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Energy-intensive load benefits from low electricity tariff and carbon emission, since they occupy certain amounts in the total cost of the product. This paper considers energy-intensive load participation in the electricity as well as carbon trading to reduce the cost. Firstly, an electricity-carbon model is established based on the correlation value method to calculate the carbon emissions of energy-intensive load based on their electricity consumption to realize the carbon amount. Afterwards, the baseline method is used to allocate free carbon emission quotas to energy-intensive load and a reward-penalty carbon trading price mechanism considering offset is proposed. Next, the objective function to achieve maximum benefits, and to reduce output fluctuation, and to improve new energy accommodation is proposed. The case studies show that, by comparing multi-objective function optimization, the optimization target proposed in this paper can effectively reduce wind power output fluctuations and improve wind power accommodation. Through the total participation in carbon trading and electricity market income, multi-objective optimization can increase the system income while ensuring that energy-intensive load meets production requirements under the premise of reducing carbon emissions, verifying the effectiveness of the low-carbon optimal operation model proposed in this paper.

With the increasing penetration of clean energy sources such as wind power and photovoltaic in the grid, the volatility, intermittency, and randomness of their power output have impacted the safe and stable operation of the grid. To address the challenges posed by scheduling and the potential wastage of renewable energy due to these factors, a two-layer optimal scheduling model for a virtual power plant that takes into account source-load synergy is proposed in this paper. In the upper model, emphasis is placed on demand response strategies to optimize load-side dispatch. This includes encouraging customers to adjust their electricity consumption patterns through time-of-use pricing and effectively managing controllable loads for peak shaving and valley filling. These actions collectively aim to maximize the virtual power plant's overall performance. The upper-tier model then communicates the power output to the lower-tier model. In the lower model, we consider the costs associated with wind, photovoltaic, thermal, and energy storage power generation to optimize power-side scheduling. This approach ensures a comprehensive optimization process, addressing both demand and power generation aspects of the virtual power plant's operations. Compared to existing research, this paper takes into account the impact of various clean energy sources, meticulously categorizes controllable loads, and conducts in-depth modeling and analysis of demand response. Finally, the results of optimal scheduling of the virtual power plant under different scenes are compared and analyzed using examples, to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

In order to address the challenges posed by the integration of regional electric vehicle (EV) clusters into the grid, it is crucial to fully utilize the scheduling capabilities of EVs. In this study, to investigate the energy storage characteristics of EVs, we first established a single EV virtual energy storage (EVVES) model based on the energy storage characteristics of EVs. We then further integrated four types of EVs within the region to form EV clusters (EVCs) and constructed an EVC virtual energy storage (VES) model to obtain the dynamic charging and discharging boundaries of the EVCs. Next, based on the dispatch framework for the participation of renewable energy sources (RESs) and loads in the distribution network, we established a dual-objective optimization dispatch model, with the objectives of minimizing system operating costs and load fluctuations. We solved this model with NSGA-II and TOPSIS, which guided and optimized the charging and discharging of EVCs. Finally, the simulation results show that the system operating cost was reduced by 7.81%, and the peak-to-valley difference of the load was reduced by 3.83% after optimization. The system effectively achieves load peak shaving and valley filling, improving economic efficiency.

The goal of ''carbon peak, carbon neutral'' and the increasing expansion of new energy have helped to advance the development of energy storage. However, since the operating cost of energy storage is high, carbon emission trading and power market trading have emerged, effectively improving the efficiency. In this paper, a trading strategy and bidding framework of energy storage participation in the day-ahead joint market are studied. A market bidding model has been established in a framework based on the Stackelberg game. Finally, the ''Day-Ahead and Intra-Day and Carbon Emission Trading (CET)'' market clearing model has been constructed. It has been simplified to solve the equivalent mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) problem with equilibrium constraints through the use of the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) optimality criterion and duality principle. The proposed model is validated through improved examples to obtain thermal unit output cuts of up to 32.2% during load trough periods, and up to 16.75% increase in clearing prices during peak load periods. The storage life is extended and the storage output variation is minimized.

Against the backdrop of the gradual advancement of China's electricity market reform, the number of Power Trading Companies in China has been increasing year by year, and as of October 2022, the number has reached more than 10,000. As an important hub connecting the electricity market and users, electricity retailers face double risks from downstream user load fluctuations and electricity market price fluctuations. Therefore, a reasonable power purchase and sale strategy is very important for an electricity retailer. In this study, a block bidding mechanism is adopted to optimize the clearing of the medium-to long-term market and a DA-RBF neural network is established for spot electricity price forecasting model based on numerical feature similarity to improve the accuracy of electricity price forecasting. Furthermore, the model considers the differences in user demand responses and investigates the optimal power purchase and sale strategy, guided by differentiated time-of-use electricity pricing. The case study analysis demonstrated that the proposed power purchase and sale optimization strategy yields favorable results, improving profitability and enhancing the stability of the power system.

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) power generation technology has gained widespread attention due to its advantages, which include the lack of the need to occupy land resources, low risk of power limitations, high power generation efficiency, reduced water evaporation, and the conservation of water resources. However, FPV systems also face challenges, such as a significant impact from aquatic environments on the system’s stability and safety and high operational and maintenance costs, leading to large fluctuations in the grid-connected power output. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate energy storage devices with FPV systems to form an integrated floating photovoltaic energy storage system that facilitates the secure supply of power. This study investigates the theoretical and practical issues of integrated floating photovoltaic energy storage systems. A novel integrated floating photovoltaic energy storage system was designed with a photovoltaic power generation capacity of 14 kW and an energy storage capacity of 18.8 kW/100 kWh. The control methods for photovoltaic cells and energy storage batteries were analyzed. The coordinated control of photovoltaic cells was achieved through MPPT control and improved droop control, while the coordinated control of energy storage batteries involved a droop charge–discharge mode, a constant-voltage charging mode, and a standby mode. The simulations were realized in MATLAB/Simulink and the results validated the effectiveness of the coordinated control strategy proposed in this study. The strategy achieved operational stability and efficiency of the integrated photovoltaic energy storage system.

Objectives: The spread of SARS-Cov-2 remains a global concern along with the emergence of variants. This study aims to characterize the epidemiological and clinical features of hospitalized patients who were dragonized with five different variants of SARS-CoV-2 during the past 3 years. Methods: This retrospective study recruited 432 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized in the First Hospital of Changsha from January 2020 to August 2022. Clinical records on clinical symptoms, laboratory profiles, and chest CT images was collected. The epidemiological and clinical features were compared between COVID-19 patients infected with either the wild-type, Omicron variant or pre- Omicron variants (e.g., Alpha, Beta, Delta). Results: A total of 432 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 inpatients were dialogized during three waves, including 247 cases during the wild-type transmission period, 65 cases during the transmission period of pre-Omicron variants, and 119 cases during the transmission period of Omicron variants. The proportion of moderately or severely ill inpatients showed a gradual decline from the wild-type transmission period to the Omicron transmission period. The common symptoms of inpatients infected with SARS-CoV-2 wildtype strains included fever (67.61 %), cough (57.89 %), fatigue (33.60 %), and shortness of breath (12.15 %). In contrast, patients infected with other variants mostly showed upper respiratory symptoms. Based on chest CT images, a lower degree of acute pulmonary infection was observed among inpatients infected with the Omicron variants than those infected with the wild-type strain (31.09 % vs 93.12 %, p-value

Objectives: The effectiveness of oseltamivir versus peramivir in children infected with influenza remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate their effectiveness in young children (aged 0-5 years) infected with severe influenza A virus (IAV) or influenza B virus (IBV). Methods: We analyzed a cohort of 1662 young children with either IAV (N = 1095) or IBV (N = 567) who received oseltamivir or peramivir treatment from January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2022. Propensity score matching methods were applied to match children who were oseltamivir-treated versus peramivir-treated. Results: Children who were IAV-infected and IBV-infected shared similar features, such as influenza-associated symptoms and comorbidities at baseline. Among children infected with IAV with bacterial coinfection, the recovery rate was significantly greater in children treated with oseltamivir than in children treated with peramivir (15.6% vs 4.4%, P = 0.01). The median duration of hospitalization was also shorter in children treated with oseltamivir. Among children infected with IAV without bacterial coinfection, the recovery rate was greater in children treated with oseltamivir than in children treated with peramivir (21.1% vs 3.7%, P = 0.002). However, oseltamivir and peramivir offered similar recovery rates and duration of hospitalization (P >0.05 for both) among children infected with IBV. Conclusion: Oseltamivir and peramivir exhibit similar effectiveness in young children with severe influenza B, whereas oseltamivir demonstrated improved recovery and shorter hospitalization in the treatment of severe influenza A in hospitalized children.

Objectives: This study aimed to reveal the 30-year dynamics of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) disease burden in China from 1990-2019. Methods: HBV/HCV data were retrieved from the Global Burden of Disease database. Joinpoint regression was used to examine temporal trends. Age-period-cohort models were applied to evaluate effects of patient age, period, and cohort on HBV/HCV-associated mortality and incidences. Results: A dramatic decrease in the disease burden of HBV was found from 1990-2019, but the disease burden of HCV has remained stable since 2000. Patient age, period, and cohort exerted a significant effect on the diseases burden of HBV and HCV infection. Compared with women, men had a higher risk of HBV/HCV infections as well as HBV/HCV-associated mortality and liver cancer. Overweight, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use were important risk factors associated with HBV/HCV-associated liver cancer. The incidences of HBV- and HCV-associated liver cancer from 2019-2044 are expected to decrease by 39.4% and 33.3%, respectively. Conclusion: The disease burden of HBV/HCV infection has decreased in China over the past 30 years, but HBV incidences remain high, especially in men. Effective management of HBV and HCV infections is still needed for high-risk populations.

In view of the large-scale electricity demand of magnesite electrolytic and the problem of co-generation under the restriction of “power based on heat”, given full play to the operational advantages of multi-source interconnection and overall scheduling in the integrated energy system, an integrated energy system that includes large-scale industrial electric loads and multiple types of residential loads and an optimal operation model for this system are established. Firstly, the operation model of each equipment unit is constructed and coupled to form the overall system architecture; afterwards, the economic cost of system operation is comprehensively considered, and the system economic operation optimization model is established. Finally, simulation verification and analysis of the proposed model and method have been carried out with examples.

HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors are the important components of highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAARTs) for anti-HIV treatment and pre-exposure prophylaxis in clinical practice. Many RT inhibitors and their combination regimens have been approved in the past ten years, but a review on their drug discovery, pharmacology, and clinical efficacy is lacking. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of RT inhibitors (tenofovir alafenamide, rilpivirine, doravirine, dapivirine, azvudine and elsulfavirine) approved in the past decade, regarding their drug discovery, pharmacology, and clinical efficacy in randomized controlled trials. Novel RT inhibitors such as islatravir, MK-8504, MK-8507, MK8583, IQP-0528, and MIV-150 will be also highlighted. Future development may focus on the new generation of novel antiretroviral inhibitors with higher bioavailability, longer elimination half-life, more favorable side-effect profiles, fewer drug–drug interactions, and higher activities against circulating drug-resistant strains.

Abstract Background COVID-19 patients may experience “cytokine storm” when human immune system produces excessive cytokines/chemokines. However, it remains unclear whether early responses of inflammatory cytokines would lead to high or low titers of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Methods This retrospective study enrolled a cohort of 272 hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2. Laboratory assessments of serum cytokines (IL-2R, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α), anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibodies, and peripheral blood biomarkers were conducted during hospitalization. Results At hospital admission, 36.4% patients were severely ill, 51.5% patients were ≥ 65 years, and 60.3% patients had comorbidities. Higher levels of IL-2R and IL-6 were observed in older patients (≥65 years). Significant differences of IL-2R (week 2 to week ≥5 from symptom onset), IL-6 (week 1 to week ≥5), IL-8 (week 2 to week ≥5), and IL-10 (week 1 to week 3) were observed between moderately-ill and severely ill patients. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG titers were significantly higher in severely ill patients than in moderately ill patients, but such difference was not observed for IgM. High titers of early-stage IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α (≤2 weeks after symptom onset) were positively correlated with high titers of late-stage IgG (≥5 weeks after symptom onset). Deaths were mostly observed in severely ill older patients (45.9%). Survival analyses revealed risk factors of patient age, baseline COVID-19 severity, and baseline IL-6 that affected survival time, especially in severely ill older patients. Conclusion Early responses of elevated cytokines such as IL-6 reflect the active immune responses, leading to high titers of IgG antibodies against COVID-19.

Pumped storage power plant (PSPP) has the upper hand on economy and cleanness. It also has the functions of frequency regulation, phase regulation, and spare, which have been instrumental in maintaining the stability of power system operation. But now the mechanism for PSPP to become involved in electricity market transactions in China is imperfect. How to properly establish a multi-time scale trading profit model and reasonably allocate the capacity of PSPP has been instrumental in realizing the economic operation of the power system. So, this article analyzes the mechanism for PSPP to become involved in electricity market trading by providing combined electricity supply services and ancillary services, and establishes an optimization model with respect to economic optimization. At the same time, considering the volatility of electricity prices in the spot market, the risk of PSPP becoming involved in electricity market trading is measured by conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) to achieve economic optimization while minimizing the risk. The case studies demonstrate that the proposed profit model can enhance the revenue and decrease the risk of PPSP.

ObjectiveThis study aims to reveal epidemiological features and trends of liver cancer (LC) in China.MethodsWe retrieved data from the Global Burden of Disease database 2019. Joinpoint regression was used to examine the temporal trend of LC. Future trends of LC were estimated using the Nordpred.ResultsThe incidence, mortality, and disability-standardized life year (DALY) rate of LC declined in China from 1990 to 2019. Among >210,000 LC cases in 2019, the LC incidences were nearly 3.15 times higher in males than in females. LC cases and LC-associated deaths were mostly found among patients aged 65 to 69 years. The proportion of LC attributable to hepatitis B decreased over time, whereas the proportions of LC attributable to hepatitis C, alcohol use, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis increased modestly from 1990 to 2019. The majority of LC-associated deaths could be traced to four risk factors: smoking (20%), drug use (13.6%), alcohol use (11.7%), and high body mass index (10.1%). Based on the Nordpred prediction, there will be a steady decline in the incidence (39.0%) and mortality (38.3%) of liver cancer over a 25-year period from 2020 to 2044.ConclusionThe disease burden of liver cancer in China has declined over the past 30 years. However, it remains important to control liver cancer among high-risk populations, especially elderly males with obesity, alcohol use, tobacco use, and/or drug abuse.

Blood transfusion safety is an essential element of public health. Current blood screening strategies rely on targeted techniques that could miss unknown or unexpected pathogens. Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of a viral community (virobiota/virome) in the blood of healthy individuals. Here, we characterized the blood virome in patients frequently exposed to blood transfusion by using Illumina metagenomic sequencing. The virome of these patients was compared to viruses present in healthy blood donors. A total number of 155 beta-thalassemia, 149 hemodialysis, and 100 healthy blood donors were pooled with five samples per pool. Members of the Anelloviridae and Flaviviridae family were most frequently observed. Interestingly, samples of healthy blood donors harbored traces of potentially pathogenic viruses, including adeno-, rota-, and Merkel cell polyomavirus. Viruses of the Anelloviridae family were most abundant in the blood of hemodialysis patients and displayed a higher anellovirus richness. Pegiviruses (Flaviviridae) were only observed in patient populations. An overall trend of higher eukaryotic read abundance in both patient groups was observed. This might be associated with increased exposure through blood transfusion. Overall, the findings in this study demonstrated the presence of various viruses in the blood of Iranian multiple-transfused patients and healthy blood donors.

Island microgrids play a crucial role in developing and utilizing offshore renewable energy sources. However, high operation costs and limited operational flexibility are significant challenges. To address these problems, this paper proposes a novel dual−layer distributed optimal operation methodology for islanded microgrids. The lower layer is a distributed control layer that manages multiple controllable distributed fuel−based microturbines (MTs) within the island microgrids. A novel adaptive consensus control method is proposed in this layer to ensure uniform operating status for each MT. Moreover, the proposed method can achieve the total output power of MTs to follow the reference signal provided by the upper layer while ensuring plug−and−play capability for MTs. The upper layer is an optimal scheduling layer that manages various forms of controllable distributed power sources and provides control reference signals for the lower layer. Additionally, a two−stage twin−delayed deterministic policy gradient (MATD3) algorithm is utilized in this layer to minimize the operating costs of island microgrids while ensuring their safe operation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed methodology can effectively reduce the operating costs of island microgrids, unify the operational status of MTs, and achieve plug−and−play capability for MTs.

ObjectiveHIV epidemiology in South-Central China is rarely reported. This study aims to characterize epidemiological and clinical features of HIV-infected patients in Hunan Province, located in South-Central China, for better management of HIV infections.MethodsThis retrospective study retrieved multi-center records of laboratory-confirmed HIV-infected patients in Hunan province. Information on HIV-associated mortality and antiretroviral therapies was also collected.ResultsAmong 34,297 patients diagnosed with HIV infections from 2003 to 2018, 73.9% were males, 41.3% were older adults (≥50 years), and 71.2% were infected by heterosexual transmission. Despite a slow growth of new HIV infections in the overall population, annual percentages of HIV infections increased in older males (85.3% through heterosexual transmission) and young patients

Abstract Background This study aimed to investigate the effect of abnormal Core binding factor-β expression on proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of chondrocytes, and elucidate the relationship between Core binding factor-β and osteoarthritis-related markers and degenerative joint disease. Methods Cartilage tissues, from healthy subjects and patients with osteoarthritis, were collected for histology and expression of Core binding factor-β, MMP-13, IL-1β, COMP, and YKL-40. Human articular chondrocytes were cultured in vitro, and a viral vector was constructed to regulate cellular Core binding factor-β expression. Cellular proliferation and apoptosis were observed, and osteoarthritis-related inflammatory factor expression and cartilage metabolite synthesis assayed. Results Human osteoarthritis lesions had disordered cartilage structure and cellular arrangement, and increased emptying of cartilage lacunae. Normal cell counts were significantly reduced, cartilage extracellular matrix was obviously damaged, and type II collagen expression was significantly decreased. Core binding factor-β was highly expressed in the osteoarthritis cartilage (p

In recent years, due to the global energy crisis, increasingly more countries have recognized the importance of developing clean energy. Offshore wind energy, as a basic form of clean energy, has become one of the current research priorities. In the future, offshore wind farms will be developed in deep and distant sea areas. In these areas, there is a new trend of floating offshore wind platforms replacing fixed wind power platforms, due to their low cost, ease of installation, and independence from the water depth. However, the stability of offshore floating platforms is poor and their power fluctuations are significant; furthermore, they are more prone to failure because of sea wind, waves, and currents. This paper summarizes and analyzes the current research progress and critical technical issues of offshore floating wind power generation, such as stability control technology, integrated wind storage technology, wind power energy management, and long-distance transmission of electricity for floating wind power generation at sea. Finally, future research directions for key offshore wind power technologies are presented.

Abstract Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that involves T follicular helper (TFH) cell‐mediated humoral immune responses. Absent in melanoma 2 (human AIM2 and murine Aim2) is a well‐known component of the inflammasome in the innate immune system. Surprisingly, we observed that in SLE patients, upregulated levels of AIM2 expression were found in peripheral blood and skin lesions, with the highest levels detected in TFH‐like cells. In the CD4creAim2fl/fl conditional knockout mice, a markedly reduced TFH cell response was observed, with significantly lower levels of serum autoantibodies and proteinuria, as well as profoundly reduced renal IgG deposition in pristane‐induced lupus mice. Mechanistically, IL‐21 was found to recruit hydroxymethyltransferase ten‐eleven translocation 2 (TET2) to the AIM2 promoter, resulting in DNA demethylation and increased transcription of AIM2. In addition, AIM2 could regulate c‐MAF expression to enhance IL‐21 production, which consequently promoted TFH cell differentiation. Our results have identified a role of AIM2 in promoting the TFH cell response and further revealed that the IL‐21‐TET2‐AIM2‐c‐MAF signalling pathway is dysregulated in lupus pathogenesis, which provides a potential therapeutic target for SLE.

Summary: Background: we demonstrated that disulfide-bond A oxidoreductase-like protein (DsbA-L) was involved in the progression of renal fibrosis. However, the precise function of DsbA-L in acute kidney injury (AKI), and the mechanisms involved, have yet to be elucidated. Methods: We illustrate the DsbA-L interacted with VDAC1 by co-IP (co-immunoprecipitation) in vitro and vivo, and found the interaction parts of them by mutation experiment. The above findings were verified by co-localization of them. In addition, we constructed the two model of PT-DsbA-L and VDAC1 KO mice to verify the function of DsbA-L and VDAC1 in models of VAN, CLP and I/R-induced AKI. Findings: The PT-DsbA-L-KO mice showed amelioration of I/R, VAN-, and CLP-induced AKI progression via the downregulation of VDAC1. Finally, we confirmed these changes in signal molecules by examining in HK-2 cells and kidney biopsies taken from patients with ischemic or acute interstitial nephritis (AIN)-induced AKI. Mechanistically, DsbA-L interacted with amino acids 9–13 and 22–27 of VDAC1 in the mitochondria of BUMPT cells to induce renal cell apoptosis and mitochondrial injury. Interpretation: This work suggested that DsbA-L, located in the proximal tubular cells, drives the progression of AKI, by directly upregulating the levels of VDAC1.Running Title: The role of DsbA-L in AKI Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China, a grant from Key Project of Hunan provincial science and technology innovation, Department of Science and Technology of Hunan Province project of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Changsha Science and Technology Bureau project, Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Central South University, Hunan Provincial Innovation Foundation For Postgraduate China Hunan Provincial Science and Technology Department.

DsbA-L upregulation prevents lipid-induced renal injury in diabetic nephropathy. Here, the authors show that DsbA-L knockout attenuates tubulointerstitial fibrosis in mice, and show that this occurs via activation of Smad3 and p53, which result in modulation of CTGF, a regulator of kidney fibrosis.

Despite the active development of SARS-CoV-2 surveillance methods (e.g., Nextstrain, GISAID, Pangolin), the global emergence of various SARS-CoV-2 viral lineages that potentially cause antiviral and vaccine failure has driven the need for accurate and efficient SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence classifiers. This study presents an optimized method that accurately identifies the viral lineages of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences using existing schemes. For Nextstrain and GISAID clades, a template matching-based method is proposed to quantify the differences between viral clades and to play an important role in classification evaluation. Furthermore, to improve the typing accuracy of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences, an ensemble model that integrates a combination of machine learning-based methods (such as Random Forest and Catboost) with optimized weights is proposed for Nextstrain, Pangolin, and GISAID clades. Cross-validation is applied to optimize the parameters of the machine learning-based method and the weight settings of the ensemble model. To improve the efficiency of the model, in addition to the one-hot encoding method, we have proposed a nucleotide site mutation-based data structure that requires less computational resources and performs better in SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence typing. Based on an accumulated database of >1 million SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences, performance evaluations show that the proposed system has a typing accuracy of 99.879%, 97.732%, and 96.291% for Nextstrain, Pangolin, and GISAID clades, respectively. A single prediction only takes an average of

A switching state sequences (SSSs)-based modulation scheme along with a dead-time effect compensation method is proposed in this paper. In the proposed modulation scheme, the converter's switching states changing sequence in one carrier period, i.e., the SSS, is treated as the basic unit to control the T-type 5L-ANPC converter. Because there are only two possible voltage levels in each SSS, the converter can be controlled as a traditional two-level converter within each SSS. Thus, a switching pulse modification-based method is proposed to compensate the dead-time effect within each SSS. Moreover, an SSS transition rule and the transition diagram are furtherly presented to avoid the dead-time effect between different SSSs. Consequently, both the output voltage delay and the unwanted voltage glitches that caused by the dead-time effect are avoided in the whole modulation range. Besides, a balancing strategy is proposed to balance the flying capacitor voltage based on the charging abilities of SSSs. The performance and effectiveness of the proposed modulation scheme are validated by both simulation and experimental results.

Under-five years of age is a critical period for children’s growth and development. Nutritional deficiency during this period is associated with wasting, underweight and stunting. We aimed to conduct an epidemiological study using data derived from the GBD2019 to found the global distribution and changing trends of nutritional deficiencies among children under 5 years old, as well as the correlation between social development status and nutritional deficiencies. Nutritional deficiencies in children under 5 years has been substantially improved in the past decade; however, the progress has been unevenly distributed globally. The incidence and DALY rate decreased with the increase of socio-demographic index. In 2019, the incidence (51,872.0 per 100,000) was highest in Central Sub-Saharan Africa and the DALY rate (5597.1 per 100,000) was the highest in Western Sub-Saharan Africa. Among five subcategories of nutritional deficiencies in children under 5 years, vitamin A deficiency accounted for the largest proportion of incident cases (100,511,850, 62.1% in 2019), while the proportion of DALYs caused by protein–energy malnutrition was the highest (9,925,276, 62.0%). Nutritional deficiency in some countries remains worrisome, for whom policies guarantees and sustained efforts to control nutritional deficiencies are urgently needed.

Abstract Objectives Asymptomatic and symptomatic patients may transmit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), but their clinical features and immune responses remain largely unclear. We aimed to characterise the clinical features and immune responses of asymptomatic and symptomatic patients infected with SARS‐CoV‐2. Methods We collected clinical, laboratory and epidemiological records of patients hospitalised in a coronavirus field hospital in Wuhan. We performed qualitative detection of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) using archived blood samples. Results Of 214 patients with SARS‐CoV‐2, 26 (12%) were asymptomatic at hospital admission and during hospitalisation. Most asymptomatic patients were ≤ 60 years (96%) and females (65%) and had few comorbidities (

Power big data-based artificial intelligence or data mining methods, which can be used to analyze electricity consumption behavior, have been widely applied to provide targeted marketing services for electricity consumers. However, the traditional clustering algorithm has difficulty in judging new electricity consumption patterns. Deep neural networks usually need large amounts of labeled data. However, there are few comparable electricity consumption features or basic data, and the labeled data cannot meet the actual needs. Therefore, an intelligent classification framework for electricity consumption behavior based on an improved k-means and long short-term memory (LSTM) is proposed, which not only extracts features effectively, but also establishes a mapping relationship between unlabeled electricity consumption behavior characteristics and user types. The features can be labeled to train the deep neural network to judge the electricity consumption behavior of new users. Firstly, nine typical characteristics were selected from aspects including electricity price sensitivity and load fluctuation rate. Secondly, the k value and initial clustering centers of the k-means algorithm were optimized. Thirdly, the users were labelled based on the clustering results, together with the features, and a dataset was formed, which was input into LSTM to train the classification model. Finally, the analysis of users in Shenyang, China, showed the results based on the proposed method were consistent with the actual situation. Moreover, compared to other methods, the efficiency and accuracy were higher.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused a global pandemic of coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19). Genome surveillance is a key method to track the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Genetic diversity and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 were analyzed based on 260,673 whole-genome sequences, which were sampled from 62 countries between 24 December 2019 and 12 January 2021. We found that amino acid (AA) substitutions were observed in all SARS-CoV-2 proteins, and the top six proteins with the highest substitution rates were ORF10, nucleocapsid, ORF3a, spike glycoprotein, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and ORF8. Among 25,629 amino acid substitutions at 8484 polymorphic sites across the coding region of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, the D614G (93.88%) variant in spike and the P323L (93.74%) variant in RNA-dependent RNA polymerase were the dominant variants on six continents. As of January 2021, the genomic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 could be divided into at least 12 different clades. Distributions of SARS-CoV-2 clades were featured with temporal and geographical dynamics on six continents. Overall, this large-scale analysis provides a detailed mapping of SARS-CoV-2 variants in different geographic areas at different time points, highlighting the importance of evaluating highly prevalent variants in the development of SARS-CoV-2 antiviral drugs and vaccines.

BACKGROUND:Portugal has one of the most severe HIV-1 epidemics in Western Europe. Two subtypes circulate in parallel since the beginning of the epidemic. Comparing their transmission patterns and its association with transmitted drug resistance (TDR) is important to pinpoint transmission hotspots and to develop evidence-based treatment guidelines. METHODS:Demographic, clinical and genomic data were collected from 3599 HIV-1 naive patients between 2001 and 2014. Sequences obtained from drug resistance testing were used for subtyping, TDR determination and transmission clusters (TC) analyses. RESULTS:In Portugal, transmission of subtype B was significantly associated with young males, while transmission of subtype G was associated with older heterosexuals. In Portuguese originated people, there was a decreasing trend both for prevalence of subtype G and for number of TCs in this subtype. The active TCs that were identified (i.e. clusters originated after 2008) were associated with subtype B-infected males residing in Lisbon. TDR was significantly different when comparing subtypes B (10.8% [9.5-12.2]) and G (7.6% [6.4-9.0]) (p = 0.001). DISCUSSION:TC analyses shows that, in Portugal, the subtype B epidemic is active and fueled by young male patients residing in Lisbon, while transmission of subtype G is decreasing. Despite similar treatment rates for both subtypes in Portugal, TDR is significantly different between subtypes.

Nucleoside and nucleotide analogues are essential antivirals in the treatment of infectious diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). To celebrate the 80th birthday of Prof. Dr. Erik De Clercq on 28 March 2021, this review provides an overview of his contributions to eight approved nucleos(t)ide drugs: (i) three adenosine nucleotide analogues, namely tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (Viread®) and tenofovir alafenamide (Vemlidy®) against HIV and HBV infections and adefovir dipivoxil (Hepsera®) against HBV infections; (ii) two thymidine nucleoside analogues, namely brivudine (Zostex®) against HSV-1 and VZV infections and stavudine (Zerit®) against HIV infections; (iii) two guanosine analogues, namely valacyclovir (Valtrex®, Zelitrex®) against HSV and VZV and rabacfosadine (Tanovea®-CA1) for the treatment of lymphoma in dogs; and (iv) one cytidine nucleotide analogue, namely cidofovir (Vistide®) for the treatment of HCMV retinitis in AIDS patients. Although adefovir dipivoxil, stavudine, and cidofovir are virtually discontinued for clinical use, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and tenofovir alafenamide remain the most important antivirals against HIV and HBV infections worldwide. Overall, the broad-spectrum antiviral potential of nucleos(t)ide analogues supports their development to treat or prevent current and emerging infectious diseases worldwide.

Treatment with pan-genotypic direct-acting antivirals, targeting different viral proteins, is the best option for clearing hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in chronically infected patients. However, the diversity of the HCV genome is a major obstacle for the development of antiviral drugs, vaccines, and genotyping assays. In this large-scale analysis, genome-wide diversity and selective pressure was mapped, focusing on positions important for treatment, drug resistance, and resistance testing. A dataset of 1415 full-genome sequences, including genotypes 1–6 from the Los Alamos database, was analyzed. In 44% of all full-genome positions, the consensus amino acid was different for at least one genotype. Focusing on positions sharing the same consensus amino acid in all genotypes revealed that only 15% was defined as pan-genotypic highly conserved (≥99% amino acid identity) and an additional 24% as pan-genotypic conserved (≥95%). Despite its large genetic diversity, across all genotypes, codon positions were rarely identified to be positively selected (0.23%–0.46%) and predominantly found to be under negative selective pressure, suggesting mainly neutral evolution. For NS3, NS5A, and NS5B, respectively, 40% (6/15), 33% (3/9), and 14% (2/14) of the resistance-related positions harbored as consensus the amino acid variant related to resistance, potentially impeding treatment. For example, the NS3 variant 80K, conferring resistance to simeprevir used for treatment of HCV1 infected patients, was present in 39.3% of the HCV1a strains and 0.25% of HCV1b strains. Both NS5A variants 28M and 30S, known to be associated with resistance to the pan-genotypic drug daclatasvir, were found in a significant proportion of HCV4 strains (10.7%). NS5B variant 556G, known to confer resistance to non-nucleoside inhibitor dasabuvir, was observed in 8.4% of the HCV1b strains. Given the large HCV genetic diversity, sequencing efforts for resistance testing purposes may need to be genotype-specific or geographically tailored.

Based on GIMMS NDVI and climate data from 1982 to 2006, this study analyzed the impact of climate change on grassland in China. During the growing season, there were significant effects of precipitation on the growth of all the grassland types (P

We aimed to study epidemic trends and predictors for transmitted drug resistance (TDR) in our region, its clinical impact and its association with transmission clusters. We included 778 patients from the AIDS Reference Center in Leuven (Belgium) diagnosed from 1998 to 2012. Resistance testing was performed using population-based sequencing and TDR was estimated using the WHO-2009 surveillance list. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian techniques. The cohort was predominantly Belgian (58.4%), men who have sex with men (MSM) (42.8%), and chronically infected (86.5%). The overall TDR prevalence was 9.6% (95% confidence interval (CI): 7.7-11.9), 6.5% (CI: 5.0-8.5) for nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI), 2.2% (CI: 1.4-3.5) for non-NRTI (NNRTI), and 2.2% (CI: 1.4-3.5) for protease inhibitors. A significant parabolic trend of NNRTI-TDR was found (p = 0.019). Factors significantly associated with TDR in univariate analysis were male gender, Belgian origin, MSM, recent infection, transmission clusters and subtype B, while multivariate and Bayesian network analysis singled out subtype B as the most predictive factor of TDR. Subtype B was related with transmission clusters with TDR that included 42.6% of the TDR patients. Thanks to resistance testing, 83% of the patients with TDR who started therapy had undetectable viral load whereas half of the patients would likely have received a suboptimal therapy without this test. In conclusion, TDR remained stable and a NNRTI up-and-down trend was observed. While the presence of clusters with TDR is worrying, we could not identify an independent, non-sequence based predictor for TDR or transmission clusters with TDR that could help with guidelines or public health measures.

Research efforts around the world have been increasingly devoted to investigating changes in C3 and C4 species' abundance or distribution with global warming, as they provide important insight into carbon fluxes and linked biogeochemical cycles. However, changes in the early life stage (e.g. germination) of C3 and C4 species in response to global warming, particularly with respect to asymmetric warming, have received less attention. We investigated germination percentage and rate of C3 and C4 species under asymmetric (+3/+6°C at day/night) and symmetric warming (+5/+5°C at day/night), simulated by alternating temperatures. A thermal time model was used to calculate germination base temperature and thermal time constant. Two additional alternating temperature regimes were used to test temperature metrics effect. The germination percentage and rate increased continuously for C4 species, but increased and then decreased with temperature for C3 species under both symmetric and asymmetric warming. Compared to asymmetric warming, symmetric warming significantly overestimated the speed of germination percentage change with temperature for C4 species. Among the temperature metrics (minimum, maximum, diurnal temperature range and average temperature), maximum temperature was most correlated with germination of C4 species. Our results indicate that global warming may favour germination of C4 species, at least for the C4 species studied in this work. The divergent effects of asymmetric and symmetric warming on plant germination also deserve more attention in future studies.

A series of seed priming experiments were conducted to test the effects of different pretreatment methods to seed germination, seedling growth, and seed yield traits in maize (Zea mays L.). Results indicated that the seeds primed by gibberellins (GA), NaCl, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) reagents showed a higher imbibitions rate compared to those primed with water. The final germination percentage and germination rate varied with different reagents significantly (P

In the current study, a field experiment was conducted to examine effects of litter on seedling emergence and early growth of four dominant weed species from the early successional stages of old field ecosystem and two perennial grassland species in late successional stages. Our results showed that increased litter cover decreased soil temperature and temperature variability over time and improved soil moisture status. Surface soil electrical conductivity increased as litter increased. The increased litter delayed seedling emergence time and rate. The emergence percentage of seedlings and establishment success rate firstly increased then decreased as litter cover increased. When litter biomass was below 600 g m−2, litter increased seedlings emergence and establishment success in all species. With litter increasing, the basal diameter of seedling decreased, but seedling height increased. Increasing amounts of litter tended to increase seedling dry weight and stem leaf ratio. Different species responded differently to the increase of litter. Puccinellia tenuiflora and Chloris virgata will acquire more emergence benefits under high litter amount. It is predicted that Chloris virgata will dominate further in this natural succession old field ecosystem with litter accumulation. Artificial P. tenuiflora seeds addition may be required to accelerate old field succession toward matured grassland.