generate LOAD1.Plcg2M28L and LOAD1.Mthfr677C >T. At 2 months of age, animals were placed on an HFD that induces obesity or a control diet (CD), until 12 months of age. Throughout the study, blood was collected to assess the levels of cholesterol and glucose. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) was completed prior to sacrifice to image for glucose utilization and brain perfusion. After the completion of the study, blood and brains were collected for analysis. As expected, animals fed a HFD, showed a significant increase in body weight compared to those fed a CD. Glucose increased as a function of HFD in females only with cholesterol increasing in both sexes. Interestingly, LOAD1.Plcg2M28L demonstrated an increase in microglia density and alterations in regional brain glucose and perfusion on HFD. These changes were not observed in LOAD1 or LOAD1.Mthfr677C >T animals fed with HFD. Furthermore, LOAD1.Plcg2M28L but not LOAD1.Mthfr677C >T or LOAD1 animals showed transcriptomics correlations with human AD modules. Our results show that HFD affects the brain in a genotype-specific manner. Further insight into this process may have significant implications for the development of lifestyle interventions for the treatment of AD.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the distribution characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease among permanent residents in Yinzhou District, Ningbo City, and to understand the disease burden and development trend of inflammatory bowel disease in this area. METHODS: Using the retrospective cohort design, we collected the registration information of all permanent residents in the residents' health files of the Yinzhou Regional Health Information Platform from 2010 to 2020, and used electronic medical records to follow up their inflammatory bowel disease visits. A one-year wash-out period was set, and the patients who were diagnosed with the primary diagnosis for the first time after one year of registration were re-garded as new cases. The incidence density and 95% confidence interval (CI) of inflammatory bowel disease were estimated by Poisson distribution. RESULTS: From 2011 to 2020, a total of 1 496 427 permanent residents in Yinzhou District were included, of which 729 996 were male (48.78%). The total follow-up person-years were 8 081 030.82, and the median follow-up person-years were 5.41 [interquartile range (IQR): 5.29]. During the study period, there were 1 217 new cases of inflammatory bowel disease, of which males (624 cases, 51.27%) were more than females (593 cases, 48.73%). The total incidence density was 15.06/100 000 person-years (95%CI: 14.23, 15.93). Among all new cases, there were 1 106 cases (90.88%) of ulcerative colitis, with an incidence density of 13.69 per 100 000 person-years (95%CI: 12.89, 14.52); 70 cases (5.75%) of Crohn's disease, with an incidence density of 0.87 per 100 000 person-years (95%CI: 0.68, 1.09); and 41 cases (3.37%) of indeterminate colitis, with an incidence density of 0.51 per 100 000 person-years (95%CI: 0.36, 0.69). The median age of onset of ulcerative colitis was 50.82 years old (IQR: 18.77), with the highest proportion (15.01%) in the 45-49 years group. The incidence density of ulcerative colitis gradually increased with age, reaching a relatively high level in the 45-49 years group (20.53/100 000 person-years; 95%CI: 17.63, 23.78), followed by a slight increase. And the incidence density in the 65-69 years group was the highest (25.44/100 000 person-years; 95%CI: 20.85, 30.75), with a rapid decrease in the 75-79 years group. The median age of onset of Crohn's disease was 44.34 years (IQR: 33.41), with the highest proportion (12.86%) in the 25-29 years group. Due to the small number of new cases of Crohn's disease, the age distribution fluctuated greatly, with peaks both in young and old people. From 2011 to 2020, the incidence density of inflammatory bowel disease in Yinzhou District was at a low level from 2011 to 2013, and showed a rapid upward trend from 2014 to 2016, reaching a peak of 24.62 per 100 000 person-years in 2016 (95%CI: 21.31, 28.30), and slightly decreased in 2017—2020. CONCLUSION: The incidence density of inflammatory bowel disease in Yinzhou District from 2011 to 2020 was at a relatively high level, and medical institutions and health departments need to pay attention to the burden of disease caused by it.

To evaluate whether differences exist in systemic complement activation profiles in patients with early to intermediate nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or geographic atrophy (GA) compared with control participants without AMD.Complement inhibition has emerged as a therapeutic strategy for GA, although clinical trials to date have yielded mixed results. Despite these efforts, no clear consensus exists regarding what portions of the complement pathway are dysregulated in AMD or when this dysregulation occurs relative to AMD stage. Although past studies have compared systemic complement activation profiles in patients with AMD versus in control participants without AMD, differences in AMD case definition and differing analytical approaches complicate their interpretation.We performed a systematic review by identifying articles from database inception through October 11, 2020, that reported systemic complement activation profiles in patients with early or intermediate nonexudative AMD or GA versus control participants without AMD by searching PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase. Risk of bias was assessed using a modified Newcastle-Ottawa score.The 8 reviewed studies included 2131 independent participants. Most studies report significantly higher systemic levels of products associated with complement activation and significantly lower systemic levels of products associated with complement inhibition in patients with early and advanced nonexudative AMD compared with control participants without AMD.Evidence suggests that systemic complement overactivation is a feature of early or intermediate and advanced nonexudative AMD. However, given significant heterogeneity, these findings are not conclusive and warrant further investigation.

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about additional challenges beyond the usual transitional stresses faced by a newly qualified doctor We aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on interns' stress, burnout, emotions, and implications on their training, while exploring their coping mechanisms and resilience levels Methods: Newly graduated doctors interning in a Paediatric department in Singapore, who experienced escalation of the pandemic from January to April 2020, were invited to participate Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Maslach's Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Connor Davidson Resilience Scale 25-item (CD-RISC 25) pre-pandemic and 4 months into COVID-19 Group interviews were conducted to supplement the quantitative responses to achieve study aims Results: Response rate was 100% (n=10) for post-exposure questionnaires and group interviews Despite working through the pandemic, interns' stress levels were not increased, burnout remained low, while resilience remained high Four themes emerged from the group interviews - the impacts of the pandemic on their psychology, duties, training, as well as protective mechanisms Their responses, particularly the institutional mechanisms and individual coping strategies, enabled us to understand their unexpected low burnout and high resilience despite the pandemic Conclusion: This study demonstrated that it is possible to mitigate stress, burnout and preserve resilience of vulnerable healthcare workers such as interns amidst a pandemic The study also validated a multifaceted approach that targets institutional, faculty as well as individual levels, can ensure the continued wellbeing of healthcare workers even in challenging times [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Asia Pacific Scholar is the property of Centre for Medical Education (CenMed) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )

This paper proposes a continuous time-varying feedback control based on back-stepping for automatic magazine system, in which the control gains depend on the Lyapunov function to ensure the robustness against modelling uncertainty. The Lyapunov function, which is implicit, is differentiable functions of system error variables. Integrated with backstepping control, the performance of the automation magazine system is greatly improved, while retaining the advantage of only needing to ensure the bounds of disturbances. Lyapunov analysis shows tracking errors of the system are asymptotically stable. In addition, this proposed controller is continuous and has the characteristics of simplicity and practicality, which are beneficial to practical applications. Finally, Numerical simulations are provided to verify the high performance of the controller by comparing the simulation experimental results in automation magazine system.

Urban parks provide a multitude of health benefits for citizens navigating the challenges of 21st-century living. And while this is well known by both scholars and practitioners, there is less understanding about the differential impacts of park size, type of facilities, community accessibility, and management. This is the central concern of the research reported here, which is a part of a larger project titled ‘Better Parks, Healthier for All?’ funded under the UKRI-NHMRC Built Environment and Prevention Research Scheme 2019. Within this broader context, the current paper discusses the results of a focus group to better understand how different park qualities promote physical and mental health. Using a COVID-safe research approach, we brought key park providers, park policymakers, and green and open space designers from New South Wales, Australia, together to participate in an online focus group in May 2021. The recruitment was based on the domain expertise and practitioner knowledge of the issues at hand. The ensuing discussion canvassed three areas of interest: What is park quality? How is park quality associated with health? How can we assess park quality and its ability to deliver health outcomes? A thematic analysis of the group’s deliberations reveals a very holistic appreciation of park quality. The ability of a park network to provide a range of health outcomes is central to this view, with each park playing a role in delivering different benefits across the network. Our findings indicate that there are many opportunities to enhance the myriad of benefits and multiple ways to gain them. Co-design is essential to ensure that parks best suit the local context and provide relevant benefits to all stakeholders. In this way, local communities can gain ownership and enhanced agency in relation to using and enjoying their parks. We conclude that delivering locally networked parks and associated spaces for community health and wellbeing are essential in the broader context of global environmental sustainability.

Introduction: A voluntary cerebral palsy (CP) registry was established in 2017 to describe the clinical characteristics and functional outcomes of CP in Singapore. Methods: People with CP born after 1994 were recruited through KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, National University Hospital and Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore. Patient-reported basic demographics, service utilisation and quality of life measures were collected with standardised questionnaires. Clinical information was obtained through hospital medical records. Results: Between 1 September 2017 and 31 March 2020, 151 participants were recruited. A majority (n=135, 89%) acquired CP in the pre/perinatal period, where prematurity (n=102, 76%) and the need for emergency caesarean section (n=68, 50%) were leading risk factors. Sixteen (11%) of the total participants had post-neonatally acquired CP. For predominant CP motor types, 109 (72%) had a spastic motor type; 32% with spastic mono/hemiplegia, 41% diplegia, 6% triplegia and 21% quadriplegia. The remaining (42, 27.8%) had dyskinetic CP. Sixty-eight (45.0%) participants suffered significant functional impairment (Gross Motor Functional Classification System levels IV–V). Most participants (n=102, 67.5%) required frequent medical follow-up (≥4 times a year). Conclusion: Optimisation of pre- and perinatal care to prevent and manage prematurity could reduce the burden of CP and their overall healthcare utilisation. Keywords: Cerebral palsy, functional outcomes, neonatal, registry

Flood disasters frequently threaten people and property all over the world. Therefore, an effective numerical model is required to predict the impacts of floods. In this study, a dynamic bidirectional coupled hydrologic–hydrodynamic model (DBCM) is developed with the implementation of characteristic wave theory, in which the boundary between these two models can dynamically adapt according to local flow conditions. The proposed model accounts for both mass and momentum transfer on the coupling boundary and was validated via several benchmark tests. The results show that the DBCM can effectively reproduce the process of flood propagation and also account for surface flow interaction between non-inundation and inundation regions. The DBCM was implemented for the floods simulation that occurred at Helin Town located in Chongqing, China, which shows the capability of the model for flood risk early warning and future management.

Cavitation monitoring is particularly important for pump efficiency and stability. It is easy to misjudge cavitation by using a given threshold of a single eigenvalue. In this work, based on the vibration signal, a method for multi-resolution cavitation status recognition of centrifugal pump is proposed to improve the accuracy and universality of cavitation status recognition., wavelet packet decomposition (WPD) is used to extract the statistical eigenvalues of multi-scale time-varying moment of cavitation signal after reducing the clutter, such as root mean square value, energy entropy value and so on. The characteristic matrix is constructed. Principal component analysis method (PCA) is employed to reduce the dimension of the characteristic matrix and remove the redundancy, which constructs the radial basis function (RBF) neural network as the input. The results show that the overall recognition rate of non-cavitation, inception cavitation and serious cavitation by using the vibration signal of one measuring point is more than 97.7%. The recognition rate of inception cavitation is more than 80%. Based on the vibration signal information fusion method of two measuring points, the recognition rate of centrifugal pump inception cavitation status reaches more than 99%, and the recognition rate of vibration signal information fusion method of three measuring points reaches 100% for all three cavitation statuses. Due to the influence of factors such as change of external excitation and abrupt change of working conditions, sensor data acquisition is often subjected to unpredictable disturbance. To study the ability of single-point cavitation status recognition method to resist unknown disturbances, by constantly adjusting the value of the interference coefficient of the interference term. It is found that the recognition rate of cavitation status using single measuring point decreases almost linearly with the increase of the interference coefficient. When five measuring points are used for information fusion cavitation status recognition, the cavitation status recognition rate still reaches over 90% even if the interference factor of one measuring point reaches 50%.

Increased dietary intake of niacin has been correlated with reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Niacin serves as a high-affinity ligand for the receptor HCAR2 (GPR109A). In the brain, HCAR2 is expressed selectively by microglia and is robustly induced by amyloid pathology in AD. The genetic inactivation of Hcar2 in 5xFAD mice, a model of AD, results in impairment of the microglial response to amyloid deposition, including deficits in gene expression, proliferation, envelopment of amyloid plaques, and uptake of amyloid-β (Aβ), ultimately leading to exacerbation of amyloid burden, neuronal loss, and cognitive deficits. In contrast, activation of HCAR2 with an FDA-approved formulation of niacin (Niaspan) in 5xFAD mice leads to reduced plaque burden and neuronal dystrophy, attenuation of neuronal loss, and rescue of working memory deficits. These data provide direct evidence that HCAR2 is required for an efficient and neuroprotective response of microglia to amyloid pathology. Administration of Niaspan potentiates the HCAR2-mediated microglial protective response and consequently attenuates amyloid-induced pathology, suggesting that its use may be a promising therapeutic approach to AD that specifically targets the neuroimmune response.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Early to intermediate AMD is characterized by the accumulation of lipid- and protein-rich drusen. Late stages of the disease are characterized by the development of choroidal neovascularization, termed "exudative" or "neovascular AMD," or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell and photoreceptor death, termed "geographic atrophy" (GA) in advanced nonexudative AMD. Although we have effective treatments for exudative AMD in the form of anti-VEGF agents, they have no role for patients with GA. Neuroprotection strategies have emerged as a possible way to slow photoreceptor degeneration and vision loss in patients with GA. These approaches include reduction of oxidative stress, modulation of the visual cycle, reduction of toxic molecules, inhibition of pathologic protein activity, prevention of cellular apoptosis or programmed necrosis (necroptosis), inhibition of inflammation, direct activation of neurotrophic factors, delivery of umbilical tissue-derived cells, and RPE replacement. Despite active investigation in this area and significant promise based on preclinical studies, many clinical studies have not yielded successful results. We discuss selected past and current neuroprotection trials for AMD, highlight the lessons learned from these past studies, and discuss our perspective regarding remaining questions that must be answered before neuroprotection can be successfully applied in the field of AMD research.

Strelitzia reginae is a popular cut flower that has blue petals and orange sepals. Flower color is an important plant trait; however, little is known about its molecular mechanisms in S. reginae. In this study, cDNA libraries were constructed for blue petals and orange sepals of S. reginae. A total of 75 487 unigenes were obtained from transcriptome sequencing and de novo assembly, of which 41.86 % were annotated by public databases. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that anthocyanins were the main pigment in blue petals, and that carotenoids controled pigment formation in the orange sepals. Using a system analysis-based approach, 73 and 29 candidate genes related to anthocyanin and carotenoid biosyntheses were identified, respectively. Among these, chalcone synthase 2, chalcone isomerase 1, flavanone 3-hydroxylase 1, flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase 1, dihydroflavonol 4-reductase 1, anthocyanidin synthase 1, and anthocyanidin 3-O-glucosyltransferase 1 were considered to be important in regulating the formation of blue petals, and phytoene synthase 1, phytoene desaturaser 1, ζ-carotene desaturase 1, lycopene β-cyclase 3, and β-carotene hydroxylase 2 might play important roles in orange sepal formation. This study improves our understanding of flower color and provides evidence for future molecular breeding of ornamental plants based on flower color modifications.

Although urban gardens are often celebrated for supporting bee abundance and diversity within cities, little is known about how garden management and urbanization levels influence bee foraging behavior and ability to utilize resources within these landscapes. Specifically, the preferences and diet breadth of bees may depend critically on local and landscape conditions in human-managed, urban environments. To understand how foraging patterns and pollen preferences are influenced by urban landscape composition, we first examined if bees visit plants grown within urban gardens and second assessed the relationships between local floral resources, urban land cover, and pollen collection patterns, focusing on 20 community gardens across 125 km of the California central coast. We targeted a well-studied, essential native pollinator in this ecoregion, Bombus vosnesenskii, and analyzed pollen on the bodies of individuals collected in our study gardens to compare their contents to local and landscape garden composition factors. We found that greater landscape-level urban cover and greater plant species richness in the garden both drove higher within-garden pollen collection. We also found that B. vosnesenskii preferred ornamental plant species over highly available crop species in the gardens. Our study indicates that landscapes that support plant diversity, including both ornamental plants and sustenance-oriented food crops, promote greater within-garden pollen collection patterns, with likely benefits for urban garden food production.

Many industrial combustion devices rely on jet flame combustion in the crossflow to achieve mixing and reaction. Previous research offers a limited predictive capability regarding the coupling effects of the crossflow and jet flow on the flame radiative fraction. In this work, a new theoretical equation is derived to relate the radiative fraction to the fuel flow rate and the crossflow velocity. The experimental results show that the flame length increases as the crossflow velocity increases for all considered flames. The results of this work suggest that the stretching factor is 0.08 s. The radiative fraction is almost independent of the nozzle diameter in the case of a low crossflow velocity. The crossflow has the strongest effect on the radiative fraction for a smaller nozzle diameter. This is because of the effect of the crossflow and jet flow velocities on the soot residence time, which is proportional to the radiative fraction.

It is often argued that biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are linked by both habitat and species composition, and that this relationship is particularly critical for mobile ecosystem service providers. This may be especially true for pollinators, which are essential for the reproduction of the majority of flowering plant species, are highly mobile, and can exhibit dramatically different foraging behaviors across ecosystems. Understanding how habitat and community composition impact pollination is especially relevant in urban environments where pollinators can promote food security. We examined the relationships between local resource density, landscape composition, pollinator abundance and richness, and pollination services in an urban agricultural system spanning >125 km of the California central coast. We used a replicated, experimental approach to evaluate the reproductive success of jalapeno peppers across urban gardens and conducted a greenhouse experiment to evaluate the benefits of insect-mediated pollination to pepper reproduction. In the greenhouse, we found that jalapeno fruit weight and seed number was significantly greater with insect-mediated pollination than without. In the field, we found that jalapeno seed number increased significantly with herbaceous (weed, crop, and ornamental) plant richness and the number of perennial trees and shrubs at the site level, but decreased with the amount of natural landscape cover. We also found that higher pollinator richness enhanced seed number in floral-dense gardens, likely due to the greater functional complementarity of a more diverse pollinator community. Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between pollinator abundance and seed number, but it weakened in gardens with more flowers, likely through lower per-plant pollinator visitation in the presence of competing floral resources. As in past studies, we found that mulch had a negative impact on pollinator abundance, highlighting that abiotic factors commonly managed by gardeners can directly impact ecosystem service providers. This study demonstrates that local conditions can significantly influence ecosystem service provision and that urban gardeners need to optimize for both pollinator richness and floral resource availability to achieve optimal pollination.

Context Land use change requires measuring shifting patterns in biodiversity at various spatial scales to inform landscape management. Assessing vegetation change at different scales is challenging in urban ecosystems managed by many individuals. Thus, we do not know much about the structure and function of green spaces that support biodiversity. Objective We aim to understand how vegetation structure and function indicators in urban community gardens vary with spatial scale, applying new and traditional methods in landscape ecology to inform future research and application. Methods We performed two methods to assess garden vegetation structure (height) and function (species diversity, cover) at the garden- and garden plot scale. First, we used traditional field sampling to estimate garden vegetation at the garden scale (1 m2 quadrats along transects) and at the plot scale (estimated within entire plot) to measure height, diversity and cover. Second, we used UAV aerial imagery to derive measures of garden and plot vegetation using canopy height models (CHMs). We evaluated differences in CHMs at each scale across the gardens, and compared field and UAV-derived measures. Results Garden vegetation characteristics vary with spatial scale. Plant species richness and vegetation cover, but not height, related to UAV-derived imagery. Conclusions New technologies paired with traditional field methods can together inform how vegetation structure and function vary with spatial scale in urban landscapes. Spatial scale is key to accurate and meaningful urban vegetation analyses. New and traditional methods in urban ecology research should develop together to improve and streamline their future application.

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is an incompletely understood malady that affects many age groups, primarily in a bimodal age distribution. We present a patient with the association of type 1 diabetes mellitus (type 1 DM) and MMD followed by a review of the existing literature. We found five papers that describe this association, in the form of one case report, one case series, and three retrospective reviews. Despite a poor understanding of the underlying pathophysiology, a clear association between autoimmune conditions and MMD appears to exist. Clinicians who manage such patients ought to be vigilant and have a high index of suspicion when young patients with type 1 DM present with new onset of neurological symptoms.

One issue that has persisted since the beginning of what might be referred to as a modern era of biological aerosol research (since the 1990’s), is absence of reference biological aerosols that wou...

Obesity is recognized as a significant risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Studies have supported the notion that obesity accelerates AD-related pathophysiology in mouse models of AD. The majority of studies to date have focused on the use of early-onset AD models. Here we evaluate the impact of genetic risk factors on late-onset AD (LOAD) in mice fed a high fat/high sugar diet. We focused on three mouse models created through the IU/JAX/Pitt MODEL-AD Center, LOAD1, LOAD1.Plcg2M28L and LOAD1.Mthfr677C>T. At 2 months of age, animals were placed on a high fat/high sugar diet (HFD) that induces obesity, or a control diet (CD) that does not, until 12 months of age. Throughout the study, blood was collected to assess cholesterol and glucose. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) was completed prior to sacrifice to image for glucose utilization and brain perfusion. At the completion of the study, blood and brains were collected for analysis. As expected, animals fed the HFD, regardless of genotype or sex, showed a significant increase in body weight compared to those fed the CD. Glucose and cholesterol increased as a function of HFD as well. Interestingly, LOAD1.Plcg2M28L demonstrated an increase in microglia density as well as alterations in regional brain glucose and perfusion when on a HFD. These changes were not observed in LOAD1 or LOAD1.Mthfr677C>T animals when fed a HFD. Furthermore, LOAD1.Plcg2M28L but not LOAD1.Mthfr677C>T or LOAD1 animals showed transcriptomics correlations to human AD modules. Our results show HFD affects brain health in a genotype-specific manner. Further insight into this process may have significant implications in the development of lifestyle interventions for treatment of AD.

Nature experiences have been linked to mental and physical health. Despite the importance of understanding what determines individual variation in nature experience, the role of genes has been overlooked. Here, using a twin design (TwinsUK, number of individuals = 2,306), we investigate the genetic and environmental contributions to a person’s nature orientation, opportunity (living in less urbanized areas), and different dimensions of nature experience (frequency and duration of public nature space visits and frequency and duration of garden visits). We estimate moderate heritability of nature orientation (46%) and nature experiences (48% for frequency of public nature space visits, 34% for frequency of garden visits, and 38% for duration of garden visits) and show their genetic components partially overlap. We also find that the environmental influences on nature experiences are moderated by the level of urbanization of the home district. Our study demonstrates genetic contributions to individuals’ nature experiences, opening a new dimension for the study of human–nature interactions., Nature experiences have been linked to mental and physical health. This twin study reveals genetic influences on an individual’s orientation towards nature and nature experiences, opening a new dimension to understanding human-nature interactions.