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Drought and water shortages have always been great challenges for agricultural production in the North China Plain. To explore appropriate irrigation regimes and planting patterns in this area, a field experiment was conducted for winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from 2014 to 2016. Three irrigation treatments of 50 mm irrigation at growth stage of jointing (GS34) and heading (GS48, W1), 100 mm irrigation at GS34 (W2) and 100 mm irrigation at GS34 and GS48 (W3) combined with uniform (U), double–double (DD) and furrow‐ridge (F) planting patterns were designed. The tillers number, leaf water status, spike characteristics and radiation use efficiency (RUE) were measured. Results showed that compared with W2, W3 significantly reduced leaf abscisic acid (ABA) content and increased tillers number, spikelets spike−1, yield components and RUE, while W1 produced more tillers number, leaf relative water content (LRWC) and water potential (Lψ) only in the late growth stage, yield components and RUE. The DD significantly increased tillers number, LRWC, Lψ, leaf osmotic potential, spike length, spikes m−2, grains spike−1 and RUE, and reduced the ABA content compared with U. Considering the serious water shortage in the North China Plain, 50 mm irrigation at jointing and heading stages combined with DD is a worthy cultivation measure for sustainable agriculture at water‐deficit condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid detection of microorganisms in jet fuel can effectively prevent a series of problems caused by microbial contamination. In this paper, the application of the ATP bioluminescence method developed by the research group is systematically studied in the rapid detection of microorganisms in jet fuel. The results show that the ATP standard curve of the ATP bioluminescence method has good linear relationships with the standard curves of the colonies of five major contamination fungi and mixed bacteria (R²is all above 0.96), and that the ATP content in each single colony is on the order of magnitude of 10-17mol, indicating that this method can achieve rapid and effective measurement of the total number of microorganisms in jet fuel. The method also proves t have good measuring performance in various aspects – the method detection limit is 8.8x10-17 mol and the repeatability and reproducibility is 29.35%, which are within the acceptable range; the fluorescence reaction is highly stable, and a fluorescence decay of 5% can be guaranteed within 60 s. This method has little difference in field detection with the HY-LITE® JET A1 fuel test method recommended by IATA, and what is more, it is accurate, stable and lost-cost, making it effective as an alternative method. It is an independent intellectual property of China and can be recommended as a method for rapid detection of microorganisms in jet fuel in national standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports a rare case of β41/42,Cap/βA genotype in a girl with β-thalassemia (β-thal) minor. The 13-month-old Chinese proband suffered anemia, diarrhea, stunted growth and emaciation. The routine polymerase chain reaction-reverse dot-blot (PCR-RDB) test result for β-thal mutations indicated that she was a compound heterozygote for β41/42 and βCap. However, the complete blood cell (CBC) test gave the following results: mean corpuscular volume (MCV) 79.8 fL, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) 19.9 pg, with a Hb A2 value of 5.66%, suggesting that the proband also was β-thal minor. The proband's father showed typical microcytic hypochromic anemia characteristics with a decreased MCV and MCH (63.1 fL and 20.9 pg, respectively) and an increased level of Hb A2 (5.60%), while the proband's mother had normal levels of MCV, MCH and Hb A2. The PCR-RDB test result showed her father was also a compound heterozygote for the β41/42 ( HBB: c.126_129delCTTT) and βCap ( HBB: c.-11_-8delAAAC) mutations and her mother was normal. Finally, DNA sequencing identified that the β41/42 and βCap mutations of the proband were inherited from her father and located on one β-globin gene, suggesting that the proband's genotype is β41/42,Cap/βA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the relationship between pain and quality of life (QoL) in patients newly admitted to Wuhan Hospice Center, China. A total of 1,634 patients were analyzed in this retrospective study. A Numerical Rating Scale and Chinese-QoL instrument were used to assess pain score and QoL, respectively. Most patients experienced moderate to severe pain, which significantly impaired QoL. The pain was significantly correlated with appetite, mood, sleep, fatigue, pain intensity, daily activity, side effect, general appearance, and support from family. But there was no correlation with support from society, understanding of cancer, or attitude toward treatment. In our study, the relationship between pain and QoL was found to be reciprocal. The staff can offer a multidisciplinary care perspective for improving hospice care for this special group of population.

Hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH), often associated with mutations in the beta-globin gene cluster, is normally benign, but a person carrying both HPFH and another beta-thalassemia (beta-thal) mutation will develop serious anemia. These people might be erroneously diagnosed as having homozygous beta-thal with common reverse dot-blot methods. Here we report a 5-year old boy with thalassemia intermedia, who is a compound heterozygote for the rare HPFH-6 deletion with codons 41/42 (-TCTT) beta(0)-thal, who inherited the deletion from his mother and the beta(41/42) mutation from his father.