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Pedo-transfer functions (PTFs) have been widely used to estimate soil hydraulic properties in the simulation of catchment eco-hydrological processes. However, the accuracy of existing PTFs is usually inadequate for use. To develop PTFs for local use, soil columns were collected from a double rice-cropped agricultural catchment in subtropical central China. The PTFs for saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and parameters (θs, α, and n) of the van Genuchten model for the soil water retention curve (SWRC) were obtained based on soil’s basic properties, and compared with models developed by Li et al. in 2007 and Wosten et al. in 1999, respectively. Our results indicated that Ks in the range of 0.04–1087 cm d−1 and θs in the range of 0.34–0.51 cm3 cm−3 were both well estimated with the R2adj of 0.72 and 0.87, respectively, but α (0.04–0.65 cm−1) and n (1.05–1.21) were relatively poorly predicted with the respective R2adj of 0.38 and 0.55, despite the use of more input parameters. Our local derive...

A new partly-sulfided Ni–Mo dimetallic complex, [Ni(H2O)6][Mo2O2S2(edta)]·2H2O (edta = ethylenediaminetetraacetate) was synthesized. The complex was decomposed either in situ during the course of a dibenzothiophene (DBT) hydrodesulfrization (HDS) test or ex situ through sulfidation by H2S/N2 and two unsupported catalysts were obtained. These two catalysts and reference catalyst were characterized by XRD, BET and HRTEM. Textural and catalytic properties of these NiMo catalysts were strongly influenced by the nature of the precursor and the activation procedure. The introduction of edta ligand in the complex precursor resulted in the dispersion increase of nickel phases in these two catalysts. For these two catalysts, the ex situ activation method led to higher surface area, bigger pore volume, lower number of MoS2 layers and shorter MoS2 slabs than that led by the in situ activation method. The use of ex situ activation method led to a poor HDS activity and high hydrogenation selectivity while using in situ activation method, a net increase in HDS activity and initial rate constant was observed.

High nitrogen (N) concentrations in rural domestic water supplies have been attributed to excessive agricultural N leaching into shallow groundwater systems; therefore, it is important to determine the impact of agriculture (e.g., rice production) on groundwater quality. To understand the impact of agricultural land use on the N concentrations in the shallow groundwater in subtropical central China, a large observation program was established to observe ammonium-N (NH4-N), nitrate-N (NO3-N), and total N (TN) concentrations in 161 groundwater observation wells from April 2010 to November 2012. The results indicated that the median values of NH4-N, NO3-N, and TN concentrations in the groundwater were 0.15, 0.39, and 1.38 mg N L(-1), respectively. A total of 36.3 % of the water samples were categorized as NH4-N pollution, and only a small portion of the samples were categorized as NO3-N pollution, based on the Chinese Environmental Quality Standards for Groundwater of GB/T 14848-93 (General Administration of Quality Supervision of China, 1993). These results indicated of moderate groundwater NH4-N pollution, which was mainly attributed to intensive rice agriculture with great N fertilizer application rates in the catchment. In addition, tea and vegetable fields showed higher groundwater NO3-N and TN concentrations than other agricultural land use types. The factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) suggested that the flooded agricultural land use types (e.g., single-rice and double-rice) had potential to impose NH4-N pollution, particularly in the soil exhausting season during from July to October. And, the great N fertilizer application rates could lead to a worse NO3-N and TN pollution in shallow groundwater. Hence, to protect groundwater quality and minimize NH4-N pollution, managing optimal fertilizer application and applying appropriate agricultural land use types should be implemented in the region.

The forest ecosystem plays a pivotal role in contributing greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. In order to characterize the temporal pattern of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and identify the key factors affecting N2O emissions from a Masson pine forest in a hilly red-soil region in subtropical central China, we measured the N2O emissions in Jinjing of Hunan Province using the static chambergas chromatographic method for 3 years (2010–2012) and analyzed the relationships between the N2O fluxes and the environmental variables. Our results revealed that the N2O fluxes over the 3 years varied from −36.0 to 296.7 μg N m−2 h−1, averaging 18.4 ± 5.6 μg N m−2 h−1 (n = 3). The average annual N2O emissions were estimated to be 1.6 ± 0.3 kg N ha−1 year−1. The N2O fluxes exhibited clear intra-annual (seasonal) variations as they were higher in summers and lower in winters. Compared with other forest observations in the subtropics, N2O emissions at our site were relatively high, possibly due to the high local dry/wet N deposition, and were mostly sensitive to variations in precipitation and soil ammonium N content. In this work, a multiple linear regression model was developed to determine the influence of environmental factors on N2O emissions, in which a category predictor of “Season” was intentionally used to account for the seasonal variation of the N2O fluxes. Such a model explained almost 40% of the total variation in daily N2O emissions from the Masson pine forest soil studied (P < 0.001).

Groundwater quality varies not only in space but also in time. In order to analyze the spatiotemporal variety of ground water quality, the concentration of ammonium nitrogen (NH4N), nitrate nitrogen (NO3N), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in very shallow groundwater were investigated in a red-soil catchment in subtropical central China, based on a three-dimensional kriging method. The spatio-temporal analysis demonstrated that NH4N, NO3N and TP presented strong spatio-temporal autocorrelation (with a nugget-to-sill ratio of

We analyzed China’s current use of and microbial resistance to antibiotics, and possible means of reducing antimicrobial resistance. Interventions like executive orders within clinical settings and educational approach with vertical approaches rather than an integrated strategy to curb the use of antimicrobials remain limited. An underlying problem is the system of incentives that has resulted in the intensification of inappropriate use by health professionals and patients. There is an urgent need to explore the relationship between financial and non-financial incentives for providers and patients, to eliminate inappropriate incentives. China’s national health reforms have created an opportunity to contain inappropriate use of antibiotics through more comprehensive and integrated strategies. Containment of microbial resistance may be achieved by strengthening surveillance at national, regional and hospital levels; eliminating detrimental incentives within the health system; and changing prescribing behaviors to a wider health systems approach, to achieve long-term, equitable and sustainable results and coordinate stakeholders’ actions through transparent sharing of information.

Patient data completeness is an important characteristic in maintaining accurate health records and providing the highest standard of care. Furthermore, finding discrepancies in care based on different subpopulation parameters is important to identify areas of underlying systemic issues in order to address concerns and alleviate those discrepancies. In this project, the investigators use the Data Completeness Analysis Package to find trends in patient record completeness using Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's State Inpatient Database for the state of Florida, specifically focusing on finding discrepancies among subpopulations along the variables of age, race, and gender. The results from testing Data Completeness Analysis Package with State Inpatient Database show a variety of patterns that provides insights to the health care delivery in Florida.

The efficacy, safety and health-economic outcomes were compared between corticosteroid and non-corticosteroid treatments in acute gout patients. All electronic literatures comparing the curative effects or full economic evaluations of corticosteroids versus non-corticosteroids on acute pain in acute gout patients and published until June 30, 2017 in any language were searched through PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Pooled odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals and standard(or weighted) mean difference were calculated using random-or fixed-effects models according to the I2 statistic test of heterogeneity. Economic elevations were combined through qualitative narrative synthesis. Finally, seven randomized controlled trials(RCTs) involving 929 patients were included here and suggested corticosteroids had comparable analgesic efficacy to non-corticosteroids on day 5. As for inflammation and PGA, corticosteroids might outperform non-corticosteroids in reducing tenderness and swelling. Corticosteroids versus non-corticosteroids could significantly reduce incidence of only serious adverse advents, but not total adverse advents, with substantial heterogeneity. Qualitative narrative synthesis of economic elevation involving only one study shows corticosteroids are more cost-effective than indomethacin. The existing RCTs do not provide sufficient or precise evidence that corticosteroids are superior to non-corticosteroids in pain relief of acute gout patients. Therefore, studies on chronic use of corticosteroids or comparative studies with colchicine, tramadol and/or opiates may be needed in the future, as is patient satisfaction with analgesic control.

The association between the intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and the risk of preclinical and clinical type 1 diabetes (T1D) in children has generated conflicting results. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the definite effects of PUFAs on the risk of preclinical and clinical T1D. Three databases were systematically searched up to July 18, 2017 to identify relevant observational studies, without language restriction. Any study included should report the risk of preclinical or clinical T1D in children with PUFAs supplementation compared with the controls, and report relative risks (RRs) or odds ratios (ORs) or provide data for estimation. Pooled RRs (or ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random-effects models irrespective of statistical heterogeneity assessed by I2 statistic. We identified seven studies (three prospective cohort studies and four case-control studies) on PUFAs intake during pregnancy or during early life in children. The pooled RR between the risk of preclinical T1D and n-3 PUFAs supplementation against controls was 0.98 (95%CI, 0.85–1.13), with no heterogeneity. The results were similar after the intake during pregnancy, but not during early life in children (pooled RR, 0.45; 95%CI, 0.21–0.96; P = 0.039). N-3 PUFAs supplementation was not associated with a significant reduction in the risk of clinical T1D in children (pooled RR, 0.87; 95%CI, 0.71–1.08), with substantial heterogeneity(I2 = 64.7%). No association was also found between n-6 PUFAs intake and the risk of preclinical (1.07; 0.97–1.017) or clinical T1D (1.05; 0.92–1.20) in children. The result of the meta-analysis does not support that n-3 or n-6 PUFAs supplementation in children affects the overall risk of preclinical or clinical T1D. However, n-3 PUFAs intake in early life might reduce the risk of preclinical T1D. Therefore, this finding should be verified by more and well-designed prospective research in the future.

INTRODUCTION Myofascial pain is a common impairment treated with various manual interventions including spinal thrust manipulation and stretching; however, the comparative efficacy of each intervention is uncertain. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to evaluate thrust manipulation targeting the cervicothoracic junction compared to a manual stretch of the upper trapezius muscle on cervical range of motion and upper trapezius pressure pain thresholds (PPTs). METHODS Healthy participants with no significant history of neck pain were randomized into a thrust manipulation group, a stretching group, or a control group. Within group differences were evaluated via a dependent t-test, and group by time interactions were evaluated by a two-way repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS One hundred and two participants were recruited to participate. Baseline demographics revealed no significant differences between groups. Significant group by time interactions were found for changes in PPTs for both the right and left upper trapezius. Also, significant differences were found for changes in cervical extension, as well as right and left cervical side bending favoring the treatment groups. DISCUSSION This study demonstrates the potential independent effectiveness of spinal thrust manipulation or stretching for reducing PPTs at the upper trapezius. Future research should further evaluate the limitation of PPTs as a measure of muscle sensitivity as well as factors that may contribute to variability in the measurements among individuals seeking care.

The R2R3-MYB gene family is the largest MYB subfamily in plants and is involved in the regulation of plant secondary metabolism and specific morphogenesis, as well as the response to biotic and abiotic stress. However, a systematic identification and characterization of this gene family has not been carried out in Ginkgo biloba. In this study, we performed a transcriptome-wide survey from four tissues of G. biloba to determine the genetic variation and expression pattern of the R2R3-MYB genes. We analyzed 45 GbMYBs and identified 42 with a complete coding sequence via conserved motif searches. The MYB domain and other motifs in GbMYBs are highly conserved with Arabidopsis thaliana AtMYBs. Phylogenetic analysis of the GbMYBs and AtMYBs categorized the R2R3-MYBs into 26 subgroups, of which 11 subgroups included proteins from both G. biloba and Arabidopsis, and 1 subgroup was specific to G. biloba. Moreover, the GbMYBs expression patterns were analyzed in different tissues and abiotic stress conditions. The results revealed that GbMYBs were differentially expressed in various tissues and following abiotic stresses and phytohormone treatments, indicating their possible roles in biological processes and abiotic stress tolerance and adaptation. Our study demonstrated the functional diversity of the GbMYBs and will provide a foundation for future research into their biological and molecular functions.

This paper establishes an adaptive dynamic programming algorithm based neuro-control scheme for nonlinear systems with unknown input constraints. The control strategy consists of an online nominal optimal control and a neural network (NN) based saturation compensator. For nominal systems without input constraints, we develop a critic NN to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation. Hereafter, the online approximate nominal optimal control policy can be derived directly. Then, considering the unknown input constraints as saturation nonlinearity, NN based feed-forward compensator is employed. The ultimate uniform bounded stability of the closed loop system is analyzed via Lyapunov’s direct method. Finally, simulation on a torsional pendulum system is provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

A series of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) NiMo catalysts supported on Al2O3-NY (denoted as ANY) composites with various amounts of nanosized H-type Y zeolite (denoted as NY) were prepared. The samples were characterized by XRD, BET, TPD, TPR, HRTEM, and FT-IR spectroscopy of pyridine adsorption. The characterization results showed that, compared with NiMo/Al2O3, the addition of NY reduced the Metal-support interaction and made the MoS2 stacking degree higher, slabs shorter and dispersion of edge and corner Mo atoms bigger. The addition of NY also enhanced the overall acidity and the ratio of Bronsted acid to Lewis acid of these catalysts. The fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) diesel HDS activity was increased with the addition of NY in these catalysts compared with NiMo/Al2O3 catalysts. The optimal NY content was found to be 20 wt% in ANY composite support. The highest HDS activity of NiMo/ANY20 was attributed to the synergy of hydrogenation activity, acid amount and textural properties.

The objective of this study is to understand the influence of Al2O3 on blast furnace operation by studying the properties of primary slag and final slag. The effects of Al2O3 on liquidus temperature, liquid phase proportion and fluidity in the CaO–MgO–SiO2–Al2O3–FeO quinary slag system have been discussed in this paper. The results show that the influence of Al2O3 on primary slag is decreasing the liquidus temperature and increasing the proportion of liquid phase, which lead to a high-pressure drop in the blast furnace, while the influence of Al2O3 on final slag is increasing the liquidus temperature and degrading the slag fluidity. It indicates that increasing MgO content will optimize the influence of Al2O3 and the proper MgO content ought to be greater than 9% in the primary slag. In addition, improving the value of CaO/SiO2 will also optimize the influence of Al2O3, but it is not obvious.

Kinetics study of oxidation of 1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)ethanol (MVA), a lignin model compounds, with chlorine dioxide under simulated bleaching conditions were investigated. The UV–vis spectrophotometer was employed to characterize the reaction products of chlorine dioxide and 1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)ethanol. A possible reaction mechanism was proposed. The results showed the chlorination and oxidizing reaction of 1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)ethanol coexisted. The hypochlorous acid was the main reason to form adsorbable organic halides (AOX). An overall second-order rate equation was also established from UV–vis spectra results. It was shown as: −d[ClO2]/dt = k′[MVA][ClO2], where k′ refers to observed second-order rate constants. The results showed the kinetics model correlated well with the experimental data, so the degree of 1-(3,4-Dimethoxyphenyl)ethanol oxidized by chlorine dioxide can be quantitative evaluated based on this model. AOX formation characteristic and practical implications of this work were investigated based on the kinetics and mechanism, which might bring a new door open for resolving the major problems of environmental pollution in elemental chlorine free (ECF) bleaching of pulp.

Nowadays, there has been a rapid expansion of tea field converted from forestry for pursuing higher economic benefits. However, few researches focus on the effects of transient land-use conversion from Masson pine forest to artificial tea fields on soil N2O and NO emissions and the underlying mechanisms. A parallel field experiment was conducted from Masson pine forest and a newly converted tea plantation from Masson pine forest from 2013 to 2017 in subtropical central China. Masson pine forest conversion to tea field dramatically increased soil N2O and NO emissions (up to 4.00 ± 0.43 and 1.93 ± 0.45 kg N ha−1 yr−1, respectively) in the first year possibly due to enhanced soil organic N mineralization. With the extension of tea planting age, N2O and NO emissions showed an upward trend (ranged from 1.19 to 5.28, and 0.15 to 1.78 kg N ha−1 yr−1, respectively) influenced by fertilization and soil organic matter accumulation. The direct emission factors for N2O and NO in the newly converted tea fields were the largest in the first year (2.64 and 1.07%, respectively) after land-use conversion, and higher than the default value recommended by IPCC. The NO/N2O ratio was mainly lower than 1 in the fertilized tea field, and soil N2O and NO emission peaks mainly occurred in tea-growing season (wet season) with higher soil moisture and NH4+-N concentrations, and dominated by amoA-containing bacteria (AOB), suggesting nitrifier-denitrification could be the dominant process involved in soil nitrogenous gases emissions in tea field. These results can be summarized as dramatically increased soil N2O and NO emissions during the transient land-use conversion from Masson pine forest to tea field were possibly due to the substantial net soil organic N mineralization and the enhanced abundance of nitrification functional genes (AOB).

The purpose of this study was to conduct a preliminary study to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) associated with antibiotic use among medical students (MS) and non-medical students (NMS) at Kathmandu University, Nepal. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 1223 students for a cross-sectional study. In total, 1222 questionnaires collected from 609 MS and 613 NMS were regarded as effective. A t-test and Chi-square test were applied to analyze the data. A total of 25 out of 39 questions in the KAP survey were found to have statistical significance. The MS showed higher levels of knowledge/attitude/practice associated with antibiotic use than the NMS. Significant gaps were found in and between the MS and NMS in the first and final years of study. Interventions, such as lectures, courses, workshops, and seminars on antibiotic use, along with internet and media campaigns, etc., are needed to improve the awareness and change the behavior of both the MS and the NMS of universities with regards to the rational use of antibiotics.

Objectives Public reporting of quality metrics has become increasingly important for pathologists to demonstrate excellence of care and to secure value-based payments from both public and private payers. This study evaluated the participation and performance of pathologists in the Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS). Methods This study conducted a retrospective review of the Physician Compare data files from 2016. Specifically, pathologists enrolled in the Physician Compare Initiative were identified and merged with quality data using uniquely assigned National Provider Identifiers. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression were performed using Stata (version 12.1) statistical software (StataCorp, College Station, TX). Results Among the 11,637 pathologists identified in the Physician Compare Initiative, 8,408 pathologists (73.3%) participated in the PQRS. Regression analysis indicated that female gender, foreign medical graduate (FMG), and a larger number of employees in the affiliated organization were associated with a lower likelihood of participating in the PQRS. To protect patient privacy, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) only released the quality metrics of 353 pathologists, which were computed based on 20 or more Medicare beneficiaries. The three most commonly reported quality metrics included PQRS#249 Barrett’s Esophagus, PQRS#395 Lung Cancer Reporting (Biopsy/Cytology Specimens), and PQRS#397 Melanoma Reporting. The mean performance rates for the three most common metrics were 98.8% (SD 8.3%), 96.8% (SD 11.9%), and 97.4% (SD 6.9%), respectively. Conclusion A majority of pathologists participated in the Medicare PQRS program in 2016. The performance rates of public available quality metrics remained at high levels with significant variations in some metrics. Future research should examine the quality performance of pathologists as they transition from the PQRS to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) under the Quality Payment Program.

ObjectiveTo investigate the role of thoracic spine manipulation (TSM) on pain and disability in the management of mechanical neck pain (MNP).Data sourcesElectronic databases PubMed, CINAHL, Pedro, Embase, AMED, the Cochrane Library, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched in January 2018.Study selectionEligible studies were completed RCTs, written in English, had at least 2 groups with one group receiving TSM, had at least one measure of pain or disability, and included patients with MNP of any duration. The search identified 1717 potential articles, with 14 studies meeting inclusion criteria.Study appraisal and synthesis methodsMethodological quality was evaluated independently by two authors using the guidelines published by the Cochrane Collaboration. Pooled analyses were analyzed using a random-effects model with inverse variance methods to calculate mean differences (MD) and 95% confidence intervals for pain (VAS 0-100mm, NPRS 0-10pts; 0 = no pain) and disability (NDI and NPQ 0-100%; 0 = no disability).ResultsAcross the included studies, there was increased risk of bias for inadequate provider and participant blinding. The GRADE approach demonstrated an overall level of evidence ranging from very low to moderate. Meta-analysis that compared TSM to thoracic or cervical mobilization revealed a significant effect favoring the TSM group for pain (MD -13.63; 95% CI: -21.79, -5.46) and disability (MD -9.93; 95% CI: -14.38, -5.48). Meta-analysis that compared TSM to standard care revealed a significant effect favoring the TSM group for pain (MD -13.21; 95% CI: -21.87, -4.55) and disability (MD -11.36; 95% CI: -18.93, -3.78) at short-term follow-up, and a significant effect for disability (MD -4.75; 95% CI: -6.54, -2.95) at long-term follow-up. Meta-analysis that compared TSM to cervical spine manipulation revealed a non-significant effect (MD 3.43; 95% CI: -7.26, 14.11) for pain without a distinction between immediate and short-term follow-up.LimitationsThe greatest limitation in this systematic review was the heterogeneity among the studies making it difficult to assess the true clinical benefit, as well as the overall level of quality of evidence.ConclusionsTSM has been shown to be more beneficial than thoracic mobilization, cervical mobilization, and standard care in the short-term, but no better than cervical manipulation or placebo thoracic spine manipulation to improve pain and disability.Trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42017068287.

A giant forging hydraulic press active synchronous control system is a mutually-coupled multi-input and multi-output system. To solve the elimination of the multi-channel interference, a multiple-input and multiple-output mathematical model center on active-beam is established; multi-channel synchronous decoupling control strategy is studied. The simulation results show that: the system eliminates the role of strong interference between multi- channel accesses to very good inhibitory effect of synchronization error, eliminating the system's external disturbance on the synchronization precision control impact.

Land use and cover changes have been reported to have a great association with the alteration of regional ecological functions, and, thus, pose significant changes to the environmental quality. The analysis of landscape pattern changes is regarded as one of the most important prerequisites to quantify such land use and cover changes. Four-year land use maps (1933, 1955, 1990, and 2005) of the upper Jinjing river catchment in Hunan Province in subtropical central China, consisting of an area of 13,500 ha and containing three administrative districts (ADs) (Jinjing, Guanjia, and Tuojia), were used for analyzing the landscape pattern changes. Our results showed that a major landscape pattern has been established since 1933. A moderate changing trend, the decrease of woodland resulting from the increase of paddy field, was also observed. From 1933 to 2005, 1,270 ha of woodland were converted to paddy field, accounting for 13 % of the woodland present in 1933. An analysis of landscape indices demonstrated that the catchment landscape became more heterogeneous from 1933 to 1990, and that the patch fragmenting trend has remained fairly stable since 1990. Compared to the other two ADs, Jinjing showed a contrasting trajectory in the temporal trend of the largest patch index, indicating a distinct urbanization in that AD since 1990. Guanjia showed a different temporal trend in the perimeter-area fractal dimension, suggesting that this district was experiencing disordered development, and, thus, a comprehensive planning should be a concern. The predominant driving forces for the land use changes were found to be the terrain and the governmental policies. Climate change and anthropogenic activities (e.g., rapid population growth and migration) may also be important factors that have impacted the landscape changes of the studied catchment.

The recent boom and intensification of the tea industry in subtropical central China, with its large fertiliser inputs, lead us to observe nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from tea fields to investigate the emission characteristics and mitigation potential. In this study, we examined the spatial variability of N2O emissions observed on 30 October 2010 using 147 static mini chambers gridded almost regularly in a 4.8-ha fertilised tea field. The N2O fluxes for 0–30 min (10:00–10:30 am) ranged from − 6.42 to 79.56 g N ha− 1 d− 1 with an average value of 5.88 g N ha− 1 d− 1 and were positively skewed, thus approximating a log-normal distribution. The geostatistical analysis indicated that the normalised log-transformed N2O emissions exhibited strong spatial autocorrelation, characterised by a Matern-type semivariogram model and an effective range of 28.5 m. As observed during the dry season, only the elevation was found to be significantly correlated with N2O emissions (r = − 0.42, P 0.05). Three spatial interpolation methods (ordinary kriging, regression kriging and cokriging) were applied to estimate the spatial distribution of N2O emissions over the study area. Regression kriging with the elevation as an auxiliary predictor and cokriging with the inverse of the normalised elevation and the normalised soil organic carbon as two co-variables slightly outperformed both cokriging with individual normalised environmental factors as the co-variable and ordinary kriging. However, all methods predicted similar total amounts of N2O emissions in the tea field, ranging from 25.6 to 26.8 g N d− 1.

Objective To investigate the role of early initiation of rehabilitation on length of stay (LOS) and cost following total hip arthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty, or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. Data sources Electronic databases PubMed, CINAHL, Pedro, Embase, AMED, and the Cochrane Library were searched in July 2016. Five additional trials were identified through reference list scanning. Study selection Eligible studies were published in English language peer-reviewed journals; included participants that had undergone total hip arthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty, or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty reported clearly defined timing of rehabilitation onset for at least two groups; and reported at least one measure of LOS or cost. Inclusion criteria were applied by 2 independent authors, with disagreements being determined by a third author. Searching identified 1,029 potential articles, of which 17 studies with 26,614 participants met the inclusion criteria. Data extraction Data was extracted independently by 2 authors, with disagreements being determined by a third author. Methodological quality of each study was evaluated independently by 2 authors using the Downs and Black checklist. Pooled analyses were analyzed using a random-effects model with inverse variance methods to calculate standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals for LOS. Data synthesis When compared with standard care, early initiation of physical therapy demonstrated a decrease in length of stay for the 4 randomized clinical trials (SMD = -1.90; 95% CI -2.76 to -1.05; I2 = 93%) and for the quasi-experimental and 5 prospective studies (SMD = -1.47; 95% CI -1.85 to -1.10; I2 = 88%). Conclusion Early initiation of rehabilitation following total hip arthroplasty, total knee arthroplasty, or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty is associated with a shorter LOS, a lower overall cost, with no evidence of an increased number of adverse reactions. Additional high quality studies with standardized methodology are needed to further examine the impact of early initiation of physical therapy among patients with joint replacement procedures.

Yellow-green leaf mutants are common in higher plants, and these non-lethal chlorophyll-deficient mutants are ideal materials for research on photosynthesis and plant development. A novel xantha mutant of Ginkgo biloba displaying yellow-colour leaves (YL) and green-colour leaves (GL) was identified in this study. The chlorophyll content of YL was remarkably lower than that in GL. The chloroplast ultrastructure revealed that YL had less dense thylakoid lamellae, a looser structure and fewer starch grains than GL. Analysis of the photosynthetic characteristics revealed that YL had decreased photosynthetic activity with significantly high nonphotochemical quenching. To explain these phenomena, we analysed the proteomic differences in leaves and chloroplasts between YL and GL of ginkgo using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF MS. In total, 89 differential proteins were successfully identified, 82 of which were assigned functions in nine metabolic pathways and cellular processes. Among them, proteins involved in photosynthesis, carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms, carbohydrate/energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and protein metabolism were greatly enriched, indicating a good correlation between differentially accumulated proteins and physiological changes in leaves. The identifications of these differentially accumulated proteins indicates the presence of a specific different metabolic network in YL and suggests that YL possess slower chloroplast development, weaker photosynthesis, and a less abundant energy supply than GL. These studies provide insights into the mechanism of molecular regulation of leaf colour variation in YL mutants.

Introduction. Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common medical conditions in the United States. Clinical practice guidelines recommend active treatment approaches; however, there continues to be a significant disparity in how patients with LBP are treated. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the reported efficacy of active treatment approaches as recommended by clinical practice guidelines on LBP treatment on patient outcomes. Methods. Between the months of June and August 2015, a comprehensive search of the PubMed, Medline (EBSCO Host), and CINAHL (EBSCO Host) databases was performed. The search was restricted to articles that were published in a peer-reviewed journal, published in the English language, examined patient outcomes with a determined scale, determined the usage of an established clinical practice guideline for LBP treatment, reported at least one outcome measure, and specified either nonspecific or acute LBP. Results. Fifty-three articles were initially identified, with 4 articles ultimately meeting the criteria after screening. Articles scored between 17 and 20 points based on a maximum total score of 26 on the modified Downs and Black checklist. Conclusion. Studies identified in this review indicate that adherence to an active treatment approach as recommended by clinical practice guidelines may result in improved patient outcomes.

A hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) solution was adapted for microwave pretreatment of microcrystalline cellulose, which can be further used for heavy metal adsorption. The H2O2 concentration, temperature, and retention time were the key factors affecting the microwave/hydrogen peroxide pretreatment process. A Box-Benhken design (BBD) with response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to design and optimize the microwave-hydrogen peroxide pretreatment process (H2O2 pretreatment) of cellulose. After the H2O2 pretreatment, the crystallinity of cellulose decreased by 20% and the degree of polymerization (DP) decreased by up to 30%. The optimal conditions obtained by BBD were a H2O2 concentration of 8.37%, a temperature of 90 °C, and a retention time 5.33 min. Under these conditions, a minimum DP of 91.74 was achieved. The results indicated that all three of the factors notably affected the reduction of cellulose polymerization degree and pronounced interactions existed among the response variables. The predictive model developed was able to optimize the pretreatment process for the reduction of cellulose polymerization degree, which could improve the cellulose modification reactivity.

Kolber, MJ, Hanney, WJ, Cheatham, SW, Salamh, PA, Masaracchio, M, and Liu, X. Shoulder joint and muscle characteristics among weight-training participants with and without impingement syndrome. J Strength Cond Res 31(4): 1024-1032, 2017-Subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) has been reported as an etiological source of shoulder pain among weight-training (WT) participants; however, a paucity of evidence exists to describe intrinsic risk factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate specific risk-related joint and muscle adaptations among WT participants identified as having SIS based on a previously validated clinical testing cluster. Fifty-five men (mean age 27.3 years) who participated in recreational WT a minimum of 2 d·wk were recruited, including 24 individuals with SIS and 31 without SIS serving as controls. Active range of motion (AROM), bodyweight-adjusted strength values, and strength ratios were compared between groups. Significant differences were present as WT participants with SIS had decreased internal and external rotation AROM (p ≤ 0.016) and decreased bodyweight-adjusted strength values of the external rotator and lower trapezius musculature (p ≤ 0.02) when compared with WT participants without SIS. Select strength ratios were greater in the SIS group (p ≤ 0.004) implying agonist to antagonist muscle imbalances. The impaired joint and muscle characteristics identified among WT participants with SIS are not without consequence, as they are associated with shoulder disorders in both general and athletic populations. Practical applications for these findings may reside in exercise prescription that addresses internal rotation mobility, mitigates training bias, and favors muscles responsible for stabilization, such as the external rotators and lower trapezius. Strength and conditioning professionals should consider risk-related adaptations associated with WT when prescribing upper-extremity exercises.

The sticking behavior of iron ores in the shaft furnace is one of the most important problems in the COREX melting progress, which directly influence the smooth operation and productivity of shaft furnace. Therefore, it is of great importance to study the sticking behavior of pellets in COREX shaft furnace. The results showed that porous metallic iron produced at the interface of pellets samples was the main reason for the sticking of pellets in the COREX shaft furnace. The SI (sticking index) and metallization rate increased with the reduction temperature and gas flow, and decreased with melting rate. However, the SI of pellets in the COREX shaft furnace could be decreased by the proper match of melting rate and reduction temperature, reduction temperature and gas flow, while the metallization rate of pellets were kept at a certain level. Furthermore, the matching of melting rate and reduction temperature was more effective than the matching of reduction temperature and gas flow.

COREX process has obvious advantages in environment protection but still has some disadvantages, for example, it has a higher sulfur content of hot metal than blast furnace. In this paper, the thermodynamics and dynamics of desulfurization have been investigated to obtain the main operation parameters related to the mass fraction of sulfur in the hot metal. In addition, statistical analyses have been carried out to study the relationship between operating parameters and sulfur content of COREX hot metal based on actual plant data. It has been found that the mass fraction of sulfur in hot metal is significantly influenced by the C content in hot metal, MgO/Al2O3 in slag, the concentration of MgO in slag, the temperature of hot metal and binary basicity (R2).A linear model has been developed and subsequently used for reducing the mass fraction of sulfur in hot metal, improve the quality of hot metal and contribute to low carbon ironmaking.

Softening and melting experiments were conducted on four kinds of imported lump ores named A-D, under different temperature intervals within the self-developed visualization high temperature furnace. By calculating the reduction and shrinking degree under different intervals, softening and melting indexes were determined. These ores all expanded firstly followed by shrinkage with the temperature increasing. The difference of lump ore’s own characteristic led to different softening and melting behavior. The results showed that the looser the structure was, the better the reducibility will be. The compact structure and good reducibility led to high expansion rate. The beginning softening temperature declined and the ending softening temperature increased because of high porosity, which resulted in wide softening temperature interval. The charging ratio of lump ore A should be improved. Lump ore B should be distributed in the center of the blast furnace. Lump ores C and D should be used less.

pollutants, Non-carcinogenic risk assessment. Abstract. 6 kinds of chlorinated organic pollutants, such as chlorobenzene, 1, 2- dichlorobenzene, 1, 4 - dichlorobenzene, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, 2, 4 - dichlorophenol and pentachlorophenol, were analyzed in 5 main water source for 50 food processing companies in Nanning. The health risk assessment of the chlorinated organic pollutants were also studied by the drinking water assessment method of United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The results showed that all the chlorinated organic pollutants were not detected in the water example, as the concentrations are lower than the detection limit of the instruments. The instrumental detection limit were used as the concentrations of the pollutants to value the health risk assessment, and the results showed that the hazard index (HI) of total non-carcinogenic risks of the pollutants were below 1.0, suggesting that the water posed negligible health risk on local residents.

In this paper, some key parameters, such as the system pH, the periodate concentration, and the reaction temperature, on the influence of the bagasse fiber degradation were studied based on the oxygenant of periodate. And the feasible reaction mechanism was also discussed through the FTIR characterization for bagasse fiber before and after the oxidizing reaction. As the results shown, the crystallinity of bagasse fiber decreased with the oxidation level increasing. It was interesting that the aldehyde content of the reaction system rose gradually along with cellulose degradation. Based on this result, the selective oxidation kinetics was constructed by introducing of variable factor R (the ratio of aldehyde content to the degradation of cellulose fiber), and the results shown that there was a better correlation between the dynamic model and the experimental data, so the oxidation degree of bagasse fiber oxidized by periodate can be quantitative evaluated based on this model.

Activated carbon supported iron catalysts derived from pine bark were prepared by different methods using a microwave reactor. The catalyst samples were characterized by physical adsorption of N 2 , Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The catalyst activity was evaluated for catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of phenol at 50 °C. The results showed that the catalyst prepared by preloading the metal precursor to deashed biomass before carbonization and activation in a microwave reactor possessed much higher reactivity than catalyst prepared from other methods. The acid washing to remove ash from biomass eliminated the adverse effect of metals contained in the ash on catalyst, modified the biomass tissue which favored the catalyst dispersion on the biomass. The metal pre-loading to biomass led to a more uniform dispersion of catalyst on activated carbon. The microwave treatment saved energy, shortened preparation time. High catalytic activity for the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of phenol was observed for catalyst samples prepared from pre-loading the active metal to pre-deashed bark samples.

The ash content of biomass has some negative impacts on the efficient utilization of biomass for the production of value-added products. In this paper, the techniques of ash removal from Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) killed pine bark and switchgrass were examined systematically. Size fractionation was found to be effective for ash removal not only for the heterogeneous switchgrass but also for the homogeneous pine bark. Inorganic constituents of untreated samples and treated samples showed that leaching by water and four dilute acid solutions was effective in removing most of ash from both biomass samples. The inorganic element distributions in ash of pine bark samples before and after the acid leaching showed that substantial reductions were achieved in different main elements, Al (66%), Ca (90%), Fe (66%), K (92%), Mg (98%), Na (100%) and S (25%). For switchgrass, most of the element concentrations were reduced by water leaching because of its high content of water-soluble metals in the ash. For the purpose of practical applications of the two types of biomass, especially the underutilized pine barks, different leaching methods should be evaluated to identify the most suitable method for the removal of inorganic constituents.

This paper investigated the effect of inorganic additives on pine bark pyrolysis using a thermogravimetry instrument. Both thermogravimetry (TG) and differential thermogravimetry (DTG) were performed to a final temperature of 600 degrees C with heating rates of 10, 20, and 50 degrees C/min, respectively, and a nitrogen flow rate of 50 mL/min. Six types of inorganic additives at different loading were tested. The pyrolysis kinetics data of the samples were fitted to the Coats-Redfern model. The results showed that the pyrolysis behavior and kinetics are significantly altered by the additives and are a strong function of the characteristics and concentrations of the additives.

The aim of the study was to develop an index to assess the environmental risk of P loss potential in vegetable soils with chronic difference of plantation in the suburbs of Changsha, Hunan Province, China. Chemical methodology was used to study soil phosphorus status and the relationships between available P in soil and potential soil leaching P. The results showed that there was a significant linear relationship between Olsen P and CaCl 2 -P or P concentration in soil solution. Olsen P increased sharply when either CaCl 2 -P or P concentration in soil solution reached a certain level. It was confirmed that 80 mg kg −1 of Olsen P was the critical value of soil P leaching in the vegetable soils. P leaching probability over the critical was assessed by GIS and indicator Kriging and four secondary risks of phosphorus leaching loss were defined. In the area with vegetable cropping for over 30 yr (Chenjiadu) and 10–15 planting years (Huangxingzhen), the indices of phosphorus leaching loss risk were 3 and 2.93, respectively. These two areas belonged to strong secondary of risk of phosphate leaching loss. In the new vegetable planting field less than 2 yr (Ningxiang), the index was 0.06, which had almost no risk of phosphorus leaching. In vegetable soils in the suburban region of Changsha, the phosphorus leaching peotential is high and the phosphorus leaching loss is related to chronic length of vegetable cropping.

Objective: There is a lack of research on the impact of transitioning inpatient procedures to the outpatient setting, specifically on process time. Unicondylar knee arthroplasty (UKA) presents an opportunity for further investigation as it is already in the early stages of transitioning to the outpatient setting.Methods: This study analyzed the medical records of 1,075 patients who received UKA from a single surgeon (400 in the outpatient setting and 675 in the inpatient setting). Time in Pre-Op, surgery time, and time in post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) were recorded and compared between inpatient and outpatient settings using Ordinary Least Squares Regression models.Results: Outpatient UKAs outperformed inpatient UKAs across two out of three process time variables even after controlling for comorbidities, social history, demographics, and surgery related characteristics. Actual surgery time was no different between the two settings.Conclusions: This study demonstrated that UKA performed in the outpatient setting is associated substantial time savings preoperatively and postoperatively compared with cases performed in the inpatient setting. More research is needed to compare other outcome measures such as patient outcomes of UKA between the two settings. Implications beyond time savings should consider supply and human resources costs.

Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are important providers of ambulatory surgeries. However, little research exists examining the efficiency of ASCs in providing ambulatory surgical services. This study examined the technical efficiency of ASCs that concentrated on performing cataract surgeries, which are among the surgeries most commonly performed in the outpatient setting. This study, based on data from all active ASCs that provided the two most common cataract surgeries in California, found that a large proportion of ophthalmic ASCs were operating at low technical efficiency levels. The amount of slacks in input and output variables was estimated for each ASC, and the mean slacks were reported. The numbers of cataract surgery patients and operating rooms were found to significantly affect the efficiency of ophthalmic ASCs.