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In the study on the transmission of pine wood nematodes by Arhopalus rusticus, we research the ability and characteristics of Arhopalus rusticus to transmit pine wood nematodes. A total of 288 Arhopalus rusticus (female 142, male 146) were collected and 20 (female 8, male 12) of them were able to carry pine wood nematodes. Results shown that 12 beetles can transmit pine wood nematodes. Arhopalus rusticus does not eat the pine bark, but eat the pine needles. Pine wood nematodes are transmitted through the feeding bite mark on the pine needles. In addition experiments further confirmed that pine wood nematodes could transmit through pine needles.

Background Hypertension is one of the major public health problems in China. General practice (GP)-based disease management programs including hypertension have been widely disseminated in communities of Shanghai since 2010. This study was to evaluate the effectiveness on GP-management profile among patients with hypertension in urban communities of Shanghai, China. Methods A retrospective, community-based study using a primary care database from 2015 to 2017 was performed. The annual effective management of hypertension (≥ 4 times follow-up per year), blood pressure (BP) control rates, drug interventions, comorbidities burden were analyzed, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between factors and uncontrolled BP. Results From 2015 to 2017, the effective management rate increased from 83.6–95.1%. Among them, drug treatment rates and BP control rates displayed a growing trend (P༜0.001), reached 94.1% and 80.6% in 2017, respectively. The medication of antihypertensive drugs was dominated by calcium channel blocker (CCB) and angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) categories. Of the 8105 patients registered in 2015, 31.0% cases developed new comorbidities in the following two-years. Totally, comorbidities were present in 46.9% patients in 2017. Age, body mass index, combined medication, history of stroke and kidney damage were independently related to uncontrolled BP. Conclusions Although the rate of treatment and control of hypertension were higher in Shanghai than average of country in a community population, the comorbidities accompanied by hypertension was still far from being satisfactory. Future efforts to promote GP and optimize management strategies are needed to improve the current status.

This study addresses the problems of formation control and obstacle avoidance for a class of second-order multiagent systems with directed topology. Formation and velocity control laws are designed to solve the formation tracking problem. A new obstacle avoidance control law is also proposed to avoid obstacles. Then, the consensus control protocol consists of the formation, velocity, and obstacle avoidance control laws. The convergence of the proposed control protocol is analyzed by a redesigned Lyapunov function. Finally, the effectiveness of theoretical results is illustrated by simulation examples. The simulation results show that the formation tracking problem of the given multiagent systems can be realized and obstacles can be avoided under the proposed control protocol.

Adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cell (ADSC)‐based regenerative therapies have shown potential for use in many chronic diseases. Aging diminishes stem cell regenerative potential, yet it is unknown whether stem cells from aged donors cause adverse effects in recipients. ADSCs can be obtained using minimally invasive approaches and possess low immunogenicity. Nevertheless, we found that transplanting ADSCs from old donors, but not those from young donors, induces physical dysfunction in older recipient mice. Using single‐cell transcriptomic analysis, we identified a naturally occurring senescent cell‐like population in ADSCs primarily from old donors that resembles in vitro‐generated senescent cells with regard to a number of key pathways. Our study reveals a previously unrecognized health concern due to ADSCs from old donors and lays the foundation for a new avenue of research to devise interventions to reduce harmful effects of ADSCs from old donors.

The adsorption and stability of Cun (n = 1–4) clusters on CuAlO2 (11 2 ¯ 0) surface and oxygen defective CuAlO2 (11 2 ¯ 0) surface (CuAlO2 (11 2 ¯ 0)dO surface) have been systematically researched by spin-polarized DFT-D+U calculations and atomic thermodynamics. It has been found that the adsorption of Cun clusters on CuAlO2 (11 2 ¯ 0)dO surface is much stronger than on CuAlO2 (11 2 ¯ 0) surface due to more charge transfer in the presence of oxygen defect. The stability mechanism of Cun on CuAlO2 surfaces is analyzed by using Bader charge, partial density of states (PDOS) and work function. It has been also found that Cun clusters (n = 1–4) on CuAlO2 (11 2 ¯ 0) and CuAlO2 (11 2 ¯ 0)dO surfaces are reconstructed under CO pressure. Moreover, the stability of Cun clusters on both CuAlO2 (11 2 ¯ 0) surfaces under CO pressure is analyzed using the phase diagrams which are drawn by atomic thermodynamics.

Dolomitic microbialites were developed extensively during the Neoproterozoic and record widespread oxygenation of the oceans and the accompanying rise of animal life. Primary precipitation of dolomite cements has now been recognized in both Cryogenian and Ediacaran periods, although the origin of matrix dolomite is debated. The terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation (551–541 Ma) in the Upper Yangtze Platform of China contains massive dolomite. Particularly delicate microbial structures are preserved in the second member of the formation (Z2dn2). This study aimed to elucidate the origin of matrix dolomite in these microbialites, the main mesoscale features of which are stromatolites, thrombolites and composite microbialites. The stromatolites typically have planar and low-relief planar–domal forms, with distinct laminated microstructure alternated with diffuse laminated microstructures. The thrombolites comprise a variety of mesoclot structures and cavities, which are rimmed by isopachous fringes of fibrous cement and filled by late sparry cement. The composite microbialites have clotted and laminated textures of various styles that are intermingled at the sub-centimeter scale. These microbialites are inferred to have been deposited in a subtidal to intertidal setting. Abundant nanoscale dolomite biomorphs were observed with scanning electron microscopy, including single nanoscale spheroids and aggregates of nanometer filaments with granulated, micro-rose shaped, micro-sized foliage-like, and trumpet-like forms, most of which are presumably of biogenic origin. These nanoscale microbial textures act as archives of ancient microbial activity that may have produced abundant extracellular polymeric substance, providing sites for the nucleation and maturation of dolomite. This process may have been facilitated by Mn–S redox cycling and resulted in precipitation of primary ferroan dolomite in the matrix.

A series of doped perovskite AxSr1−xFeO3−δ (A = Pr, Sm; 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8) nanoparticles were synthesized using a solution combustion method. By doping lanthanide elements, the crystal phase of the perovskite SrFeO3−δ (SFO) changed from cubic to orthorhombic system. Phase transitions and mixed-phase components of prepared catalysts can be successfully controlled only by varying the mole ratio of A-site doping at 800 °C for 5 h. Compared with pure SFO, the Pr/Sm-doped SFO samples exhibited enhanced absorption capability especially in the visible light region. The band gap of Pr/Sm-doped SFO samples was gradually decreased and the BET surface area increased with the increase of the Pr and Sm dopant content. The perovskite AxSr1−xFeO3−δ (A = Pr, Sm; x = 0.6, 0.8) included mixed phases of cubic and orthorhombic crystallinity and exhibited better photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) than single cubic phase. The photodegradation efficiency of RhB was increased with an increasing amount of A-site doping.

This study presents a statistical landslide susceptibility assessment (LSA) in a dynamic environment. The study area is located in the eastern part of Lanzhou, NW China. The Lanzhou area has exhibited rapid urbanization rates over the past decade associated with greening, continuous land use change, and geomorphic reshaping activities. To consider the dynamics of the environment in the LSA, multitemporal data for landslide inventories and the corresponding causal factors were collected. The weights of evidence (WofE) method was used to perform the LSA. Three time stamps, i.e., 2000, 2012, and 2016, were selected to assess the state of landslide susceptibility over time. The results show a clear evolution of the landslide susceptibility patterns that was mainly governed by anthropogenic activities directed toward generating safer building grounds for civil infrastructure. The low and very low susceptibility areas increased by approximately 10% between 2000 and 2016. At the same time, areas of medium, high and very high susceptibility zones decreased proportionally. Based on the results, an approach to design the statistical LSA under dynamic conditions is proposed, the issues and limitations of this approach are also discussed. The study shows that under dynamic conditions, the requirements for data quantity and quality increase significantly. A dynamic environment requires greater effort to estimate the causal relations between the landslides and controlling factors as well as for model validation.

Lipid coverage is crucial in comprehensive lipidomics studies challenged by high diversity in lipid structures and wide dynamic range in lipid levels. Current state-of-the-art lipidomics technologies are mostly based on mass spectrometry (MS), including direct-infusion MS, chromatography-MS, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) imaging MS, each with its pros and cons. Due to the need or favorability for measurement of isomers and isobars, chromatography-MS is preferable for lipid profiling. The ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS)-based nontargeted lipidomics approach and UHPLC-tandem MS (UHPLC-MS/MS)-based targeted approach are two representative methodological platforms for chromatography-MS. In the present study, we developed a high coverage pseudotargeted lipidomics method combining the advantages of nontargeted and targeted lipidomics approaches. The high coverage of lipids was achieved by integration of the detected lipids derived from nontargeted UHPLC-HRMS lipidomics analysis of multiple matrices (e.g., plasma, cell, and tissue) and the predicted lipids speculated on the basis of the structure and chromatographic retention behavior of the known lipids. A total of 3377 targeted lipid ion pairs with over 7000 lipid molecular structures were defined. The pseudotargeted lipidomics method was well validated with satisfactory analytical characteristics in terms of linearity, precision, reproducibility, and recovery for lipidomics profiling. Importantly, it showed better repeatability and higher coverage of lipids than the nontargeted lipidomics method. The applicability of the developed pseudotargeted lipidomics method was testified in defining differential lipids related to diabetes. We believe that comprehensive lipidomics studies will benefit from the developed high coverage pseudotargeted lipidomics approach.

Carnitines play important roles in fatty acid oxidation and branched chain amino acid metabolism. The disturbance of acylcarnitines is associated with occurrence and development of many diseases. Comprehensive acylcarnitine identification can greatly benefit their targeted detection, following disease differential diagnosis and possible mechanism study. In this study, we developed a novel strategy to identify as many acylcarnitines as possible based on liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC–HRMS). The layer–layer progressive strategy first integrated the initial full scan MS/data-dependent MS/MS monitoring (ddMS2) acquisition and the following parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) to analyze a pooled biological sample. Also 733 possible acylcarnitines were identified containing characteristic high-resolution MS/MS features. Further, accurate mass, retention rules, and HRMS/MS information were used to define subclasses and predict undetected acylcarnitine homologues in each subclass, lead...

It has become a great habit for driving to work in people’s daily life in China. In order to understand the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in vehicles and the health risks related to inhalation exposure to VOCs, this study investigated the pollution characteristics and health risks posed by VOCs emitted from interior materials in vehicles. A total of 47 of 62 VOCs were studied, using 23 randomly selected vehicles of different brands in Nanjing city, China. The potential cancer and non-cancer health risks associated with VOC inhalation were assessed based on conventional approaches proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The mean concentration of total VOCs was 1126.85 μg/m3, with a range of 321.29 to 2321.94 μg/m3. Of these, halohydrocarbons and aromatic hydrocarbons were the dominant components of the detected VOCs. The concentrations of several individual VOC exceeded more than 100 μg/m3. The individual mean cancer risks for the 17 health-related VOCs ranged from 4.64 × 10−10 to 1.09 × 10−4, with a cumulative risk of 1.61 × 10−4. The mean cancer risks associated with naphthalene, chloroform, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, and 1,2-dibromoethylene were 1.09 × 10−4, 1.61 × 10−5, 1.11 × 10−5, and 1.07 × 10−5, respectively. These risks are higher than the acceptable risk levels defined by the USEPA and the World Health Organization (WHO). Of these, naphthalene was regarded as having a “definite risk”; chloroform, 1,4-dichlorobenzene, and 1,2-dibromoethylene were regarded as having a “probable risk”; and 1,2-dichloroethane and carbon tetrachloride were regarded as having “possible risk.” The individual mean non-cancer risks associated with 28 health-related VOCs and total VOCs were within acceptable ranges; naphthalene was the dominant pollutant.

Fibrous marine cements are widely distributed in the terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation of South China and are an important record for reconstructing paleoseawater chemistry. However, the morphological characteristics and filling sequence of these cements, and their formation mechanism and paleoceanographic significance, are poorly understood. Our investigation of five outcrop sections in the northern upper Yangtze region allows four types of fibrous dolomite cement to be identified: fascicular fast dolomite (FFD), radial fast dolomite (RFD), radial slow dolomite (RSD), and fascicular slow dolomite (FSD), where “fast” and “slow” refer to the optical character of cement crystals. FFD cements possess original aragonitic mineralogy, whereas RFD cements had high-Mg calcitic precursors that subsequently underwent mimetic dolomitization via syntaxial replacement. RSDs and FSDs are primary marine precipitates, whereas fibrous dolomite cements with length-fast optical characteristics (FFDs and RFDs) are of secondary origin. These fibrous cements are widely distributed laterally in the Dengying Formation, although the RSDs and FSDs occur only in the second member of this formation. Therefore, the seawater chemistry of the terminal Ediacaran period in the upper Yangtze area was dominated by an aragonite sea, with a regional short-lived “dolomite sea” during the late depositional stage of the second member of the Dengying Formation, from which dolomite may have directly precipitated.

Uremia has been a rapidly increasing health problem in China. Hemodialysis (HD) is the main renal replacement therapy for uremia. The results of large-scale clinical trials have shown that the HD pattern is crucial for long-term prognosis of maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) in uremic patients. Plasma metabolism is very important for revealing the biological insights linked to the therapeutic effects of the HD pattern on uremia. Alteration of plasma metabolites in uremic patients in response to HD therapy has been reported. However, HD-pattern-dependent changes in plasma metabolites remain poorly understood. To this end, a capillary electrophoresis-time of flight mass spectrometry (CE-TOF/MS)-based metabolomics method was performed to systemically study the differences between HD and high flux hemodialysis (HFD) on plasma metabolite changes in patients. Three hundred and one plasma samples from three independent human cohorts (i.e., healthy controls, patients with pre-HD/post-HD, and patients with pre-HFD/post-HFD) were used in this study. Metabolites significantly changed (p

In this paper, ZnS/CdS core/shell nanotubes were successfully synthesized by combining hydrothermal treatment and ion exchange conversion, and the significant influence of CdS content in the shell on photo absorption and photocatalytic activity was also investigated. The core/shell nanotubes structure of CdS deposition on both sides of ZnS nanotube was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The room temperature PL spectra of ZnS/CdS core/shell nanotubes indicated that CdS on the shell can reduce the recombination of photon-generated electron and hole. The photocatalytic activity tests prove that ZnS/CdS nanotubes have much higher photocatalytic hydrogen production activity than ZnS nanotube and CdS nanotube. Under the irradiation of visible light, the highest photocatalytic hydrogen production rate of 110 μmol h−1 g−1 is observed over the ZnS/CdS core/shell nanotubes with CdS/ZnS molar ratio of 1:4, which is about 11.02 and 5.56 times more active than ZnS nanotube and CdS nanotube, respectively. The improved performance of ZnS/CdS samples can be due to the strong photo response in the visible light region and the efficient separation of electron–hole pairs.

Magnesium isotopes are an emerging tool to study the geological processes recorded in carbonates. Calcite, due to its ubiquitous occurrence and the large Mg isotope fractionation associated with the mineral, has attracted great interests in applications of Mg isotope geochemistry. However, the fidelity of Mg isotopes in geological records of carbonate minerals (e.g., calcite and dolomite) against burial metamorphism remains poorly constrained. Here we report our investigation on the Mg isotope systematics of a dolomitized Middle Triassic Geshan carbonate section in eastern China. Magnesium isotope analysis was complemented by analyses of Sr-C-O isotopic compositions, major and trace element concentrations, and petrographic and mineralogical features. Multiple lines of evidence consistently indicated that post-depositional diagenesis of carbonate minerals occurred to the carbonate rocks. Magnesium isotope compositions of the carbonate rocks closely follow a mixing trend between a high δ26Mg dolomite end member and a low δ26Mg calcite end member, irrespective of sample positions in the section and calcite/dolomite ratio in the samples. By fitting the measured Mg isotope data using a two-end member mixing model, an inter-mineral Δ26Mgdolomite-calcite fractionation of 0.72‰ was obtained. Based on the experimentally derived Mg isotope fractionation factors for dolomite and calcite, a temperature of 150–190 °C was calculated to correspond to the 0.72‰ Δ26Mgdolomite-calcite fractionation. Such temperature range matches with the burial-thermal history of the local strata, making a successful case of Mg isotope geothermometry. Our results indicate that both calcite and dolomite had been re-equilibrated during burial metamorphism, and based on isotope mass balance of Mg, the system was buffered by dolomite in the section. Therefore, burial metamorphism may reset Mg isotope signature of calcite, and Mg isotope compositions in calcite should be dealt with caution in studies of carbonate rocks with thermal history. By contrast, Mg isotopes of dolomite are less prone to post-depositional resetting due to a number of properties including high Mg abundance and high thermodynamic stability, and Mg isotopes in dolomite may be a more robust recorder for original carbonate precipitates.

MicroRNAs (miRs) can function as tumor suppressors or oncogenes in different types of human malignancy, and may provide an effective therapy for cancer. The expression and functions of miR-592 have previously been studied in relation to cancer. However, the expression and potential functions of miR-592 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still unknown. Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, MTT assays, cellular migration and invasion assays, bioinformatics software, western blot analysis and dual-luciferase report assays, the present study explored the expression and roles of miR-592 in HCC. It was identified that miR-592 was significantly downregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. The statistical analysis revealed that low expression of miR-592 was evidently associated with tumor node metastasis stage and lymph node metastasis. Additionally, the present study provided the first evidence that miR-592 was likely to directly target the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor in vitro. The present results indicated that miR-592 could be investigated as an efficacious therapeutic target for HCC in the future.

A range of LaCoxFe1−xO3 perovskites with different Co-doping at the B-site were successfully synthesized via a sol–gel combustion route. Phase pure samples were obtained by calcination at 700 °C for 2 h. The morphology, crystal structure, surface area, band structures, oxygen vacancies and catalytic properties of each analog were characterized in detail. The band structures and oxygen vacancies of the catalysts were changed by adjusting the dopant concentration. The catalytic performance of the LaCoxFe1−xO3 materials was characterized using water as a hydrogen source in the production of CH4 and CH3OH from CO2. Under photothermal conditions, 350 °C with a visible light source equipped with 420 nm cut filter, it was found that x value will influence the total yield and the solar to CH4 and CH3OH energy conversion efficiency significantly. For x = 0.6 compound, the production of CH4 and CH3OH evolution can reach 437.28 and 13.75 μmol g−1 in 6 h, which were 3.2 and 4.0 times that of LaFeO3 under the same condition. The overall solar-to-methane efficiency and solar-to-methanol efficiency for LaCo0.6Fe0.4O3 were 0.603%, 0.019% and for LaFeO3 were 0.191%, 0.005% in the photothermal mode, respectively. The results show that the band gap energy is correlated with the photothermal activity and the LaCo0.6Fe0.4O3 has the position of the CB and VB more suitable for CO2 reduction. The CB and VB value of LaCo0.6Fe0.4O3 were −0.258 and +1.422 V and CO2 (−0.24 V for CB) can be reduced to methane under the conditions.

Background: Improvements to prognostic models in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer have the potential to augment clinical trial design and guide treatment strategies. In partnership with Project Data Sphere, a not-for-profit initiative allowing data from cancer clinical trials to be shared broadly with researchers, we designed an open-data, crowdsourced, DREAM (Dialogue for Reverse Engineering Assessments and Methods) challenge to not only identify a better prognostic model for prediction of survival in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer but also engage a community of international data scientists to study this disease. Methods Data from the comparator arms of four phase 3 clinical trials in first-line metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer were obtained from Project Data Sphere, comprising 476 patients treated with docetaxel and prednisone from the ASCENT2 trial, 526 patients treated with docetaxel, prednisone, and placebo in the MAINSAIL trial, 598 patients treated with docetaxel, prednisone or prednisolone, and placebo in the VENICE trial, and 470 patients treated with docetaxel and placebo in the ENTHUSE 33 trial. Datasets consisting of more than 150 clinical variables were curated centrally, including demographics, laboratory values, medical history, lesion sites, and previous treatments. Data from ASCENT2, MAINSAIL, and VENICE were released publicly to be used as training data to predict the outcome of interestnamely, overall survival. Clinical data were also released for ENTHUSE 33, but data for outcome variables (overall survival and event status) were hidden from the challenge participants so that ENTHUSE 33 could be used for independent validation. Methods were evaluated using the integrated time-dependent area under the curve (iAUC). The reference model, based on eight clinical variables and a penalised Cox proportional-hazards model, was used to compare method performance. Further validation was done using data from a fifth trialENTHUSE M1in which 266 patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer were treated with placebo alone. Findings 50 independent methods were developed to predict overall survival and were evaluated through the DREAM challenge. The top performer was based on an ensemble of penalised Cox regression models (ePCR), which uniquely identified predictive interaction effects with immune biomarkers and markers of hepatic and renal function. Overall, ePCR outperformed all other methods (iAUC 0·791; Bayes factor >5) and surpassed the reference model (iAUC 0·743; Bayes factor >20). Both the ePCR model and reference models stratified patients in the ENTHUSE 33 trial into high-risk and low-risk groups with significantly different overall survival (ePCR: hazard ratio 3·32, 95% CI 2·394·62, p, European Union within the ERC grant LatentCauses supported the work of C.F and I.K. German Research Foundation (DFG) within the Collaborative Research Centre 1243, subproject A17 awarded to C.F. German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the Research Consortium e:AtheroMED (Systems medicine of myocardial infarction and stroke) under the auspices of the e:Med Programme (grant # 01ZX1313C) supported the work of D.P.A., P.D., C.F., C.K., I.K., N.K., M.L., H.S. and J.F.S. at the Institute of Computational Biology. NIH Grants RR025747-01, MH086633 and 1UL1TR001111, and NSF Grants SES-1357666, DMS-14-07655 and BCS0826844 supported the work of C.H., J.I., E.L., Y.W., H.Y., H.Z. and J.Z. NSFC Grant Nos. 61332013, 61572139 supported the work of X.L, Y.L, Y.Z., and S.Z. National Natural Science Foundation of China grants [Nos. 61422309, 61379092] was awarded to S.Z. The Patrick C. Walsh Prostate Research Fund and the Johns Hopkins Individualized Health Initiative supported the work of R.Y.C., D.D., Y.D., Z.J., K.R., Z.W. and Y.Z. FCT Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/80925/2011 was awarded to S.C. Clinical Persona Inc., East Palo Alto, CA supported the work of L.B. and D.K. The Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Drug Research Doctoral Programme (DRDP) at the University of Turku supported T.D.L. The National Research Foundation Singapore and the Singapore Ministry of Education, under its Research Centres of Excellence initiative, supported the work of J.G. and K.T. A grant from the Russian Science Foundation 14-24-00155 was awarded to M.D.K. A*MIDEX grant (no. ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02) was awarded to P.J.B. NSERC supported the work of R.G. The Israeli Centers of Research Excellence (I-CORE) program (Center No. 4/11) supported the work of E.G. Academy of Finland (grants 292611, 269862, 272437, 279163, 295504), National Cancer Institute (16X064), and Cancer Society of Finland supported the work of T.A. Academy of Finland (grant 268531) supported the work of T.M

In order to study the causes of pine wood nematode (PWN) departure from Monochamus alternatus, the effects of the feeding behavior of M. alternatus on the start date of the departure of PWN were studied. The start date of the departure of PWN carried by the directly fed M. alternatus was 5—13 d after beetle emergence, mainly concentrated within 6—10 d, with a mean (±SD) of 8.02 ± 1.96 d. The start date of the departure of PWN carried by the M. alternatus fed after starvation was 5—14 d after beetle emergence, mainly concentrated within 6—9 d, with a mean of 7.76 ± 2.28 d. The results show that there was no significant difference in the start departure date of PWN between the two treatments. This shows that the feeding behavior of M. alternatus is not the trigger for PWN departure. At the same time, it was found that the motility of the PWN carried by M. alternatus at 8 d after emergence was significantly greater than that of the PWN carried by the newly emerged M. alternatus. And the PWN carried by M. alternatus at 8 d after emergence was extracted more easily than the PWN carried by newly emerged beetles. These results show that greater motility was associated with easier departure of PWN from M. alternatus. In addition, transcriptome sequencing found that the level of oxidative phosphorylation metabolism of PWN carried by beetles at 8 d after emergence was significantly higher than that in the PWN carried by newly emerged beetle. High oxidative phosphorylation was associated with increased energy production and motility by the PWN and were the internal cause of the start of nematode departure.

Large fluctuation, large overshoot, and uncertain external disturbance that occur when an autonomous underwater vehicle is in deep motion are difficult to address using the traditional control method. An optimal control strategy based on an improved active disturbance rejection control technology is proposed to enhance the trajectory tracking accuracy of autonomous underwater vehicles in actual bathymetric operations and resist external and internal disturbances. First, the depth motion and mathematical models of an autonomous underwater vehicle and propeller are established, respectively. Second, the control rate of the extended state observer and the nonlinear error feedback of the traditional active disturbance rejection control are improved by using a new nonlinear function. The nonlinearity, model uncertainty, and external disturbance of the autonomous underwater vehicle depth control system are extended to a new state, which is realized by an improved extended state observer. Third, the improved nonlinear state error feedback is used to suppress residual errors and provide high-quality control for the system. Simulation and experimental results show that under the same parameters, the traditional active disturbance rejection control has a small overshoot, fast tracking ability, and strong anti-interference ability. The optimized active disturbance rejection control and traditional active disturbance rejection control are applied to the deep-variation motion of autonomous underwater vehicles. Results show that the proposed optimal control strategy is not only simple and feasible but also demonstrates good control performance.

Untargeted methods are typically used in the detection and discovery of small organic compounds in metabolomics research, and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) is one of the most commonly used platforms for untargeted metabolomics. Although they are non-biased and have high coverage, untargeted approaches suffer from unsatisfying repeatability and a requirement for complex data processing. Targeted metabolomics based on triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (TQMS) could be a complementary tool because of its high sensitivity, high specificity and excellent quantification ability. However, it is usually applicable to known compounds: compounds whose identities are known and/or are expected to be present in the analyzed samples. Pseudotargeted metabolomics merges the advantages of untargeted and targeted metabolomics and can act as an alternative to the untargeted method. Here, we describe a detailed protocol of pseudotargeted metabolomics using UHPLC-TQMS. An in-depth, untargeted metabolomics experiment involving multiple UHPLC-HRMS runs with MS at different collision energies (both positive and negative) is performed using a mixture obtained using small amounts of the analyzed samples. XCMS, CAMERA and Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM)-Ion Pair Finder are used to find and annotate peaks and choose transitions that will be used to analyze the real samples. A set of internal standards is used to correct for variations in retention time. High coverage and high-performance quantitative analysis can be realized. The entire protocol takes ~5 d to complete and enables the simultaneously semiquantitative analysis of 800-1,300 metabolites.

Most machine learning algorithms require that training data are identically distributed to ensure effective learning. In biological studies, however, even small variations in the experimental setup can lead to substantial deviations. Domain adaptation offers tools to deal with this problem. It is particularly useful for cases where only a small amount of training data is available in the domain of interest, while a large amount of training data is available in a different, but relevant domain.We investigated to what extent domain adaptation was able to improve prediction accuracy for complex biological data. To that end, we used simulated data and time-lapse movies of differentiating blood stem cells in different cell cycle stages from multiple experiments and compared three commonly used domain adaptation approaches. EasyAdapt, a simple technique of structured pooling of related data sets, was able to improve accuracy when classifying the simulated data and cell cycle stages from microscopic images. Meanwhile, the technique proved robust to the potential negative impact on the classification accuracy that is common in other techniques that build models with heterogeneous data. Despite its implementation simplicity, EasyAdapt consistently produced more accurate predictions compared to conventional techniques.Domain adaptation is therefore able to substantially reduce the amount of work required to create a large amount of annotated training data in the domain of interest necessary whenever the domain changes even a little, which is common not only in biological experiments, but universally exists in almost all data collection routines.

The rapid rise and widely usage of social media has reshaped the policy communication and challenged the traditional crisis management. This study collects social media data about Tianjin Port Explosion. This study finds that the network structure of welcomed and controversial tweets are significantly different. Using hyper-network analysis, we identify the positive, neutral and opposed group toward the house compensation policy.

Permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) is a nonlinear, multivariate, strongly coupled system with uncertain external interference. A general control method cannot meet system requirements. This study proposes an optimal control strategy based on active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) to achieve high-precision control of PMSM. First, interpolation fitting is used to construct a nonlinear function with improved continuity and derivative near the origin and segment points. Second, various components of active disturbance rejection control are constructed based on the new nonlinear function, which mainly improves the extended state observer and nonlinear state error feedback. Simulation results show that under similar parameters, the improved active disturbance rejection control has smaller overshoot, faster tracking capacity, and stronger anti-interference capability compared with traditional active disturbance rejection control. Finally, the optimized active disturbance rejection control is used in the motion control system of PMSM. Experimental results show that the proposed optimal control strategy is simple and has good control performance.

Most machine learning algorithms require that training data are identically distributed to ensure effective learning. In biological studies, however, even small variations in the experimental setup can lead to substantial deviations. Domain adaptation offers tools to deal with this problem. It is particularly useful for cases where only a small amount of training data is available in the domain of interest, while a large amount of training data is available in a different, but relevant domain.

In this study, we examined the effects of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculant and beet pulp (BP) on the quality of yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) residue silage. Yacon silage was prepared using a small-scale system of silage fermentation, and the treatments were as follows: control silage without any additive and silages with LAB inoculant Chikuso-1 (Lactobacillus plantarum, 5 mg/kg, fresh matter basis), BP (30% fresh matter basis), and LAB+BP. Silages were opened on days 3, 5, 7, 15, 30, and 60 of fermentation. The chemical composition, organic acid content, and in vitro ruminal digestion of the 60-day silage were determined. The pH of LAB-treated silage was lower than that of the silage without LAB. Furthermore, the LAB-treated silage presented the lowest ammonia-N concentration among the four types of silages, and it inhibited the growth of harmful bacteria including molds and clostridia during the early stages of fermentation. The BP-treated silage had lower contents of crude protein and ether extract than the silage without BP. The 60-day silage inoculated with LAB had the highest in vitro dry matter (DM) digestibility among the four silages, and the production of methane was lower than that of the silage treated with BP. The pH showed a tendency toward stabilization after 30 days of fermentation, although the concentration of lactic acid exhibited fluctuations during fermentation. The results suggest that the addition of LAB and BP can improve the fermentation quality of yacon silage, and the yacon silage with LAB might increase in vitro DM digestibility, but decrease in vitro ruminal methane production.

In a Chinese prospective cohort, 500 patients with new‐onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) within 4.61 years and 500 matched healthy participants are selected as case and control groups, and randomized into discovery and validation sets to discover the metabolite changes before T2D onset and the related diabetogenic loci. A serum metabolomics analysis reveals that 81 metabolites changed significantly before T2D onset. Based on binary logistic regression, eight metabolites are defined as a biomarker panel for T2D prediction. Pipecolinic acid, carnitine C14:0, epinephrine and phosphatidylethanolamine 34:2 are first found associated with future T2D. The addition of the biomarker panel to the clinical markers (BMI, triglycerides, and fasting glucose) significantly improves the predictive ability in the discovery and validation sets, respectively. By associating metabolomics with genomics, a significant correlation (p, In a Chinese prospective cohort, 500 patients with new‐onset type 2 diabetes (T2D) within 4.61 years and 500 matched healthy participants are selected. A serum metabolomics analysis is performed and 81 metabolites are found to significantly change before T2D onset. The new biomarker panel helps to predict T2D. Gene FADS1, CHRM3, and WWOX are found to be associated with T2D‐related metabolites.

Wearable electrochemical sensors have attracted tremendous attention in recent years. Significant progress has been achieved, particularly in device integration. Most wearable devices are integrated on thin-film polymer, however, less attention is paid to the sweat flow at human-device interfaces, which is of great significance for continuous real-time analysis and long-term skin comfort. Here, we reported a low-cost, freestanding and disposable highly integrated sensing paper (HIS paper) for real-time analysis of sweat. By using a simple printing process, the HIS paper combining hydrophobic protecting wax, conducting electrodes, and the incorporated MXene/methylene blue (Ti3C2Tx/MB) active materials was assembled. In particular, the printed paper was folded into a multi-layer structure, in which a reasonable designed three-dimensional (3D) sweat diffusion path is established by connecting the hydrophilic regions of each layer, providing efficient pathways for the collection and diffusion of sweat along the vertical direction of the folded HIS paper. More importantly, the independent 3D position of three-electrode facilitates the decoration and fixation of enzymes, as well as the accessibility of electrolytes. In addition, a dual-channel electrochemical sensor that can simultaneously detect glucose and lactate with sensitivity of 2.4 nA μM−1 and 0.49 μA mM−1 respectively was produced based on the HIS paper. This HIS paper provides a miniaturized, low-cost and flexible solution for a range of biochemical platforms, including wearable bioelectronics.

Power law is an important feature of phenomena in long memory behaviors. Zipf ever found power law in the distribution of the word frequencies. In physics, the terms order and disorder are Thermodynamic or statistical physics concepts originally and a lot of research work has focused on self-organization of the disorder ingredients of simple physical systems. It is interesting what make disorder–order transition. We devise an experiment-based method about random symbolic sequences to research regular pattern between disorder and order. The experiment results reveal power law is indeed an important regularity in transition from disorder to order. About these results the preliminary study and analysis has been done to explain the reasons.

Staining and scanning of tissue samples for microscopic examination is fraught with undesirable color variations arising from differences in raw materials and manufacturing techniques of stain vendors, staining protocols of labs, and color responses of digital scanners. When comparing tissue samples, color normalization and stain separation of the tissue images can be helpful for both pathologists and software. Techniques that are used for natural images fail to utilize structural properties of stained tissue samples and produce undesirable color distortions. The stain concentration cannot be negative. Tissue samples are stained with only a few stains and most tissue regions are characterized by at most one effective stain. We model these physical phenomena that define the tissue structure by first decomposing images in an unsupervised manner into stain density maps that are sparse and non-negative. For a given image, we combine its stain density maps with stain color basis of a pathologist-preferred target image, thus altering only its color while preserving its structure described by the maps. Stain density correlation with ground truth and preference by pathologists were higher for images normalized using our method when compared to other alternatives. We also propose a computationally faster extension of this technique for large whole-slide images that selects an appropriate patch sample instead of using the entire image to compute the stain color basis.

Mesoporous WO3 (m-WO3) was synthesized by a hydrothermal method using mesoporous silica KIT-6 as a hard template and silicotungstic acid as a precursor.The m-WO3modified by molybdenum (Mo) nanoparticles could be used as a stable catalyst for photo-thermal inducing CO2reducting reactions for solar fuels. Under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm) and 250–, the catalytic activity of m-Mo/WO3 for the CH4 and CH3OHevolution was found to be higher than that of m-WO3 and commercial WO3. The amount of evolved CH3OH from m-Mo/WO3has reached 13.80 μmolg−1 in 1 2 h, which is ca.10 times as high as that of c-WO3(1.36 μmolg−1) and 6.5 times as high as that of m-WO3 (2.12 μmolg−1), making it attractive for practical applications.

Different morphologies of SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures like nanocubes, nanoparticles, nanospheres, and nanofibers were synthesized via a facile hydrothermal process using TiO2 as both a template and precursor in Sr(OH)2 solution. Their structure, interface and composition can be rationally tailored by simply adjusting the Sr(OH)2/TiO2 (Sr/Ti) mole ratios and the morphology of SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures can be controlled easily using TiO2 with different morphologies. A SrTiO3 crystal thin layer was grown on an anatase TiO2 substrate to fabricate a heterostructure interface contact between SrTiO3 and TiO2 and the lattice mismatch had an effect on the electrical transport properties. The SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures are beneficial for the fast separation of photogenerated electrons and holes so as to suppress the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes at the interface of SrTiO3 and TiO2. Besides this, the different morphologies of the SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures allowing facile electron transfer, the hierarchical structure promoting mass transfer and allowing more light reflection and absorption, and the large specific surface area providing more reaction sites to facilitate the reactants to the desired oxidation places all together create a synergistic effect to improve the photocatalytic activity of the hierarchical SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures. Under the irradiation of UV light, in a water/methanol sacrificial reagent system, the SrTiO3/TiO2 NP heterostructures at a Sr/Ti mole ratio of 40% with the highest BET and smallest crystallite size achieve the highest photocatalytic activity generating 0.731 mmol of H2. The SrTiO3/TiO2 heterostructures exhibit better photocatalytic activity by generating three times more H2 than bare TiO2 and pure SrTiO3.

A series of mesoporous WO3 catalysts were facilely synthesized by a hydrothermal method using mesoporous silica KIT-6 as a hard template and silicotungstic acid as a precursor. All the catalysts possess a well-defined mesoporous structure with interconnected networks. Oxygen-deficient mesoporous WO3 (m-WO3−x) was prepared by hydrogenation treatment at different temperatures with improved photothermal coupling performance. Moreover, the as-prepared catalysts exhibit selectivity toward CH4 evolution under visible-light only irradiation. Then, under photothermal conditions, the results show that the concentration of oxygen vacancies of m-WO3 has a great influence on its catalytic performance. The CH4 evolution rate reached 25.77 μmol g−1, which is about 22 times that of mesoporous WO3 (1.17 μmol g−1) under the same conditions, and a moderate concentration of oxygen vacancies is necessary to achieve selectivity for the conversion of CO2 into CH4. A mechanism of the catalytic reduction of CO2 over m-WO3−x is proposed, in which the initial oxygen vacancies function as an excellent electron transfer mediator and decompose CO2 into its elements (C/CO). These findings may further broaden the scope for photothermal chemical conversion and provide new insights into the oxygen nonstoichiometry strategy for the development of CO2 reduction.

Double perovskites LaSrCoFeO6−δ (LSCF) and LaSrCoFeO6−δ with a three-dimensionally ordered macroporous structure (3DOM-LSCF) were successfully synthesized by a facile combustion process. Their crystal structure, morphology, BET surface area, band gap and catalytic properties were characterized in detail. Phase pure double perovskites LSCF and 3DOM-LSCF can be obtained by calcination at 550–950 °C for 4 h. The ordered and interconnected pore structure generated by using a PMMA template can be maintained successfully in the 3DOM-LSCF catalyst. Both catalysts had good catalytic performance in either CH4 selectivity or total yield. Production of CH4 from CO2 and H2O can reach 351.32 μmol g−1 for LSCF and 557.88 μmol g−1 for 3DOM-LSCF under photothermal conditions (350 °C + vis-light) in 8 h. The high solar-to-methane (STM) energy conversion efficiency was 1.217% for LSCF and 1.933% for 3DOM-LSCF in the photothermal mode. The results also show that the yield of CH4 in the photothermal mode is 5 times that in the thermal reduction mode. The double perovskites LSCF and 3DOM-LSCF are promising catalytic materials for the photothermal reduction of CO2 to hydrocarbon fuels.

BACKGROUND Limited data is available in intracranial nongerminomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCTs) in Chinese population. Here we aimed to retrospectively assess the clinical-pathological and prognostic factors of NGGCTs in a single large institution in China. METHODS From June 2003 to December 2018, 111 consecutive NGGCTs were treated in Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital, China. RESULTS The median follow-up was 36.2 months (range, 1.2 to 131.2 months). Three-year EFS and OS for 111 NGGCTs patients were 78.5%±4.5% and 82.8%±4.0%, respectively. 98 patients received CSI plus boost yielded better survival than those who received reduced-volume radiotherapy or no radiotherapy (3y OS, 86.7% vs. 51.4%, p=0.007). Patients had at least four cycles of chemotherapy were strongly associated with improved 3-year OS, compared to those received less than 4 cycles (94.1% vs. 63.6%, p＜0.001). There was no significant difference in survival of patients stratified by age, surgery, hydrocephalus, as well as tumor diameter. Multivariate analysis identified chemotherapy cycles less than 4 was the only prognostic factor that conferring a worse OS (p=0.003). Patients both received CSI and at least 4 courses of chemotherapy were correlated with lower incidence of relapse (p=0.044). CONCLUSIONS Multimodal approach including CSI and enough courses of chemotherapy was effective and should be recommended for the treatment of newly diagnosed NGGCTs in Chinese population.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical factors related to the prognosis of basal ganglia germ cell tumors. METHODS A retrospective analysis of 52 cases of the basal ganglia germ cell tumors treated from January 2009 to January 2019 in the department of oncology of Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital. The median age: 12 years (range: 5–32), The median course of disease: 11.7 months (range: 1–54). Thirteen cases were diagnosed by biopsy and 39 cases were diagnosed by elevated tumor markers. There were 31 patients (59.6%) diagnosed with germinomas and 21 patients (40.4%) with non-germ germ cell tumors. Univariate and multivariate survival analysis was performed. RESULTS To October 15, 2019, the median follow-up time was 30.4 months (range 2–124 months). The 5-year survival rate was 85%, and the 5-year progression-free survival rate was 84%. Multivariate analysis found whether serum AFP was greater than 100mIU / ml, (with HR: 11.441,95% CI: 2.09–47.66, P = 0.005),the degree of surgical resection(with HR 5.323 (1.19–23.812), P = 0.029), PD as the effect of radiotherapy (HR: 16.53, (1.19–23.81), P = 0.001) were independent prognostic factor affecting survival. CONCLUSION The pathological type, degree of surgical resection, and response to initial treatment can all affect survival.

PURPOSE Intracranial non-germinomatous germ cell tumors (NGGCTs) have lower overall survival than germinoma because relatively higher recurrence usually occurs after first line therapy. METHODS Between January 2003 and December 2018, 111 consecutive patients diagnosed with NGGCTs reviewed. Those who progressed after first line therapy were included in this study. Data of first line treatment, salvage treatment, clinicopathological features and survival were collected and analyzed. RESULTS Totally, thirty patients (30/111, 27.0%) relapsed in our cohort, including 19 patients with accurate relapse information detail, and 11 patients who died of disease progression during follow up but without exact time and site of relapse. The median OS from diagnosis of the disease was 49.2 months (95% CI: 14.1 to 84.3 months) and 3-year OS was 54.3%. Patients who received both CSI and chemotherapy relapsed less than those who received reduced volume of radiotherapy or only CSI or only chemotherapy (22.5% vs. 45.5%, p=0.034). Of 19 patients who had detail information of recurrence time and site, the median time from diagnosis of disease to relapse was 9.5 months (2.2 to 72.1 months). Regarding to recurrence site, most patients relapsed in primary site (10/19, 52.6%) or distant intracranial (6/19, 31.6%). The recurrence site of other 3 patients were spinal (n=1), ventricular (n=1) and peritoneal (n=1). CONCLUSION Protracted follow-up is recommended because late recurrence is not uncommon. Primary tumor site and distant intracranial are the most prevalent relapsed location. Patients who relapsed could benefited from both CSI and salvage chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE We retrospectively analyzed the clinical features of pediatric glioblastoma patients in our center in the past 10 years. METHODS From November 2009 to December 2018, patients with glioblastoma under 18 years were admitted to Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital. Clinical and pathological features were summarized, and the curative effect was evaluated. RESULTS A total of 31 pediatric patients were enrolled. The median age is 13.8 years (range 0.8–18), including 19 males and 12 females. To Sep, 2019, the median follow-up time was 18 months(Range 4–80 months). Among them, 2 were lost to follow-up, 13 died, 16 still survived, and the longest survivor survived for 80 months. The median survival time was 16.4 months, the 2-year survival rate was 38%. In the prognostic factor analysis, the median survival time of patients with surgical resection ≥90% was 18 months (95% CI 15.9–20 months), and for children with resection 90% was 11 months (95% CI 9.9–12 months), P=0.027, with significantly statistically difference. Multivariate analysis showed that tumor resection rate was an independent prognostic factor for survival. CONCLUSION The prognosis of pediatric glioblastoma is still dismal. This study demonstrates that prognosis of such patients with GTR or near GTR is better.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical factors related to the prognosis of basal ganglia germ cell tumors. METHODS A retrospective analysis of 52 cases of the basal ganglia germ cell tumors treated from January 2009 to January 2019 in the department of oncology of Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital. The median age: 12 years (range: 5–32), The median course of disease: 11.7 months (range: 1–54). Thirteen cases were diagnosed by biopsy and 39 cases were diagnosed by elevated tumor markers. There were 31 patients (59.6%) diagnosed with germinomas and 21 patients (40.4%) with non-germ germ cell tumors. Univariate and multivariate survival analysis was performed. RESULTS To October 15, 2019, the median follow-up time was 30.4 months (range 2–124 months). The 5-year survival rate was 85%, and the 5-year progression-free survival rate was 84%. Multivariate analysis found whether serum AFP was greater than 100mIU / ml, (with HR: 11.441,95% CI: 2.09–47.66, P = 0.005),the degree of surgical resection(with HR 5.323 (1.19–23.812), P = 0.029), PD as the effect of radiotherapy (HR: 16.53, (1.19–23.81), P = 0.001) were independent prognostic factor affecting survival. CONCLUSION The pathological type, degree of surgical resection, and response to initial treatment can all affect survival.

Diagenesis is a key process that affects carbonate reservoir formation and evolution. This paper presents a detailed study of a carbonate shoal reservoir in the Ordovician Majiagou Formation, Ordos Basin, China. This reservoir records different diagenetic features that are related to reservoir heterogeneity. Petrographic observations and geochemical data reveal that the two facies present in a single shoal exhibit differences in rock and pore textures, spatial distributions, and reservoir properties. The shoal margins consist of grain dolomite with few intergranular pores and pervasive cement infilling, whereas the shoal core is dominated by crystalline dolomite with abundant intercrystalline pores. These two types of reservoir experienced multi-stage and different diagenetic pathways. The shoal deposits were pervasively dolomitized during the very early diagenesis with the dolomitizing fluid of highly saline seawater due to evaporation. The shoal margins were then cemented due to the inflow of hypersaline seawater and gypsum precipitation during penecontemporaneous to shallow burial, which resulted in significant reservoir degradation. However, this densification and relatively poor reservoir properties of the shoal margins protected the shoal core from cementation and alteration by hypersaline seawater. During deep burial, continued diagenetic modification and recrystallization occurred preferentially in the shoal core as the diagenetic fluid flowed and migrated into the layers with relatively high porosity–permeability. This resulted in intense lithological and porosity transformation within the shoal core. Multiple stages of diagenetic differentiation affected the formation and preservation of dolomite reservoir, which provide new insight into the carbonate reservoir heterogeneity. The results have implications for future oil–gas exploration in high-quality reservoirs developed in old superimposed basins, such as the Ordos Basin and those in a similar geological setting.

A stretchable, self-healing and deformable fiber has the potential to use in artificial intelligence products, such as implantable electronic devices, intelligent adaptive interface system and bionic robots. Advanced fibrous electronics with additional functions including bio-responsive, biocompatibility, and biological tissue reconfiguration remains a great challenge on advanced fiber engineering technology. Herein, we use functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and poly(sodium acrylate) (PAAS) to fabricate the multifunctional fiber through a hydrogel spinning process. The SWCNTs in fiber exhibit a uniaxial alignment under the fluid shear force in the microchannel. This fiber shows outstanding features: (i) elastic, extremely stretchable (could be stretched up to 1000%), and rapidly self-healing (93% healing efficiency within 5 min), (ii) Na+ ion responsive and deformable, and (iii) favoring nerve tissue reconfiguration.

The Ediacaran was a crucial transition period in the evolutionary history of the Earth. Ediacaran ooids in the Dengying Formation from the Yulin section in southwestern China are important archives of paleoenvironmental information. Although these ooids have been totally dolomitized, the cortical fabric characteristics are locally preserved well, indicating that these ooids were mimetically replaced. The common occurrence of concentric–radial fabrics and low level of Sr concentrations (60.3 ± 8.8 ppm) in the studied ooid cortex is more likely suggestive of a primary low-Mg calcite mineralogy and that a calcite sea might exist during deposition of the second member of the Dengying Formation. In situ geochemical data for the ooid cortices obtained by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry show that these ooids have middle rare earth element enrichment (PrN/SmN = 0.7 ± 0.1 and SmN/YbN = 1.5 ± 0.4) and high Fe contents (8200 ± 1800 ppm). This suggests ferruginous pore waters, which were related to the selective or preferential absorption and release of REEs by Fe-Mn oxyhydroxides.

As an important family of elements, halogens (Cl, Br, and I) have been widely used to study geological processes, particularly in high-temperature environments, showing great prospects either in fundamental or in applied studies. However, little work has been conducted for sedimentary and low-temperature diagenetic environments re-construction although these elements have the potential in theory. Here we perform a pilot study on this issue using a case study of Middle Triassic marine dolomitization in South China. Our results show that the average Cl concentrations in limestone, dolomitic limestone, calcitic dolomite and dolomite are 88.3 ppm, 114.7 ppm, 121.3 ppm and 142.9 ppm respectively, and the corresponding Br concentrations are 1.15 ppm, 1.42 ppm, 1.59 ppm and 2.13 ppm, respectively. Both the concentrations of Cl and Br increased with the increasing dolomitization degree. The increasing tendency of Cl and Br is similar to the seawater evaporation trajectory before halite precipitation, indicating that dolomitization occurs in fluids with elevated salinity. Meanwhile, the difference of Cl/Br ratios between our carbonate samples and seawater may be ascribed to the input of terrestrial water, which has variable Cl/Br ratios. As for the concentration of I, the mean values sharply decreased from 0.36 ppm in limestone to 0.13 ppm in dolomitic limestone samples, and it further lowered to 0.09 ppm and 0.08 ppm in calcitic dolomite and dolomite samples, respectively. The calculated I/(Ca + Mg) ratios in limestones vary between 0.05 and 0.58 μmol/mol with an average value of 0.29 μmol/mol, indicating that limestone formed in open ocean oxygen-minimum zone (OMZs) or anoxic basin environment. The average I/(Ca + Mg) ratio decreases from 0.29 μmol/mol in limestone to 0.06 μmol/mol in dolomite, serving as an important case that dolomitization decreases I/(Ca + Mg) ratios of carbonates rocks. Halogens in carbonates therefore have promising potential for investigating the sedimentary and diagenetic environments of carbonate rocks.

Voluntary movements and facial expressions adversely affect the accuracy of heart rate detection methods from ballistocardiogram. In this study, the heart rate accuracy was enhanced by improving the selection of region of interest (ROI) and filtering methods. First, the upper edge of the forehead and the tip of the nose were selected as the ROIs. The feature points in the ROIs were selected and their trajectories were tracked. Second, the trajectories were filtered using a limiting filter, a moving average filter, and a Butterworth bandpass filter. Third, a principal component analysis was used to solve the challenge of dimensionality reduction in multidimensional trajectories. Finally, the trajectories were converted to the frequency domain via fast Fourier transform, and the frequency of the maximal spectral amplitude represented the heart rate of the subject. The novel method proposed in this study is more effective than the state-of-the-art methods when subjects exhibit voluntary movement.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs), as re-emerging contaminants considered to be a potential health concern, are ubiquitous in the environment and have been widely investigated. However, little is known on the safe OPE concentrations in the water quality criteria for the protection of the aquatic environment, which is an indispensable part of environmental management. In the present study, aquatic acute and chronic predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) of six frequently detected OPEs were derived from the hazardous concentrations for 5% of species (HC5s), respectively. The acute PNECs for the selected OPEs ranged from 17.70 to 3562 μg/L, while the chronic PNECs ranged from 4.6 × 10−4 to 61.85 μg/L. Among these OPEs, tricresyl phosphate (TCrP) exhibited the lowest acute PNEC, while tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCPP) presented chronic PNEC, which indicated that it has a higher toxicity effect on the aquatic environment. Furthermore, the aquatic ecological risks of individual OPEs (except for TDCPP) were deemed to be relatively low in Chinese surface water; however, the aquatic ecological risks of TDCPP and ΣOPEs indicated that they have potential adverse effects and should be considered as a potential health concern. The probability of 5% of aquatic organisms being affected by ΣOPEs was in the range of 0.21 to 17.39% based on the joint probability curve method.

The dolomites of the Middle Permian Qixia Formation have been important targets of natural gas exploration in the Sichuan Basin for decades. However, more and more exploration and research indicate that the formation of the reservoir might be related to karstification. To testify this hypothesis, we conduct comprehensive outcrop, core, and logging analyses based on a case study in the representative northwestern Sichuan Basin, which has obtained exploration breakthroughs recently. Results show that the Qixia dolomite reservoirs are mainly developed within fine-crystalline dolomites formed by a series of diagenetic modifications, which can be further divided into three types according to the macro- and micro-occurrences of dolomites: euhedral-subhedral crystalline dolomites in the quasi-stratiform karst system (mean porosity and permeability is 3.51% and 3.11 mD, respectively), euhedral-subhedral crystalline dolomites in the leopard porphyritic karst system (mean porosity and permeability is 3.36% and 1.22 mD, respectively), and allotriomorphic mosaic crystalline dolomites with residual parent rock fabrics (mean porosity and permeability is 0.94% and 0.92 mD, respectively). Their reservoir qualities decrease along the order. The formation mechanism of the reservoir is shoal-controlled karst. The preservation of residual intergranular pores within the thin-layer grainstones of shoal facies provides favorable channels for karst water. In the vadose zone, the heterogeneous dissolution within grainstones leads to the formation of leopard porphyritic dissolution features. In the phreatic zone, the karst water flowing along the stratiform grainstones results in the formation of quasi-stratiform dissolution features. The karst system is filled with loose carbonate sands and gravels, whose reservoir properties are far superior to parent rocks, and they can provide migration channels for the hydrothermal fluids with rich Mg2+ in the burial stage. The replacement of hydrothermal fluid results in the redistribution of pores and vugs of inter-fillings within karst system and the formation of intercrystalline pores and residual vugs, but the reservoir space of parent rocks keeps the same as the original condition. Therefore, the exploration of the Qixia dolomite reservoir should be changed to shoal-controlled karst.

BACKGROUND: Pilomyxoid astrocytoma (PMA) is a rare variant of pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) and occurs in children aged 3 months to 2 years. Compared with PA, PMA has more aggressive clinical features, and is associated with higher rates of local recurrence and mortality. CASE DESCRIPTION: We retrospectively analyzed three cases. All three patients underwent subtotal resection (STR). Postoperative pathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of PMA. After STR, we carried out postoperative observation for the 7-year-old female; the 17-year-old male received CSI combined with TB(IMRT) and 6 courses of TMZ; and the 20-year-old female was treated with IMRT combined with 6 courses of TMZ after STR. RESULTS: The three patients were still alive and received a follow-up examination May, 2017, for a median follow-up time of 27 months. Although the 7-year-old female started CSI treatment because MR imaging performed April 26, 2017 revealed intracranial tumor progression and spinal dissemination, she has survived 33(+)months. After the completion of chemoradiotherapy following resection, the 20-year-old female has survived 18(+) months, and the 17-year-old male also leads a normal life for 27(+) months after chemoradiotherapy. CONCLUSION: PMA is rare in young children and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. Resection is the first choice for the treatment of PMA. The results of our cases and review of the relevant literature suggest that radical resection, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, may narrow the tumor and improve long-term survival. The therapeutic effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy after the resection of PMA is worthy of further study. KEYWORDS: Pilomyxoid astrocytoma; radiotherapy; chemotherapy