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The aim of this study was to better understand posterior oral cavity cancer (POCC) and its surgical treatment. This was a retrospective study of 76 patients who were diagnosed with POCC and underwent surgical treatment. Twenty-eight patients were treated with anatomical unit resection surgery (AURS) and 48 patients with conventional surgery. After initial treatment with curative intent, the patients were followed-up regularly with clinical examinations and imaging; the median duration of follow-up was 30.9 months (range 2-67 months). The 3-year overall survival was 64.3% in the experimental AURS group and 39.6% in the conventional surgery control group (hazard ratio 0.49, 95% confidence interval 0.26-0.93; P=0.031). The 3-year disease-free survival was 64.3% in the experimental group and 37.5% in the control group (hazard ratio 0.53, 95% confidence interval 0.27-1.02; P=0.114). In conclusion, AURS is an effective surgical treatment for POCC that can considerably improve patient survival rates.

It is of great significance to understand the role of carrier in piezocatalysis of composites by studying the separation mode of carriers under dynamic polarization field. Herein, the separation and migration pathways of carriers under piezoelectric field are investigated by synthesizing heterojunctions with Bi2WO6 (BWO) nanosheets grown vertically on g-C3N4 (CN) coated ZnO nanorods and directly on ZnO. Compared with the photocatalysis, the piezocatalytic efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) by BWO/ZnO is significantly increased to 0.121 min−1, which indicated the polarization field promotes band tilt and Z-scheme formation. After introducing the CN interlayer, the piezocatalytic efficiency of BWO/CN/ZnO is further improved (0.217 min−1), which can be attributed to the unique core–shell structure with Z-scheme heterojunctions. This unique structure provides more active sites and excited carrier concentration, the intermediate layer CN also reduces the direct contact and recombination of electrons and holes controlled by polarization potential at the interface between BWO and ZnO. This work deeply analyzes the influence of carrier concentration, separation efficiency and transport process on piezocatalysis, which provides a reference for the design of efficient catalysts.

The issue caused by increasing energy consumption of internet data centers (IDCs) has received critical attention. Hence, it is important to optimize the energy system of IDCs for energy saving and carbon emissions reduction. In order to explore the utilization of hydrogen in IDCs and the advantages of water cooling system, IDCs decarbonized by hydrogen-water-based energy systems are developed in this paper, which makes full use of both electricity and heating energy generated by fuel cells, and renewable energy. The integrated planning-and-scheduling problem is formulated as a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer programming problem to determine the optimal capacity of energy facilities and operation strategies. The developed IDCs are investigated with energy demand and solar radiation in typical days. It is found the developed IDCs are environmental friendly and cost-effective. The power usage efficiency can be as low as 1.02 and carbon emission reduction can be up to 59.1% when hydrogen price is U.S. department of energy target price 2$/kg.

Chronic inflammation can stimulate the formation and progression of atherosclerotic plaques and increase the vulnerability of plaques. However, there are few studies on the changes of carotid inflammatory plaques during treatment. Our study attempted to investigate the use of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) ultrasound imaging to detect the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in patients with carotid plaques and analyze the effects of SPION ultrasound imaging in inflammatory plaque visualization effect. SPION microbubble contrast agents have good imaging effects both in vivo and in vitro. We conjugated the VCAM-1 protein to the microbubbles wrapped in SPIONs to form SPIONs carrying VCAM-1 antibodies. Observe the signal intensity of SPIONs carrying VCAM-1 antibody to arteritis plaque. The results showed that the SPION contrast agent carrying VCAM-1 antibody had higher peak gray-scale video intensity than the other two groups of contrast agents not carrying VCAM-1 antibody. It shows that SPIONs have excellent imaging effects in ultrasound imaging, can evaluate the inflammatory response of arterial plaque lesions, and are of great significance for the study of carotid inflammatory plaque changes.

Intrapleural misplacement of epidural catheter is a rare complication of thoracic epidural placement, which can be difficult to detect in intubated patients with unreliable pain reports and hemodynamic response to the test dose. We describe a case of intrapleural misplacement of thoracic epidural in a 50-year-old man status-post bilateral lung transplant and highlight the use of radiographic techniques to identify the misplacement.

With the rapid development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), PSCs without electron transport layer (ETL) structure have been reported one after another, but the efficiency is low. In this work, a tin-based ETL-free structure of perovskite solar cell is introduced. In order to explore the internal influencing factors of the device with ETL-free structure, we used SCAPS-1D (Solar Cells Capacitance Simulator) to simulate the device and adjust the appropriate physical parameters to approximate the results reported in the experiment. The simulation results show that the thickness of the absorption layer, defect density, operating temperature and band gap have different effects on the performance of the device, and the best absorbent layer thickness is 600 nm. When the operating temperature exceeds 300 K, the performance parameters will decrease, and the band gap is best controlled at about 1.3 V. It should be pointed out that defect density is the main culprit that seriously affects device performance. When defect density exceeds 1015cm−3, power conversion efficiency (PCE) begins to decline significantly, and we need to pay more attention to defect density. At the same time, the effects of different interface defect layers (IDL) on device performance are simulated. It is found that when the defect density of the interface defect layer is too high, the asymmetry effect will appear. The interface defect layer IDL2 between the absorption layer and the hole transport layer (HTL) has a greater effect on the open circuit voltage (VOC), and the interface defect layer IDL1 has a greater effect on PCE. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to these defect layers to improve the VOC and PCE. Finally, based on ETL-free PSCs, we list HTL of different materials for reference, and provide new ideas for perovskite solar cells in the future.

Human-inspired neuromorphic computing system breaks the limit of “von Neumann bottleneck” and improves the computing efficiency. However, the processing of a large amount of non-structural visual data results in a considerable waste of computing resources. In human visual system, visual information is preprocessed by the retina before transmitted to the visual cortex, which effectively reduces data redundancy. Therefore, multifunctional intelligent devices which integrate sensing-memory-processing functions are desired for the artificial visual system. Herein, an image memory logic unit (IMLU) inspired by human retina is proposed. The IMLU is formed by a simple two terminal photodetector and comparator module. The photodetector is based on the MoxW1-xS2 alloy with persistent photo conductivity effect. In addition, the IMLU exhibits capabilities of in situ sensing, memory and logical operations (“AND”, “OR”, and “XOR”). Furthermore, the IMLU array enables image processing functions such as dilation, erosion and difference recognition, which shows great potential to provide simplified information processing for subsequent tasks in machine vision.

The brain is reliant on an abundant and uninterrupted CBF for normal neural function because it is an organ with high metabolic activity and limited ability to store energy.This study aimed to compare age-related variations in CBF measured with PCASL.This prospective study included healthy volunteers at the Radiology Department of Shanxi Cardiovascular Hospital between October 2018 and July 2019. The volunteers were divided into three groups (n = 30 per group): young (≤44 years), middle-aged (45-59 years) and elderly (≥60 years). CBF was measured by PCASL using 2 post label delays (PLD) (PLD = 1.5 s, 2.5 s), and compared between PLDs and groups. The relation between CBF value and age was assessed by Pearson correlation analysis.For PLD = 1.5 s, CBF differed significantly between groups for all brain regions (P 0.05), with higher values in the young group and lower values in the elderly group. For PLD = 2.5 s, the young and middle-aged groups had broadly comparable CBF values, whereas the elderly group had higher CBF values (P 0.05) for most brain regions. For both PLDs, no brain regions showed significant differences in CBF values between males and females. The CBF of all brain regions was negatively correlated with age for PLD = 1.5 s (P 0.05) but not PLD = 2.5 s. Compared with PLD = 1.5 s, PLD = 2.5 s yielded lower CBF values for the young group and higher CBF values for the elderly group.3D-pCASL with dual PLDs can non-invasively evaluate age-related changes in CBF in healthy people.

Humidity sensors are crucial for weather forecasting, instrumentation and industrial processes, agriculture and real-time respiratory monitoring. Nevertheless, the sensitivity and response time are the key parameters, particularly, for the clinical applications. Here, we demonstrate an ion gel coated graphene field effect transistor (GFET) for humidity sensing. The ion gel, in addition to being a gate dielectric, acts also as a humidity sensing layer. Indeed, water molecules from the surrounding attach onto the surface of the ion gel due to the presence of the hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) monomer in it. The water molecules, being polar, act as a gate bias thereby modulating the current transport in the GFET. The sensor’s sensitivity, in terms of the normalized current change per percent relative humidity (RH), is 0.0014 in the low sensitivity regime ( 71% RH). The sensor swiftly detects the human respiration with a response time of 350 ms. Moreover, a stable response over an extended period of four weeks demonstrates the sensor’s stability.

A MXene-GaN-MXene based multiple quantum well photodetector was prepared on patterned sapphire substrate by facile drop casting. The use of MXene electrodes improves the responsivity and reduces dark current, compared with traditional Metal-Semiconductor-Metal (MSM) photodetectors using Cr/Au electrodes. Dark current of the device using MXene-GaN van der Waals junctions is reduced by three orders of magnitude and its noise spectral intensity shows distinct improvement compared with the traditional Cr/Au–GaN–Cr/Au MSM photodetector. The improved device performance is attributed to low-defect MXene-GaN van der Waals interfaces. Thanks to the high quality MXene-GaN interfaces, it is possible to verify that the patterned substrate can locally improve both light extraction and photocurrent collection. The measured responsivity and specific detectivity reach as high as 64.6 A/W and 1.93 × 1012 Jones, respectively, making it a potential candidate for underwater optical detection and communication. The simple fabrication of MXene-GaN-MXene photodetectors spearheaded the way to high performance photodetection by combining the advantages of emerging 2D MXene materials with the conventional III-V materials., A MXene-GaN van der Waals Metal-Semiconductor Junctions based High Performance Multiple Quantum Well Photodetector was demonstrated, which shows great potential for underwater wireless optical communication and turbidity sensing.

Background Unilateral breast cancer (UBC) patients with germline pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants have a higher risk of developing contralateral breast cancer (CBC) and need contralateral risk-reducing local treatments, including contralateral risk-reducing mastectomy (CRRM) and prophylactic irradiation (CPI). The aim of our study was to systematically explore the efficacy of CRRM and CPI in reducing CBC risk and increasing survival. Methods A search was done, and eligible randomized trials and cohort studies should include and compare UBC patients with germline pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants who have and have not received contralateral risk-reducing local treatment. Random-effects meta-analysis was used in this study. Primary outcomes of the studies included overall survival (OS) and the incidence of contralateral breast cancer (CBC), and secondary outcomes included breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS). Results A total of five studies with 1769 UBC patients with germline pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants were enrolled in our meta-analysis. CRRM was correlated with a lower risk of CBC in UBC patients with germline pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants (summary RR = 0.07; 95%CI 0.03–0.13, I2 = 3%), a significantly increased OS (summary RR, 1.15; 95%CI 1.04–1.26, I2 = 26%) and a significantly increased BCSS (summary RR, 1.18; 95%CI 1.07–1.31, I2 = 64%) compared with surveillance. CPI also decreased the risk of CBC (RR 0.02; 95%CI 0.05–0.88) but did not significantly improve OS (RR 0.97; 95%CI 0.90–1.05) and BCSS (RR 0.97; 95%CI 0.90–1.05) compared with surveillance. Conclusions CRRM reduces CBC risk and increases OS and BCSS in UBC patients with germline pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants, and could be offered as a risk-reducing local treatment. For those who oppose CRRM, CPI could be offered for CBC-risk reduction, while its survival benefit is still uncertain.

PurposePrevious research about online recommendation systems has focused largely on their impact on customers' purchase decisions regarding the products being recommended, but it has mostly ignored how they may affect focal product evaluation. This research aimed to examine the influence of recommendation type (i.e. substitute-based vs complement-based) on focal product evaluation dependent on the brand image (i.e. warm vs competent).Design/methodology/approachFour laboratory experiments were conducted. Study 1 adopted an implicit association task. Studies 2 and 3 used a 2 (image: warmth vs competence) × 2 (product display: complements vs substitutes) between-subjects experimental design. Study 4 used a 2 (decision stage) × 2 (image) × 2 (product display) × continuous (need for cognition) between-subjects design.FindingsStudy 1 demonstrated a general “complementation (competition)—warmth (competence)” association. Studies 2 and 3 found that when a focal product had a warm (competent) image, complement-based (substitute-based) recommendations led customers to evaluate it more favorably than substitute-based (complement-based) recommendations. Study 3 further demonstrated that processing fluency mediates the above effect. Study 4 showed that this effect relies on heuristic processing and disappears for those who are in the screening stage or have a high need for cognition.Originality/valueTheoretically, this research extends the understanding of the stereotype content model of focal product brand image, the feelings-as-information process, and moderating roles of processing stage and need for cognition in e-commerce contexts. Practically, the findings provide online retailers a guideline for customizing their recommendation systems.

The continuing development of consumer electronics, mobile communications and advanced computing technologies has led to a rapid growth in data traffic, creating challenges for the communications industry. Light-emitting diode (LED)-based communication links are of potential use in both free space and optical interconnect applications, and LEDs based on emerging semiconductor materials, which can offer tunable optoelectronics properties and solution-processable manufacturing, are of particular interest in the development of next-generation data communications. Here we review the development of emerging LED materials—organic semiconductors, colloidal quantum dots and metal halide perovskites—for use in optical communications. We examine efforts to improve the modulation performance and device efficiency of these LEDs, and consider potential applications in on-chip interconnects and light fidelity (Li-Fi). We also explore the challenges that exist in developing practical high-speed LED-based data communication systems. This Review examines the development of emerging semiconductor materials—organic semiconductors, colloidal quantum dots and metal halide perovskites—for light-emitting diodes, considering efforts to improve modulation performance and device efficiency, as well as potential applications in on-chip interconnects and light fidelity (Li-Fi).

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework to explore the influence of green packaging on green purchase intention in the context of online-to-offline (O2O) commerce and to discuss the indirect effects of perceived value, perceived risk and green satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach To cast light on the factors affecting consumers’ intention to purchase in the context of O2O commerce, 295 valid questionnaire responses of O2O consumers in China were collected via an online survey. Data analysis was performed based on structural equation modeling. Findings The empirical results indicated that green packaging significantly affects consumers’ green purchase intention in the O2O commerce context indirectly through perceived value, perceived risk and green satisfaction. Moreover, green loyalty positively and significantly moderates the effects of perceived value, perceived risk and green satisfaction on green purchase intention. Originality/value Research on product packaging has mainly focused on investigating packaging materials, designs, functions and applications but has rarely examined how product packaging affects consumers’ purchase intention in the context of O2O commerce. Moreover, although previous studies have explored the roles of perceived value and perceived risk on purchase intention, they have not investigated the effects of environmental concerns and commerce context. This study attempts to fill these research gaps.

To evaluate the immunogenicity of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines administered at different intervals. Subjects who had received two doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines at an interval of 21 days or 1–7 months were selected to collect 5 ml of venous blood after the second dose for the detection of specific IgG antibody against SARS-CoV-2 using the chemiluminescent immunoassay. Blood samples were collected from 348 and 174 individuals vaccinated at an interval of 21 days or 1–7 months, respectively. Seropositive rate 2 weeks after two doses of vaccination at 21-days and 1–7 months interval was 95.7% and 97.1%, respectively, with no statistically significant difference. The post-vaccination antibody level was 23.7 with 21-days interval, higher than 14.2 with 1–7 months interval. Among the individuals vaccinated with two doses more than 1-month apart, seropositive rate was 98.5%, 90.0%, 91.7%, and 100% with 1- month (1–2 months, 2 months was not included, the same below), 2- month, 3- month, and 4–7 months of interval, respectively, and no statistically significant difference was observed. Appropriate extension of the vaccination interval between two doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccine does not affect the production of specific IgG antibodies. The inactivated COVID-19 vaccine should be administered in accordance with the recommended vaccination schedule, and the vaccination interval can be extended appropriately under special circumstances.

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of the refractive index (RI) sensor based on a side-opening quasi-D-shaped optical fiber is proposed in this study. This designed sensor uses a gold nanowire (AuNW) to stimulate the plasmon mode. The effect of SPR’s between core guided mode and polaritons of the designed side-opening quasi-D-shaped optical fiber can enhance the sensitivity of the RI, and the polishing of the shorter side can be realized which makes the mechanical strength of the proposed fiber sensor is better than that of other sensors based on the D-shaped fiber. Moreover, the sensor designed in this study is simple to fabricate, as the side opening of the quasi-D-shaped optical fiber can be readily filled with a sensing medium, and it offers the advantages of reusability. The key parameters of the proposed sensor have been evaluated using the finite element method-based COMSOL Multiphysics. Various structural design parameters, including the width of the U-shaped groove, the diameter of the AuNW, and the distance of the opening depth from the core, are optimized. Results indicate enhanced sensitivity at 14.5 $$\upmu$$ m/RIU. The resolution is $$6.896 \times 10^{-6}$$ RIU in the sensing RI range of 1.33–1.41. The maximum amplitude sensitivity is 453 RIU $$^{-1}$$ at the sensing RI of 1.40. The novel SPR sensor is an excellent candidate for application in biochemical sensors.

We investigated theoretically a waveguided EAM (Electro-Absorption Modulator) based on ISBT (Intersubband Transitions) in an In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As/AlAs/AlAs(0.56) Sb(0.44) A-CDQWs (Asymmetric Coupled Double Quantum Wells) lattice-matched to InP at telecommunication wavelength ( $\lambda =1.55~\mu \text{m}$ ) which offers ultrahigh-speed and moderate voltage swing. Likewise, the temperature dependency in the In(0.53)Ga(0.47)As/AlAs/AlAs(0.56) Sb(0.44) A-CDQWs was investigated at different temperatures from 300 K to 400 K and evidently the InP-based ISB (Intersubband) modulator offers better temperature stability (~ 0.05 nm/C) compared to the InP-based IB (Interband) modulator. The EAM investigated here is anticipated to have a RC-limited speed ( $f_{3d\,B}$ ) of ~300 GHz with insertion loss of 5.1 dB, 10 dB extinction ratio and 5.18 dB/V modulation efficiency at a peak-to-peak voltage of 2.0 V which can support a data rate of up to 600 Gbps and beyond.

Narrow-band-gap III-V semiconductor nanowires (NWs) with a suitable band structure and strong light-trapping ability are ideal for high-efficiency low-cost solar water-splitting systems. However, due to their nanoscale dimension, they suffer more severe corrosion by the electrolyte solution than the thin-film counterparts. Thus, short-term durability is the major obstacle for using these NWs for practical water-splitting applications. Here, we demonstrated for the first time that a thin layer (∼7 nm thick) of compact TiO2 deposited by atomic layer deposition can provide robust protection to III-V NWs. The protected GaAs NWs maintain 91.4% of its photoluminescence intensity after 14 months of storage in ambient atmosphere, which suggests the TiO2 layer is pinhole-free. Working as a photocathode for water splitting, they exhibited a 45% larger photocurrent density compared with unprotected counterparts and a high Faraday efficiency of 91% and can also maintain a record-long highly stable performance among narrow-band-gap III-V NW photoelectrodes; after 67 h photoelectrochemical stability test reaction in a strong acid electrolyte solution (pH = 1), they show no apparent indication of corrosion, which is in stark contrast to the unprotected NWs that fully failed after 35 h. These findings provide an effective way to enhance both stability and performance of III-V NW-based photoelectrodes, which are highly important for practical applications in solar-energy-based water-splitting systems.

In table tennis, tactics specified by three consecutive strokes represent the high-level competition strategies in matches. Effective detection and analysis of tactics can reveal the playing styles of players, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. However, tactical analysis in table tennis is challenging as the analysts can often be overwhelmed by the large quantity and high dimension of the data. Statistical charts have been extensively used by researchers to explore and visualize table tennis data. However, these charts cannot support efficient comparative and correlation analysis of complicated tactic attributes. Besides, existing studies are limited to the analysis of one match. However, one player's strategy can change along with his/her opponents in different matches. Therefore, the data of multiple matches can support a more comprehensive tactical analysis. To address these issues, we introduced a visual analytics system called Tac-Miner to allow analysts to effectively analyze, explore, and compare tactics of multiple matches based on the advanced embedding and dimension reduction algorithms along with an interactive glyph. We evaluate our glyph's usability through a user study and demonstrate the system's usefulness through a case study with insights approved by coaches and domain experts.

In order to guide the design of effective shielding layer to reduce the risk of dielectric electrostatic discharge in high-power and high-voltage spacecraft under GEO environment, it is necessary to explore the influence of grounding method and the joint action of high working voltage and deposited charge on the deep dielectric charging characteristics. In this article, based on the FLUMIC3 model, the electron flux of GEO environment is calculated, and an assessment method for the dielectric electrostatic discharge risk is established by combining Geant4 and a finite element method. Then, this method is used to calculate and analyze the influence of the grounding method and operating voltage on the electric field distribution of the polyimide under different shielding thicknesses. The results show that increasing the shielding thickness and grounding area can effectively reduce the polyimide internal electric field, and the aluminum shielding safety threshold required under the worst conditions is 2.920 mm; the influence of the working voltage mainly depends on the application method and the voltage value. During the working voltage increase from 100 to 5000 V, assume the working voltage ( $V_{s}$ ) is applied to one side of the polyimide sample, when the other side is suspended, namely, not grounded (B, $V_{s}$ -S; C, S- $V_{s}$ ), the maximum electric field depends on the deposited charge and it does not change with the working voltage; when the other side of the sample is grounded (A, $V_{s}$ -G; D, G- $V_{s}$ ), the maximum electric field and its distribution are determined by the working voltage and the deposited charge. Within this voltage range, the safety threshold of the aluminum shielding layer needs to reach 4–5 mm. In summary, under high working voltage, the grounding area of the sample can be increased, and the appropriate working conditions can be selected to determine the optimal shielding thickness that can suppress dielectric electrostatic discharge.

The location of the electric vehicle charging station (EVCS) is the important link in the construction of the EVCS. The optimal location of the electric vehicle directly affects the operating efficiency of the charging station and the satisfaction of the electric vehicle user, site selection play an important part throughout whole life cycle, which is deemed to be multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) issue involving many experts and many conflicting attributes. In practical MAGDM issues, the information of uncertain and fuzzy cognitive decision is well-depicted by uncertain linguistic term sets (ULTSs). These ULTSs could be simply shifted into the probabilistic uncertain linguistic sets (PULTSs). In such paper, we design some novel probabilistic uncertain linguistic weighted Dice similarity measures (PULWDSM) and the probabilistic uncertain linguistic weighted generalized Dice similarity measures (PULWGDSM). Subsequently, the PULWGDSM-based MAGDM methods are presented under PULTSs. In the end, a practical case which concerns about the location planning of electric vehicle charging stations is offered to demonstrate the proposed PULWGDSM’s applicability and advantages.

Research collaborations, especially long-distance and international collaborations, have become increasingly prevalent worldwide. Recent studies highlighted the significant role of research leadership in collaborations. However, existing measures of the research leadership do not take into account the intensity of leadership in the co-authorship network. More importantly, the spatial features, which influence the collaboration patterns and research outcomes, have not been incorporated in measuring the research leadership. To fill the gap, we construct an institution-level weighted co-authorship network that integrates two types of weight on the edges: the intensity of collaborations and the spatial score (the geographical distance adjusted by the cross-linguistic-border nature). Based on this network, we propose a novel metric, namely the spatial research leadership rank, to identify the leading institutions while considering both the collaboration intensity and the spatial features. The leadership of an institution is measured by the following three criteria: (a) the institution frequently plays the corresponding rule in papers with other institutions; (b) the institution frequently plays the corresponding rule in longer distance and even cross-linguistic-border collaborations; (c) the participating institutions led by the institution have high leadership status themselves. Harnessing a dataset of 323,146 journal publications in pharmaceutical sciences during 2010–2018, we perform a comprehensive analysis of the geographical distribution and dynamic patterns of research leadership flows at the institution level. The results demonstrate that the SpatialLeaderRank outperforms baseline metrics in predicting the scholarly impact of institutions. And the result remains robust in the field of Information Science and Library Science. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11192-021-03943-w.

HBV prevention and control presents a global public health priority because of the tremendous economic and healthcare burdens involved. This study was designed to investigate the status of HBV epidemics among household members, and to analyze the risk factors of HBV infection in couples and their offspring. A total of 1,035 couples and 541 offspring were included. We sourced the data from a population-based serological survey conducted by the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control in 2014. Chi-square test and multiple logistic were used to assess differences in the prevalence of categorical variables, and identify risk factors for HBV infection and exposure in couples and offspring after controlling for confounding factors. In couples, the prevalence of chronic HBV infection was 4.3% and the prevalence of exposure 32.7%. The prevalence of chronic HBV infection in offspring was 0.9%, and the prevalence of exposure 8.7%. Sharing syringes with others and living with a spouse who was infected or exposed to HBV were associated with a significantly higher risk for transmission of HBV for couples. In offspring, maternal HBV infection was a significant risk factor for HBV exposure. This study provides evidence that having household members infected or exposed to HBV increases the risk of HBV transmission, and in order to achieve better control of HBV infection effective strategies must be established to prevent intra-familial transmission.

Background A pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) has rapidly spread across the globe. Although many articles have established the clinical characteristics of adult COVID-19 patients so far, limited data are available for children. The aim of this study was to reveal the clinical features, laboratory findings and nucleic acid test results of ten pediatric cases. Methods In this retrospective single-center cohort study, pediatric cases with COVID-19 infection were consecutively enrolled in one hospital in Huangshi, China from January 1 to March 11, 2020. Results A total of 10 children with COVID-19 were recruited. Of them, four were the asymptomatic type, one was the mild type, and five were the moderate type (including two subclinical ones). All patients were from family clusters. Only fever, nasal discharge and nasal congestion were observed. Lymphopenia and leukopenia were uncommon in our sample but elevated levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (α-HBDH) were observed frequently. Of these laboratory test variables, no statistical difference was identified between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients. Abnormalities in radiological data were detected in five patients, and representative findings of chest CT images were patchy shadows and ground-glass opacities. There were two cases whose oropharyngeal nucleic acid tests reversed to positive after one negative result, and two patients whose oropharyngeal swabs tested negative but rectal swabs showed positive. Conclusions Clinical symptoms were mild in children with COVID-19. Increased levels of LDH and α-HBDH were potential clinical biomarkers for pediatric cases. More attention should be paid to the SARS-CoV-2 viral assessment of rectal swabs before patients are discharged.

Superpixel segmentation is an important pre-processing step in many computer vision applications. However, existing methods are mainly constructed on the basis of pixel-level features, which are generally vulnerable to the interference of strong gradient textures and fail to make the generated superpixels adhere to the object boundary well. Therefore, we bring forward a texture-aware and structure-preserving superpixel segmentation algorithm. First, we propose a cluster centroid oriented quarter-circular mask, which prevents the fine-scale structure pixels from sampling inconsistent texture pixels when gathering neighboring information from the local image patch. Next, we put forward a texture-suppressed and structure-preserving hybrid gradient. Its magnitude can well represent the probability that a pixel belongs to the structure one, and its direction can embody the main direction of image structures. Then, we design a color distance with texture-structure tradeoff strategy, which is based on the quarter-circular mask and the hybrid gradient direction. Finally, we devise an integrated structure-avoiding clustering distance, which can be obtained by seeking the maximum hybrid gradient magnitude along the linear path between a pixel and the superpixel centroid. It can effectively prevent the superpixel from crossing the object boundaries. Experimental results show that the superpixels generated by our algorithm not only adhere to object boundaries closely but also preserve regular shape. Our algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art methods, especially for the images with strong gradient textures.

Background Paediatric patients with scars after burn are regularly encountered. Discussion of rational strategies for management are of value. The objective of the study was to describe development and utilisation of strategies for paediatric burn scars up to five years after injury. Methods We included 164 cases aged from 5 to 8 years old in our study; all had burn scar deformities. Results Assessments were made up to December 31, 2019. The following strategies were used: sequential treatment, reconstruction based on facial aesthetic units, predicting the effect of surgery on development, releasing skin tension and application of photoelectric technology or other non-surgical measures. Conclusions Using rational strategies for paediatric burn scars is very important.

In order to study Fe3O4-Polypyrrole (Fe3O4-PPy) core-shell nanocomposite in the diagnosis of tumor markers in the diseased gastric tissues of early cancer patients, a total of 160 cases of patients, who were confirmed as early gastric cancer by gastroscopy or postoperative pathology at a designated hospital of the study from December 2014 to December 2018, were selected as research objects and were divided into two groups of observation and control group with 80 cases in each group. For each patient in the two groups, two pieces of diseased gastric tissue were firstly taken through gastroscopy; then the observation group applied Fe3O4-PPy with the particle diameter of 150-350 nm as carrier to detect the contents of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carbohydrate antigen 242 (CA242), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 72-4 (CA72-4) in the diseased gastric tissue, while the control group directly detected the contents of corresponding tumor markers; after the detections, the sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic efficiency of each marker in the two groups of patients were calculated, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves with the areas under the curves (AUC) were drawn to analyze the correlation between the level of Fe3O4-PPy and the detection efficiency of gastric cancer markers. The results show that the detection sensitivity (82.17%, 80.32%, 79.48%, 84.63%, and 85.66%) and specificity (76.75%, 79.66%, 81.07%, 83.47%, and 85.24%) of CA19-9, AFP, CA242, CEA, and CA72-4 in the tumor tissue of patients in observation group for the diagnosis of early gastric cancer are higherthan the sensitivity (78.66%, 79.25%, 76.18%, 82.11%, and 83.45%) and specificity (74.37%, 76.94%, 77.24%, 81.22%, and 81.59%) of that in control group with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). Therefore, it is believed that the Fe3O4-PPy is of great significance for the detection of early gastric tumor markers in the tissues of patients with early gastric cancer, and has certain value for the auxiliary diagnosis of early gastric cancer and the observation of therapeutic effects. This study results provide a reference for the further researches of Fe3O4-PPy in the diagnosis of tumor markers in patients with early gastric cancer.

The location of the electric vehicle charging station is deemed to be a multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) issue involving many experts and many conflicting attributes. In practical MAGDM issues, the information of uncertain and fuzzy cognitive decision is well-depicted by linguistic term sets (LTSs). These LTSs could be simply shifted into the probabilistic linguistic sets (PLTSs). In such paper, we design some novel probabilistic linguistic weighted Dice similarity measures (PLWDSM) and the probabilistic linguistic weighted generalized Dice similarity measures (PLWGDSM). Subsequently, the PLWGDSM-based MAGDM methods are presented under PLTSs. In the end, a practical case which concerns about the location planning of electric vehicle charging stations is offered to demonstrate the proposed PLWGDSM’s applicability and advantages.

In this article, we develop the COPRAS model to solve the multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) under single-valued neutrosophic 2-tuple linguistic sets (SVN2TLSs). Firstly, we introduce the relevant knowledge about SVN2TLSs in a nutshell, such as the definition, the operation laws, a few of fused operators and so on. Then, combine the traditional COPRAS model with SVN2TLNs, and structure as well as elucidate the computing steps of the SVN2TLNCOPRAS pattern. Furthermore, in this article, we propose a method for determining attribute weights in different situations relying on the maximizing deviation method with SVN2TLNs. Last but not least, a numerical example about assessing the safety of construction project has been designed. And for further demonstrating the advantage of the new designed method, we also select a number of existed methods to have comparisons. First published online 13 January 2021

Probabilistic linguistic term sets are used to express uncertain decision information in multiple attribute group decision making problems. For probabilistic linguistic multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) with weight determined by CRITIC (Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) method, the probabilistic linguistic grey relational projection method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the correlation coefficient among attributes and standard deviation of each attribute are utilized to compute the attributes weights. Then the most ideal alternative is decided by means of counting the grey relational projection (GRP) from probabilistic linguistic positive ideal solution and probabilistic linguistic negative ideal solution. In the end, a numerical example for site selection of hospital constructions is applied to further account for the extended method. The result demonstrates the availability of the proposed method and it can be used in other fields which refers to problems of selection.

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has adversely affected diagnosis and treatment of noncommunicable diseases. Its effects on delivery of diagnostic care for cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of death worldwide, have not been quantified. OBJECTIVES The study sought to assess COVID-19`s impact on global cardiovascular diagnostic procedural volumes and safety practices. METHODS The International Atomic Energy Agency conducted a worldwide survey assessing alterations in cardiovascular procedure volumes and safety practices resulting from COVID-19. Noninvasive and invasive cardiac testing volumes were obtained from participating sites for March and April 2020 and compared with those from March 2019. Availability of personal protective equipment and pandemic-related testing practice changes were ascertained. RESULTS Surveys were submitted from 909 inpatient and outpatient centers performing cardiac diagnostic procedures, in 108 countries. Procedure volumes decreased 42% from March 2019 to March 2020, and 64% from March 2019 to April 2020. Transthoradc echocardiography decreased by 59%, transesophageat echocardiography 76%, and stress tests 78%, which varied between stress modalities. Coronary angiography (invasive or computed tomography) decreased 55% (p < 0.001 for each procedure). hi multivariable regression, significantly greater reduction in procedures occurred for centers in countries with lower gross domestic product. Location in a low-income and lower-middle-income country was associated with an additional 22% reduction in cardiac procedures and less availability of personal protective equipment and teteheatth. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19 was associated with a significant and abrupt reduction in cardiovascular diagnostic testing across the globe, especially affecting the world's economically challenged. Further study of cardiovascular outcomes and COVID-19-related changes in care delivery is warranted. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier on behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation.

Highly efficient deep-red phosphorescent OLEDs (PhOLEDs) are very important in the practical application of full-color display and automobile lighting. While there are scores of reports dedicated to the development of highly emitting phosphorescent dopants to improve PhOLEDs efficiency, it is a challenge to develop an ideal host due to the severe triplet-involved quenching processes in deep-red PhOLEDs. In this report, a new host material 6-(9-([1,1′:3′,1′′-terphenyl]-5′-yl)-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indol-6-yl)-6H-indolo[2,3-b]quinoxaline (IQCbTP) was designed and synthesized. The host emission spectrum overlaps well with the guest MLCT (metal to ligand charge transfer) absorption. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the host material has a rather short intermolecular π–π stacked distance (3.23 A), and short intermolecular hydrogen bond (2.55 A). These features render IQCbTP an ideal host material for deep-red PhOLEDs. Both bottom-emitting and top-emitting red PhOLEDs using IQCbTP as host and Ir(ibpiq)3 as dopant were fabricated and showed an outstanding performance of deep-red emission with CIE x ≥ 0.68. Notably, the top-emitting devices exhibited superior performances compared to the bottom-emitting device, achieving a record of over 75 cd A−1 current efficiency with low efficiency roll-off.

Solution-processible and flexible transparent electrodes are highly required for polymer solar cells (PSCs) to accommodate their roll-to-roll manufacturing. Herein, we present a kind of solution-processed silver nanowire (AgNW)-based composite transparent electrode fabricated using blade-coating a SnO2 hydrocolloid and a AgNW aqueous dispersion. The resultant AgNWs:SnO2 composite film demonstrates a smooth surface morphology as the AgNW networks are well covered by colloidal SnO2. The AgNWs:SnO2 transparent film attains a sheet resistance of ca. 17 ohm per square and a high transmittance of ca. 92% at 550 nm. Inverted PSCs without additional cathode buffer layers are fabricated based on the AgNWs:SnO2 composite transparent electrode and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 12% is attained. Furthermore, an organic solvent monoethanolamine (MEA) is used to passivate the surface defects of the AgNWs:SnO2 electrode via blade coating. The number of hydroxyl groups on the surface of the AgNWs:SnO2 composite electrode is effectively reduced and the PCE of the inverted PSCs is enhanced to 13.5%, benefitting from an increased short-circuit current density (JSC) and fill factor (FF). The synergistic enhancement of JSC and FF is attributed to the improved charge extraction and decreased defect-induced recombination at the cathode–active layer interfaces by MEA modification. Flexible PSCs based on the MEA-modified AgNWs:SnO2 composite transparent electrode are fabricated via blade-coating and a PCE of 13.0% is attained. The device shows good flexibility with the PCE retaining 80% of its initial value after 500 bending cycles with a bending radius of 5 mm.

In this paper, the multiple attribute decision making (MADM) problems are investigated with picture 2-tuple linguistic information. Then, based on Hamy mean (HM) operator and dual Hamy mean (DHM) operator, the power average and power geometric operations are utilized to develop some picture 2-tuple linguistic power Hamy mean aggregation operators: picture 2-tuple linguistic power weighted Hamy mean (P2TLPWHM) operator, picture 2-tuple linguistic power weighted dual Hamy mean (P2TLPWDHM) operator, picture 2-tuple linguistic power ordered weighted Hamy mean (P2TLPOWHM) operator, picture 2-tuple linguistic power ordered weighted dual Hamy mean (P2TLPOWDHM) operator, picture 2-tuple linguistic power hybrid Hamy mean (P2TLPHHM) operator and picture 2-tuple linguistic power hybrid dual Hamy mean (P2TLPHDHM) operator. The prominent characteristic of these proposed operators are studied. Then, these operators are utilized to develop some approaches to solve the picture 2-tuple linguistic multiple attribute decision making problems. Finally, the proposed method is demonstrated through a practical example for enterprise resource planning (ERP) system selection of how the proposed methods help us and is effective in MADM problems.

Advances in wind power system modeling have produced widespread socioeconomic benefits for alleviating global environmental problems. However, previous studies mainly payed attention to point forecasts of wind power system, with the absence of its uncertainty quantification analysis and outlier detection, which cannot facilitate further development in this field. In this paper, a novel monitoring-forecasting system, including the analysis module, the outlier detection module, the probabilistic forecasting module, and the evaluation module, is proposed for uncertainty modeling of wind power. In the analysis module, recurrence analysis techniques are developed, aiming at characterizing complicated patterns of wind power. Furthermore, the interval partitioning-based isolation forest algorithm, which can effectively address the effects of swamping and masking, is first developed in the outlier detection module for wind power. Superior to the traditional point forecasting method that cannot perform quantitative characterization of the intrinsic uncertainties in wind power forecasting, an advanced probabilistic forecasting method based on Gaussian process regression (GPR) with an optimal kernel function scenario, cooperating with a feature selection method, is first presented in the probabilistic forecasting module, indicating that the forecast skill of GPR is significantly enhanced. Finally, the proposed system is validated using real wind power data with high resolution from Spain in the evaluation module, solidly demonstrating its high reliability and flexibility compared to benchmarks considered in this study.

Defects at the bulk grain boundaries and heterojunction interfaces could dictate the power losses of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) during the operation process, which are regarded as major roadblocks towards further development of this emerging photovoltaic technology. The common modulation strategies reported for the state-of-the-art cells cannot concurrently heal the defects located at the grain boundaries and interfaces. Herein, a depth-dependent manipulation strategy is demonstrated to concurrently modulate the bulk and interfacial defects in the perovskite films. According to the distinct penetrability of the employed binary modulators within the polycrystalline perovskite film, one of the modulators can penetrate through the bulk to the buried interface, accompanied by bulk and buried interface defect healing, while the other remains to anchor atop the surface along with the surface defect modulation, assuring simultaneous defect management from the interfaces to the bulk. As a result, the mitigated non-radiative losses and the improved charge transport of the modulated perovskite film boost the efficiency of PSCs from 21.79% to 24.36%. This universally effective depth-dependent manipulation strategy provides new insights into spatial defect modulation, which would open up a promising way for defect modulator design for highly efficient perovskite optoelectronic devices.

Purpose The aim of this study is to propose an efficient rule extraction and integration approach for identifying phishing websites. The proposed approach can elucidate patterns of phishing websites and identify them accurately. Design/methodology/approach Hyperlink indicators along with URL-based features are used to build the identification model. In the proposed approach, very simple rules are first extracted based on individual features to provide meaningful and easy-to-understand rules. Then, the F-measure score is used to select high-quality rules for identifying phishing websites. To construct a reliable and promising phishing website identification model, the selected rules are integrated using a simple neural network model. Findings Experiments conducted using self-collected and benchmark data sets show that the proposed approach outperforms 16 commonly used classifiers (including seven non–rule-based and four rule-based classifiers as well as five deep learning models) in terms of interpretability and identification performance. Originality/value Investigating patterns of phishing websites based on hyperlink indicators using the efficient rule-based approach is innovative. It is not only helpful for identifying phishing websites, but also beneficial for extracting simple and understandable rules.

CdSe single crystals (SCs), with a relatively high atomic number, large X-ray absorption coefficients, and high carrier mobility, are expected to provide high-performance detection for X-ray. However, the difficulty of growing high-quality CdSe SC has severely limited its application in X-ray detection. In this work, we develop an unconstrained physical gas phase method and in situ annealing process to grow high-quality CdSe SCs under unconstrained conditions. Using this method, CdSe SCs exhibit natural exposure planes, ultrahigh resistivity of 5.43 × 10

Objective To compare the biomechanical stabilities of Gamma3 nail and INTERTAN nail (ITN) for stable (AO/OTA 31A1.1) and unstable (AO/OTA 31A2.2) femoral intertrochanteric fracture. Methods Twenty‐four synthetic femora were randomly divided into four groups. After internal fixation (Gamma3 nail or ITN) had been implanted, stable and unstable intertrochanteric fracture models were produced. A cyclic testing protocol with increasing loads was performed for both stable and unstable intertrochanteric fracture models, and then torsional test and axial compression failure test were conducted. Stiffness, failure load, torque, and fragment displacement were recorded. Results For stable fracture model: fragment displacement in ITN group were smaller than Gamma3 nail group (Gamma3 nail: 1.66 ± 0.13 mm; ITN: 1.55 ± 0.1 mm); stiffness (Gamma3 nail: 1142.6 ± 161.1 N/mm, ITN: 1159.3 ± 203.5 N/mm, P = 0.872) and failure load (Gamma3 nail: 5715.42 ± 616.34 N, ITN: 5690.27 ± 625.59 N, P = 0. 951) of the two nails were similar after cyclic test; torque of the ITN group was larger than the Gamma3 nail group. For unstable fracture model: fragment displacement in ITN group was significantly smaller than in the Gamma3 nail group when the axial load was larger than 800 N (Gamma3 nail: 3.59 ± 0.19 mm; ITN: 2.93 ± 0.28 mm); ITN group showed a significantly higher failure load than Gamma3 nail group (Gamma3 nail: 2942.77 ± 573.4 N, ITN: 3672.3 ± 790.5 N, P = 0. 011); torque was significantly higher for the ITN group compared to the Gamma3 nail group for three different angles. Conclusions Both ITN and Gamma3 nail can maintain sufficient biomechanical stability for stable intertrochanteric fractures, but ITN was a better choice for unstable intertrochanteric fractures., The biomechanical properties of the Gamma3 nail and the ITN were similar for stable fracture model. The ITN reduced torsional movement of the femoral head and relative movement between fracture fragments in unstable fracture model. Both ITN and Gamma3 nail can be used for stable intertrochanteric fractures. However, ITN was a better choice for unstable intertrochanteric fractures.

Since people around the world have gradually attached importance to resource conservation, various countries are actively taking measures to promote environmental protection and sustainable development. Green supply chain management (GSCM) have emerged in this context. Thus, in this essay, a novel intuitionistic fuzzy multiple attribute group decision making (MAGDM) method is designed to tackle this issue. First of all, CRITIC (Criteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation) method is utilized to determine the weights of criteria. Later, the conventional Taxonomy method is extended to the intuitionistic fuzzy environment to compute the value of development attribute of each supplier. Then, the optimal one can be determined. Eventually, an application about green supplier selection in steel industry is presented, and a comparative analysis is made to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method. The main features of the proposed algorithm are that they provide a practical solution for selecting GSCM and presents an objective weighting method to enhance the effectiveness of the algorithm.