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This paper analyzes interactions between teachers and students with developmental disabilities in a special education school in China, which is still the main educational placement for the disabled in China. Video observation data collected from six students in second grade and one teacher, were coded by an improved Flanders Interaction Analysis System (iFIAS). Results indicate that the teacher played the dominant role in the class while her/his instruction was student-oriented, several evidence-based strategies were used to motivate students' engagement, including questioning, timely feedback, reinforcement, game teaching, students' self-determination. Few peer interactions happened due to homogeneous grouping. Besides, the frequency of interaction patterns between teachers and students with developmental disabilities (DD) of different learning ability was similar while the interaction patterns were different. There were more non-academic interactions between the teacher and students with most serious disabilities in the class than others, while there existed more cognitive extension-partial and full interactions between teachers and students with least serious disabilities in the class than others. The results shed light on how teachers interact with students who have DD, and how interactions can be differentially delivered to students with DD of various learning abilities.

Previous studies found that histamine H2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) had blood pressure lowering and cardioprotective effects, but the impact of H2RAs on the survival outcomes of critically ill patients with essential hypertension is still unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of H2RAs exposure with all‐cause mortality in patients with essential hypertension based on Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database. A total of 17,739 patients were included, involving 8482 H2RAs users and 9257 non‐H2RAs users. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to improve balance between 2 groups that were exposed to H2RAs or not. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were used to compare the cumulative survival rates and multivariable Cox regression models were performed to evaluate the association between H2RAs exposure and all‐cause mortality. After 1:1 PSM, 4416 pairs of patients were enrolled. The results revealed potentially significant association between H2RAs exposure and decreased 30‐day, 90‐day, and 1‐year mortalities in multivariate analyses (HR = 0.783, 95% CI: 0.696‐0.882 for 30‐day; HR = 0.860, 95% CI: 0.778‐0.950 for 90‐day; and HR = 0.883, 95% CI: 0.811‐0.961 for 1‐year mortality, respectively). Covariate effect analyses showed that the use of H2RAs was more beneficial in essential hypertension patients with age ≥ 60, BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, coronary arteriosclerosis, stroke, and acute kidney failure, respectively. In conclusion, H2RAs exposure was related to lower mortalities in critically ill patients with essential hypertension, which provided novel potential strategy for the use of H2RAs in essential hypertension patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The functional role of soil microbes in the restoration of degraded lands is greatly influenced by interactions within and between microbial communities, as well as by soil organisms at higher trophic levels (microfauna). However, little is known about how changes in connection patterns among soil microbes and their co‐existing microfauna contribute to associated changes in soil function over the ecosystem restoration process.In this study, the effects of afforestation and natural regeneration approaches on connection patterns among soil microbes and their co‐existing microfauna were assessed in ex‐arable lands on the Loess Plateau in China along a 50‐year restoration chronosequence. The relationships between soil network connections, microbial functional associations, and multiple soil functions (e.g. multifunctionality) were assessed quantitatively.Although both afforestation and natural regeneration approaches enhance connections among soil microbes and their co‐existing microfauna compared to recently abandoned sites, connection trends were opposed between these two approaches across the restoration chronosequence. Afforestation resulted in a higher number of soil microbial and microfauna species with a unimodal connection pattern, while natural regeneration resulted in a continuous increase in soil network connections over the progress of succession. These increases in soil network connections, particularly those of soil microfauna‐microbe and microbial inter‐kingdom connections, corresponded to enhanced microbial functional associations. This result is corroborated by significant correlations between microbial functional genes encoding different central functional pathways, which, in turn, were positively correlated with soil multifunctionality.Synthesis and applications. Changes in the connections among soil microbes and their co‐existing microfauna were positively associated with changes in soil multifunctionality, mediated by microbial functional associations. While in the early restoration stages, soil networks following afforestation contained more connections than those following natural regeneration, in later restoration stages, the number of connections of the afforestation network declined and was eventually surpassed by those following natural regeneration. These findings raise concerns about the ecological sustainability of afforestation measures in historic grasslands on the Loess Plateau, suggesting that natural regeneration is the preferred approach to achieve long‐term ecological restoration success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wolfiporia cocos is a medicinal mushroom used in China. It biosynthesizes pachymic acid (PA), a main therapeutic triterpene associated with therapies. Nowadays, the unknown PA biosynthesis leads to difficulties in increasing its content in W. cocos. Herein, we report sequencing, assembling, and characterization of the genome and several transcriptomes of W. cocos. Sequence mining determined candidate genes that encode lanosterol synthase, sterol O-acyltransferase, and sterol C-24 methyltransferase likely involved in the steps from lanosterol to PA. Gene cluster analysis identified four CYP450 cDNAs likely involved in the biosynthesis of PA, namely WcCYP64-1, WcCYP64-2, WcCYP52, and WcCYP_FUM15, which were subjected to both overexpression and silencing in mycelia. The overexpression of each of WcCYP64-1, WcCYP52 and WcCYP_FUM15 increased the content of PA, 16α-hydroxytrametenolic acid, eburicoic acid, and tumulosic acid, while the silencing of each gene either significantly or slightly decreased the contents of these four compounds, indicating their involvement in the PA biosynthesis. In addition, different temperatures affected the expression of these genes and the formation of PA. By contrast, the overexpression and silencing of WcCYP64-2 did not alter the formation of these compounds. Taken together, these findings determine more potential steps in the biosynthetic pathway of PA for metabolic engineering. This study reports sequencing, assembly, and characterization of the genome and transcriptome of Wolfiporia cocos. In addition, Three CYP450s were identified to be involved in the biosynthesis of its active component, pachymic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the safety and efficacy of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence‐guided inguinal lymph node dissection (ILND) in patients with penile cancer. Patients and Methods: A prospective, single‐blind, randomised controlled clinical trial (ChiCTR2100044584) was performed among patients with penile caner who underwent bilateral modified ILND at four centres in China between 1 April 2021 and 30 June 2022. Patients aged 18–80 years and diagnosed with squamous cell carcinomas were included. Each enrolled patient was randomly assigned to either ICG fluorescence‐guided ILND by a laparoscopic or robot‐assisted approach in one groin, with non‐ICG fluorescence‐guided ILND in the other groin acting as a control. The primary outcome was the number of retrieved ILNs. Secondary outcomes included complications according to the Clavien–Dindo classification and the ILN non‐compliance (inadequate removal of ILNs) rate. Results: A total of 45 patients were included in the intention‐to‐treat (ITT) analysis, and the 42 who completed the entire study were included in the per protocol (PP) analysis. There were no ICG‐related complications in any of the patients. The results of the ITT and PP analyses indicated that the total number of unilateral ILNs retrieved was higher on the ICG side than on the non‐ICG side (mean 13 vs 9 ILNs, difference 4 ILNs [95% CI 2.7–4.4], P = 0.007), and the number of unilateral deep and superficial ILNs was higher on the ICG side. Furthermore, the LN non‐compliance rate was lower on the ICG side than on the non‐ICG side. Additionally, there was no significant difference in local complications in the groins between the two sides (P > 0.05). Conclusion: An ICG fluorescence‐guided ILND was safe for patients with penile cancer. This procedure can improve the number of ILNs retrieved and reduce the LN non‐compliance rate without increased complications. ICG fluorescence‐guided ILND is beneficial and recommended for selected patients with penile cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medical personnel contact with the patient closely, and their knowledge of vascular catheter-associated infections (VCAIs) is closely related to the prevention of VCAIs. Researchers mainly pay attention to the VCAIs knowledge of doctors and nurses but rarely pay attention to the nursing students in the hospital internship stage. Purpose: To investigate the current situation of knowledge of intern-nursing students in VCAIs, and analyze its influencing factors. Patients and Methods: 843 intern-nursing students were selected from 10 hospitals in five regions of eastern, western, southern, northern, and central China from June 26 to July 31, 2023, using a two-stage random sampling method. A self-designed questionnaire with good reliability and validity was used to investigate their knowledge of VCAIs, and t-test, multiple linear regression analysis, and Welch t-test were used to analyze the collected data by using SPSS Statistics 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results: Intern nursing students' mean score of VCAIs knowledge was 48.66 (SD=15.77), with a score below 60 (unqualified) accounting for 75.4%, a score of 60– 79 (qualified) accounting for 19.7%, a score of 80– 89 (good) accounting for 3.6%, and a score of above 90 accounting for 1.3%. Students who attended VCAIs training three or more times had higher scores than those who did not attend training (B: 4.706, p=0.001), knowledge scores of students with a bachelor's degree or above were higher than those with junior college degree or below (B: 8.479, p< 0.001), students who interned in tertiary hospitals had higher scores than those practicing in secondary hospitals (B:12.381, p< 0.001) and scores of students in hospital training were significantly higher than study independently (B:4.116, p=0.007). Conclusion: Intern-nursing students have a relatively low level of knowledge about VCAIs. It is recommended to strengthen clinical systematic and standardized training, improve the knowledge mastery level of intern-nursing students, and enhance their ability to handle VCAIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2014, the electric vehicle industry in China has flourished and has been accompanied by rapid growth in the power battery industry led by lithium-ion battery (LIB) development. Due to a variety of factors, LIBs have been widely used, but user abuse and battery quality issues have led to explosion accidents that have caused loss of life and property. Current strategies to address battery safety concerns mainly involve enhancing the intrinsic safety of batteries and strengthening safety controls with approaches such as early warning systems to alert users before thermal runaway and ensure user safety. In this paper, we discuss the current research status and trends in two areas, intrinsic battery safety risk control and early warning methods, with the goal of promoting the development of safe LIB solutions in new energy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonium, as a major inorganic source of nitrogen (N) for sweet potato N utilization and growth, is specifically transported by ammonium transporters (AMTs). However, the activities of AMT family members in sweet potatoes have not been analyzed. In the present study, the sweet potato cultivar 'Pushu 32', which is planted in a large area in China, was used in field experiments at the Agricultural Base of Hainan University (20°06′ N, 110°33′ E) in 2021, and Sanya Nanfan Research Institute of Hainan University (18°30′ N, 109°60′ E) in 2022. Four N levels were tested: 0, 60, 120, and 180 kg ha−1. The results are as follows. Twelve IbAMT genes were identified in the sweet potato genome, which were classified into three distinct subgroups based on phylogeny; the same subgroup genes had similar properties and structures. IbAMT1.3 and IbAMT1.5 were mostly expressed in the storage roots under N deficiency. Compared with the NN and HN groups, IbAMT1.3 and IbAMT1.5 expressions, N content in storage roots, N uptake efficiency at the canopy closure, N fertilization contribution rates, number of storage roots per plant, storage root weight, and yield were all increased in the MN group. Furthermore, there was a significant positive correlation between the expressions of IbAMT1.3 and IbAMT1.5 with N content in the storage roots of sweet potato. In a word, IbAMT1.3 and IbAMT1.5 may regulate N utilization, affect the development of the storage root. and determine the yield of sweet potato. The results provide valuable insights into the AMT gene family's role in the use of N and effects on storage root development and yield in sweet potatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effective conservation and utilization of farm animals are fundamental for realizing sustainable increases in food production. In situ and ex situ conservation are the two main strategies that are currently used to protect the genetic integrity of Chinese domestic chicken breeds. However, genomic diversity and population structure have not been compared in these conserved populations. Results: Three hundred and sixty-one individuals from three Chinese domestic chicken breeds were collected from populations conserved in situ and ex situ and genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). First, we used different parameters based on heterozygosity, genomic inbreeding, and linkage disequilibrium to estimate the genomic diversity of these populations, and applied principal component analysis (PCA), neighbor-joining tree, and ADMIXTURE to analyze population structure. We found that the small ex situ conserved populations, which have been maintained in controlled environments, retained less genetic diversity than the in situ conserved populations. In addition, genetic differentiation was detected between the in situ and ex situ conserved populations of the same breed. Next, we analyzed signatures of selection using three statistical methods (fixation index (FST), nucleotide diversity (Pi), and cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH) to study the genetic footprints that underlie the differentiation between in situ and ex situ conserved populations. We concluded that, in these small populations, differentiation might be caused by genetic drift or by mutations from the original populations. The differentiation observed in the population of Beijing You chicken probably reflects adaptation to environmental changes in temperature and humidity that the animals faced when they were moved from their place of origin to the new site for ex situ conservation. Conclusions: Conservation programs of three Chinese domestic chicken breeds have maintained their genomic diversity to a sustainable degree. The small ex situ conserved populations, which are maintained in controlled environments, retain less genetic diversity than populations conserved in situ. In addition, the transfer of populations from their place of origin to another site for conservation purposes results in genetic differentiation, which may be caused by genetic drift or adaptation. This study provides a basis for further optimization of in situ and ex situ conservation programs for domestic chicken breeds in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Begonia species are common shade plants that are mostly found in southwest China. They have not been well studied despite their medicinal and decorative uses because gene penetration, decreased adaptability, and restricted availability are all caused by frequent interspecific hybridization. Result: To understand the patterns of mutation in the chloroplast genomes of different species of Begonia, as well as their evolutionary relationships, we collected seven Begonia species in China and sequenced their chloroplast genomes. Begonia species exhibit a quadripartite structure of chloroplast genomes (157,634 − 169,694 bp), consisting of two pairs of inverted repeats (IR: 26,529 − 37,674 bp), a large single copy (LSC: 75,477 − 86,500 bp), and a small single copy (SSC: 17,861 − 18,367 bp). 128–143 genes (comprising 82–93 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNAs, and 36–43 transfer RNAs) are found in the chloroplast genomes. Based on comparative analyses, this taxon has a relatively similar genome structure. A total of six substantially divergent DNA regions (trnT-UGU-trnL-UAA, atpF-atpH, ycf4-cemA, psbC-trnS-UGA, rpl32-trnL-UAG, and ccsA-ndhD) are found in the seventeen chloroplast genomes. These regions are suitable for species identification and phylogeographic analysis. Phylogenetic analysis shows that Begonia species that were suited to comparable environments grouped in a small clade and that all Begonia species formed one big clade in the phylogenetic tree, supporting the genus' monophyly. In addition, positive selection sites were discovered in eight genes (rpoC1, rpoB, psbE, psbK, petA, rps12, rpl2, and rpl22), the majority of which are involved in protein production and photosynthesis. Conclusion: Using these genome resources, we can resolve deep-level phylogenetic relationships between Begonia species and their families, leading to a better understanding of evolutionary processes. In addition to enhancing species identification and phylogenetic resolution, these results demonstrate the utility of complete chloroplast genomes in phylogenetically and taxonomically challenging plant groupings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In the present study, we aimed to construct a methylation diagnostic tool using urine sediment for the detection of urothelial bladder carcinoma (UBC), and improved the diagnostic performance of the model by incorporating single nucleotide polymorphism sites. In stage I, single NRN1 exhibited the highest AUC. At the best cutoff value of 5.16, single NRN1 biomarker showed a sensitivity of 0.93 and specificity of 0.97. In stage II, random forest algorithm was applied to construct the model, including NRN1, TERT C228T and FGFR3 p.S249C. The tool exhibited AUC values of 0.953, 0.946 and 0.951 in training, test and all cohort. In the external validation cohort (stage III), the model achieved an AUC of 0.935, sensitivity of 0.864 and specificity of 0.895. The model also exhibited a superior sensitivity and comparable specificity compared with conventional cytology and FISH, and may be used as a replaceable approach for the detection of UBC. Background: Aberrant DNA methylation is an early event during tumorigenesis. In the present study, we aimed to construct a methylation diagnostic tool using urine sediment for the detection of urothelial bladder carcinoma, and improved the diagnostic performance of the model by incorporating single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites. Methods: A three-stage analysis was carried out to construct the model and evaluate the diagnostic performance. In stage I, two small cohorts from Xiangya hospital were recruited to validate and identify the detailed regions of collected methylation biomarkers. In stage II, proof-of-concept study cohorts from the Hunan multicenter were recruited to construct a diagnostic tool. In stage III, a blinded cohort comprising suspicious UBC patients was recruited from Beijing single center to further test the robustness of the model. Results: In stage I, single NRN1 exhibited the highest AUC compared with six other biomarkers and the Random Forest model. At the best cutoff value of 5.16, a single NRN1 biomarker gave a diagnosis with a sensitivity of 0.93 and a specificity of 0.97. In stage II, the Random Forest algorithm was applied to construct a diagnostic tool, consisting of NRN1, TERT C228T and FGFR3 p.S249C. The tool exhibited AUC values of 0.953, 0.946 and 0.951 in training, test and all cohorts. At the best cutoff value, the model resulted in a sensitivity of 0.871 and a specificity of 0.947. In stage III, the diagnostic tool achieved a good discrimination in the external validation cohort, with an overall AUC of 0.935, sensitivity of 0.864 and specificity of 0.895. Additionally, the model exhibited a superior sensitivity and comparable specificity compared with conventional cytology and FISH. Conclusions: The diagnostic tool exhibited a highly specific and robust performance. It may be used as a replaceable approach for the detection of UBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean mosaic virus is a severe constraint of soybean production in China. A total of country‐wide 22 SMV strains (SC1‐SC22) were identified. Of these, SC3 is a major strain widely distributed in Huanghuai and Yangtze River Valley region of China. Soybean cultivar 'Qihuang‐1' contains RSC3Q locus conditioning the resistance to SC3 and is an important parental line extensively used to breed the soybean cultivars in China. The objective of this study was to elucidate the genetic pattern of SC3 resistance genes in cultivars developed from 'Qihuang‐1' or its derivative lines. Hence, we have evaluated the SC3 resistance in 91 cultivars developed from 'Qihuang‐1' or its derivative lines. The results showed that a total of 43 cultivars exhibited resistance to the SC3 strain. Among them, 37 cultivars were derived from 'Qihuang‐1'. Then, we have detected the RSC3Q loci in these cultivars using four SSR markers (Satt334, Sct_033, BARCSOYSSR_13_1114 and BARCSOYSSR_13_1136). It revealed that, among the 37 resistant cultivars derived from 'Qihuang‐1', there are 20 cultivars containing RSC3Q loci. Moreover, the allelic relationship of resistance genes was analysed using the crosses from resistance × resistance between 'Qihuang‐1' and its resistant derived cultivars. The results showed that the resistance genes of 'Qihuang‐1' and its 20 cultivars were allelic. But it is not allelic with those of the other 17 cultivars, different from 'Qihuang‐1', and also, RSC3Q does not condition the resistance. These results will be beneficial to exploring the transmission of resistance genes of 'Qihuang‐1' and will be useful to the disease resistance breeding of soybean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of regional nodal irradiation (RNI) in patients with T1-2N1M0 breast cancer and to identify the subgroup that could benefit from RNI. Methods and materials: A total of 4,243 women with pT1-2N1M0 breast cancer treated at two institutions in China were retrospectively reviewed. Survival rates were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. The association of risk factors with survival outcomes was evaluated using multivariable proportional hazards regression. Results: A total of 932 patients (22.0%) received RNI. At a median follow-up of 5.9 years, the 5-year locoregional recurrence (LRR), distant metastasis (DM), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were 4.0% and 7.2% (P = 0.001), 13.2% and 10.6% (P = 0.465), 85.0% and 84.7% (P = 0.131), and 93.9% and 92.8% (P = 0.004) in the RNI and non-RNI groups, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that RNI was an independent prognostic factor for lower LRR (P = 0.001) and longer DFS (P = 0.013). Patients were stratified into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups based on the eight nontherapeutic risk factors. RNI significantly decreased the 5-year LRR (2.2% vs. 7.0%, P = 0.001) and improved the 5-year DFS (88.8% vs. 84.9%, P = 0.015) and OS (95.8% vs. 93.9%, P = 0.010) in the intermediate-risk group. However, neither the low-risk group nor the high-risk group had survival benefit from RNI. Conclusion: T1-2N1M0 breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease. We found that RNI only improved survival in the intermediate-risk group. It might be omitted in low-risk patients, and the role of RNI in high-risk patients needs further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artemisiae argyi Folium is a traditional herbal medicine used for moxibustion heat therapy in China. The volatile oils in A.argyi leaves are closely related to its medicinal value. Records suggest that the levels of these terpenoids components within the leaves vary as a function of harvest time, with June being the optimal time for A. argyi harvesting, owing to the high levels of active ingredients during this month. However, the molecular mechanisms governing terpenoid biosynthesis and the time-dependent changes in this activity remain unclear. In this study, GC–MS analysis revealed that volatile oil levels varied across four different harvest months (April, May, June, and July) in A. argyi leaves, and the primarily terpenoids components (including both monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes) reached peak levels in early June. Through single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing, corrected by Illumina RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq), 44 full-length transcripts potentially involved in terpenoid biosynthesis were identified in this study. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) exhibiting time-dependent expression patterns were divided into 12 coexpression clusters. Integrated chemical and transcriptomic analyses revealed distinct time-specific transcriptomic patterns associated with terpenoid biosynthesis. Subsequent hierarchical clustering and correlation analyses ultimately identified six transcripts that were closely linked to the production of these two types of terpenoid within A. argyi leaves, revealing that the structural diversity of terpenoid is related to the generation of the diverse terpene skeletons by prenyltransferase (TPS) family of enzymes. These findings can guide further studies of the molecular mechanisms underlying the quality of A. argyi leaves, aiding in the selection of optimal timing for harvests of A. argyi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate nurses' willingness and demand for Internet +home care services in different levels of hospitals in China and analyze the influencing factors. Participants and Methods: From October 1 to December 31, 2021, 5714 nurses from 15 hospitals in five regions of China were recruited in this cross-sectional study using a two-stage random sampling method. A self-designed questionnaire with good reliability and validity was used to measure nurses' willingness and demand for Internet +home care services. χ2 test, Welch t-test, and multiple linear regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Results: Nurses were highly willing to provide Internet +home care services. Statistical differences were found in the willingness to provide Internet +home care services and the preference for service distance, service platform, and single service fee between nurses in different levels of hospitals (both P< 0.05). The willingness to provide "catheter maintenance service" and "rehabilitation nursing service" of nurses in different levels of hospitals were statistically significant (both P< 0.05). Nurses' demand for Internet +home care services increased with the level of their hospital. Multiple linear regression showed that professional title, educational level, monthly family income, and mortgage or car loan influence nurses' demand for Internet +home care services. Conclusion: Nurses' willingness and demand for Internet +home care services vary with the level of their hospitals. It is recommended that government and hospitals regulate the service items, the service distance, single service fee, and other contents according to nurses' willingness and demand and establish relevant laws and regulations to ensure the steady and orderly development of the Internet +home care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ardisia plants have been used as medicinal plants for a long time in China. Traditional techniques such as morphological, microscopic, and chemical identification methods all have limitations in the species identification of Ardisia. For the sake of drug safety, four DNA barcodes (psbA-trnH , ITS, rbcL , and matK) were assessed for Chinese Ardisia plants using a total of 121 individuals from 33 species. Four criteria (The success rates of PCR amplification, DNA barcoding gap, DNA sequence similarity analysis and NJ tree clustering analysis) were used to evaluate the species identification ability of these four DNA barcodes. The results show that ITS had the highest efficiency in terms of PCR and sequencing and exhibited the most apparent inter- and intra-specific divergences and the highest species identification efficiency. There was no significant increase in species identification after combining the three cpDNA fragments with the ITS fragment. Considering the cost and experimental effectiveness, we recommend ITS as the core barcode for identifying Chinese Ardisia plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes interactions between teachers and students with developmental disabilities in a special education school in China, which is still the main educational placement for the disabled in China. Video observation data collected from six students in second grade and one teacher, were coded by an improved Flanders Interaction Analysis System (iFIAS). Results indicate that the teacher played the dominant role in the class while her/his instruction was student-oriented, several evidence-based strategies were used to motivate students' engagement, including questioning, timely feedback, reinforcement, game teaching, students' self-determination. Few peer interactions happened due to homogeneous grouping. Besides, the frequency of interaction patterns between teachers and students with developmental disabilities (DD) of different learning ability was similar while the interaction patterns were different. There were more non-academic interactions between the teacher and students with most serious disabilities in the class than others, while there existed more cognitive extension-partial and full interactions between teachers and students with least serious disabilities in the class than others. The results shed light on how teachers interact with students who have DD, and how interactions can be differentially delivered to students with DD of various learning abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the effect of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) on pT 1-2 N 1 breast cancer patients with different molecular subtypes. We retrospectively analyzed the data of 5442 patients with pT 1-2 N 1 breast cancer treated using modified radical mastectomy in 11 hospitals in China. Univariate, multivariate, and propensity score matching (PSM) analyses were used to evaluate the effect of PMRT on locoregional recurrence (LRR). With a median follow-up duration of 63.8 months, the 5-year LRR rates were 4.0% and 7.7% among patients treated with and without PMRT, respectively (p < 0.001). PMRT was independently associated with reduced LRR after adjustments for confounders (p < 0.001). After grouping the patients according to the molecular subtype of cancer and conducting PSM, we found that the 5-year LRR rates among patients treated with and without PMRT (in that order) were as follows: luminal HER2-negative cancer, 1.9% and 6.5% (p < 0.001); luminal HER2-positive cancer, 3.8% and 13.7% (p = 0.041); HER2-overexpressing cancer, 10.2% and 15.5% (p = 0.236); and triple-negative cancer, 4.6% and 15.9% (p = 0.002). Among patients with HER2-overexpressing and triple-negative cancers, the LRR hazard rate displayed a dominant early peak, and was extremely low after 5 years. However, patients with luminal cancer continued to have a long-lasting high annual LRR hazard rate during follow-up. PMRT significantly reduced the LRR risk in patients with pT 1-2 N 1 luminal and triple-negative breast cancers, but had no effect on the LRR risk in patients with HER2-overexpressing cancer. Patients with different molecular subtypes displayed different annual LRR patterns, and the late recurrence of the luminal subtype suggests the necessity of long-term follow-up to evaluate the efficacy of PMRT. • PMRT reduces LRR of pT 1-2 N 1 luminal and triple-negative breast cancers. • PMRT has no effect on the LRR of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. • Different molecular subtypes display different annual LRR patterns. • Late LRR beyond 5 years is observed in luminal breast cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vaccination is an effective strategy to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This study aimed to compare predictors of vaccination intention between healthcare workers (HCWs) and non-healthcare workers (non-HCWs) in China. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among HCWs and non-HCWs. Several bivariate analysis techniques, eg, crosstab with Chi-square, independent t-test and single factor ANOVA, were performed to analyze the correlation. After that, a series of multivariate binary regressions were employed to determine predictors of vaccination intention. Results: Intention was closely and significantly related with gender, perceived vaccination knowledge, perceived importance and effectiveness of vaccine to prevent COVID-19. HCWs and non-HCWs were heterogeneous, since vaccination intention, perceived knowledge, and attitudes (eg, importance, severity, risk) toward COVID-19 or vaccine had statistically significant difference between the two groups. With comparison of predictors of vaccination intention, for HCWs, demographic factors were the major predictors of COVID-19 vaccination intention. Female HCWs and HCWs with a Master's or higher degree were more hesitant about vaccination (P = 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively), while HCWs had greater vaccination intention as their age increased (P = 0.02). For non-HCWs, perceived vaccination knowledge was the major predictor of COVID-19 vaccination intention (P < 0.001). Additionally, perceived importance and effectiveness of vaccine were predictors for both HCWs and non-HCWs. Conclusion: Vaccination intention of HCWs was greater than that of non-HCWs in China. Measures should be taken to improve the vaccination rate based on the predictors of vaccination intention identified in this study. For HCWs, especially those with a high level of education or who were females, the safety and effectiveness of vaccines in use may reinforce their vaccination intention. For non-HCWs, popularization of general medical knowledge, including of vaccine-preventable diseases, may increase their vaccination intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As soybean plays an indispensable role in the supply of vegetable oil and protein, balancing the relationship between seed quality and yield traits according to human demand has become an important breeding goal for soybean improvement. Here, 256 intraspecific recombinant inbred lines (RILs), derived from a cross between Qi Huang No.34 (QH34) and Ji Dou No.17 (JD17), were used for quantitative trait loci (QTLs) mapping with remarkable four chemical and physical properties with a purpose for exploring the distribution of excellent alleles in germplasm resources in China. A total of 25 QTLs were detected, of which 10 QTLs inherited the alleles from the parent QH34. Pedigree research on favorable alleles on these QTLs showed the process of excellent alleles pyramided into QH34. Meta-analysis of the 25 QTLs by comparing with existed QTLs in previous study identified 17 novel QTLs. QTLs with pleiotropic effects have been detected. Furthermore, three representative elite recombinant inbred lines in different locations that have great potential in soybean breeding were selected, and finally, four seed weight-related candidate genes were identified. The discovery of these QTLs provides a new guidance for combining the diversity and rarity of germplasm resources, which can effectively increase population genetic diversity and broaden genetic basis of varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To characterize the inferior adrenal artery (IAA) pulsatility index (PI) in intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR) fetuses without brain sparing.Methods: Twenty-three IUGR fetuses with a normal Doppler cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) and 23 normal controls were included in this prospective cross-sectional study. The PI of the IAA was recorded using routine transabdominal Doppler ultrasound. The differences in Doppler characteristics, perinatal outcomes, and steroidogenesis in the umbilical vein at birth (adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH] and cortisol [F] levels) were compared between the 2 groups. The correlations between IAA-PI and steroidogenesis were assessed in the IUGR group.Results: IAA-PI was significantly lower in IUGR fetuses than in normal controls (0.85 vs 1.18 at first scan, 0.78 vs 0.92 at last scan; both P < 0.001). The plasma F and ACTH levels in IUGR cases were significantly higher than those of the normal controls (18.2 vs 12.4 µg/dL and 280.5 vs 125.6 pg/mL for F and ACTH, respectively; both P < 0.001). There were negative correlations between IAA-PI and plasma F values and between IAA-PI and ACTH values in the IUGR group (r = -0.774 and -0.82 at first scan, r = -0.525 and -0.45 at last scan, respectively; P < 0.001).Conclusion: Increased adrenal gland blood flow with concomitant increases in ACTH and F levels were observed in IUGR fetuses. IAA-PI is useful to assess early blood redistribution and may be beneficial for evaluating the steroidogenic response in high-risk pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnosis of multiple system atrophy (MSA) remains a challenge, due to the complexity and overlapping of its symptoms with other Parkinsonian disorders. The critical role of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) in the pathogenesis of MSA makes it an ideal biomarker for the diagnosis of MSA. Although α-syn alterations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood plasma have been extensively assessed for the utility in diagnosing MSA, inconsistent results have been obtained, presumably due to the contamination by hemolysis and other confounding factors. In this study, levels of serine 129-phosphorylated α-syn (pS-α-syn), a major pathologic form of α-syn, in red blood cells (RBCs), were measured using ELISA in a Chinese cohort consisting of 107 MSA patients and 220 healthy controls. A significant increase in the levels of pS-α-syn in RBCs (pS-α-syn-RBC) was observed in MSA patients than in healthy controls (14.02 ± 4.02 ng/mg versus 11.89 ± 3.57 ng/mg; p < 0.0001). Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) indicated that pS-α-syn-RBC discriminated the patients well from the controls with a sensitivity of 80.37% (95% confidence interval (CI): 71.58%–87.42%), a specificity of 88.64% (95% CI: 83.68%–92.51%), and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.91 (95% CI: 0.87–0.94). The levels of pS-α-syn-RBC were negatively correlated with RBD-HK scores and differed between MSA-P and MSA-C subtypes (13.27 ± 1.91 versus 12.19 ± 3.04; p = 0.025). The difference between subtypes was seen at Hoehn and Yahr stages 3 and 4, and the age at onset (AAO) between 60 and 69 years (p = 0.016). The results suggest that pS-α-syn-RBC is increased in MSA patients and can be used as a potential diagnostic biomarker for MSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra River (YBR) originating from the Tibetan Plateau (TP), is an important water source for many domestic and agricultural practices in countries including China, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh. To date, only a few studies have investigated the impacts of climate change on water resources in this river basin with dispersed results. In this study, we provide a comprehensive and updated assessment of the impacts of climate change on YBR streamflow by integrating a physically based hydrological model, regional climate integrations from CORDEX (Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment), different bias correction methods, and Bayesian model averaging method. We find that (i) bias correction is able to reduce systematic biases in regional climate integrations and thus benefits hydrological projections over YBR Basin; (ii) Bayesian model averaging, which optimally combines individual hydrological simulations obtained from different bias correction methods, tends to provide hydrological time series superior over individual ones. We show that by the year 2035, the annual mean streamflow is projected to change respectively by 6.8%, −0.4%, and − 4.1% under RCP4.5 relative to the historical period (1980–2001) at the Bahadurabad in Bangladesh, the upper Brahmaputra outlet, and Nuxia in China. Under RCP8.5, these percentage changes will substantially increase to 12.9%, 13.1%, and 19.9%. Therefore, the change rate of streamflow shows strong spatial variability along the YBR from downstream to upstream. The increasing rate of streamflow shows an augmented trend from downstream to upstream under RCP8.5 compared to an attenuated pattern under RCP4.5. Highlights • Bias correction is able to reduce systematic biases and benefits hydrological simulations over YBR Basin. • Bayesian model averaging tends to provide hydrological time series superior over individual ones. • The change rate of streamflow shows strong spatial variability along the YBR from downstream to upstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 25 Chinese patients aged 6 to 36 months hospitalised at Beijing Children's Hospital due to melamine-induced kidney stones complicated by acute obstructive renal failure in 2008 were included in a study in order to diagnose and treat these special cases more effectively. Feeding history, clinical presentation, ultrasound findings, treatments and effects were summarised. Twelve to seventeen months follow-up was reported also. Ultrasound examination showed that calculi were located at the kidney and ureters. Stones were composed of both uric acid and melamine in a molar ratio of 1.2:1 to 2.1:1. Treatments providing liquid plus alkalisation of urine proved to be effective in helping the patients pass the stones. Surgical intervention was needed in severe cases. Renal function returned to normal in all 25 patients after various durations of therapy. Sixty-eight percent of the patients expelled all of the calculi within 3 months, 90% in 6 months and 95% in 9 months, without sequelae till now. Melamine-contaminated milk formula can cause kidney stones in infants, which should be diagnosed by feeding history, clinical symptoms and ultrasound examination. Composition of the stones was not only of melamine but also uric acid. Providing liquid orally or intravenously plus alkalisation of urine proved to promote the removal of the stones. Follow-up of 12 to 17 months after discharge showed no sequelae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze protein expression profiles of vascular dementia (VaD) subjects for investigating the underlying therapeutic markers. Methods: Protein expression profile data were acquired from a quantitative clinical proteomic study, including 10 nondemented elderly controls and 10 age-matched VaD subjects. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified between VaD subjects and controls, followed by function prediction using DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery). Then, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by comparing it with the STRING (Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes) database, and the pathway crosstalk analysis was conducted based on overlapping PPI network and enriched pathways. Furthermore, the subpathway was screened and analyzed by the iSubpathwayMiner package in R. Results: A total of 144 DEPs were screened from VaD subjects and the controls. They were significantly enriched in many pathways. High-degree proteins were detected in the PPI network, such as ATP5B (ATP synthase subunit β). Furthermore, 'metabolic pathways' and 'Alzheimer's disease' were the significant pathways screened in the crosstalk analysis. At last, upregulated proteins were enriched in 2 subpathways of 1 pathway, while downregulated proteins were enriched in 162 subpathways of 36 pathways. Conclusion: By analyzing the differential expressions of proteins, the potential underlying therapeutic markers and mechanism of VaD might be elucidated. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathogenic Leptospira spp. causes leptospirosis in China and throughout the world. Here, we have sequenced two L . interrogans moderately virulent vaccine strains JDL03 (serovar Canicola) and JDL10 (serovar Hebdomadis) used in China. We selected a subproteomic approach to identify surface-exposed proteins including OMPs and extracellular proteins of these two strains plus a highly virulent vaccine strain 56601 (serovar Lai). Comparative surface-exposed proteome among the three strains indicated 81 cores, 61 dispensable and 122 unique surface-exposed proteins. Finally, the 10 highly conserved surface-exposed or subsurface proteins included two known cross-reactive antigens (LipL32 and LA_3469) and another two novel antigens (LA_0136 and LA_0505) displaying conserved immunoreactivity among 15 Chinese epidemic serovars. Furthermore, many potential virulence factors were detected in these identified surface-exposed proteins, such as Loa22, LipL32, LenC, LenF and OmpL37. Interestingly, LipL45, ClpA and ClpB, exhibiting obvious amino acid mutations among str .56601, str .JDL03 and JDL10, might contribute to virulence differences observed among these strains. Additionally, specific surface-exposed proteins in virulent str .56601 were considered to be key virulence determinants, such as Zn-dependent protease, cholesterol oxidase precursor, and so on. In all, we had relatively complete surface-exposed subproteomes of L . interrogans , which will enhance our understanding of leptospiral pathogenesis and key virulence determinants. Biological significance The present work demonstrates the use of genomic sequencing and subproteomic studies for the identification of potential vaccine and diagnostic antigen candidates against leptospirosis. The data show the conserved surface-exposed proteins to be novel potentially vaccine/diagnostic candidates. Furthermore, the data also show that LipL45, ClpA, ClpB and a lipoprotein from these three strains plus another highly virulent strain Fiocruz L1-130 contain specific amino acid mutations in strains JDL03 and JDL10. The surface-exposed subproteome of pathogenic L . interrogans could provide valuable information to gain a more complete understanding of leptospiral pathogenesis and virulence determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous genomic analysis of pathogenic Leptospira has identified two circular chromosomes but no plasmid. This study aims to investigate potential extrachromosomal elements of L.interrogans serovar Canicola strain Gui44. Methodology: Two novel plasmids, pGui1 and pGui2, were isolated from the pathogenic strain Gui44, using a modified alkaline lysis method. Southern blotting was performed to determine the presence and size of them. Then, 454 and Hiseq sequencing were applied to obtain and analyze the complete sequences of the two plasmids. Furthermore, real-time quantitative PCR and next-generation sequencing were used to compare relative copy numbers of the two plasmids with that of the chromosomes. Finally, after serial passages in vitro for more than 2 years, the strain Gui44 was subsequently re-sequenced to estimate stability of the two plasmids. Principal Findings: The larger plasmid, pGui1, 74,981 base pairs (bp) in length with GC content of 34.63%, possesses 62 open reading frames (ORFs). The smaller plasmid, pGui2, is 66,851 bp in length with GC content of 33.33%, and contains 63 ORFs. The replication initiation proteins encoded by pGui1 and pGui2 demonstrate significant sequence similarity with LA1839 (86% and 88%), a well-known replication protein in another pathogenic L.interrogans serovar Lai strain Lai, suggesting the ability for autonomous plasmid replication. Quantitative PCR and next-generation sequencing confirms a single copy of both plasmids and their stable presence in the strain Gui44 with in vitro serial passages after more than 2 years. Interestingly, the two plasmids both contain a significant number of novel genes (35 in pGui1 and 52 in pGui2). Conclusions: This report confirms the presence of two separate circular plasmids in serovar Canicola strain Gui44 and provides a new understanding of genomic organization, adaptation, evolution and pathogenesis of Leptospira, which will aid in the development of in vivo genetic manipulation systems in pathogenic Leptospira species. Author Summary: Leptospira species are the causative agent of leptospirosis, one of the most common animal to human transmitted diseases. Previous genomic analysis of L.interrogans serovar Lai and Copenhageni has identified the presence of large (4.33 mega base) and small (350 kilo base) circular chromosomes without evidence of any plasmids. Detailed understanding of Leptospira and its pathogenicity was delayed by the lack of available genetic tools. In this study we confirm the existence of two novel plasmids in L.interrogans serovar Canicola strain Gui44, an epidemic strain in China. Some novel genes identified in the two plasmids may play important roles in the characterization of the strain. The two plasmids will provide useful information in understanding the diversity of Leptospira genome and markedly improve our understanding of the evolution and pathogenesis of L.interrogans. In particular, it will contribute to the development of genetic manipulation systems in pathogenic Leptospira species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic variation analysis, correlation analysis and principal component analysis were conducted to investigate the relationship between 12 yield-related agronomic traits of 87 summer sowing soybean cultivars in Huang-Huai-Hai region. According to the experimental results, effective branch number showed the maximum variation coefficient and growth duration showed the minimum variation coefficient. The variation coefficient of bottom pod height, pod number per plant, grain number per plant, grain weight per plant and 100-grain weight of semi-determinate summer sowing soybean ranged between 18.38% -27.56. The variation coefficient of plant height, bottom pod height, pod number per plant, grain number per plant and grain weight per plant of determinate summer sowing soybean ranged from 21.02% to 8.04%. In semi-determinate summer sowing soybean, yield showed extremely significantly positive correlation with grain number per pod, grain weight per plant and 100-grain weight, but extremely significantly negative correlation with effective branch number and significantly negative correlation with growth duration. In determinate summer sowing soybean, yield showed extremely significantly positive correlation with stem diameter but significantly positive correlation with bottom pod height, while it showed no significant correlation with other agronomic traits. Principal component analysis of yield-related agronomic traits showed that cumulative contribution rates of the former four principal components to the variation of semi-determinate and determinate summer sowing soybean were 79.92% and 79.50%, respectively. Agronomic traits with the greatest variation should be selected first. Semi-determinate and determinate summer sowing soybean individuals in Huang-Huai-Hai region should be selected according to different podding habits. In addition, semi-determinate soybean varieties with moderate plant height and growth duration, fewer effective branches, more grains per pod and greater 100-grain weight should be selected; determinate soybean varieties with thicker stem diameter, higher plant height and bottom pod height, more nodes on main stem, fewer grains per pod, more pods per plant and grains per plant should be selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: For evaluating the environmental adaptability and stability of soybean [Glycine spp.] germplasm, the data of important agronomic traits in a mini core collection were analyzed using the additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model. The mini core collection contained 60 accessions of soybean germplasm, and their agronomic traits were investigated in 6 trail sites in Hebei, Henan, and Shandong provinces of China from 2008 to 2009. The interactions between genotypes and environment (G × E) were significant (P < 0.01) in plant height, effective branch number, 100-seed weight, and yield per unit area, which accounted for 16.7–24.6% of total variations. Thus, it is necessary to dissect the environmental stability of the mini core collection. Adaptabilities of genotypes varied across planting sites in different traits. Some genotypes showed wide adaptability and good stability with small phenotypic variations in different sites; whereas, strong G × E interaction was observed in some other genotypes. This result provides a theoretical basis for effectively using the mini core collection in soybean breeding in the Huang-Huai Rivers Region of China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

An innovative design and screening methodology of blended extractants was proposed, for co-extracting phenolic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and nitrogen heterocyclic compounds (NHCs) pollutants from coal chemical wastewater. The methodology includes two major issues, generating single-component candidate extractants and screening optimal binary extractants. In this work, two single-component extractant candidate sets, which present the potential to be good extractants of phenolic and PAHs/NHCs pollutants respectively, were generated by data searching of the Existing Commercial Compound Database (ECCD). The binary extractant candidate set was generated by traversal inter-combination between these two single-component candidate sets. To screen the target blended extractants from the generated candidates, a series of non-linear programming (NLP) models were set up and solved via special tailored strategy. Pseudo-component was introduced to represent various pollutants in coal chemical wastewater which reducing the size and complexity of NLP problems. Miscibility constraints of blended extractants and grid parallel computing method were adopted to reduce the time cost. Case study showed that the selected binary extractants can achieve co-extracting phenolic and PAHs/NHCs pollutants. It will benefit the sustainable development of coal chemical industry in China. Image 1 • An innovative design and screening method of blended extractants was proposed. • Pseudopollutant and parallel solving were used for high throughput screening. • The selected binary extractants can achieve co-extraction of phenolic, PAHs/NHCs. • The results show better performance than the widely used MIBK and DIPE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study which examined the characteristics of rare earth elements (REE) from the Yangdi section across the Late Devonian Frasnian-Famennian transition in South China. Information on the link between REE in sea water and variations of hydrogen-ion concentration and salinity. Results of the study showed that there was europium anomaly in the REE-enriched distribution patterns. It also observed hydrothermal activities in the Upper and Lower Kellwasser of the Late Devonian.

Wang, W.; Tang, D., and Xu, R., 2020. Systemic risk infection and control of water eco-environmental projects under the mode of government-enterprise cooperation. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journalof Coastal Research,Special Issue No.103,pp.447–452. Coconut Creek (Florida),ISSN0749-0208. It has become an important means to improve the ecological environment in China by introducing social capital into eco-environmental projects, which has made some achievements but also accumulated great risks. The social capitals who cooperate with the government form a complex network of relations by jointly participating in projects or cooperating with the same local government. The risk caused by the deterioration of the operation of some node enterprises in the network may have a negative impact on the affiliated enterprises. Based on scale-free network transmission dynamics and epidemiology theory, the risk contagion model of affiliated enterprises in government-enterprise cooperative network under complex network is constructed. The impact of risk contagion coefficient, government relief coefficient and relief success coefficient on network risk contagion is explored. An empirical analysis is made with the data of affiliated enterprises in the government-enterprise cooperative network in the field of ecological construction in China. The results show that the probability of risk contagion has a non-linear and non-monotone effect on the network risk contagion, and the government relief has no significant inhibition on the risk contagion. Also the intervention effect has a positive effect on the risk contagion, and there is a superposition effect with the intervention intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigated the clinical epidemiological characteristics of nitrous oxide (N2O) abusers in a hospital in China, which have not been systematically reported. Methods: The characteristics of patients abusing N2O who were examined and treated at the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from January 2017 to December 2020 were analyzed. Results: A total of 61 patients (average age: 21.7 ± 3.2 years; 42 male and 19 female) were enrolled; 60.7% of the patients had an education level of high school or lower, and most (59.0%) had no stable occupation. The mean exposure time was 8.5 ± 7.7 months (range: 1–36 months). Only 52.5% of the abusers reported the physician of the relevant exposure history at the first time of visiting the doctor. The main clinical type was mixed (49.2%). The most common clinical manifestation was distal limb numbness (80.3%). The most frequent outcome was peripheral neuropathy (59%) and subacute combined degeneration (36%). Serum homocysteine level was elevated in 67.5% (27/40) of the patients, while 44.4% (20/45) showed reduced vitamin B12. Note that 61% (22/36) showed abnormal signals in the posterior or lateral funiculus of the spinal cord, and 97% (31/32) of the patients showed peripheral nerve damage by electromyography. In all cases, symptoms were alleviated after halting N2O intake and receiving nutritional neurotherapy. Conclusions: N2O abuse can lead to nervous system damage, especially peripheral nerve and spinal cord damage. A full understanding of its clinical epidemiological characteristics is helpful for clinicians to make a timely and clear diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rhizome of P. japonicus var. major , one of the important herbs in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been used as tonic and hemostatic drugs in Tujia and Miao ethnic groups of China for thousand years. In this study, comparative metabolite and transcriptome analysis of rhizome nodes and internodes of wild P. japonicus var. major was performed to reveal their different roles in the biosynthesis of triterpene saponins. The results showed that the node was the crucial section for the synthesis of ginsenosides in the rhizome. The content of oleanane-type ginsenosides in the node was much higher than those in the internode. Most isoprenoid biosynthesis-related genes were highly expressed in the node. And, candidate UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes were also found to be differentially expressed between node and internode. Our study will provide a better understanding of the metabolism of ginsenosides in the rhizome of P. japonicus var. major. • The content of oleanane-type ginsenosides in rhizome nodes was much higher than those in internodes. • Most isoprenoid biosynthesis-related genes were significantly expressed in the node. • Most UGT genes were significantly differentially expressed between node and internode. • The node was the crucial section for the synthesis of ginsenosides in the rhizome of wild P. japonicus var. major. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive ammonia (NH 3 ) emission inventory for the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region was developed based on the updated source-specific emission factors (EFs) and the county-level activity data obtained from a full-coverage investigation launched in the BTH region for the first time. The NH 3 emission inventory within 1 km × 1 km grid was generated using source-based spatial surrogates with geographical information system (GIS) technology. The total NH 3 emission was 1573.7 Gg for the year 2010. The contributions from livestock, farmland, human, biomass burning, chemical industry, fuel combustion, waste disposal and on-road mobile source were approximately 56.6%, 28.6%, 7.2%, 3.4%, 1.1%, 1.3%, 1.0% and 0.8%, respectively. Among different cities, Shijiazhang, Handan, Xingtai, Tangshan and Cangzhou had higher NH 3 emissions. Statistical analysis aiming at county-level emission of 180 counties in BTH indicated that the NH 3 emission in most of the counties were less than 16 Gg. The maximum value of the county level emission was approximately 25.5 Gg. Higher NH 3 emission was concentrated in the areas with more rural and agricultural activity. Monthly, higher NH 3 emission occurred during the period from April to September, which could be attributed to the temperature and timing of planting practice. The validity of the estimated emissions were further evaluated from multiple perspectives covering (1) uncertainty analysis based on Monte Carlo simulation, (2) comparison with other studies, (3) quantitative analysis of improvement in spatial resolution of activity data, and (4) verification based on a comparison of the simulated and observed surface concentrations of ammonium. The detailed and validated ammonia emission inventory could provide valuable information for understanding air pollution formation mechanisms and help guide decision-making with respect to control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The intrinsic capacity of the thermal units in the system peak load regulation is studied on the generation side. • An improved linear UC model considering startup and shutdown trajectories of thermal power units is embedded with the peak load regulation compensation rules. • A real prefecture-level urban power system, and its modified test systems are used to verify the proposed methodology. To balance the peak–valley difference of the system load in electrical power systems, the peak load regulation problem has become a major barrier, resulting in challenges to unit commitment (UC). In addition to the new construction of specific system peak load regulation resources on the generation side and the demand response programs on the demand side, this paper focuses on the capacity of thermal power units in system peak load regulation. Considering the temporal distribution of system load off-peak hours, the potentiality of the deeper peak load regulation mode and the short-time startup and shutdown regulation mode of thermal power units are analysed. This paper presents an optimal scheduling model for power system peak load regulation considering the short-time startup and shutdown operations of a thermal power unit. First, an improved linear UC model considering the thermal units' startup and shutdown trajectories is established. Next, for different peak load regulation modes of thermal units, the corresponding peak load compensation rules are processed and converted into linear formulations. An integrated optimal scheduling model for power system peak load regulation with a suitable rolling optimization strategy is proposed. A real prefecture-level urban power system in southwest China and its modified test systems are used to test and verify the validity and effectiveness of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The number of risk prediction models for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients with acute stroke is increasing, while the quality and applicability of these models in clinical practice and future research remain unknown., Objective: To systematically review published studies on risk prediction models for DVT in patients with acute stroke., Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies., Methods: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP), SinoMed, PubMed, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Embase were searched from inception to November 7, 2022. Data from selected studies were extracted, including study design, data source, outcome definition, sample size, predictors, model development and performance. The Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool (PROBAST) checklist was used to assess the risk of bias and applicability., Results: A total of 940 studies were retrieved, and after the selection process, nine prediction models from nine studies were included in this review. All studies utilized logistic regression to establish DVT risk prediction models. The incidence of DVT in patients with acute stroke ranged from 0.4 % to 28 %. The most frequently used predictors were D-dimer and age. The reported area under the curve (AUC) ranged from 0.70 to 0.912. All studies were found to have a high risk of bias, primarily due to inappropriate data sources and poor reporting of the analysis domain. The pooled AUC value of the five validated models was 0.76 (95 % confidence interval: 0.70-0.81), indicating a fair level of discrimination., Conclusion: Although the included studies reported a certain level of discrimination in the prediction models of DVT in patients with acute stroke, all of them were found to have a high risk of bias according to the PROBAST checklist. Future studies should focus on developing new models with larger samples, rigorous study designs, and multicenter external validation., Registration: The protocol for this study is registered with PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42022370287)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Tibetan Patent Medicines (TPMs) have unique advantages in the treatment of ischemic stroke (IS) with the features of multi-component, multi-channel, and multi-target. In China, five TPMs mainly consisting of precious medicinal materials such as gold, pearls, and agate are widely utilized to treat IS and have achieved good results according to the current clinical practice., Aim of the Study: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of the five TPMs orally in treating IS and provide a reference for future clinical application and research., Materials and Methods: We searched the following 24 databases up to December 11, 2022: China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database, China Science and Technology Journal Database, Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, MEDLINE, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, etc. Comprehensive searches for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the five TPMs for IS were conducted. Outcome measures included clinical effective rate, neurological impairment score, activities of daily living (ADL), hematologic indices, and adverse events (AEs). The meta-regression, subgroup analyses, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the sources of heterogeneity. We assessed the evidence grade of outcomes via the GRADE system. TSA software was used for trial sequential analyses of the clinical effective rate, neurological impairment score, and ADL., Results: 17 RCTs (1603 patients) met our criteria. Compared with the control groups, the five TPMs showed greater improvement in clinical effective rate (RR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.29, P < 0.00001), neurological impairment score (SMD = -1.71, 95% CI -2.31 to -1.10, P < 0.00001), ADL (SMD = 1.97, 95% CI 1.26 to 2.68, P < 0.00001), hematocrit (MD = -1.56, 95% CI -2.83 to -0.29, P = 0.02), and hypersensitive-c-reactive-protein (MD = -2.96, 95% CI -3.30 to -2.61, P < 0.00001). AEs were reported in four RCTs and there was no statistical difference between groups (RD = -0.00, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.03, P = 0.82). The quality of evidence of the outcomes was rated as low to very low according to the GRADE system. The results of TSA provided firm evidence for the significant effect of the five TPMs on clinical effective rate, neurological impairment score, and ADL., Conclusions: This review showed that the five TPMs were beneficial in improving clinical effective rate, neurological impairment scores, and ADL. However, no definite conclusions for hematologic indices and AEs were drawn due to insufficient studies. Further high-quality clinical trials are required to confirm these findings., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Stroke is a heavy burden in modern society, and carotid artery disease is a major cause. The role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the development and progression of carotid artery disease has become a popular research focus. However, there is no published bibliometric analysis to derive the main publication features and trends in this scientific area. We aim to conduct a bibliometric analysis to reveal current status of ECM in carotid artery disease and to predict future hot spots., Methods: We searched and downloaded articles from the Web of Science Core Collection with "Carotid" and "Extracellular Matrix" as subject words from 1990 to 2021. The complete bibliographic data were analyzed by Bibliometrics, BICOMB, gCLUTO and CiteSpace softwares., Results: Since 1990, the United States has been the leader in the number of publications in the field of ECM in carotid artery disease, followed by China, Japan and Germany. Among institutions, Institut National De La Sante Et De La Recherche Medicale Inserm, University of Washington Seattle and Harvard University are in the top 3. "Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology" is the most popular journal and "Circulation" is the most cited journal. "Clowes AW", "Hedin Ulf" and "Nilsson Jan" are the top three authors of published articles. Finally, we investigated the frontiers through the strongest citation bursts, conducted keyword biclustering analysis, and discovered five clusters of research hotspots. Our research provided a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental data, knowledge organization, and dynamic evolution of research about ECM in carotid artery disease., Conclusions: The field of ECM in carotid artery disease has received increasing attention. We summarized the history of the field and predicted five future hotspots through bibliometric analysis. This study provided a reference for researchers in this fields, and the methodology can be extended to other fields., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The stems of Entada phaseoloides (L.) Merr commonly named "Guo-gang-long", is a traditional Chinese folk medicine that has been used clinically in China for the treatment of arthritis. Our previous study described that triterpene saponins isolated from "Guo-gang-long" could inhibit the inflammatory response. However, the potential mechanism of "Guo-gang-long" on treatment of arthritis, and whether the triterpene saponins responsible for its anti-arthritic effect are unclear., Aim: To investigate the function and mechanisms of the triterpene saponins from E. phaseoloides (ES) in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats., Materials and Methods: The chemical components of ES were analyzed by HPLC. Anti-arthritic activity of ES was investigated in CIA rats, which was established by immunization with bovine type II collagen. Three doses of ES (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) were administrated using oral gavage to CIA rats daily for 3 weeks. The anti-arthritic activity of ES was evaluated by clinical arthritis scoring, paw swelling and mechanical sensitivity, as well as histological changes in CIA rats. The impacts of ES on the regulation of the ubiquintin-editing enzyme A20 and MAPK signaling pathway, and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in CIA rats were examined by Western blot, quantitative real-time PCR, ELISA, and immunohistochemical staining, respectively., Results: ES treatment relieved the paw swelling, hyperalgesia and joint destruction, and prevented the progression of arthritis in CIA rats. Meanwhile, ES suppressed the excessive mRNA levels and protein expression of TNF-α and IL-17 in synovial tissues and hind paw joints, and reduced the production of IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-17 in serum. Furthermore, ES up-regulated A20 and suppressed the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK1/2 in hind paw joints, as well as inhibiting the activation of spinal p38 in CIA rats., Conclusion: ES could relieve rheumatic symptoms and prevent the development of rheumatoid arthritis. The effects of ES may be mediated by reducing proinflammatory cytokine levels, up-regulating A20 expression, reducing p38 and ERK1/2 activation in periphery, and inhibiting of phospho-p38 in spinal cord., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: To characterize the inferior adrenal artery (IAA) pulsatility index (PI) in intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR) fetuses without brain sparing., Methods: Twenty-three IUGR fetuses with a normal Doppler cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) and 23 normal controls were included in this prospective cross-sectional study. The PI of the IAA was recorded using routine transabdominal Doppler ultrasound. The differences in Doppler characteristics, perinatal outcomes, and steroidogenesis in the umbilical vein at birth (adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH] and cortisol [F] levels) were compared between the 2 groups. The correlations between IAA-PI and steroidogenesis were assessed in the IUGR group., Results: IAA-PI was significantly lower in IUGR fetuses than in normal controls (0.85 vs 1.18 at first scan, 0.78 vs 0.92 at last scan; both P < 0.001). The plasma F and ACTH levels in IUGR cases were significantly higher than those of the normal controls (18.2 vs 12.4 µg/dL and 280.5 vs 125.6 pg/mL for F and ACTH, respectively; both P < 0.001). There were negative correlations between IAA-PI and plasma F values and between IAA-PI and ACTH values in the IUGR group (r = -0.774 and -0.82 at first scan, r = -0.525 and -0.45 at last scan, respectively; P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Increased adrenal gland blood flow with concomitant increases in ACTH and F levels were observed in IUGR fetuses. IAA-PI is useful to assess early blood redistribution and may be beneficial for evaluating the steroidogenic response in high-risk pregnancies., (© Endocrine Society 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: To evaluate the benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for survival in high-grade upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC), a propensity score-based analysis was performed with high-grade UTUC patients from multiple urologic centers., Methods: From three urologic centers, 48 high-grade UTUC patients who received chemotherapy followed by surgery (NAC group) and 72 high-grade UTUC patients who underwent initial surgery (no-NAC group) were involved in a propensity score-based analysis. After propensity score-based (1:1) matching, 37 patients receiving NAC and 37 patients not receiving NAC were followed., Results: The patients who received NAC had improved disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), with a 3-year DFS rate of 78.4% and an OS rate of 86.5% versus a 3-year DFS rate of 51.4% and an OS rate of 62.2% for those treated with initial surgery (P = 0.018 and P = 0.02, respectively). In the multivariate analysis, the NAC group had a lower risk for mortality [DFS hazard ratio (HR) 0.25; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.10-0.62; P = 0.003; OS HR 0.22; 95% CI 0.085-0.57; P = 0.002]. The analysis of patient survival in matched subgroups showed that NAC was beneficial in terms of the 3-year DFS for the group with a cT of 3 or higher (DFS HR 0.37; 95% CI 0.14-0.94; P = 0.036) and the group that had tumor with hydronephrosis (DFS HR 0.31; 95% CI 0.11-0.87; P = 0.026)., Conclusion: The study showed that NAC may be considered as an effective addition to surgery for the treatment in high-grade UTUC patients.

In this study, we examined the expression and prognostic value of fibrous sheath interacting protein 1 (FSIP1) in 202 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who underwent lung cancer resection at Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University. FSIP1 mRNA and protein expression were measured in NSCLC tissues and non-tumor adjacent tissues (NATs), and Harrell's concordance index (c-index) was used to evaluate the ability of FSIP1 to predict prognosis. FSIP1 mRNA and protein expression was higher in NSCLC tissues than in NATs. Survival analysis revealed the 5-year overall survival rate to be 35.4% in the FSIP1-positive group and 56.3% in the FSIP1-negative group, and FSIP1-positive status was an independent prognostic factor for poor overall survival. The c-index value of FSIP1 for overall survival was greater than that of Ki67, and the addition of FSIP1 status increased the c-index value of the TNM staging system. These results suggest that evaluating FSIP1 status in addition to TNM stage during routine pathological examinations could improve prognostic predictions in NSCLC patients.

Assessment and characterization of gut microbiota has become a major research area in human disease, including type 2 diabetes, the most prevalent endocrine disease worldwide. To carry out analysis on gut microbial content in patients with type 2 diabetes, we developed a protocol for a metagenome-wide association study (MGWAS) and undertook a two-stage MGWAS based on deep shotgun sequencing of the gut microbial DNA from 345 Chinese individuals. We identified and validated approximately 60,000 type-2-diabetes-associated markers and established the concept of a metagenomic linkage group, enabling taxonomic species-level analyses. MGWAS analysis showed that patients with type 2 diabetes were characterized by a moderate degree of gut microbial dysbiosis, a decrease in the abundance of some universal butyrate-producing bacteria and an increase in various opportunistic pathogens, as well as an enrichment of other microbial functions conferring sulphate reduction and oxidative stress resistance. An analysis of 23 additional individuals demonstrated that these gut microbial markers might be useful for classifying type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To report our experience with Chinese minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy (Chinese MPCNL) to manage patients with intrarenal stones in solitary kidney, and evaluate the safety, efficiency and feasibility of this technique., Methods: Forty-one patients with intrarenal stones in solitary kidney underwent Chinese MPCNL in our department from March 2009 to February 2011. Demographic characteristics, operative parameters, number of tracts, stone-free rates (SFRs), stone analyses, hemoglobin levels, nephrostomy tube removal time, hospitalization time, and complications were evaluated. Serum creatinine (Scr) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were measured preoperatively, postoperatively at 1 month, and each follow-up visit. The 5-stage classification of chronic kidney disease (CKD) was used according to the National Kidney Foundation guidelines., Results: The initial stone-free status was achieved in 35 (85.4%) patients after Chinese MPCNL. The mean follow-up time was 16.9 ± 4.7 months (range: 12-24), and the final SFR improved to 97.6% after auxiliary procedures. Among all patients, complex stones were detected in 26 (63.4%) patients, and 9 (22.0%) required multiple tracts. The mean operative time and mean hospitalization time were 71.3 ± 23.5 min (range: 40-139) and 6.1 ± 0.5 days (range: 5-11), respectively. During preoperative period and postoperative period (1 month), Scr were 132.1 ± 41.3 umol/L (range: 78.2-231.4) and 108.9 ± 30.7 umol/L (range: 71.6-136.9), respectively (P<0.05), while GFR were 74.9 ± 24.2 ml/min (range: 35-110) and 83.9 ± 27.4 ml/min (range: 65-110), respectively (P<0.05). According to CKD classification, the renal function was stable, improved, and worse in 29 (70.7%), 11 (26.8%), and 1 (2.5%) patients, compared with the preoperative levels. No patient progressed to end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis., Conclusions: Our experience with Chinese MPCNL demonstrates that it is safe, feasible and efficient for managing the intrarenal calculi in solitary kidney with a low complication rate. At long-term follow-up, renal function stabilized or even improved in the majority of patients with solitary kidney.

To determine the relationship between comorbidity and outcome after radical cystectomy in Chinese patients by using the Adult Comorbidity Evaluation (ACE)-27 index. Two-hundred-and-forty-six patients treated with radical cystectomy at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Hunan Province, China between 2000 and 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. Medical records were reviewed for age, gender, delayed time of radical cystectomy, urinary diversion type, pelvic lymphadenectomy status, TNM stage, and pathological grade. Comorbidity information was assessed by the ACE-27 index. The outcome measurement was overall survival. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to determine the association between comorbidity and outcome. The study population consisted of 215 (87.40%) males and 31 (12.60%) females with a mean age of 62±11 years. Median duration of follow-up was 47±31 months. A total of 151 (61.38%) patents died during follow-up. Of those, 118 (47.97%) had at least one comorbidity. According to the ACE-27 scores, 128 (52.03%) patients had no comorbidity, 79 (32.11%) had mild, 33 (13.41%) had moderate, and 6 (2.45%) had severe comorbidities. Multivariate analysis indicated that moderate (p=0.002) and severe (p<0.001) comorbidity was significantly associated with decreased overall survival. In addition, age ≥70 years (p=0.002), delayed time of radical cystectomy >12 weeks (p=0.044), pelvic lymphadenectomy status (p=0.014), and TNM stage >T3 (p<0.001) were determined to be independent risk factors of overall survival. Increasing severity of comorbidity statistically correlated with decreased overall survival after radical cystectomy.

A total of 25 Chinese patients aged 6 to 36 months hospitalised at Beijing Children's Hospital due to melamine-induced kidney stones complicated by acute obstructive renal failure in 2008 were included in a study in order to diagnose and treat these special cases more effectively. Feeding history, clinical presentation, ultrasound findings, treatments and effects were summarised. Twelve to seventeen months follow-up was reported also. Ultrasound examination showed that calculi were located at the kidney and ureters. Stones were composed of both uric acid and melamine in a molar ratio of 1.2:1 to 2.1:1. Treatments providing liquid plus alkalisation of urine proved to be effective in helping the patients pass the stones. Surgical intervention was needed in severe cases. Renal function returned to normal in all 25 patients after various durations of therapy. Sixty-eight percent of the patients expelled all of the calculi within 3 months, 90% in 6 months and 95% in 9 months, without sequelae till now. Melamine-contaminated milk formula can cause kidney stones in infants, which should be diagnosed by feeding history, clinical symptoms and ultrasound examination. Composition of the stones was not only of melamine but also uric acid. Providing liquid orally or intravenously plus alkalisation of urine proved to promote the removal of the stones. Follow-up of 12 to 17 months after discharge showed no sequelae.

With Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment (CEPT) as the short-term process, the capacity of Bailonggang Wastewater Treatment Plant accounts for almost 25% of the total capacity of wastewater treatment in Shanghai, China. However, shortly after this plant was placed in operation in 2004, it was found that the effluent of CEPT couldn't meet the new national discharge criteria. Although the removal of phosphate is almost 80%, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) in the effluent is frequently found to exceed the standards. The primary goal of this research is to investigate the possibility of optimizing the CEPT to make it meet the discharge criteria before it is upgraded to a secondary treatment. An oxidant is adopted to remove NH3-N, and a high performance polyaluminum chloride (HP-PACl) is synthesized to enhance the removal of COD. It is found that HP-PACl improves the removal of COD, and the oxidant enhances NH3-N removal effectively. However, to meet the requirement of a newly implemented stricter discharge standard, it is necessary to upgrade this CEPT to a secondary treatment. The results of this study provide scientific evidence for the upgrade of the Bailonggang Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Objective: To summarize clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of infants with urinary calculus and acute renal failure developed after being fed with melamine tainted formula milk., Methods: Data of infant patients with urinary calculus and acute renal failure due to melamine tainted formula milk admitted to the Beijing Children's Hospital affiliated to the Capital Medical University and the Xuzhou Children's Hospital in 2008 were used to analyze the epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, image features as well as effects of 4 types of therapies., Results: All the 34 infants with urinary calculus were complicated with acute renal failure, their blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was (24.1 +/- 8.2) mmol/L and creatinine (Cr) was (384.2 +/- 201.2) micromol/L. The chemical analysis on the urinary calculus sampled from 14 of the infants showed that the calculus contained melamine and acidum uricum. The time needed for the four types of therapies for returning Cr to normal was (3.5 +/- 1.9) d for cystoscopy group, (2.7 +/- 1.1) d for lithotomy group, (3.8 +/- 2.3) d for dialysis group, and (2.7 +/- 1.6) d for medical treatment group, which had no statistically significant difference (P = 0.508). Renal failure of all the 34 infants was relieved within 1 to 7 days, averaging (3.0 +/- 1.8) d., Conclusion: Melamine tainted formula milk may cause urinary calculus and obstructive acute renal failure. It is suggested that firstly the patients with urinary calculus complicated with acute renal failure should be treated with dialysis or medication to correct electrolyte disturbances, in particular hyperkalemia, and then relieve the obstruction with available medical and surgical methods as soon as possible. It is observed that the short term prognosis is satisfactory.