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Objective Recent data have shown that regular exercise may ameliorate motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study aims to investigate how intended exercise impacts motor and non-movement symptoms of PD. Methods 88 patients were randomly assigned to an early exercise group (E-EG), late exercise group (L-EG), or a control group (CG) using a randomized delayed-start design. The E-EG carried out a rigorous, formal exercise program for one hour, twice per week, for 18 months (May 2018 - November 2019). The L-EG took part in the exercise program in the final 6–12 months of the study. We assessed outcomes using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), PDQ-39 Questionnaire, Line A test, Line B test, Nine-hole column test, 30 seconds squat and stand-up test (30s SST), 10m Walk test(10mW), Balance Evaluation Systems Mini Test (MiniBESTest), FAB and Time Up and Go Test(TUG). Results The patients with PD in the E-EG had lower performance in the UPDRS and Line B test compared to those in the L-EG at post-exercise(p

Solar powered steam generation is an emerging area in the field of energy harvest and sustainable technologies. The nano-structured photothermal materials are able to harvest energy from the full solar spectrum and convert it to heat with high efficiency. Moreover, the materials and structures for heat management as well as the mass transportation are also brought to the forefront. Several groups have reported their materials and structures as solutions for high performance devices, a few creatively coupled other physical fields with solar energy to achieve even better results. This paper provides a systematic review on the recent developments in photothermal nanomaterial discovery, material selection, structural design and mass/heat management, as well as their applications in seawater desalination and fresh water production from waste water with free solar energy. It also discusses current technical challenges and likely future developments. This article will help to stimulate novel ideas and new designs for the photothermal materials, towards efficient, low cost practical solar-driven clean water production.

This essay conducts a bibliometric study on innovation research in organizations within the three levels (i.e., individual, work team, and organizational) by using CiteSpace software to analyze 6,354 academic articles from the year 2000 to 2020 in four aspects: temporal distribution of published papers, scientific community (countries/regions/cited authors), intellectual structure (cited journals/cited references), and research hotspots. The research findings show that the total number and the growth rate of publications at the organizational level are far higher than the other two levels (individual and work team). The top three countries with the number of publications are United States, China, and United Kingdom. The top five highly cited authors are identified and listed from individual, work team, and organizational levels. Academy of Management Journal and Academy of Management Review are the top two highly cited journals at all three levels (i.e., individual, work team, and organizational levels). The most highly cited articles at the three levels are about topics of linking empowering leadership and employee creativity, team-level predictors of innovation at work, and organizational ambidexterity. The top three research hotspots are identified and listed from individual, work team, and organizational levels. These findings provide snapshots and comparisons of innovation research in management within the three levels (i.e., individual, work team, and organizational levels), which might be beneficial for researchers and scholars to understand and explore innovative behavior in organizations from a multilevel perspective.

As an autoimmune central nervous system disease characterized by inflammation and demyelination, neuromyelitis optica (NMO) has been extensively investigated. A specific antigenic target, astrocytic water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4) has already been identified, and it can be recognized explicitly by the autoantibody marker NMO-IgG. Along with the immune attacks, clinical disabilities would gradually accumulate. As there has been no validated and well-recognized therapy for NMO till now, preventing and postponing attack using immunosuppressive therapies is the primary treatment option. In the current retrospective study, the effect of immunosuppressive agents was investigated through a long-term follow-up. To assess the long-term effectiveness and safety of rituximab (RTX), azathioprine (AZA), and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) therapies, all 129 patients with NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSD) who received at least one of these treatments were studied, including 55 seropositive for AQP4-Ab and 74 seronegative for AQP4-Ab. The median post-treatment annualized relapse rate (ARR) was lower than the pre-treatment rates in all AQP4+Ab groups (from 1.0 to 0.7 in RTX, from 0.8 to 0.3 in AZA, and from 0.85 to 0.35 in MMF). Meanwhile, the ARR also decreased in all AQP4−Ab groups (from 0.3 to 0.2 in RTX, from 0.9 to 0.5 in AZA, and from 0.9 to 0.4 in MMF). Disability condition improved in the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) in all AQP4+Ab groups (from 4.0 to 2.75 in RTX, from 3.5 to 2.5 in AZA, and from 3.0 to 2.0 in MMF) and in all AQP4−Ab groups (from 3.0 to 2.5 in RTX, from 3.0 to 2.5 in AZA, and from 3.5 to 2.0 in MMF). There was no statistically significant difference between the post-treatment and pre-treatment changes of EDSS and ARR in the RTX, AZA, and MMF groups (P > 0.05). However, according to Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, RTX-treated patients were more likely to be relapse-free after long-term follow-up than those who received AZA or MMF therapy. Meanwhile, adverse effects were noted in three out of 23 patients with RTX treatment, five of 32 with AZA treatment, and three of 21 with MMF treatment. No serious adverse events were observed in all treatment groups during the study. RTX, AZA, and MMF therapies efficiently lowered the relapse frequency and disability in both of the AQP4-Ab seropositive or seronegative patients with NMO. Furthermore, low dosage of RTX is recommended for the patients with NMO owing to its long-term effectiveness and safety.

Background Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) is overexpressed in various human tumors and involved in the development and progression of several carcinomas. In breast cancer, NNMT was found to be overexpressed in several cell lines. However, the clinical relevance of NNMT in breast cancer is not yet clear. Methods NNMT expression in breast carcinoma was examined by immunohistochemistry, and then, its relationship with patient clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. The effects of NNMT on chemoresistance in breast cancer cells were assessed by cell viability, colony formation, and apoptosis assay. The NNMT, SIRT1, p53, and acetyl-p53 proteins, which are involved in NNMT-related chemoresistance, were examined by Western blotting. The SIRT1 mRNA was examined by real-time PCR, and its activity was measured by using the SIRT1 deacetylase fluorometric reagent kit. Results NNMT expression was significantly higher (53.9%) in breast carcinoma than in paracancerous tissues (10.0%) and breast hyperplasia (13.3%). A high level of NNMT expression correlated with poor survival and chemotherapy response in breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy. Ectopic overexpression of NNMT significantly inhibited the apoptotic cell death and suppression of colony formation induced by adriamycin and paclitaxel. Mechanistic studies revealed that NNMT overexpression increased SIRT1 expression and promoted its activity. Either inhibition of SIRT1 by EX527 or knockdown of SIRT1 by siRNA could reverse NNMT-mediated resistance to adriamycin and paclitaxel, which suggests that SIRT1 plays a critical role in NNMT-related chemoresistance in breast cancer. Conclusions The results of this study demonstrate a novel correlation between the NNMT expression level and patient survival, suggesting that NNMT has the potential to become a new prognostic biomarker to predict the treatment outcomes of the clinical chemotherapy in breast cancer. Moreover, targeting NNMT or downstream SIRT1 may represent a new therapeutic approach to improve the efficacy of breast cancer chemotherapy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13058-019-1150-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Human echinococcosis is present worldwide but it is in China that disease prevalence is the highest. In western China, especially in the Tibetan Plateau, the burden of echinococcosis is the most important. Dogs are a major definitive host of Echinococcus and monitoring the presence of Echinococcus worms in dogs is therefore essential to efficiently control the disease. Detection kits based on three different technologies including sandwich ELISA, (indirect) ELISA, and gold immunodiffusion, are currently marketed and used in China. The objective of this work was to assess the efficacy of these kits, in particular with respect to sensitivity and specificity. Four fecal antigen detection kits for canine infection reflecting the three technologies were obtained from companies and tested in parallel on 220 fecal samples. The results indicate that the performance is lower than expected, in particular in terms of sensitivity. The best results were obtained with the sandwich ELISA technology. The gold immunofiltration yielded the poorest results. In all cases, further development is needed to improve the performance of these kits which are key components for the control of echinococcosis., Author summary Although present worldwide, human echinococcosis is at its highest prevalence in western China and particularly in the Tibetan Plateau. Controlling echinococcosis is a national priority and routine monitoring must be established. Dogs are the main infection source in China and surveying Echinococcus worms in dogs is therefore a research priority. Commercial detection kits are currently in use in China to monitor the presence of Echinococcus in dogs. The kits are based on three different technologies including sandwich ELISA with two monoclonal antibodies, (indirect) ELISA, and gold immunodiffusion. National survey programmes are essential for the control of echinococcosis and it is thus very important to assess the efficacy of these kits for the programmes. This work was therefore undertaken to assess efficacy of the kits, in particular with respect to sensitivity and specificity. Four fecal antigen detection kits for canine infection reflecting the three technologies were obtained from companies and tested in parallel on 220 fecal samples. The performance was lower than expected, in particular for their sensitivity which ranged between 51.5% and 83.9% with only two samples displaying a worm burden lower than 100. Three out of four kits showed non-specific cross-reactions with other parasites. The best results were obtained with the sandwich ELISA technology, whereas gold immunofiltration yielded the poorest results. However, in all cases, further development is strongly needed to improve the performance of these kits which are key components for the control of echinococcosis.

This paper presents a 20-Gb/s optical receiver consisting of a novel transimpedance amplifier (TIA), three active feedback Cherry-Hooper limiting amplifiers (LA) and DC offset cancellation loop. A novel cross-coupled dual-feedback loop TIA is proposed to reduce the input impedance and enhance the tolerance of large input capacitance without deterioration of the transimpedance gain. Moreover, not any extra noise, power consumption or chip area is introduced. Implemented in 65-nm CMOS technology, the receiver achieves 73.1 dBΩ transimpedance gain with a bandwidth of 10.2 GHz and a data rate of 20 Gb/s, while the input referred noise (IRN) current is below 30.5 pA/√Hz from 1 to 10.2 GHz. The core circuit consumes a DC power of 9.6 mW from a 1.2V supply (without output buffer) and occupies a layout area of 0.042 mm2.

We present an efficient, flexible, fast and accurate framework for real-time instance segmentation. We call it Efficient Instance Segmentation Network, denoted as EISNET. Our method is motivated by the Mask R-CNN and YOLACT. Mask R-CNN enables instance segmentation by adding an extra branch at the Faster R-CNN framework to produce mask for each object. Due to limitation of the inefficiency of two stage detector, Mask R-CNN is not suitable for real-time scene. We therefore propose EISNET which enables instance segmentation by adding two branches to the one-stage detector-RetinaNet. We call it Efficient since we use modified EfficientNet as the backbone of our framework, which results in high accuracy with few parameters and FLOPS. In addition, we provide a modified bi-directional FPN (Feature Pyramid Network) module, which thus allows efficient multi-scale feature fusion. Given the credit to these design techniques, our EISNET achieves 31.2 mAP with only 17.2M parameters and 3.5B FLOPS on the COCO dataset. More significantly, our model can achieve more than 35 FPS on single 1080Ti GPU, which fits the most real-time requirements. With a better GPU, we could even achieve higher mAP while keeping the real-time property of more than 30 FPS.

As a zoonotic parasitosis caused by the parasitism of Echinococcus larvae, echinococcosis imposes serious disease and economic burdens on human beings and society, and is thus a global public health issue. Its complex life history, wide distribution, the combined influence of various epidemic factors, coupled with the unique natural environment, customs, and religious beliefs in endemic areas, pose a huge challenge to the national echinococcosis control programme in China. Accurate early detection and confirmation of diagnosis of echinococcosis, the use of effective drugs, real-time surveillance of the infection status of populations and various hosts, controlling the source of infection, and blocking the route of transmission are of enormous significance for control. In this paper, the work by NIPD-CTDR on the prevention and control of echinococcosis in China is reviewed, with a view to providing reference for the further promotion of the national echinococcosis control programme.

Rapid growth in post-reform China has resulted in a high demand for infrastructure and the need for sustained mechanisms of financing. As public finances are already overstretched at the local level, seeking long-term investment financing seems imperative. One path in this direction is through private participation, and increasingly this is seen as the key to shortfalls in infrastructure financing. What are the patterns of private participation over time across four different infrastructure sectors in China (energy, telecommunications, transport, water and sewerage)? How do infrastructure projects with private participation fare in returns? Based on a publicly accessible online database maintained by the World Bank and Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, the chapter presents an analysis of private participation in China, in comparison with other emerging economies. Drawing on this analysis and in-depth interviews with domestic and global investors, this chapter also explores the prospects for private participation across different infrastructure sectors.

Background: We initiated a retrospective study on ankle fractures to assess (1) the time needed for fracture union; (2) the incidence of adverse radiographic outcomes (AROs); (3) factors that might lead to AROs; and (4) whether AROs were associated with worse function and higher incidence of post-trauma osteoarthritis (PTOA). Methods: From 2007 to 2016, a total of 296 patients (169 women, 127 men; average age, 48.6 years; range, 20-84) were diagnosed with a medial malleolar fracture, whether isolated or in the setting of bi- or trimalleolar fractures, and underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) or percutaneous screw fixation (PSF). The interval to fracture union, radiographic outcomes, American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) score at 6 months postoperatively, and the incidence of PTOA were recorded. Risk factors were identified both in univariate and multivariate analysis. The average follow-up period was 52.0 months (range, 12-118). Results: The incidence of delayed union, nonunion, and malunion were 20.3%, 3.7%, and 4.4%, respectively. The interval to fracture union was 10.3 ± 6.4 weeks. In the multivariate analysis, the risk factors for AROs were tobacco use, vertical fractures, interposed soft tissue, and fair/poor reduction. Patients with AROs had significantly worse AOFAS score at 6 months postoperatively ( P < .001) and higher incidence of PTOA ( P < .001). Conclusion: AROs of medial malleolar fractures have an underestimated incidence rate and are associated with worse ankle function and higher incidence of PTOA. Risk factors including tobacco use, vertical fractures, interposed soft tissue, poor/fair reduction should be prudently taken into consideration when treating medial malleolar fractures. Level of Evidence: Level III, retrospective cohort study.

IEEE Graphene oxide is a very attractive material for refractive index and humidity sensing due to its unique two-dimensional structure, which results in faster response times and improved sensitivity over alternative materials. In this paper, response of a graphene oxide-coated long period grating-based sensor to changes in relative humidity and external refractive index (as well as temperature to provide a correction for any changes) is reported. In fabricating the probes, an improved Hummer & #x0027;s method was used to synthesis the graphene oxide dispersion used as its basis, allowing coating of a functionalized long period grating by using a dip-coating technique. A consistent and stable response of the resonance dip intensity of the graphene oxide-coated long period grating was observed to the change in humidity, achieving a sensitivity of 0.15 dB / %RH with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.980 over the relative humidity range from 60%RH to 95%RH, at room temperature (25 & #x00B0;C). A blue shift of the resonance band wavelength was recorded when the sensor was exposed to varying temperature conditions from 25 & #x00B0;C to 70 & #x00B0;C and the response was found to be linear, with a correlation coefficient of 0.997. When evaluating its performance as an external refractive index sensor, sensitivities of ~17dB/RIU in the lower refractive index region (1.33-1.38) and ~55 dB/RIU over the higher refractive index region (1.40-1.45) were achieved. The graphene oxide-coated long period grating sensor probe performed well, showing a good stability and repeatability over a number of test cycles in the performance evaluation carried out.

Hierarchical structured ‘0D+ 2D+ 2D’ multidimensional nano carbon bowl (CB)-Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS2)-Graphene (CB@MoS2/Graphene) hybrid is a promising electrode material for high-performance energy storage. The semiconcave hollow carbon bowl (CB) with a high specific surface area can increase more active sites for uniform growth of MoS2 nanosheets. The unique bowl-shaped structure also helps to increase the contact area between adjacent particles, shorten the transmission distance of electrolyte ions and improve the rapid charge and discharge performance of the material. To further overcome the poor conductivity of pure MoS2 and efficiently display its energy storage performance, the hierarchical CB@MoS2/Graphene ‘0D+ 2D+ 2D’ multidimensional structured electrodes were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. As a ‘conductive bridge’, graphene was wrapped outside the surface of the CB@MoS2 to form a continuous conductive network channel in the GO-MoS2-CB hierarchical structure for better charge and ion transport. Moreover, the CB@MoS2 can also be used as a ‘spacer’ for graphene, alleviating the agglomeration of graphene sheets and providing part of the electric double-layer capacitance. When was used as the electrode material for supercapacitors, CB@MoS2/Graphene can obtain a better electrochemical property than CB@MoS2 and CB. The specific capacitance of CB@MoS2/Graphene can reach 588 F g−1 at a current density of 0.2 A g−1 and 398 F g−1 at high current density of 10 A g−1, respectively. In addition, the 2D graphene nanosheets can not only improve the electrical conductivity, but also can be used as a buffer to alleviate structural changes during the long-term charging and discharging process, improving the cycling performance. The capacitance retention of CB@MoS2/Graphene is enhanced to 83.9% after 5000 cycles.

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are autoimmune, inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, which have established variations in prevalence across different ethnicities and genders. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in clinical features among men and women with NMOSD, according to the 2015 diagnostic criteria.A total of 97 patients with NMOSD were recruited from inpatient neurology clinics in this retrospective study. Demographic and clinical data were extracted from the various databases. Data on epidemiology, clinical signs, initial symptoms, and laboratory indices of men and women with NMOSD were compared.The cohort of this study had a female/male ratio of 5.47:1, with annualized relapse rates of 0.72 in female and 0.56 in male patients. Among female patients, 29.2% and 53.6% initially experienced acute optic neuritis and acute myelitis, respectively, while the prevalence of these symptoms was 46.6% and 53.3% among male patients. A total of 14.6% and 2.4% of female patients had area postrema symptoms and other brainstem signs, respectively on study enrollment. The prevalence of anti-AQP4-autoantibodies and anti-thyroid peroxidase autoantibodies/anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TPO/TG-Ab) was significantly higher among women (77% and 45.7%) than among men (46.1% and 13.3%) (P0.05 for both comparisons). A total of 11 women with NMOSD (11.3% of the cohort) also had autoimmune diseases.Women with NMOSD have higher morbidity levels than men with this disease and are more likely to have autoimmune diseases and brainstem lesions, especially in the area postrema.

Persistent influx of migrants has altered the urban landscape in China. Compounding this has been the shifting geography of local population and jobs, consequential of the physical expansion of built-up areas and restructuring of the urban economy. Nowhere is more evident of such trends as in Shanghai, the country's premier metropolis and leading business hub. How has intra-urban residential geography of migrants and local population transformed over time? How are such patterns connected with changing economic and employment distribution? These are the driving questions of our research, rooted in our long-standing observations of the city's evolving urban structure. We present patterns of spatial restructuring at two different points of time: in 2000 and 2010, and the change during the decade. Here our primary purpose is to sort out important predictors affecting the residential locations of migrants and the local population, in the context of overall demographic and employment geography. While sharing a tendency to move outward and away from the urban core, they respond to distinctive calculus – residential amenities for the locals and job opportunities for migrants, a bifurcated trajectory emblematic of intensified stratification.

With the development and widespread application of high-power power electronics technology, there is an interaction between distribution network voltage and reactive power and power quality. It is prone to operating over-voltage and closing inrush when closing, and reignition often occurs during opening. The voltage is too high, which far exceeds the voltage and insulation performance that the equipment can withstand, resulting in damage to the equipment. In response to the above problems, this article proposes an intelligent control switch closing and opening strategy to reduce the impact on the equipment during the reactive power compensation switching process. Considering the different dispersion of the intelligent control switch, the process of closing the parallel capacitor is simulated, and the effect of the intelligent control switch on the overvoltage and inrush current limitation is compared, which proves that the strategy is effective.

Collaboration among industry, university, and research institution (IUR) is dialectically linked with regional resources and networks. As the best-known innovative region in China, Zhongguancun in Beijing is no exception. The purpose of this paper is to understand the innovation network of IUR collaboration in Zhongguancun, focusing on linkages between industry and university as well as public research institutes, a key mechanism for transfer and diffusion of academic research and knowledge. Starting from a qualitative analysis of the formation and development process of this network, we combine social network analysis and spatial analysis methods at firm level and reveal the temporal and spatial evolution of Zhongguancun IUR cooperative innovation network. The network has developed from a single driver relying on government-centered connections into a more diversified system based on government and market incentives. A set of large, medium and small radial sub-networks have become interwoven, resembling a hub-and-spoke spatial structure.

Desalination of seawater using solar energy is a promising solution to the global freshwater shortage. Ultrahigh surface area (up to 1740 m2 g−1) hierarchical porous carbons (HPC) have been prepared by the carbonization of precursors derived from the room temperature dehalogenation of low cost, widely available polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with simple, low cost, environmentally friendly processes. The broad hierarchical pores (from 2 nm to 20 μm) facilitate and ensure fast water and vapor transportation. Flexible photothermal steam generation devices were successfully fabricated with these hierarchical porous carbons on hydrophilic ultrathin (200 μm) paper. An evaporation rate record of 7.87 kg m−2 h−1 and high energy conversion of 95.8% have been obtained under the concentrated solar intensity of 5 kW m−2. Our research leads to a new approach to converting halogenated plastics into environmentally friendly and useful porous carbon materials by simple, low-cost processes. It establishes and validates the concept of creating a sustainable and economic pathway to simultaneously recycle halogenated polymers, harvest solar energy and produce clean freshwater.

This paper presents a compact 76-81 GHz 3TX/4RX transceiver for FMCW radar applications in 65-nm CMOS technology. Three individual transmitters (TXs) and four receivers (RXs) are integrated for MIMO operation to achieve higher resolution and sensitivity. A wideband frequency sextupler cascaded with a Wilkinson power divider is employed as the local oscillation (LO) chain to lower down the frequency of FMCW signal generator and simplify the design of LO distribution network. Each transmitter channel achieves above 12.2 dBm output power from 76-81 GHz and a peak 14.2 dBm output power is obtained at 77 GHz. The receiver conversion gain from low noise amplifier input to baseband output is programmable from 46.3 dB to 102.45 dB for adapting to different detection distances. The measured noise figure of the receiver chain is 11 dB at 5 MHz intermediate frequency (IF). The transceiver including all dc bonding pads occupies a silicon area of 1.8 mm× 4 mm, and the power dissipation of the whole chip is 721.8 mW.

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), which is caused by Echinococcus granulosus, is a worldwide helminthozoonosis that is highly endemic in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and has important public health and economic impacts. However, the spatial epidemiological characteristics of CE in Tibet are still unclear. Based on recorded human CE cases and the use of a geographic information system, the spatial distribution patterns of CE prevalence at three different scales were analyzed. In addition, a spatial agglomeration map of CE prevalence was generated based on cold/hot spot analysis. By combining maps of environmental and biological covariates with information about known human CE cases, the links between CE prevalence and relevant covariates were explored, revealing that the annual average precipitation, elevation, water accessibility and animal population (dog and yak) were associated with the prevalence of CE at the significance level of P

Realisation of field-effect transistors in graphene with an energy gap remains one of the major difficulties for graphene based electronics. One of the solutions to engineer bandgap in graphene is ...

The wide array of clinical manifestations of dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) or Segawa disease and the prevalence of numerous DRD-associated mutations in guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) gene makeDRD diagnosis challenging. Methods: In this study, we assessed the clinical and genetic characteristics of two Chinese families with 3 DRD probands. Clinical assessment of DRD-related symptoms was conducted for all participants. All 6 exons of GCH1 were assessed by genetic analyses for individuals with heteroduplex DNA as compared that of controls. Results: The median DRD-onset age was 24 years and the female to male ratio of DRD patients was 8:1. Six out of eight (75%) patients responded to levodopa therapy. The data indicated that the GCH1 sequence had a novel point mutation resulting in T to C transition at position 80 in exon 1 of the cDNA sequence (c.80T>C), which resulting in an amino acid change (L27P) of GCH1 in the probands and their mother in the first DRD family. Conclusion: A novel GCH1 mutation (c.80T>C) was identified in the DRD patients in the first family. Our findings indicate that both clinical symptom assessment and genetic testing should be employed for improving DRD diagnosis.

Hand gesture recognition is an emerging field of technology in robotics and human-computer interaction. It has tremendous applications in daily life activities and intelligent workplaces. In this study, a system which could help people to work and operate without directly using hands or contacting by hands, is proposed and demonstrated. This system composed of a glove with flexible force sensors and a 3D printed robotic forearm. The user wearing the glove could control the action of the 3D printed robotic forearm. The 3D printed forearm simultaneously acted following the motion of the glove. The 3D printed forearm was composed of 46 individual parts that were printed with white biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA). Electronic components in the system are five flex sensors, a master Arduino Nano, a slave Arduino Nano, a wireless NRF24L01 transmitter module banding on the glove, a second wireless NRF24L01 receiver module in the forearm and five motors. The five flex sensors on the fingers of the glove detected and collected the signals reflecting the movements of the hands. The Arduino Nano processed the signals from the flex sensors and sent them through the wireless transmitter module to the slave Arduino Nano. In order to control the action of the robotic forearm, it was embedded with a slave Arduino Nano as a control kernel, a wireless NRF24L01 receiver module and five actuators. The slave Arduino Nano received and processed the signals through the wireless receiver module. After that, the signals were sent to the actuators- servo motors. The fingers’ action in the robotics arm was executed with the actuators. After carefully testing the system, the robotic arm followed the action correctly with a maximum 0.133 ms time delay all the time. This system could be really useful for the users who work in dangerous conditions, hazardous environment or require remote operation for safety reasons.

BACKGROUND Hyaluronic acid (HA) may be a novel prognostic biomarker of breast cancer. However, the available evidence is controversial. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to determine the prognostic role of HA in breast cancer. METHODS The data were extracted from seven articles by searching the databases of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang data for the prognostic role of HA in breast cancer. In reference to survival outcomes, the pooled hazard ratios (HRs) of HA were calculated given a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS A total of seven articles were included in our study involving 2664 cases. The result of meta-analysis showed that a high HA level predicts poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.28-2.71, P = .001) and shortened disease-free or recurrence-free survival or progression free survival (DFS/RFS/PFS) (HR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.14-2.33, P = .007) in breast cancer patients. Moreover, a high HA level in stroma (HR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.06-2.51, P = .025) and plasma (HR = 3.26, 95% CI: 2.25-4.73, P

Nanocarbon materials have great potential for sustainable energy harvest and energy utilizations, such as solar thermal stream generation and interfacial evaporation. However, the evaporation rate is far too low for practical application. The technologies are not ready yet for industries requiring rapid, energy efficient and low cost evaporation processes such as distillation and sterilization. In this paper, flexible ultrathin graphene-carbon cloth (CC) based carbon-carbon composites have been prepared by in-situ electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide (rGO). The carbon-carbon composite materials demonstrated high performance in photothermal evaporation, more importantly, the all carbon-based devices can also be operated as low voltage Joule heating elements in wide temperature range up to 389 °C. Even with a very low voltage 3 V applied, the graphene-CC heater can reach a very high with very high heating speed up to 112 °C/sec, and a steady-state temperature up to 292 °C within 10 seconds only. The low voltage heater promises as the most effective solution for high-speed interfacial evaporations, its evaporation rate can reach upto 45.87 kg m−2 h−1, enhanced by one order of magnitude compared to the best solar power photothermal seawater desalination devices ever reported.

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) and lacunar infarcts are common manifestations of cerebral small vessel disease. However, the association between the location of CMBs and lacunar infarcts is unclear. Our study aimed to clarify the relationship between the location of CMBs and lacunar infarcts.This study retrospectively analyzed 166 patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attacks admitted in the Geriatric Neurology Department of Chinese PLA General Hospital between February 2010 and December 2012. We collected clinical characteristics and risk factors of CMBs. The location of CMBs on T2*-weighted angiography was assessed by the Microbleed Anatomical Rating Scale. The number of lacunar infarcts and the severity of white matter hyperintensities were also recorded. The association between the location of CMBs and lacunar infarcts parameters was examined.CMBs were present in 77 (46.4%) patients. The presence [odds ratios (OR), 2.14; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02-4.48], number (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.02-1.36 per lesion), severity (OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.07-2.42) of lacunar infarcts, and hypertension (OR, 5.76; 95% CI, 2.01-16.55) were independent risk factors for CMBs. Stratified by the location of CMBs, lobar CMBs and infratentorial CMBs did not show significant association with lacunar infarcts. Deep CMBs were significantly associated with the number (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.03-1.36) and severity (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.11-2.63) of lacunar infarcts. Moreover, the percentage of deep CMBs increased with the increased severity of lacunar infarcts (P = .003).Deep CMBs rather than lobar and infratentorial CMBs are associated with lacunar infarcts.

Hydatid disease imposing serious threat on human health and great loss in live¬stock pastoralism remains a major public health problem in western China. To assess and monitor the effect of control program on transmission dynamics, we used the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis in slaughtered sheep at slaughterhouse as an indicator during the period of 2007 to 2013 in Emin County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The results showed a significant decline trend of prevalence in all age groups during the 7 years when the control program was implemented; particularly, the rate was reduced by 72% after first 3 years. Among the sheep slaughtered, the age distribution evidenced that the prevalence increased significantly as the sheep grew older. The baseline data indicated that the rate was 4.5% at the age

Tumefactive demyelinating disease is a rare inflammatory demyelinating disease (IDD) of the central nervous system (CNS). The literature lacks a clear and consistent description of the clinical and radiological spectrum of this disorder, and few Chinese cases have been studied. Here we report 17 Chinese patients, with pathology confirmed CNS IDD, who had distinct clinical and imaging features from those in previous reports. Median age at onset was 47 years, with a female to male ratio of 1.1:1. Multifocal lesions were present in nine cases (53%) on their pre-biopsy magnetic resonance imagings (MRIs), with locations predominantly involving periventricular white matter (41%), subcortical white matter (41%), juxtacortical regions (41%), and cortical gray matter (35%). Moderate to severe perilesional edema and/or mass effect were present in 35% of cases. A variety of enhancement patterns were observed; most were heterogenous, including ring-like, patchy, venular-like, nodular, punctate, and diffuse in a decreased frequency. Perilesional restriction on diffusion-weighted images (DWI) were evident in 70% cases. Clinical course prior to biopsy was a first neurological event in 82% cases. During a median follow-up of 4.1 years, 76% of cases remained as isolated demyelinating syndrome, and 70% experienced a total or near-total recovery regardless of whether they received immunotherapy. Further studies are needed, especially concerning series with pathological confirmation and long-term follow-up information.

The housing markets have played an important role in macroeconomic fluctuations, especially during the recent financial crisis. We investigate the correlation between housing dynamics and the business cycle for a variety of countries. Our empirical results exhibit the two daunting facts faced by lots of macroeconomic modelers: (i) house prices are highly volatile and closely correlated with the business cycle, which is at odds with the evidence that rental prices are relatively stable and almost uncorrelated with the business cycle; and (ii) residential investment leads the business cycle while nonresidential investment moves contemporaneously with the business cycle.

Radiofrequency coil is one of the most important components for a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instrument. In this article, some planar micro coils with an inner diameter of 2 mm and number of turns that varied from 1 to 11 were investigated based on the printed circuit board (PCB) technology. The electrical characterization of micro coils show that self-resonant frequencies are larger than 200 MHz. Then, an NMR measurement platform with a static magnetic field of 0.66 T was constructed and the signal to noise ratio (SNR) values of the NMR were analyzed. It was found that the SNR is optimal when the turn number of the micro coils is six and the excitation time of a 90° pulse is 0.8 ms. Finally, we used the micro coil with six turns to study the transverse relaxation rate of copper sulfate pentahydrate aqueous solution with different concentrations. It was found that the transverse relaxation rate is proportional to the solution concentration. Results from the micro coil were verified by measurements using a Bruker Minispec MQ60.

Foreign consumer goods and brands have proliferated in recent decades in Chinese cities, helping transform the urban landscape. The transformation is multifaceted. Aside from the economic bottom line, for instance, foreign fast food chains bring with them influences on people's diet, consumption preferences, and lifestyle choices. Focusing on two of the most popular chains in China, McDonald's and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), and their operation in the city of Nanjing, this paper addresses two research questions. First, how have foreign fast food chains configured into China's changing urban landscape? Second, how do these restaurants interact with local consumers and become their space of everyday life? Our analysis is based on data from multiple sources, including business establishment data from the municipal industrial and commercial registrar, location data from Baidu (a Chinese website) maps confirmed by field reconnaissance, and interviews with consumers at select locations. Clearly, there is plasticity of transnational practices, as our analysis shows. In shaping the local consumer culture and space, they themselves are refashioned, by forsaking some degree of standardization to be more versatile and agile, and through locational (re)configuration to capture consumers. Local consumers, on the other hand, have altered their perception and use of the chains from more visceral and elective to more rational and routine, eventually making their own space out of the restaurants.

Introduction: We have developed a rare disease center in China. Methods: In this study we analyzed how patients with periodic paralysis accessed centers in China vs. in the USA and UK. Results: A total of 116 patients with periodic paralysis were evaluated in Beijing and Hangzhou (2003–2012). These patients traveled long distances for outpatient specialist care without an appointment or physician referral. In contrast, at the University of Rochester in the USA, >90% of patients were referred from physicians throughout the country by identifying physician expertise or by referrals from a patient advocacy group. In the UK, a single center, supported by the National Health Service, provides assessment/genetic testing for all UK patients. Conclusions: Rare disease centers in China require: (1) establishing a center for clinical characterization of the disease (e.g., periodic paralysis); (2) establishing a genetic diagnostic platform; (3) placing the center at a major city hospital; and (4) facilitating patient access through internet websites. Muscle Nerve 49: 171–174, 2014

The existing researches of miniature magnetic circuits focus on the single-sided permanent magnetic circuits and the Halbach permanent magnetic circuits. In the single-sided permanent magnetic circuits, the magnetic flux density is always very low in the work region. In the Halbach permanent magnetic circuits, there are always great difficulties in the manufacturing and assembly process. The static magnetic flux density required for nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) chip is analyzed based on the signal noise ratio(SNR) calculation model, and then a miniature C-shaped permanent magnetic circuit is designed as the required magnetic flux density. Based on Kirchhoff’s law and magnetic flux refraction principle, the concept of a single shimming ring is proposed to improve the performance of the designed magnetic circuit. Using the finite element method, a comparative calculation is conducted. The calculation results demonstrate that the magnetic circuit improved with a single shimming has higher magnetic flux density and better magnetic field homogeneity than the one improved with no shimming ring or double shimming rings. The proposed magnetic circuit is manufactured and its experimental test platform is also built. The magnetic flux density measured in the work region is 0.7 T, which is well coincided with the theoretical design. The spatial variation of the magnetic field is within the range of the instrument error. At last, the temperature dependence of the magnetic flux density produced by the proposed magnetic circuit is investigated through both theoretical analysis and experimental study, and a linear functional model is obtained. The proposed research is crucial for solving the problem in the application of NMR-chip under different environmental temperatures.

We propose a general global optimal algorithm to optimize the miniature permanent magnet structure of a micro magnetic resonance chip (μNMR-chip). For this purpose, we analyze the sensitivity of the permanent magnet structure to the design variables and determine the optimization variables. After this, radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) are constructed to model the objective functions, and the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA II) is improved by in- troducing a different weighting factor for each objective function in calculating the crowding distance. Combining the RBFNN with the improved NSGA II optimizes the miniature permanent magnet structure. Through comparison, the optimization solu- tions are proven effective. Finally, the optimized permanent magnet structure is manufactured and tested experimentally. After optimization, the volume of the permanent magnet block is reduced by 39%, and the permanent magnet becomes easier to manufacture.

We determined the presence of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence in human AQP4-transfected cells, and evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic relevance of AQP4 antibodies in 210 Chinese patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO), high-risk NMO (HR-NMO), classic multiple sclerosis (MS), and other neurologic diseases. Patients were enrolled from The General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and followed-up for a median of 2 years. The patients with HR-NMO had optico-spinal MS (OSMS; n=3), longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (TM) (n=35), recurrent optic neuritis (ON) (n=2), ON with Sjögren's syndrome (n=1) and TM positive for Sjögren-A(SSA) antibody (n=1). The sensitivity and specificity of AQP4 antibodies in NMO were 70.9% and 91%, respectively. The median AQP4 antibody titer was significantly higher in patients with NMO (1:320) than in those with HR-NMO (1:100) and MS (1:50). Relapse of ON or TM was more likely in patients with AQP4 seropositive, than AQP4 seronegative, HR-NMO. Among AQP4 seropositive patients, 66.7% (36/55) had severe ON, 75.9% (41/55) had TM, and 55.6% (30/55) had spinal cord lesions longer than three segments, and there were relapses in eight of 55 patients with ON (14.8%) and 19 of 55 patients with TM (35.2%) during the 2-year follow-up. In conclusion, our study reveals that AQP4 antibody is a sensitive and specific biomarker for discrimination of NMO, classic MS, and other neurological diseases, and is particularly useful for the diagnosis of HR-NMO. AQP4 antibody-positive patients showed higher frequencies of relapse of ON or TM compared with AQP4 antibody-negative patients.

Subwavelength-thickness all-dielectric nano-grating and nano-cantilever array metamaterials, actuated respectively by electrostatic and optical forces, provide reversible reflectivity changes of up to 20% and a giant sub-GHz frequency optomechanical nonlinearity at telecommunication wavelengths.

This paper outlines China’s progress in developing endogenous capacity for knowledge diffusion and commercialization in the higher education sector. Despite a promising start in the 1980s and early 1990s, academic technology transfer has not kept pace with rapid growth of the country’s overall technological endeavors. But there is evidence of institutional evolution in that university-industry linkages are moving from more hierarchical and rigid forms established under the centrally planned economy into more flexible and market-based arrangements. After probing what underscores the stalling of universities’ new found mission, the paper offers layered policy suggestions on what can be done to overcome the conundrum.

High-efficiency, environment friendly, renewable energy-based methods of desalination represent attractive and potentially very powerful solutions to the long-standing problem of global water shortage. Many new laboratory-scale materials have been developed for photothermal desalination but the development of low-cost, easy-to-manufacture, and scalable materials and systems that can convert solar irradiation into exploitable thermal energy in this context is still a significant challenge. This paper presents work on a geopolymer–biomass mesoporous carbon composite (GBMCC) device with mesoporous and macroporous structures for harvesting solar energy, which is then used in a device to generate water vapor with high efficiency using negative pressure, wind-driven, steam generation. The GBMCC device gives water evaporation rates of 1.58 and 2.71 kg m−2 h−1 under 1 and 3 suns illumination, with the solar thermal conversion efficiency up to 84.95% and 67.6%, respectively. A remarkable, record high water vapor generation rate of 7.55 kg m−2 h−1 is achieved under 1 sun solar intensity at the wind speed of 3 m s−1. This is a key step forward todays efficient, sustainable and economical production of clean water from seawater or common wastewater with free solar energy.

The phase error will occur when captured fringe patterns are saturated in the projection grating phase-shifting profilometry. The phase-recovering algorithm corresponding to seven-frame phase-shifting method is deduced. The applicability ranges of phase-recovering algorithms corresponding to different phase-shifting methods are studied with different intensity saturation coefficients by a simulative method. Simulative results indicate that the phase error caused by the intensity saturation can be effectively decreased by the phase-recovering algorithm when the saturation coefficient of fringe patterns is within the applicability range of the corresponding phase-recovering algorithm. Furthermore, the applicability range of the phase-recovering algorithm will be extended with the increase of phase-shifting steps. An experimental result is presented to prove the availability of the phase-recovering algorithm.

Research points to a strong association between infrastructure investment and economic performance. Despite China's great strides in providing basic services, there is increasing disparity among cities of different regions in their ability and performance to finance infrastructure development. Such unevenness has a long-term effect on urban economic growth. This study explores patterns and the expanding range of mechanisms for urban infrastructure financing in general and across the country's regions. It also investigates whether and how infrastructure investment is related to urban economic performance, using lagged variables to demonstrate both short- and medium-term effects. It is clear that such investment has responded to past unmet demands and paved the way for future growth.

In this work, a novel aqueous etching solution was investigated for texturization of silicon substrates. Nearly 30% of incident light is reflected from the surface of crystalline silicon due to its high refractive index. Surface texturization is an efficient practice to reduce surface reflection by enhancing light trapping. Newly formulated etching solution was evaluated for optical reflection, surface morphology and hydrophilicity of silicon substrates. Amazingly, experimental results demonstrate lowest optical reflectance, improved surface morphology as well as enhanced periodicity of the resulting pyramids. A remarkably lowest surface reflectance of 9.94% was achieved. Meanwhile, addition of IPA in the solution plays a major part in improving hydrophilicity of the silicon substrates.

The patterning of an organic layer, a big challenge for organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), have recently received considerable attention. By using copper tetracyanoquinodimethane (Cu-TCNQ) modified copper electrodes with nanostructure, selective polycrystalline growth of organic semiconductors is achieved. For different organic semiconductors, varied ways for crystal growth are observed. The OFETs based on selectively deposited tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), rubrene, and copper phthalocyanine crystals are fabricated and exhibit good device performance. Rubrene devices exhibit maximum field-effect mobility up to 4.6 cm2/(V·s) which is comparable to that of corresponding single crystal device. In addition, an organic inverter made of patterned rubrene and TCNQ exhibits a gain of 23. These results offer a general approach to the fabrication of high performance OFETs and organic circuits.

Research shows that there are important institutional underpinnings for building university–industry linkages. This paper aims to understand how China is developing the relevant organizational structures and incentives in its universities. What academic institutions shape the scope and channels of university–industry linkages? What incentives do universities provide to encourage and facilitate faculty engagement with industry? My analysis is accomplished through content analysis of university documents and in-depth interviews with personnel in two top institutions—Fudan University and Shanghai Jiaotong University, supplemented by official statistics. It shows that the hybrid organizational structure to manage technology transfer is a product of historical legacy and institutional learning—parts uniquely Chinese and parts adapted from the West. Faculty incentives also have varied effects. In spite of being enticed to disclose inventions and pursue commercialization, faculty remains keener on scholarly publications.

Organic thin-film transistors based on polycrystalline copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) were fabricated by using poly(vinyl alcohol) as gate dielectric. After treatment of the gate dielectric using an octadecyltrichlorosilane self-assembled monolayer, a mobility of up to 0.11 cm2/V s was achieved, which is comparable to that of single-crystal CuPc devices (0.1–1 cm2/V s). The surface morphology was analyzed and the possible reasons for the enhanced mobility are discussed.