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Jatropha curcas L. is a promising bioenergy source, and its seedling stage is sensitive to salinity. Nitrogen application presents an effective strategy for alleviating the adverse consequences of salinity stress. However, the responses of plant growth and physiology of Jatropha curcas L. seedlings to nitrogen application under salinity stress remain unclear. As a result, a one-year greenhouse plot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of nitrogen application on the plant growth, antioxidant enzyme activity, and photosynthesis of Jatropha curcas L. seedlings under saline conditions. Experiment treatments consisted of three salinity stresses (mild salinity stress, S1: 2 g/kg; moderate salinity stress, S2: 4 g/kg; and severe salinity stress, S3: 6 g/kg), four nitrogen application rates (N0: 0 gN/plant; N1: 20 gN/plant; N2: 60 gN/plant; and N3: 100 gN/plant), and a control treatment (CK) which was without salinity stress and nitrogen application. The results showed that salinity stress substantially reduced plant growth of Jatropha curcas L. seedlings. As the salinity stress increased, the reduction in plant growth also increased. The S3 treatment had the lowest leaf area, leaf biomass, and total biomass, which decreased by an average of 70.4%, 66.3%, and 69.9%, respectively, compared to CK. Nitrogen application could compensate for these impairments of plant growth from salinity stress by promoting antioxidant enzyme activity and photosynthesis. As for mild and moderate salinity stresses, the maximum plant growth was found in the N3 treatment, with the maximum antioxidant enzyme activity, photosynthetic pigment, photosynthetic characteristic, and chlorophyll fluorescence. As for severe salinity stress, higher plant growth was found in N2 and N3 treatments, and there were no significant differences between N2 and N3 treatments. It also should be noted that the maximum photosynthetic characteristic and chlorophyll fluorescence were found in N2 treatment under severe salinity stress. In conclusion, nitrogen application could be an alternative strategy to improve the salinity tolerance of Jatropha curcas L. growth. The nitrogen application rate of 100 gN/plant could be recommended for low and moderate salinity stresses, while 60 gN/plant could be recommended for severe salinity stress. However, higher nitrogen application rate (>100 gN/plant) under mild and moderate salinity stress and the effects of reactive oxygen species under salinity stress should be further evaluated.

Abstract Background Cold-inducible RNA binding protein (CIRP) is a newly discovered proto-oncogene. In this study, we investigated the role of CIRP in the progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using patient tissue samples, cultured cell lines and animal lung cancer models. Methods Tissue arrays, IHC and HE staining, immunoblotting, and qRT-PCR were used to detect the indicated gene expression; plasmid and siRNA transfections as well as viral infection were used to manipulate gene expression; cell proliferation assay, cell cycle analysis, cell migration and invasion analysis, soft agar colony formation assay, tail intravenous injection and subcutaneous inoculation of animal models were performed to study the role of CIRP in NSCLC cells; Gene expression microarray was used to select the underlying pathways; and RNA immunoprecipitation assay, biotin pull-down assay, immunopurification assay, mRNA decay analyses and luciferase reporter assay were performed to elucidate the mechanisms. The log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test, independent sample T-test, nonparametric Mann-Whitney test, Spearman rank test and two-tailed independent sample T-test were used accordingly in our study. Results Our data showed that CIRP was highly expressed in NSCLC tissue, and its level was negatively correlated with the prognosis of NSCLC patients. By manipulating CIRP expression in A549, H460, H1299, and H1650 cell lines, we demonstrated that CIRP overexpression promoted the transition of G1/G0 phase to S phase and the formation of an enhanced malignant phenotype of NSCLC, reflected by increased proliferation, enhanced invasion/metastasis and greater tumorigenic capabilities both in vitro and in vivo. Transcriptome sequencing further demonstrated that CIRP acted on the cell cycle, DNA replication and Wnt signaling pathway to exert its pro-oncogenic action. Mechanistically, CIRP directly bound to the 3′- and 5′-UTRs of CTNNB1 mRNA, leading to enhanced stability and translation of CTNNB1 mRNA and promoting IRES-mediated protein synthesis, respectively. Eventually, the increased CTNNB1 protein levels mediated excessive activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and its downstream targets C-myc, COX-2, CCND1, MMP7, VEGFA and CD44. Conclusion Our results support CIRP as a candidate oncogene in NSCLC and a potential target for NSCLC therapy.

Abstract In order to encourage innovative medicine to address Chinese unmet medical needs, China has changed its drug regulatory landscape to speed up access to new medicines. In order to understand the fast‐changing landscape and to enable planning of more global drug development programs and study designs in China, we reviewed 15 published clinical pharmacology‐related guidances by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), and compared them with reference guidances from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), to understand the similarities and differences, especially any China‐specific requirements, such as ethnic sensitivity analysis. Overall, by reviewing these clinical pharmacology‐related NMPA guidances, it is clear that NMPA guidances are very similar to FDA, EMA, and ICH guidances. There are no relevant differences in the major principles, but some differences in structure, contents, and focus were noted. The NMPA is adapting flexibility statements into newly published guidances. Ethnic sensitivity analysis needs to be implemented early in drug development plans. The NMPA encourages sponsors to conduct early clinical trials in China or include China early in multiregional clinical trials, and to obtain safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetic data for ethnic sensitivity analysis. Depending on the stage of development, ethnic sensitivity analysis can be conducted using in vitro or literature data, other Asian clinical data, or Chinese clinical data.

Abstract To study the alterations of sleep quality and circadian rhythm genes expressions upon elderly thyroid nodule patients, the risk factors associated with thyroid malignancies, and the potential relationship involved. The elderly people enrolled in our study were divided into three groups according to the thyroid histopathology: malignant nodule group, benign nodule group, and normal group, and the clinical data and sleep quality were collected. Among the patients of surgery, 56 fresh thyroid tissues were collected for real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and western blotting analysis of CLOCK, BMAL1, CRYs and PERs. Poor sleep quality, sleep latency and daytime dysfunction were the independent risk factors of malignant nodule after adjusted by other impacts. The expression levels of CLOCK, BMAL1 and PER2 in thyroid malignant group were significantly higher than benign and normal groups, while CRY2 was decreased, p

In recent years, the studies of the role of microRNAs in adipogenesis and adipocyte development and the corresponding molecular mechanisms have received great attention. In this work, we investigated the function of miR-140 in the process of adipogenesis and the molecular pathways involved, and we found that adipogenic treatment promoted the miR-140-5p RNA level in preadipocytes. Over-expression of miR-140-5p in preadipocytes accelerated lipogenesis along with adipogenic differentiation by transcriptional modulation of adipogenesis-linked genes. Meanwhile, silencing endogenous miR-140-5p dampened adipogenesis. Platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) was shown to be a miR-140-5p target gene. miR-140-5p over-expression in preadipocyte 3T3-L1 diminished PDGFRα expression, but silencing of miR-140-5p augmented it. In addition, over-expression of PDGFRα suppressed adipogenic differentiation and lipogenesis, while its knockdown enhanced these biological processes of preadipocyte 3T3-L1. Altogether, our current findings reveal that miR-140-5p induces lipogenesis and adipogenic differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells by targeting PDGFRα, therefore regulating adipogenesis. Our research provides molecular targets and a theoretical basis for the treatment of obesity-related metabolic diseases.

As a common zoonotic intestinal parasite, Giardia duodenalis could infect humans and various mammals worldwide, including pet dogs, leading to giardiasis. This study detected the infection of G. duodenalis in asymptomatic pet dogs in Zhengzhou, and evaluated the possibility of zoonosis and the relationship between gut microbiota and fecal characteristics. We randomly collected 448 fresh fecal samples from Zhengzhou, and G. duodenalis was screened based on the beta-giardin (bg), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh), and triose phosphate isomerase (tpi) genes. The difference of gut microbiota between five G. duodenalis-positive and five G. duodenalis-negative samples was investigated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The overall prevalence of G. duodenalis was 7.1% (32/448) based on bg, gdh, and tpi locus, two G. duodenalis assemblages (C = 13, D = 14) and five (15.6%) mixed infection (C + D) were identified. Moreover, compared with the G. duodenalis-negative group, the diversity of gut microbiota increased in G. duodenalis-positive group. The decrease of Lactobacillus spp. and considerable increase of Prevotella spp. were associated with the fecal characteristics. These results show that the transmission of zoonotic giardiasis between humans and pet dogs is rare in Zhengzhou, central China, and support the use of Lactobacillus spp. as a potential probiotic agent to improve intestinal health in dogs, or even humans, by treating G. duodenalis. Therefore, the public health significance of G. duodenalis to humans, companion animals, and the environment should be further evaluated from One Health perspective.

Abstract Background Infectious blood meal experiments have been frequently performed with different virus-vector combinations to assess the transmission potential of arthropod-borne (arbo)viruses. A wide variety of host blood sources have been used to deliver arboviruses to their arthropod vectors in laboratory studies. The type of blood used during vector competence experiments does not always reflect the blood from the viremic vertebrate hosts in the field, but little is known about the effect of blood source on the experimental outcome of vector competence studies. Here we investigated the effect of avian versus human blood on the infection and transmission rates of the zoonotic Usutu virus (USUV) in its primary mosquito vector Culex pipiens. Methods Cx. pipiens biotypes (pipiens and molestus) were orally infected with USUV through infectious blood meals containing either chicken or human whole blood. The USUV infection and transmission rates were determined by checking mosquito bodies and saliva for USUV presence after 14 days of incubation at 28 °C. In addition, viral titers were determined for USUV-positive mosquito bodies and saliva. Results Human and chicken blood lead to similar USUV transmission rates for Cx. pipiens biotype pipiens (18% and 15%, respectively), while human blood moderately but not significantly increased the transmission rate (30%) compared to chicken blood (17%) for biotype molestus. USUV infection rates with human blood were consistently higher in both Cx. pipiens biotypes compared to chicken blood. In virus-positive mosquitoes, USUV body and saliva titers did not differ between mosquitoes taking either human or chicken blood. Importantly, biotype molestus had much lower USUV saliva titers compared to biotype pipiens, regardless of which blood was offered. Conclusions Infection of mosquitoes with human blood led to higher USUV infection rates as compared to chicken blood. However, the blood source had no effect on the vector competence for USUV. Interestingly, biotype molestus is less likely to transmit USUV compared to biotype pipiens due to very low virus titers in the saliva.

Abstract Background There is a lack of national report of the labour neuraxial analgesia (NA) rates in China in recent years, especially after the national promotion policy. The adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes associated with NA in China are also unknown. The aim of this study is to estimate the trends of NA rates from 2012 to 2019, to evaluate the effect of national policy on promoting NA and to identify the association between NA and adverse outcomes in China. Methods We used the individual data from China’s National Maternal Near Miss Surveillance System (NMNMSS) between 2012 and 2019, covering 438 hospitals from 326 urban districts or rural counties in 30 provinces across China. The analysis was restricted to singleton pregnant women who underwent vaginal delivery at or after 28 completed weeks of gestation. We estimate the trends of NA rates between 2012 and 2019, both at the national and provincial levels using Bayesian multilevel model. We also estimated the effect of the national pilot policy launched in 2018 using interrupted time-series analysis and identified the association between NA and adverse outcomes using modified Poisson regression combined with propensity score analysis. Results Over the study period, 620,851 of 6,023,046 women underwent vaginal delivery with NA. The estimated national NA rates increased from 8.4% in 2012 to 16.7% in 2019. Most provinces experienced the same rapid rise during this period. The national pilot policy accelerated the rise of the rates. No differences were observed between women with NA and without any analgesia in the incidence of uterine atony, placental retention, intrapartum stillbirths and 1- and 5-min Apgar scores lower than 7. However, women with NA had higher incidences of genital tract trauma (adjusted relative risk (aRR) 1.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–2.26) and maternal near miss (aRR 1.35, 95% CI 1.08–1.69), only in hospitals which were not covered by the national pilot policy and usually lack of sufficient equipment and personnel. Conclusions The national policy can effectively increase the NA rate. However, as genital tract trauma and maternal near miss may increase in low-resource hospitals, but not in high-resource hospitals, further study is required to identify the reasons.

The porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) can cause severe piglet diarrhea or death in some herds. Genetic recombination and mutation facilitate the continuous evolution of the virus (PEDV), posing a great challenge for the prevention and control of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). Disease materials of piglets with PEDV vaccination failure in some areas of Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces of China were collected and examined to understand the prevalence and evolutionary characteristics of PEDV in these areas. Forty-seven suspicious disease materials from different litters on different farms were tested by multiplex PCR and screened by hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry. PEDV showed a positivity rate of 42.6%, infecting the small and large intestine and mesenteric lymph node tissues. The isolated strains infected Vero, PK-15 and Marc-145 multihost cells and exhibited low viral titers in all three cell types, as indicated by their growth kinetic curves. Possible putative recombination events in the isolates were identified by RDP4.0 software. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis showed that compared with the classical vaccine strain, PEDV SX6 contains new insertion and mutations in the S region and belongs to genotype GIIa. Meanwhile, ORF3 has the complete amino acid sequence with aa80 mutated wild strains, compared to vaccine strains CV777, AJ1102, AJ1102-R and LW/L. These results will contribute to the development of new PEDV vaccines based on prevalent wild strains for the prevention and control of PED in China.

Excessive use of chemical fertilizers deteriorates the soil environment and limits the normal growth of Arabica coffee trees. In order to identify the optimal coupling mode of chemical fertilizer application and biomass return that enhances the soil ecological environment and promotes the photosynthetic efficiency of Arabica coffee, this study investigated the impacts of three levels of inorganic fertilizers (FL: 360 kg·ha−1, FM: 720 kg·ha−1, and FH: 1080 kg·ha−1) and three types of coffee husk returning methods (CB: coffee husk biochar, CC: coffee husk compost, CA: coffee husk ash) on the soil fertility, microbial amount, enzyme activity, and photosynthetic characteristics of the Arabica coffee root zone. The entropy weight-TOPSIS method was employed to evaluate the comprehensive benefits. The results showed that FM had the biggest effect on improving soil fertility, microorganisms, and enzyme activities compared with FL and FH. Moreover, compared to CA, CC significantly increased soil organic carbon, organic matter, and total nitrogen content. CC significantly enhanced the activities of soil phosphatase and urease, respectively, by 29.84% and 96.00%, and significantly increased the amount of bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes by 62.15%, 68.42%, and 46.21%, respectively. The net photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), and stomatal conductance (Gs) of FMCC were significantly higher than those of other treatments. The comprehensive benefit evaluation of the soil environment and photosynthetic characteristics by the entropy weight-TOPSIS method ranked FMCC first. Therefore, FMCC was the optimal coupling mode for fertilizer application and the coffee husk returning method. The findings of this study not only provide scientific guidance for fertilizing Arabica coffee but also clarify the proper approach to returning coffee husk to the field, thereby improving soil ecology and promoting green and efficient production of specialty crops.

The scarcity of freshwater resources is a global concern that is exacerbated by an increasing global population and climate change induced by global warming. To address this issue, the largest water-consuming sector has taken a series of measures termed as drip irrigation schemes. The primary purposes of drip irrigation are to reduce water scarcity near the root zone, reduce evaporation, and decrease water use. The application scope of drip irrigation is getting wider and wider, with the number of papers related to drip irrigation increasing year by year from 1990 to 2022. This study reviews crops planted in China that had been irrigated by drip irrigation equipment. The effects of drip irrigation technology on crop growth, physiology, quality, yield, and water use efficiency are summarized. This paper also provides an overview of drip irrigation technology on crop root development and nitrogen uptake. Through a global meta-analysis, it is found that in the case of water shortage, drip irrigation can save water and ensure crop yield compared to flooding irrigation, border irrigation, furrow irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, and micro-sprinkler irrigation. When the drip irrigation amount is more (100–120%), drip irrigation significantly increases crop yields by 28.92%, 14.55%, 8.03%, 2.32%, and 5.17% relative to flooding irrigation, border irrigation, furrow irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, and micro-sprinkler irrigation, respectively. When water resources are sufficient, increasing the amount of drip irrigation also improves crop yield. Moreover, the researchers found that drip irrigation can reduce fertilizer leaching and soil salinity. However, more studies should be conducted in the future to enrich the research on drip irrigation. In conclusion, drip irrigation technology is effective in improving crop growth, water use efficiency, and reducing water scarcity while decreasing fertilizer leaching and soil salinity, making it an ideal solution to the issue of freshwater resource scarcity globally.

L-cysteine, a component of the symmetric L-cystine, is essential in numerous biological activities. Thus, detecting cysteine rapidly, selectively, and sensitively is of tremendous interest. Herein, g-C3N4@CdS composites were employed as sensing elements in a photoelectrochemical platform for L-cysteine sensing. In this system, g-C3N4@CdS composites provided much better optoelectronic function than bare CdS materials owing to their high photon-to-current conversion efficiency and excellent anti-photocorrosion properties. The innovative photoelectrochemical sensor has a wide determination range of 5 to 190 µM, a very low detection limit of 1.56 µM, a fast response time, and good long-term stability (ca. 1 month). Without applying any separation procedures, a low concentration of CySH was successfully detected in human urine samples, which is compatible with the results of chemiluminescence.

Developing earth-abundant electrocatalysts useful for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) is critical for electrocatalytic water splitting driven by renewable energy. Molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) with the crystal structure of hexagonal symmetry has been identified to be an excellent HER catalyst due to its platinum-like electronic structure while the synthesis of Mo2C is generally time consuming and energy intensive. Herein, we demonstrated the ultrafast synthesis of a Mo2C-based electrocatalyst with Joule heating at 1473 K for only 6 s. Benefitting from several advantages including efficient catalytic kinetics, enhanced charge transport kinetics and high intrinsic activity, the as-prepared catalyst exhibited drastically enhanced HER performance compared with commercial Mo2C. It showed an overpotential of 288 mV for achieving a current density of −50 mA cm−2 and good stability, which highlighted the feasibility of the Joule heating method towards preparing efficient electrocatalysts.

Affected by global warming, the frequency of crop pests and diseases have increased, causing huge losses to agricultural production. To better grasp the development and trends of research on the effects of climate change on crop pests and diseases, the literature on the impact of climate change on crop pests and diseases published from 1990 to 2021 in the Web of Science (WOS) core collection database was used. This study explores the literature characteristics and hotspot evolution through the bibliometric visualization analysis software COOC, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace, with a view to identifying the changing characteristics and trends of research changes in this field. The results showed that the number of literature on the impact of climate change on crop pests and diseases increased rapidly. The main fields involved include environmental sciences, ecology, and agronomy. Papers in these fields mainly published in journals, such as PLos One, Forest Ecology and Management, and Frontiers in Plant Science. The country with the highest number of publications was the United States, followed by China and Australia. The most prolific authors in the top 20 are research scholars from China. The first author of the top 20 highly cited papers was from the United States. It was found that that current research on the impact of climate change on crop pests and diseases mainly focuses on agricultural production and food safety. Modelling and crop growth has maintained steady development. At present, research in this field mainly focuses on pest management strategies under the impact of climate change, the response of single species, and the complex ecological mechanisms behind the response. This study provides unique insights into the research field of the impact of climate change on crop pests and diseases and provides a reference direction for future research development in this field.

A cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network-assisted full-duplex (NAFD) system has been proposed to satisfy the exploding demand of higher data transmission speed and more efficient communication. However, a growing number of users in a cell-free system inevitably leads to pilot contamination. In this paper, we analyze the ergodic spectral efficiency of cell-free massive MIMO NAFD system in the presence of pilot contamination. The cell-free massive MIMO NAFD system model has been investigated and both uplink and downlink channel state information (CSI) is estimated under spatially correlated channels. Under pilot contamination, the closed-form sum-rate expressions of the uplink with maximum ratio combination (MRC) receiver while downlink with maximum ratio transmission (MRT), and uplink with zero-forcing (ZF) receiver while downlink with ZF precoding schemes are derived based on large-scale random matrix theory. Numerical results show that under several environmental settings, the theoretical results match well with the simulated results and cell-free massive MIMO NAFD system has a better performance than time-division duplex (TDD) system. Moreover, simulation results show that the achievable sum-rate of using ZF/ZF could be more spectrally efficient compared to MRC/MRT because of its interference suppression capability.

Abstract Background The early diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer is of great significance to the prognosis of patients. However, traditional histopathology and imaging screening have certain limitations. Therefore, new diagnostical methods are urgently needed for the current clinical diagnosis. In this study we evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of CanPatrol™ technology for the detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods CTCs in the peripheral blood of 98 patients with NSCLC and 38 patients with benign pulmonary diseases were collected by the latest typing of CanPatrol™ detection technology. A 3-year follow-up was performed to observe their recurrence and metastasis. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare multiple groups of data, Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare data between the two groups, and ROC curve analysis was used to obtain the critical value. The COX risk regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were performed in the 63 NSCLC patients who were effectively followed up. Results The epithelial, epithelial-mesenchymal, and total CTCs were significantly higher in NSCLC patients than that in patients with benign lung disease (P 0.05). After excluding the confounders of staging, surgery, and chemotherapy, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients in stage IIIA with CTCs ≥0.5 had significantly lower DFS than those with CTCs

In order to find an economic and effective water control method for horizontal wells in deep sea bottom-water gas reservoirs, we prepared modified coated gravel. Based on this, wear resistance, temperature resistance and water plugging capacity (WPC) tests were carried out on the coated gravel. Then, experiments were carried out using the 3D simulation device for the development of large-scale bottom-water gas reservoirs to compare the development effects of horizontal wells packed with conventional gravel and coated gravel in deepsea bottom-water gas reservoirs. And the following research results were obtained. First, the upper limit of temperature resistance of the gravel coating is 240 °C and the gravel packing speed can reach 4.48 m/s, which is 8 times the average flow velocity of gravel packing in actual open hole sections. Second, as the permeability of the coated gravel packing layer increases, its WPC gets weak. When the permeability is lower than 1500 mD and the displacement pressure difference is lower than 0.6 MPa, the WPC of the coated gravel packing layer is between 0.17 and 0.68. Third, the coated gravel layer functions as gas permeability and water plugging, so the horizontal well technology with coated gravel packing can reduce the flow capacity of water phase breaking into the dominant flow passage, so as to delay the rise of water production of gas well and prolong the gas production time. In this way, the gas recovery factor of bottom-water gas reservoir can be increased effectively. In conclusion, this technology has the function of spontaneous selective water plugging, i.e., “water plugging in case of water and gas permeability in case of gas”, and its technical and economic advantages are remarkable, which can provide a new idea for the water-control development of deepsea bottom-water gas reservoirs.

Abstract Background Restenosis is a serious problem in patients who have undergone percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Endothelial injury resulting from surgery can lead to endothelial dysfunction and neointimal formation by inducing aberrant proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells. Exosomes secreted by mesenchymal stem cells have been a hot topic in cardioprotective research. However, to date, exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-Exo) have rarely been reported in association with restenosis after artery injury. The aim of this study was to investigate whether MSC-Exo inhibit neointimal hyperplasia in a rat model of carotid artery balloon-induced injury and, if so, to explore the underlying mechanisms. Methods Characterization of MSC-Exo immunophenotypes was performed by electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis and western blot assays. To investigate whether MSC-Exo inhibited neointimal hyperplasia, rats were intravenously injected with normal saline or MSC-Exo after carotid artery balloon-induced injury. Haematoxylin-eosin staining was performed to examine the intimal and media areas. Evans blue dye staining was performed to examine re-endothelialization. Moreover, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence were performed to examine the expression of CD31, vWF and α-SMA. To further investigate the involvement of MSC-Exo-induced re-endothelialization, the underlying mechanisms were studied by cell counting kit-8, cell scratch, immunofluorescence and western blot assays. Results Our data showed that MSC-Exo were ingested by endothelial cells and that systemic injection of MSC-Exo suppressed neointimal hyperplasia after artery injury. The Evans blue staining results showed that MSC-Exo could accelerate re-endothelialization compared to the saline group. The immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry results showed that MSC-Exo upregulated the expression of CD31 and vWF but downregulated the expression of α-SMA. Furthermore, MSC-Exo mechanistically facilitated proliferation and migration by activating the Erk1/2 signalling pathway. The western blot results showed that MSC-Exo upregulated the expression of PCNA, Cyclin D1, Vimentin, MMP2 and MMP9 compared to that in the control group. Interestingly, an Erk1/2 inhibitor reversed the expression of the above proteins. Conclusion Our data suggest that MSC-Exo can inhibit neointimal hyperplasia after carotid artery injury by accelerating re-endothelialization, which is accompanied by activation of the Erk1/2 signalling pathway. Importantly, our study provides a novel cell-free approach for the treatment of restenosis diseases after intervention.

With the rapid growth of the aging population, pelvic floor dysfunction (PFD) has become a new type of high-incidence disorder. This disorder can be caused by injury, functional deterioration, or coordination disorders of pelvic support structures, such as pelvic floor muscles, connective tissues, and pelvic floor muscle fiber. The symptoms can include dyssynergic defecation, fecal incontinence, overactive bladder, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, hemorrhoids, sexual dysfunction, chronic urinary retention, and chronic pelvic pain. PFD often presents itself as a combination of symptoms involving urological, gynecological, anorectal, and psychological aspects. Under such circumstances, the development of multidisciplinary integrative diagnosis for PFD has become a trend.

Abstract Background China has more than 18% of the global population and over 770 million workers. However, the burden of disease attributable to occupational risks is unavailable in China. We aimed to estimate the burden of disease attributable to occupational exposures at provincial levels from 1990 to 2017. Methods We estimated the summary exposure values (SEVs), deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to occupational risk factors in China from 1990 to 2017, based on Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2017. There were 18 occupational risks, 22 related causes, and 35 risk-outcome pairs included in this study. Meanwhile, we compared age-standardized death rates attributable to occupational risk factors in provinces of China by socio-demographic index (SDI). Results The SEVs of most occupational risks increased from 1990 to 2017. There were 323,833 (95% UI 283,780 - 369,061) deaths and 14,060,210 (12,022,974 - 16,125,763) DALYs attributable to total occupational risks in China, which were 27.9 and 22.1% of corresponding global levels, respectively. For attributable deaths, major risks came from occupational particulate matter, gases, and fumes (PGFs), and for the attributable DALYs, from occupational injuries. The attributable burden was higher in males than in females. Compared with high SDI provinces, low SDI provinces, especially Western China, had higher death rates attributable to total occupational risks, occupational PGFs, and occupational injuries. Conclusion Occupational risks contribute to a huge disease burden in China. The attributable burden is higher in males, and in less developed provinces of Western China, reflecting differences in risk exposure, socioeconomic conditions, and type of jobs. Our study highlights the need for further research and focused policy interventions on the health of workers especially for less developed provinces in China to reduce occupational health losses effectively.

ABSTRACTUsutu virus (USUV) and West Nile virus (WNV) are closely related mosquito-borne flaviviruses that are mainly transmitted between bird hosts by vector mosquitoes. Infections in humans are incidental but can cause severe disease. USUV is endemic in large parts of Europe, while WNV mainly circulates in Southern Europe. In recent years, WNV is also frequently detected in Northern Europe, thereby expanding the area where both viruses co-circulate. However, it remains unclear how USUV may affect the future spread of WNV and the likelihood of human co-infection. Here we investigated whether co-infections with both viruses in cell lines and their primary mosquito vector, Culex pipiens, affect virus replication and transmission dynamics. We show that USUV is outcompeted by WNV in mammalian, avian and mosquito cells during co-infection. Mosquitoes that were exposed to both viruses simultaneously via infectious blood meal displayed significantly reduced USUV transmission compared to mosquitoes that were only exposed to USUV (from 15% to 3%), while the infection and transmission of WNV was unaffected. In contrast, when mosquitoes were pre-infected with USUV via infectious blood meal, WNV transmission was significantly reduced (from 44% to 17%). Injection experiments established the involvement of the midgut in the observed USUV-mediated WNV inhibition. The competition between USUV and WNV during co-infection clearly indicates that the chance of concurrent USUV and WNV transmission via a single mosquito bite is low. The competitive relation between USUV and WNV may impact virus transmission dynamics in the field and affect the epidemiology of WNV in Europe.

Nowadays, the impact ionization coefficient in the avalanche breakdown theory is obtained using 1-D PN junctions or SBDs, and is considered to be a constant determined by the material itself only. In this paper, the impact ionization coefficient of silicon in a 2D lateral power device is found to be no longer a constant, but instead a function of the 2D coupling effects. The impact ionization coefficient of silicon that considers the 2D depletion effects in real-world devices is proposed and extracted in this paper. The extracted impact ionization coefficient indicates that the conventional empirical impact ionization in the Fulop equation is not suitable for the analysis of 2D lateral power devices. The veracity of the proposed impact ionization coefficient is validated by the simulations obtained from TCAD tools. Considering the complexity of direct modeling, a new prediction method using deep neural networks is proposed. The prediction method demonstrates 97.67% accuracy for breakdown location prediction and less than 6% average error for the impact ionization coefficient prediction compared with the TCAD simulation.

Phonons are the quantum mechanical descriptions of vibrational modes that manifest themselves in many physical properties of condensed matter systems. As the size of electronic devices continues to decrease below mean free paths of acoustic phonons, the engineering of phonon spectra at the nanoscale becomes an important topic. Phonon manipulation allows for active control and management of heat flow, enabling functions such as regulated heat transport. At the same time, phonon transmission, as a novel signal transmission method, holds great potential to revolutionize modern industry like microelectronics technology, and boasts wide-ranging applications. Unlike fermions such as electrons, polarity regulation is difficult to act on phonons as bosons, making the development of effective phonon modulation methods a daunting task. This work reviews the development of phonon engineering and strategies of phonon manipulation at different scales, reports the latest research progress of nanophononic devices such as thermal rectifiers, thermal transistors, thermal memories, and thermoelectric devices, and analyzes the phonon transport mechanisms involved. Lastly, we survey feasible perspectives and research directions of phonon engineering. Thermoelectric analogies, external field regulation, and acousto-optic co-optimization are expected to become future research hotspots.

The widespread fungal toxin Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is an inevitable pollutant affecting the health of humans, poultry, and livestock. Although studies indicate that AFB1 is hepatotoxic, there are few studies on AFB1-induced hepatotoxicity in sheep. Thus, this study examined how AFB1 affected sheep liver function 24 h after the animals received 1 mg/kg bw of AFB1 orally (dissolved in 20 mL, 4% v/v ethanol). The acute AFB1 poisoning caused histopathological injuries to the liver and increased total bilirubin (TBIL) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) levels. AFB1 also markedly elevated the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 while considerably reducing the expression of antioxidation-related genes (SOD-1 and SOD-2) and the anti-inflammatory gene IL-10 in the liver. Additionally, it caused apoptosis by dramatically altering the expression of genes associated with apoptosis including Bax, Caspase-3, and Bcl-2/Bax. Notably, AFB1 exposure altered the gut microbiota composition, mainly manifested by BF311 spp. and Alistipes spp. abundance, which are associated with liver injury. In conclusion, AFB1 can cause liver injury and liver dysfunction in sheep via oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and gut-microbiota disturbance.

Small GTPases are signaling molecules in regulating key cellular processes (e.g., cell differentiation, proliferation, and motility) as well as subcellular events (e.g., vesicle trafficking), making them key participants, especially in a great array of coronavirus infection processes. In this review, we discuss the role of small GTPases in the coronavirus life cycle, especially pre-entry, endocytosis, intracellular traffic, replication, and egress from the host cell. Furthermore, we also suggest the molecules that have potent adjuvant activity by targeting small GTPases. These studies provide deep insights and references to understand the pathogenesis of coronavirus as well as to propose the potential of small GTPases as targets for adjuvant development.

This study investigates the attenuating effects of butyrate glycerides (BG) on intestinal inflammatory responses and barrier dysfunction induced by LPS stimulation. An initial dose-response test was carried out to identify the optimal dose of BG for further testing. The mice were given intragastric administration of BG at different doses followed by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) intraperitoneal injection. The small intestinal morphology and cytokine mRNA expression were measured. With 1.5 g/kg BW BG administration, it was possible to alleviate the injury of duodenal morphology, attenuate ileum villus height reduction and promote IL-10 mRNA expression. Therefore, the optimal dosage of 1.5 g/kg BW BG was selected for the main experiment. The ultrastructure image of jejunum and ileum epithelial cells, mRNA expression, the level of cytokine and immunofluorescence in the ileum were analyzed. The results showed that BG maintain the ileac brush border, tight junction structures and protein expression. BG attenuated the increased inflammatory cytokines, TLR4 and JNK mRNA expression. Taken together, 1.5 g/kg BW BG administration maintained intestinal barrier function and reduced intestinal and body inflammation responses induced by LPS in mice. The mechanism by which BG alleviated intestinal inflammatory response and maintained intestinal barrier function may be related to the JNK signaling pathway.

Using molecular dynamics, we found that the localized phonon-mode spectrum in SiGe alloys, which was recently discovered by an inelastic x-ray scattering experiment, changes according to the size distribution of compositional clusters in alloys. By varying the spatial distributions of Si and Ge, alloy models with differing compositions of Si and Ge clusters were able to be produced. For a range of alloys comprising 20%–80% Ge, a mixture of small and intermediate sized clusters will give the highest intensities of the local mode. The Si–Ge optical mode intensity increases with the local mode intensity, but the Si–Ge bond alone is not sufficient to produce the local mode. Si rich alloys with small Ge clusters produce the highest local mode intensities, suggesting that this mode is caused by small Ge clusters surrounded by Si pairs.

Background Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the severe diseases that threaten human health worldwide. In addition, the associated rate of comorbidity with depression and anxiety is extremely high. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a group of proteins that possesses cardiovascular and psychological protection properties. The objective of this study is to determine the association of the two most widely studied HSPs, namely, HSP70 and HSP90, with CAD comorbid depression and anxiety in a Chinese population. Methods A case-control study involving 271 CAD patients and 113 healthy individuals was conducted. The 271 CAD patients include individuals with (123) and without depression (148) and individuals with (57) and without anxiety (214). Ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for HSP70 and seven SNPs for HSP90 were selected and genotyped. Results Results revealed that the HSP70 rs10892958 C allele and HSP70 rs2236658 T allele were associated with a decreased risk of CAD (P < 0.05), whereas the G allele of the rs11218941 polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of CAD. The haplotype analysis results indicated that the haplotype TGGGC of the HSPA8 gene (coded the HSP70 family, rs4936770/rs4802/rs10892958/rs11218941/rs2236658) significantly increased the risk of CAD (P = 0.008). Among the patients with CAD, the carriers of the CC genotype for the HSP90 rs1042665 showed higher risks of anxiety than the carriers of another genotypes. However, no significant relationships were found among the CAD with depression and CAD without depression groups for the selected SNPs. These findings suggested that the genetic polymorphisms in the HSP gene, especially the HSPA8 of HSP70, contribute to CAD susceptibility and rs1042665 genetic polymorphisms might have an effect on the anxiety incidence among CAD patients.

Background How to maximally improve the drainage of intracranial and upper body venous and to reduce neurological complications during thoracic tumor‐causedsuperior vena cava replacement are still clinical problems to be solved. Methods We have innovatively used the bilateral jugular vein‐left femoral vein ECMO shunting to perform mediastinal tumor resection and superior vena cava replacement in a 50‐year‐old woman. Results During the operation, this technique maintained the patient's hemodynamic stability, improved the cerebral oxygen saturation and reduced the cerebral ischemia, hypoxia as well as the neurological complications. Conclusion It is indicated for patients with superior vena cava replacement who are unable to perform venous bypass (such as innominate vein to right atrial bypass) or venous shunting (such as differential pressure drainage from internal jugular vein to femoral vein).

Abstract As an inflammatory factor, IL‐25 has been studied in variouscancers, but it is rarely reported in cancer chemotherapy resistance. Major vault protein (MVP), as a gene associated with lung multidrug resistance, is associated with multiple chemotherapy resistances of lung cancer. However, the relationship between IL‐25 and MVP in lung cancer cells has not been studied. In this study, we found that both IL‐25 and MVP were elevated expressed in cisplatin‐resistant lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549/CDDP). Silencing of IL‐25 resulted in down‐regulation of MVP expression and reduced cisplatin tolerance of A549/CDDP cells. Overexpression of IL‐25 resulted in increase of MVP expression and the cisplatin tolerance in A549 cells. In addition, we found that the extracellular IL‐25 could stimulate the expression of MVP and activate the NF‐κB signaling pathway. Further, animal models also confirmed that IL‐25 reduced the sensitivity of xenografts to chemotherapy. Taken together, we believe that the up‐regulation of IL‐25 induces MVP expression contributing to chemotherapy resistances of lung cancer cells. Our findings suggest that interference the expression of IL‐25 might be potential treatment strategies for the clinical reversing the chemotherapy resistance.

The thermal measurement sensor applied to hypersonic vehicles requires characteristic size in the order of micrometers and characteristic time in the order of microseconds. The measurement criteria of localized detection, high temporal-spatial precision, and long-term stability cannot all be reached by current thermal measuring techniques. This work presents a temperature sensor with excellent temporal-spatial resolution that can measure both in-plane and out-of-plane heat flow. The sensor was made of thin platinum nano-film and an aluminum nitride ceramic sheet. The sensor was calibrated using a thermostatic vacuum chamber and used for in-plane and out-of-plane heat flow measurements. The temperature measurement accuracy of the sensor was estimated to be 0.01 K. The sensor’s resolution for measuring heat flow density is more than 500 W/m2 and its measurement uncertainty is roughly 3%. To ensure the structural stability of the device, the aluminum nitride ceramic sheet was chosen as the substrate of the thermal sensing unit, and the response time became longer due to the high thermal conductivity of aluminum nitride. The suspension platinum nano-film sensor can reach a sub-microsecond response time according to the theoretical derivation. Experimental results of pneumatic thermal effects of high-temperature flames using the sensor prove that the designed sensor has good sensitivity and accuracy.

Leaf area index (LAI) and above-ground biomass are both vital indicators for evaluating crop growth and development, while rapid and non-destructive estimation of crop LAI and above-ground biomass is of considerable significance for crop field management. Owing to the advantages of repeatable and high-throughput observations, spectral technology provides a feasible method for obtaining LAI and above-ground biomass of crops. In the present study, the spectral, LAI and above-ground biomass data of winter wheat were collected, and 7 species (14 in total) were calculated based on the original and first-order differential spectrum correlation spectral indices with LAI. Then, the correlation matrix method was used for correlation with LAI. The optimal wavelength combination was extracted, and the results were calculated as the optimal spectral index related to LAI. The calculation process of the optimal spectral index related to above-ground biomass was the same as that aforementioned. Finally, the optimal spectral index was divided into three groups of model input variables, winter wheat LAI and above-ground biomass estimation models were constructed using support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF) and a back propagation neural network (BPNN), and the models were verified. The results show that the correlation coefficient between the highest of the optimal spectral indices, the LAI, and the above-ground biomass of winter wheat exceeded 0.6, and the correlation was good. The methods for establishing the optimal estimation models for LAI and above-ground biomass of winter wheat are all modeling methods in which the input variables are the combination of the first-order differential spectral index (combination 2) and RF. The R2 of the LAI estimation model validation set was 0.830, the RMSE was 0.276, and the MRE was 6.920; the R2 of the above-ground biomass estimation model validation set was 0.682, RMSE was 235.016, MRE was 4.336, and the accuracies of both models were high. The present research results can provide a theoretical basis for crop monitoring based on spectral technology and provide an application reference for the rapid estimation of crop growth parameters.

Intratumoral immunity heterogeneity is poorly characterized. Here the authors apply exome sequencing, transcriptome profiling and T-cell repertoire profiling to multiple loci of non-small-cell lung cancer patients' biopsies and find high spatial immune heterogeneity with local mutational burden correlating with T-cell clonal expansion but not with cytotoxicity.

Parametric-resonance magnetometer is a high-sensitivity quantum sensor characterized by applying the non-resonant radio-frequency (RF) fields to the atomic ensemble. The RF fields lead to crosstalk in the multi-sensor design, thus disturbing the magnetic-field measurement results. We propose an optically modulated alignment-based 4He parametric-resonance magnetometer. By using the fictitious field generated by the modulated light shift, parametric resonance is realized, and crosstalk caused by the magnetic RF field is prevented. The relative intensity noise of the lasers is suppressed to optimize the sensitivity of the magnetometer. Our magnetometer experimentally demonstrates a magnetic-field noise floor of 130 fT/Hz1/2 in both open- and closed-loop operations and has the potential to reach 70 fT/Hz1/2 when compared with the optimized magnetic RF scheme. It provides near-zero magnetic-field measurements with a 2 kHz bandwidth at room temperature, which is useful for high-bandwidth measurements in biomagnetic applications.

Background Coronary artery disease (CAD) and depression cause great burden to society and frequently co-occur. The exact mechanisms of this comorbidity are unclear. FK506-binding protein 51 (FKBP51) is correlated with cardiovascular disease and depression. The aim of this study was to determine the role of the seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of FKBP5 that code FKBP51, namely, rs1360780 (C>T), rs2817032 (T>C), rs2817035 (G>A), rs9296158 (G>A), rs9470079 (G>A), rs4713902 (T>C), and rs3800373 (C>T) in a patient’s susceptibility to comorbid CAD and depression. Methods We enrolled 271 Northern Chinese Han patients with CAD, including 123 patients with depression and 147 patients without depression. We also included 113 healthy controls that match the patients’ sex and age. Genomic DNA from whole blood was extracted, and seven SNPs were assessed using MassArray method. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was applied to access the depression. Results The GA genotype for rs9470079 was associated with a significantly decreased risk of CAD (odds ratio = 0.506, 95% confidence interval = 0.316–0.810, P = 0.005) when the GG genotype was used as reference. A statistically significant difference was observed among females but not among males in the rs9470079 genotype and allele frequency. Patients with CAD were further divided into CAD+D and CAD-D groups according to the presence of comorbid depression and were compared with the controls. Significant differences were found regarding the genotype and allele frequency of rs2817035 and rs9470079 in CAD+H groups compared with the control subjects in all groups and the female groups (P

BACKGROUND:The Asian bush mosquito Aedes japonicus is invading Europe and was first discovered in Lelystad, the Netherlands in 2013, where it has established a permanent population. In this study, we investigated the vector competence of Ae. japonicus from the Netherlands for the emerging Zika virus (ZIKV) and zoonotic Usutu virus (USUV). ZIKV causes severe congenital microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome in humans. USUV is closely related to West Nile virus, has recently spread throughout Europe and is causing mass mortality of birds. USUV infection in humans can result in clinical manifestations ranging from mild disease to severe neurological impairments. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:In our study, field-collected Ae. japonicus females received an infectious blood meal with ZIKV or USUV by droplet feeding. After 14 days at 28°C, 3% of the ZIKV-blood fed mosquitoes and 13% of the USUV-blood fed mosquitoes showed virus-positive saliva, indicating that Ae. japonicus can transmit both viruses. To investigate the effect of the mosquito midgut barrier on virus transmission, female mosquitoes were intrathoracically injected with ZIKV or USUV. Of the injected mosquitoes, 96% (ZIKV) and 88% (USUV) showed virus-positive saliva after 14 days at 28°C. This indicates that ZIKV and USUV can efficiently replicate in Ae. japonicus but that a strong midgut barrier is normally restricting virus dissemination. Small RNA deep sequencing of orally infected mosquitoes confirmed active replication of ZIKV and USUV, as demonstrated by potent small interfering RNA responses against both viruses. Additionally, de novo small RNA assembly revealed the presence of a novel narnavirus in Ae. japonicus. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Given that Ae. japonicus can experimentally transmit arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) like ZIKV and USUV and is currently expanding its territories, we should consider this mosquito as a potential vector for arboviral diseases in Europe.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0050093.].

Patients with degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS) often suffer from years of low back pain (LBP) due to instability of the lumbar spine and the reduction of disc height. Since January 2016, we have performed oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF) on 154 patients. Among these, 56 patients who suffered from DLS underwent OLIF with stand-alone cages. Forty-two patients with a follow-up time that exceeded 1-year were enrolled for this study. The forty-two patients were followed up for at least one year. Operation segments ranged from L3-4 to L4-5. All the patients were with 1-level fusion. The mean postoperative ventral-disc height and dorsal-disc height increased significantly compared with preoperative (P

Abstract Background Geosocial networking smartphone applications (apps) are popular tools for seeking sexual partners among men who have sex with men (MSM). We evaluated app use and risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in app-using MSM (app-users) by a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods A literature search for relevant studies was performed. We extracted date of STIs (ever being diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus [HIV], syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia) and sexual behavior (e.g., number of app-met partners, unprotected anal/oral sex, HIV testing) from the eligible studies. Pooled proportions and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated. Results Twenty-five studies were included. The self-reported prevalence of prior diagnosis of HIV among app-users ranged from 2.2 to 37.7%, and the pooled prevalence of HIV infection was 6% (95% CI, 4–11%). Compared with non-users, app-users were more likely to have gonorrhea (OR = 2.36; 95% CI, 2.07–2.70) and chlamydia (OR = 2.22; 95% CI, 1.92–2.56). The two groups were similar in terms of diagnoses of HIV (OR = 0.89, 95% CI, 0.68–1.16) and syphilis (OR = 1.92; 95% CI, 0.91–4.03). However, when one study that caused substantial heterogeneity was omitted, the pooled OR for app-users to contract syphilis became 3.00 (95% CI, 1.84–4.91) . Conclusions MSM who seek sexual partners using apps may be more likely to have STIs as than are non-users.

Abstract Multidrug resistance (MDR) often leads to chemotherapy failure of lung cancer and has been linking to the cellular expression of several DNA transcription‐ and repair‐related genes such as Trps1 and MGMT. However, their roles in the formation of MDR are largely unknown. In this study, overexpression/knockdown, luciferase assay and ChIP assay were performed to study the relationship between Trps1 and MGMT, as well as their roles in MDR formation. Our results demonstrated that Trps1 and MGMT expression both increased in drug‐resistant lung cancer cell line (H446/CDDP). Silencing of Trps1 resulted in downregulation of MGMT expression and decrease in the multidrug sensitivity of H446/CDDP cells, while Trps1 overexpression exhibited the opposite effects in H446 cells. Ectopic expression of MGMT had no effect on Trps1 expression, but enhanced the IC50 values of H446 cells or rescued the IC50 values of Trps1‐silenced H446/CDDP cells in treatment of multidrug. Our data further showed that, mechanistically, Trps1 acted as a transcription activator that directly induced MGMT transcription by binding to the MGMT promoter. Taken together, we consider that upregulation of Trps1 induces MGMT transcription contributing to the formation of MDR in lung cancer cells. Our findings proved potential targets for reversing MDR in clinical chemotherapy of lung cancer.

Abstract Background To identify the value of unilateral pedal lymphangiography (LPG) plus computed tomography angiography (CTA) in accurate depiction of persistent idiopathic chyluria undetectable by ordinary contrast CT. Methods Eighteen patients 44–63 years of age with persistent idiopathic chyluria who failed conservative management were included. Ordinary CT had not revealed a chyle leak. Cystoscopy, unilateral LPG, and post-LPG CT angiography (CTA) were sequentially performed. Ligation and stripping of the perirenal lymphatics were subsequently performed guided by lymphangiography and CTA. Results LPG and post-LPG CTA detected 17 unilateral and one bilateral chyle leaks in the 18 patients, with clear images of the communication of lymphatic vessels and the renal collecting or vascular system. The success rate was significantly better than cystoscopy (100% vs 50.0%, P = 0.005) or LPG alone (100% vs. 72.2%, P = 0.016). Chyluria resolved after surgery in all patients; no relapses were found. Conclusions LPG plus post-LPG CTA accurately characterized perirenal lymphangiectasia that was not demonstrated by routine contrast-enhanced CT or not suitable for magnetic resonance imaging. Despite of its invasiveness, this method is a good diagnostic alternative to LPG in patients with persistent chyluria requiring surgery.

Thermal rectification is instrumental to achieving active heat flow control and energy harvesting in nanoscale devices. Here, the authors demonstrate thermal rectification in asymmetric graphene nanostructures, achieving a large rectification factor up to 26%.

BACKGROUND:The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all United Nations (UN) member states in 2015, established a set of bold and ambitious health-related targets to achieve by 2030. Understanding China's progress toward these targets is critical to improving population health for its 1.4 billion people. METHODS AND FINDINGS:We used estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2016, national surveys and surveillance data from China, and qualitative data. Twenty-eight of the 37 indicators included in the GBD Study 2016 were analyzed. We developed an attainment index of health-related SDGs, a scale of 0-100 based on the values of indicators. The projection model is adjusted based on the one developed by the GBD Study 2016 SDG collaborators. We found that China has achieved several health-related SDG targets, including decreasing neonatal and under-5 mortality rates and the maternal mortality ratios and reducing wasting and stunting for children. However, China may only achieve 12 out of the 28 health-related SDG targets by 2030. The number of target indicators achieved varies among provinces and municipalities. In 2016, among the seven measured health domains, China performed best in child nutrition and maternal and child health and reproductive health, with the attainment index scores of 93.0 and 91.8, respectively, followed by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) (69.4), road injuries (63.6), infectious diseases (63.0), environmental health (62.9), and universal health coverage (UHC) (54.4). There are daunting challenges to achieve the targets for child overweight, infectious diseases, NCD risk factors, and environmental exposure factors. China will also have a formidable challenge in achieving UHC, particularly in ensuring access to essential healthcare for all and providing adequate financial protection. The attainment index of child nutrition is projected to drop to 80.5 by 2025 because of worsening child overweight. The index of NCD risk factors is projected to drop to 38.8 by 2025. Regional disparities are substantial, with eastern provinces generally performing better than central and western provinces. Sex disparities are clear, with men at higher risk of excess mortality than women. The primary limitations of this study are the limited data availability and quality for several indicators and the adoption of "business-as-usual" projection methods. CONCLUSION:The study found that China has made good progress in improving population health, but challenges lie ahead. China has substantially improved the health of children and women and will continue to make good progress, although geographic disparities remain a great challenge. Meanwhile, China faced challenges in NCDs, mental health, and some infectious diseases. Poor control of health risk factors and worsening environmental threats have posed difficulties in further health improvement. Meanwhile, an inefficient health system is a barrier to tackling these challenges among such a rapidly aging population. The eastern provinces are predicted to perform better than the central and western provinces, and women are predicted to be more likely than men to achieve these targets by 2030. In order to make good progress, China must take a series of concerted actions, including more investments in public goods and services for health and redressing the intracountry inequities.

Background: People's knowledge of and attitude to HIV/AIDS are key contributors to the success of public-health interventions. However, evidence on country-level HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes is still scarce across sub-Saharan countries. To address this knowledge gap, we have gathered evidence to estimate national trends in HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitude from 1990 to 2017 across 46 sub-Saharan African countries. Methods: We retrieved national surveys that have indicators of HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitude from Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx). There are ten indicators of knowledge of HIV transmission and risk reduction and four indicators that reflect attitude towards people living with HIV/AIDS. We extracted individual-level data on knowledge and attitude in a systematic and consistent way and collapsed these into country-level estimates. Multi-level multiple imputation was used to impute missing indicators on country level and we used spatial-temporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) to estimate the trend of each indicator in each country. Findings: We included 313 national surveys in the study. From 1990 to 2017, most knowledge indicators slightly increased across all countries. However, the trends of knowledge on HIV mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy vary between countries, with significant decreasing trends in 18 of 46 countries including Kenya, Rwanda, and Zambia. For the attitude factors, we noted that the factors “willing to frequent a HIV-positive vendor”, “willing to take care of a HIV-positive family members in the house”, and “belief that a HIV-positive teacher should continue to work” all increased across countries. However, across the study period, people have become more reluctant to reveal a family member's positive status. In addition, our results indicate that men are slightly more knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS than are women. Interpretation: In sub-Saharan African countries, knowledge of HIV/AIDS increased slightly between 1990 and 2017, with people becoming more accepting of people with HIV/AIDS. Of concern is that knowledge about prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission during pregnancy has not been improving as much, and is even decreasing in some countries. Of similar concern is that people are now less likely to reveal a family member's positive HIV status, suggesting that discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS is still persistent and may be becoming worse. Efforts and resources are still needed to turn the tide in these areas. Funding: US National Institutes of Health and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

To investigate the effects of alternate partial root-zone irrigation (APRI) and water deficit at different growth stages on maize growth, physiological characteristics, the grain yield, and the water use efficiency (WUE), a pot experiment was conducted under a mobile automatic rain shelter. There were two irrigation methods, i.e., conventional irrigation (CI) and APRI; two irrigation levels, i.e., mild deficit irrigation (W1, 55%~70% FC, where FC is the field capacity) and serious deficit irrigation (W2, 40%~55% FC); and two deficit stages, i.e., the seedling (S) and milking stage (M). Sufficient irrigation (W0: 70%~85% FC) was applied throughout the growing season of maize as the control treatment (CK). The results indicated that APRI and CI decreased the total water consumption (ET) by 34.7% and 23.8% compared to CK, respectively. In comparison to CK, APRI and CI increased the yield-based water use efficiency (WUEY) by 41% and 7.7%, respectively. APRI increased the irrigation water efficiency (IWUE) and biomass-based water use efficiency (WUEB) by 8.8% and 25.5% compared to CK, respectively. Additionally, ASW1 had a similar grain yield to CK and the largest harvest index (HI). However, the chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were significantly reduced by 13.7% and 23.1% under CI, and by 11.3% and 20.3% under APRI, compared to CK, respectively. Deficit irrigation at the milking stage produced a longer tip length, resulting in a lower grain yield. Based on the entropy weight method and the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method, multi-objective optimization was obtained when mild deficit irrigation (55%~70% FC) occurred at the seedling stage under APRI.

We propose a compact 4He magnetometer realizing magnetic field measurement and laser-frequency stabilization simultaneously in a single 4He atomic cell. The frequency stabilization scheme is based on the asymmetric line shape of magnetic resonance which is induced by spatially inhomogeneous light shifts. We investigate the asymmetric line shape of the magnetic resonance signal theoretically and experimentally in laser pumped 4He magnetometer with the magneto-optical double-resonance configuration. Notice that, due to the asymmetric line shape, the in-phase component of the magnetic resonance signal is shown to have a linear dependence with respect to the laser frequency detuning and is used to actively lock the laser frequency to the resonant point. The method reduces the complexity of the system and improves the stability of the magnetometer, making the laser-pumped 4He magnetometer more compact and portable.

BackgroundThe addition of neonatal (NN) mortality targets in the Sustainable Development Goals highlights the increased need for age-specific quantification of mortality trends, detail that is not provided by summary birth histories (SBHs). Several methods exist to indirectly estimate trends in under-5 mortality from SBHs; however, efforts to monitor mortality trends in important age groups such as the first month and first year of life have yet to utilize the vast amount of SBH data available from household surveys and censuses.Methods and findingsWe analyzed 243 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 76 countries, which collected both complete and SBHs from 8.5 million children from 2.3 million mothers to develop a new empirically based method to indirectly estimate time trends in age-specific mortality. We used complete birth history (CBH) data to train a discrete hazards generalized additive model in order to predict individual hazard functions for children based on individual-, mother-, and country-year-level covariates. Individual-level predictions were aggregated over time by assigning probability weights to potential birth years from mothers from SBH data. Age-specific estimates were evaluated in three ways: using cross-validation, using an external database of an additional 243 non-DHS census and survey data sources, and comparing overall under-5 mortality to existing indirect methods. Our model was able to closely approximate trends in age-specific child mortality. Depending on age, the model was able to explain between 80% and 95% of the variation in the validation data. Bias was close to zero in every age, with median relative errors spanning from 0.96 to 1.09. For trends in all under-5s, performance was comparable to the methods used for the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study and significantly better than the standard indirect (Brass) method, especially in the 5 years preceding a survey. For the 15 years preceding surveys, the new method and GBD methods could explain more than 95% of the variation in the validation data for under-5s, whereas the standard indirect variants tested could only explain up to 88%. External validation using census and survey data found close agreement with concurrent direct estimates of mortality in the NN and infant age groups. As a predictive method based on empirical data, one limitation is that potential issues in these training data could be reflected in the resulting application of the method out of sample.ConclusionsThis new method for estimating child mortality produces results that are comparable to current best methods for indirect estimation of under-5 mortality while additionally producing age-specific estimates. Use of such methods allows researchers to utilize a massive amount of SBH data for estimation of trends in NN and infant mortality. Systematic application of these methods could further improve the evidence base for monitoring of trends and inequalities in age-specific child mortality.

Based on the database data of Chinese industrial enterprises from 2000 to 2007 and the LP method, this paper measures the total factor productivity of enterprises and investigates the effect of different mixed ownership forms on enterprises' efficiency and the effect of heterogeneous ownership balance on the mixed ownership enterprises' efficiency. The state-owned enterprise and mixed ownership enterprise are identified by the enterprise's paid-up capital. The results show that, on the whole, for the mixed ownership enterprise, the higher the diversification degree of the shareholders is, the higher the efficiency becomes, and in different types of industries, the mixed forms of shareholders have different effects on the efficiency of enterprises. The heterogeneous ownership balance and the enterprise efficiency show nonlinear U-type relationships. Both the higher and lower heterogeneous ownership balance degrees will promote the enterprise's efficiency. However, when the ownership balance degree is in the range of [0.2 0.5], the increase in ownership balance will lead to the decline of enterprise efficiency. Therefore, when introducing non-state-owned capital, state-owned enterprises should take full account of their own characteristics by rationally controlling the shareholding ratio of non-state-owned capital and play the positive role of a mixed ownership structure in corporate governance with appropriate ownership balances.

The gold nanoparticle reaction of HAuCl4-H2O2 was very slow under 60°C, and the as-prepared graphene oxide nanoribbons (GONRs) exhibited strong catalysis of the reaction to form gold nanoparticles (AuNP) that appeared a resonance Rayleigh scattering (RRS) peak at 550 nm. Upon addition of potassium pyroantimonate (PA) ligand, it was adsorbed on the GONRs surface to inhibit the catalysis to cause the RRS peak decreasing. When the analyte of Na+ was added, the coordination reaction between PA and Na+ took place to form the stable complexes of [Na2(PA)] to release free GONRs catalyst that resulted in the RRS peak increasing linearly. Accordingly, a new and sensitive RRS method for Na+ was established, with a linear range of 0.69-25.8 nmol/L and a detection limit of 0.35 nmol/L Na+.

This study investigated the effects of different combinations of irrigation and nitrogen levels on the growth of greenhouse sweet peppers, assessing yield, quality, water use efficiency (WUE), and partial factor productivity from applied N (PFPN). By using controlled drip irrigation, the optimal conditions for efficient, large-scale, high-yield, and high quality production of sweet peppers in Northwest China were determined. Using the local conventional irrigation and nitrogen regime as a control (105% ET0, N: 300 kg·hm−2), three alternative irrigation levels were also tested, at 90%, 75%, and 60% ET0. These were combined with nitrogen levels at 100%, as the control, and 75%, 50%, and 25%, resulting in 16 combination treatments. The results show that different supplies of water and nitrogen nutrition had a significant impact on the growth, yield, WUE, PFPN, and quality of fruit. The treatments of W0.90N0.75, W0.90N0.50, W0.75N0.75, and W0.75N0.50 can better maintain the “source-sink” relationship of peppers. They increased the economic yield, WUE, and PFPN. A principal component analysis was performed to evaluate indicators of fruit quality, revealing that the treatment of W0.75N0.50 resulted in the best fruit quality. For greenhouse sweet peppers produced in Northwest China, the combination of W0.90N0.75 resulted in the highest economic yield of 34.85 kg·hm−2. The combination of W0.75N0.75 had the highest WUE of 16.50 kg·m−3. The W0.75N0.50 combination treatment had the highest fruit quality score. For sustainable ecological development and in view of limited water resources in the area, we recommend the W0.75N0.50 combination treatment, since it could obtain the optimal fruit quality, while its economic yield and WUE were 9% and 4% less than the maximum, respectively. This study provides a theoretical basis for the optimal management of water and nitrogen during production of greenhouse sweet peppers in Northwest China.