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Abstract Background This study aimed to evaluate the performance of GPT-3.5, GPT-4, GPT-4o and Google Bard on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB), the Hong Kong Medical Licensing Examination (HKMLE) and the National Medical Licensing Examination (NMLE). Methods This study was conducted in June 2023. Four LLMs (Large Language Models) (GPT-3.5, GPT-4, GPT-4o and Google Bard) were applied to four medical standardized tests (USMLE, PLAB, HKMLE and NMLE). All questions are multiple-choice questions and were sourced from the question banks of these examinations. Results In USMLE step 1, step 2CK and Step 3, there are accuracy rates of 91.5%, 94.2% and 92.7% provided from GPT-4o, 93.2%, 95.0% and 92.0% provided from GPT-4, 65.6%, 71.6% and 68.5% provided from GPT-3.5, and 64.3%, 55.6%, 58.1% from Google Bard, respectively. In PLAB, HKMLE and NMLE, GPT-4o scored 93.3%, 91.7% and 84.9%, GPT-4 scored 86.7%, 89.6% and 69.8%, GPT-3.5 scored 80.0%, 68.1% and 60.4%, and Google Bard scored 54.2%, 71.7% and 61.3%. There was significant difference in the accuracy rates of four LLMs in the four medical licensing examinations. Conclusion GPT-4o performed better in the medical licensing examinations than other three LLMs. The performance of the four models in the NMLE examination needs further improvement. Clinical trial number Not applicable.

Abstract Purpose To explore the worldwide, regional, and country-specific burden of early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC) and identify its associated risk factors between 1990 and 2021, and to project its incidence and mortality rates for 2036. Methods We acquired data on EO-CRC categorized by gender, socio-demographic index (SDI), and risk factors based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2021. Joinpoint regression analysis was utilized to explore the variation in disease burden. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was performed to forecast the disease burden up to 2036. Results Globally, the incidence rate, prevalence rate, mortality rate, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rate of EO-CRC were estimated at 5.37 (95%UI: 4.91 to 5.86)/100,000, 34 (95%UI: 30.96 to 37.35)/100,000, 2.01 (95%UI: 1.84 to 2.19)/100,000, and 101.37 (95%: 92.85 to 110.18)/100,000 in 2021. The prevalence and incidence rates of EO-CRC showed an ascending trajectory, whilst the DALYs and mortality rates demonstrated a downward trajectory between 1990 to 2021. The high-middle SDI regions and East Asia exhibited the highest EO-CRC burden among the five SDI regions and 21 GBD regions respectively. A low-whole-grains diet was the chief risk factor contributing to EO-CRC. It was predicted that the age-standardized rate (ASR) of EO-CRC incidence would increase by 5.56%, while the ASR of mortality would decrease by 13.9% globally until 2036. Conclusion The current and future global burden of EO-CRC is heavy and varies significantly across different regions and countries.

The Yutu-2 rover onboard the Chang’E-4 mission performed the first lunar penetrating radar detection on the farside of the Moon. The high-frequency channel presented us with many unprecedented details of the subsurface structures within a depth of approximately 50 m. However, it was still difficult to identify finer layers from the cluttered reflections and scattering waves. We applied deconvolution to improve the vertical resolution of the radar profile by extending the limited bandwidth associated with the emissive radar pulse. To overcome the challenges arising from the mixed-phase wavelets and the problematic amplification of noise, we performed predictive deconvolution to remove the minimum-phase components from the Chang’E-4 dataset, followed by a comprehensive phase rotation to rectify phase anomalies in the radar image. Subsequently, we implemented irreversible migration filtering to mitigate the noise and diminutive clutter echoes amplified by deconvolution. The processed data showed evident enhancement of the vertical resolution with a widened bandwidth in the frequency domain and better signal clarity in the time domain, providing us with more undisputed details of subsurface structures near the Chang’E-4 landing site.

BackgroundThere is no clear conclusion on the immunogenicity and adverse events of concomitant administration the viral respiratory infectious disease vaccines. We aimed to evaluate the impact of concomitant administering viral respiratory infectious disease vaccines on efficiencies, safety and influencing factors.MethodsThis meta-analysis included studies from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials, Web of Science, WHO COVID-19 Research, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases. Randomized controlled trials of the adult participants concomitant administered with viral respiratory infectious disease vaccine and other vaccines were included. The main outcomes were the seroconversion rate and seroprotection rate of each vaccine. Used the Mantel–Haenszel fixed effects method as the main analysis to estimate the pooled RRs and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals. The risk of bias for each trial was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, while evidence certainty was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system.ResultsA total of 21 studies comprising 14060 participants with two types of vaccines were retained for the meta-analysis. Concomitant immunization reduced the geometric mean titer (RR: 0.858, 95% CI: (0.785 to 0.939)) and the geometric mean fold rise (0.754 (0.629 to 0.902)) in the SARS-COV-2 vaccine group but increased the seroconversion rate (1.033 (1.0002 to 1.067)) in the seasonal influenza vaccine group. Concomitant administration were influenced by the type of vaccine, adjuvant content, booster immunization, and age and gender of the recipient.ConclusionThis meta-analysis suggested that the short-term protection and safety of concomitant administered were effective. Appropriate adjuvants, health promotion and counselling and booster vaccines could improve the efficiency and safety of Concomitant vaccination.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD42022343709.

Abstract To better understand the structure and process of the Cocos plate subduction, we obtained the first Pn velocity and anisotropy model of the uppermost mantle in southern Mexico using the Pn tomography method and new ISC‐EHB data. This study confirms that the subducted Cocos oceanic plate exhibits mid‐oceanic ridge‐perpendicular anisotropy, and there is an arc‐parallel anisotropic structure beneath the subduction arc. The variation of the Pn velocity and anisotropy structure at the east and west ends of the flat‐slab subduction zone in the Guerrero area provide new and clear seismological images for a plate‐tearing model which might be caused by the Orozco and O'Gorman fracture zones. The Pn low‐velocity and trench‐perpendicular anisotropic structure found north of the flat‐slab subduction zone support the slab retreat model of the Central Cocos plate. The Pn structure supports the existence of tearing corresponding to Teuhantepec Ridge in the Cocos plate beneath the Isthmus of Tuxtlas. Our study provides a reliable tomography basis and new constraints for a complicated subduction dynamics process in the southern Mexico subduction zone.

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is important for detecting shallow subsurface structures, which has been successfully used on the Earth, Moon, and Mars. It is difficult to analyze the underground permittivity from GPR data because its observation system is almost zero-offset. Traditional velocity analysis methods can work well with separable diffractions but fail with strong-interfered diffractions. However, in most situations, especially for lunar or Martian exploration, the diffractions are highly interfered, or even buried in reflections. Here, we proposed a new method to estimate the underground permittivity and apply it to lunar penetrating radar data. First, we isolate a group of diffractions with a hyperbolic time window determined by a given velocity. Then, we perform migration using the given velocity and evaluate the focusing effects of migration results. Next, we find the most focused results after scanning a series of velocities and regard the corresponding velocity as the best estimation. Finally, we assemble all locally focused points and derive the best velocity model. Tests show that our method has high spatial resolution and can handle strong noises, thus can achieve velocity analyses with high accuracy, especially for complex materials. The permittivity of lunar regolith at Chang’E-4 landing area is estimated to be ∼4 within 12 m, ranging from 3.5 to 4.2 with a local perturbation of ∼2.3%, consistent with ∼3% obtained by numerical simulations using self-organization random models. This suggests that the lunar regolith at Chang’E-4 landing area is mature and can be well described by self-organization random models.

Abstract Many studies have shown that the relationship between ambient temperature, relative humidity and mumps has been highlighted. However, these studies showed inconsistent results. Therefore, the goal of our study is to conduct a meta-analysis to clarify this relationship and to quantify the size of these effects as well as the potential factors. Systematic literature researches on PubMed, Embase.com, Web of Science Core Collection, Cochrane library, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were performed up to February 7, 2022 for articles analyzing the relationships between ambient temperature, relative humidity and incidence of mumps. Eligibility assessment and data extraction were conducted independently by two researchers, and meta-analysis was performed to synthesize these data. We also assessed sources of heterogeneity by study region, regional climate, study population. Finally, a total of 14 studies were screened out from 1154 records and identified to estimate the relationship between ambient temperature, relative humidity and incidence of mumps. It was found that per 1 °C increase and decrease in the ambient temperature were significantly associated with increased incidence of mumps with RR of 1.0191 (95% CI: 1.0129–1.0252, I 2 = 92.0%, Egger’s test P = 0.001, N = 13) for per 1 °C increase and 1.0244 (95% CI: 1.0130–1.0359, I 2 = 86.6%, Egger’s test P = 0.077, N = 9) for per 1 °C decrease. As to relative humidity, only high effect of relative humidity was slightly significant (for per 1 unit increase with RR of 1.0088 (95% CI: 1.0027–1.0150), I 2 = 72.6%, Egger’s test P = 0.159, N = 9). Subgroup analysis showed that regional climate with temperate areas may have a higher risk of incidence of mumps than areas with subtropical climate in cold effect of ambient temperature and low effect of relative humidity. In addition, meta-regression analysis showed that regional climate may affect the association between incidence of mumps and cold effect of ambient temperature. Our results suggest ambient temperature could affect the incidence of mumps significantly, of which both hot and cold effect of ambient temperature may increase the incidence of mumps. Further studies are still needed to clarify the relationship between the incidence of mumps and ambient temperature outside of east Asia, and many other meteorological factors. These results of ambient temperature are important for establishing preventive measures on mumps, especially in temperate areas. The policy-makers should pay more attention to ambient temperature changes and take protective measures in advance.

Detecting and mapping subsurface utilities in urban areas is crucial for identifying defects or damages in drinking and sewage pipes that can cause leaks. These leaks make it difficult to accurately characterize the pipes due to changes in their reflective properties. This study focused on detecting leaks originating from underground pipes and distinguishing between these various types of pipes. It also aimed to create a visual fingerprint model that displays the reflection characteristics of these pipes during different leak conditions, enabling efficient maintenance and handling procedures on the pipes. To achieve this, a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method was used to simulate two types of pipe materials with and without leak areas to construct different scenarios. Additionally, a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) field survey was conducted using a 600 MHz antenna in a part of the El Hammam area on Egypt’s northwest coast. The simulated images produced with numerical modeling were compared with the radar profiles obtained using GPR at particular locations. The numerical simulations and radar profiles demonstrated the noticeable influence of water leaks from the different pipes, wherein the reflection of saturated soil waves was interrupted due to the presence of saturated soil. Envelope and migration techniques were employed in a new application to accurately distinguish between different pipe types, specifically focusing on leak areas. The strong correlation between the real radar profile and the specific signal of a water pipe leak in the simulated models suggests that GPR is a reliable non-destructive geophysical method for detecting water pipe leaks and distinguishing between the different pipe materials in various field conditions. The simulated models, which serve as image-matching fingerprints to identify and map water pipe leaks, help us to comprehend reality better.

Modeling the temperature field near the Martian surface is critical for many scientific exploration tasks, such as detecting liquid water and analyzing the existence of saline ice. Meteorological conditions on Mars are highly dramatic, with a daily temperature change of up to 80–100 K. Most previous tasks of surface temperature monitoring on Mars are based on satellite observations, lacking in-situ measured data. Recently, two Martian missions at mid-low latitudes in the northern hemisphere, InSight lander and Zhurong rover, carried out near-surface temperature observations. However, the temperature monitoring of the Zhurong rover obtained data for only some short periods in its working days; thus, the amount of recorded temperature data is inadequate for a whole-day analysis at the landing site. Here we reconstruct the near-surface temperature at the Zhurong landing site by incorporating the continuous temperature data observed at the InSight lander, simultaneously referring to the Martian Climate Database; then, the reconstructed data are used to constrain the numerical simulation of the response of shallow subsurface under the Zhurong landing site. The numerical simulation of heat conduction shows that the daily temperature change under the Zhurong landing site mainly influences the uppermost depth of 0–30 cm, with a daily average temperature of ∼225 K. During the traveling duration of the Zhurong rover (i.e., summer of Mars), the seasonal temperature change within the top 1 m is significant and is related to the thermal properties of possible subsurface media (e.g., soil, ice, and sandstones). Although there might be aqueous activities in Utopia Planitia, our results show that from the perspective of temperature field, there is little possibility of liquid water in the shallow subsurface under the Zhurong landing site. The proposed method in this study provides a new way for the temperature field simulation of the subsurface in areas with insufficient local observations, especially on extraterrestrial objects.

Summary: The Martian crustal dichotomy (MCD) between the southern highlands and the northern lowlands is the planet’s most ancient crustal structure, but its origins and evolution remain enigmatic. Understanding of the MCD comes largely from present-day and shallow crustal constraints. Lacking ancient and deeper constraints, hypotheses for the origin of the MCD range from an early giant impact, partial melting from sustained mantle convection, or some combination. We investigate with seismological modeling the best-preserved case of the “antipodal effect”—energy from an impact that concentrates and induces uplift and fracturing promoting volcanism at its antipode—the Hellas crater and the Alba Patera volcano on Mars. The volcano is latitudinally offset ∼2° (∼119 km) from the expected antipode, and we explore whether the MCD can explain this deflection. Variations across the MCD in topography, thickness, and composition have only minor effects. Simulations capable of sufficiently decelerating southern surface waves require the presence of 2%–5% more partial melt in the southern highlands. As the age of impact ca. 4 billion years ago post-dates the formation of the MCD, our partial melting results thus imply that, with or without an early giant impact, the MCD was modified by mantle convection in order to supply enough heat for crustal melts for several hundreds of millions of years after Mars formation.

The Lunar interior structure is important for understanding the formation and evolution of the Moon, because it is closely related to the processes of magma ocean condensation, density differentiation and material convection. The Apollo missions established the first moonquakes observation network in the middle and low latitudes on the near side of the Moon, which provides us with a lot of valuable observations to study the moonquakes and interior structure of the Moon. However, the lunar seismography in the Apollo era was greatly limited on the sensitivity and some other aspects, which seriously affected the detection ability of the lunar interior structure. Up to now, no reliable internal reflection phase has been observed, which has led to a great academic debate on the thickness of the lunar crust, the size of the lunar core and the state of deep physical properties. In this paper, we review the Apollo instruments, data and applications, with special attention to the research progress in the interior structure, the scattering and the attenuation of lunar seismic waves. Finally, we prospect the future research direction of the lunar seismicity and present the basic conception of the first lunar seismometer from China.

This paper presents a review of the scientific research progress of the lunar in-situ spectroscopy and radar, focusing on the important results obtained by the Chang'E-3 and Chang'E-4 missions. In terms of the spectral detection, we report the composition, the photometric characteristics, space weathering information and thermal radiation characteristics of the lunar surface. In terms of radar detection, the detection of geological subsurface structures of the Moon, the detection of possible cavities/lava-tubes, and the inversion of the dielectric properties of the lunar regolith are described. Finally, the future development trends of lunar in-situ spectroscopy and radar detection are discussed.

Noise logging is a method to determine the natural noise in a well. In the actual production logging process, it is a common situation that the noise data is not continuous with depth, which can be solved by the cubic spline interpolation method. This method is a piecewise interpolation method, which fits with a three-time polynomial in each segment interval, and adds up the polynomials on all intervals to get the interpolation formula. The interpolated data points are a smooth transition with good stability. In this article, the original noise data is interpolated to continuous noise data by cubic spline interpolation method, and then evaluated by noise imaging logging, which presents good results. The cubic-spline interpolation method ensures the internal connection of noise data, and also realizes the fine description and recognition of the characteristics of the output layer. This method will provide a low-cost and effective logging evaluation method for production logging, which has a wide range of applications.

Considering the importance of start-up characteristics of the rubidium atomic clock in engineering applications, the objective of this paper is to optimize the start-up characteristics of the rubidium atomic clock by studying the theory of the rubidium atomic frequency standards, especially the light pumping process, and the effect of light intensity on frequency accuracy. Our analysis demonstrated that frequency accuracy is proportional to the light intensity, and hence, we propose a method for actively optimizing the start-up characteristics of the rubidium atomic clock by utilizing the fluctuations in light intensity. Additionally, some related experiments using the proposed method indicate that the light intensity–frequency coefficient of the rubidium atomic clock is improved from 1.84 × 10−9 to 4.21 × 10−10 V−1 within 30 min after the rubidium atomic clock is locked, and also, the lockout time is less than 5 min with a wide working temperature range (0–50 °C), indicating a significant improvement in the start-up characteristics of the rubidium atomic clock.

BackgroundTo explore the efficacy and safety of drugs in patients with scrub typhus.MethodsFor this systematic review and network meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang data (WF) up to December 2021. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of antibiotics used to treat scrub typhus were included without language or date restrictions. The overall effectiveness was evaluated from 4 perspectives: cure rate (CR), defervescence time (DT), gastrointestinal symptoms–adverse events (GS-AD), and abnormal blood count–adverse events (ABC-AD). The quality of evidence was evaluated using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and GRADE system.ResultsSixteen studies involving 1,582 patients were included to evaluate 7 drugs, namely, azithromycin, doxycycline, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, rifampin, moxifloxacin, and telithromycin. In this network meta-analysis, rifampicin (82%) and chloramphenicol (65%) were more effective in terms of CR, and moxifloxacin (3%) from the quinolone family was the worst. Azithromycin caused the fewest events in terms of ABC-AD. No differences were found in this network meta-analysis (NMA) in terms of DT and GS-AD.ConclusionsRifampicin was associated with the highest CR benefit and the lowest risk of DT when used to treat patients with scrub typhus, except in areas where tuberculosis (TB) was endemic. Azithromycin was found to be better in CR and was associated with a lower probability of GS-AD and ABC-AD; therefore, it may be considered to treat pregnant women and children. Moxifloxacin had a much lower CR than other drugs and is, therefore, not recommended for the management of scrub typhus.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier: CRD42021287837.

Abstract Background Hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection transmitted from blood donors is a concern in China, as many articles about HGV infection in Chinese blood donors from different provinces have been published. This study aimed to evaluate the overall prevalence of HGV infection in Chinese blood donors and analyse the potential risk of HGV infection through blood transfusion in China. Methods We performed a literature search in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM) and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) up to October 2018 regarding the prevalence of HGV in Chinese blood donors. Eligibility assessment and data extraction were conducted independently by 2 researchers, and meta-analysis was performed to synthesize the data. Heterogeneity was evaluated using Cochran’s Q test and quantified using the I 2 statistic. Subgroup analyses were performed to identify the possible sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias was assessed using both funnel plot and Egger’s tests. Results A total of 102 studies with 67,348 blood donors published from 1996 to 2016 and covering 26 provinces or municipalities were included for further analyses. The pooled prevalence of HGV was 3.91% (95%CI: 3.18–4.71%) by enzyme immune assay/enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (EIA/ELISA) and 3.25% (95%CI: 2.35–4.26%) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The prevalence of HGV may be significantly affected by region, province or municipality and potentially by the paid/voluntary status of the blood donors. No significant difference was found between plasma and full blood donation. Conclusions The prevalence of HGV in blood donors from China was similar to that in blood donors from many other countries and higher than that of some other hepatitis viruses, such as hepatitis B virus. The risk of transfusion-transmitted HGV still exists after routine blood donor screening, especially in those patients coinfected with other hepatitis viruses and/or HIV. On the basis of our study, we may suggest adding HGV screening for blood transfusions in mainland China in the future.

Polygonal terrains on a Martian southern polar cap have been observed in high-resolution images by the Mars Orbiter Camera. However, their formation mechanism is enigmatic due to the lack of constraints from their geometric and physical properties. Here we proposed a series of recognition procedures on an image of polygonal terrain located at Australe Scopuli taken by a High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. Then, we quantitatively analyzed the areas, orientations and polygon edge densities (~0.10 to ~0.06 in different subregions) of the polygonal terrain. Based on the recognition results, three elevation-related subregions can be distinguished according to the distributions of polygon size and orientation. The two side subregions distribute relatively small and relatively large polygons, respectively. The middle subregion can be regarded as an intermediate zone along the slope (~1°). The intermediate zone is squeezed by the surrounding polygons, indicating a possible uplift or subsidence on previous or present Mars. This paper found a possible formation mechanism of the polygonal terrain located at the south pole of Mars, suggesting that polar-ice-cap polygons are formed during the process of lateral sliding gravity-driven plastic creep and the deformation of ice, with the polygon boundaries being reshaped during the alignment at high slopes and partially compressed at low slopes. These properties and possible formation mechanisms could provide more constraints on understanding ancient and/or present climates on Mars.

For a hybrid X-pinch load assembled in parallel with the return-current rods, the impedance of the hybrid X-pinch load is important for current division between the load and the current rods. In this paper, the experimental results of the investigation of the impedance of a hybrid X-pinch load on the Qiangguang facility (1.5 MA, 100 ns) were reported. The current of the X-pinch load was measured using a serial nickel foil resistor, and the voltage was measured using a two-stage resistive divider. The inductance of the X-pinch load was obtained by comparing the differential signal of the current with the voltage waveform, and it is about 4.7 nH, which is nearly equal to the calculated total inductance of the metal wire and the two X-pinch electrodes. The resistance of the X-pinch was determined by subtracting a part of the inductance from the measured voltage, and the following results were obtained. At the start of the current, the resistance of the X-pinch increases quickly from the metallic resistance of 0.16 Ω at room temperature for a 2-mm-length 30-μm-diameter Mo wire to 0.8 Ω in about 10 ns, and then, it falls fast to nearly zero, which suggests that the electrically exploding phase of the metal wire ends and the high conductive plasma is formed. As the current continues to flow through the Mo wire, the resistance increases once again from nearly zero to about 0.4 Ω at the moment when the X-pinch begins to burst x-ray radiation, which reflected that the micro-pinch dynamical process occurs and a hot and tight plasma zone is formed. Assuming that the tight plasma zone is 300 μm long with a 10 µm diameter and the temperature of the plasma is ∼1 keV, we can obtain that the resistance of the tight X-pinch spot is about 0.6 Ω, which is close to the value of 0.4 Ω obtained in the experiments.

Wire arrays are the typical loads which have been widely used in z-pinch research studies. When a large pulsed power accelerator is designed, the electrical parameters of the z-pinch loads including the inductance and the resistance (or the equivalent resistance) must be considered. In this paper, the inductance and the resistance of the single planar wire arrays were introduced from the experiments carried out on a Qiangguang accelerator (1.5 MA, 100 ns). The lumped-element circuit model of the wire array was established using the PSPICE software, and the model was verified by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results. The influence of the electrical parameters on the accelerator’s driving current is investigated. It shows that the inductance affects the rising edge and the peak value of the current, while the resistance mainly affects the current waveform after the stagnation of the wire array pinch load. The inductance model based on the zero-dimensional equation is compared with the inductance model based on the experimental data, and the result shows that the two different inductance models give almost the same pinch current. It can be concluded that the zero-dimensional model is valid in circuit simulation to investigate the peak current of the designed z-pinch accelerator.

Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) have been demonstrated to cause a diversity of diseases among children and adults. The circulation of human adenovirus type 21 (HAdV21) has been mainly documented within closed environments in several countries. Nonetheless, respiratory infections or outbreaks due to HAdV21 have never been reported in China. MinION and Illumina platforms were employed to identify the potential pathogen from a throat swab. Discrepancies between MinION and Illumina sequencing were validated and corrected via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Genomic characterization and recombinant event detection were then performed. Among the 35,466 high-quality MinION reads, a total of 5,999 reads (16.91%) could be aligned to HAdV21 reference genomes (genome sizes ≈35.3 kb), among which 20 had a length of >30 kb. A genome sequence assembled from MinION reads was further classified as HAdV subtype 21a. Random downsampling revealed as few as 500 nanopore reads could cover ≥96.49% of current genome. Illumina sequencing displayed good consistency (pairwise nucleotide identity = 99.91%) with MinION sequencing but with 31 discrepancies that were further validated and confirmed by PCR coupled with Sanger sequencing. Restriction enzymes such as BamHI and KpnI were able to distinguish the present genome from HAdV21 prototype and HAdV21b. Phylogenetic analysis employing whole-genome sequences placed our genome with members only from subtype 21a. Common features among HAdV21a strains were identified, including polymorphisms discovered in penton and 100 kDa hexon assembly–associated proteins and a recombinant event in the E4 gene. Using MinION and Illumina sequencers, we identified the first HAdV21a strain from China, which could provide key genomic data for disease control and epidemiological investigations.

Sedimentary layers are composed of alternately deposited compositions in different periods, reflecting the geological evolution history of a planet. Orbital radar can detect sedimentary layers, but the radargram is contaminated by varying background noise levels. Traditional denoising methods, such as median filter, have difficulty dealing with such kinds of noise. We propose a recursive signal enhancement scheme to identify weak reflections from intense background noise. Numerical experiments with synthetic data and SHARAD radargrams illustrate that the proposed method can enhance the clarity of the radar echoes and reveal delicate sedimentary structures previously buried in the background noise. The denoising result presents better horizontal continuity and higher vertical resolution compared with those of the traditional methods.

Numerical solver using a uniform grid is popular due to its simplicity and low computational cost, but would be unfeasible in the presence of tiny structures in large-scale media. It is necessary to use a nonuniform grid, where upsampling the wavefield from the coarse grid to the fine grid is essential for reducing artifacts. In this paper, we suggest a local refinement scheme using the Fourier interpolation, which is superior to traditional interpolation methods since it is theoretically exact if the input wavefield is band limited. Traditional interpolation methods would fail at high upsampling ratios (say 50); in contrast, our scheme still works well in the same situations, and the upsampling ratio can be any positive integer. A high upsampling ratio allows us to greatly reduce the computational burden and memory demand in the presence of tiny structures and large-scale models, especially for 3D cases.

Abstract Using our recently developed Pn tomography method, we obtain high‐resolution Pn velocity and anisotropy structures of uppermost mantle beneath the Central and North China, which provide useful insight concerning the mechanism of intraplate mantle dynamics. The consistency between the new Pn model and seismic reflection/refraction profiles demonstrates the high quality of our model. Based on the Pn anisotropy structure surrounding the Alxa Block, we infer that material extrusion from northeastern Tibet was impeded and turned to the west and south edges of the Alxa Block. The Pn structures beneath the Sichuan Basin and Songpan‐Ganzi Orogen suggest that the stable Sichuan Basin impeded material extrusion from the Tibetan Plateau and caused material from Tibet to be extruded separately along the west and northwest edges of the Sichuan Basin. To the north of the Sichuan Basin, we infer that the extrusion has ceased within the Songpan‐Ganzi Orogen rather than to further east. The high Pn velocities beneath the Qinling Orogen do not support the proposal of large‐scale eastward material escaping flow in the shallow mantle beneath the western Qinling Orogen. The Pn velocity distribution beneath the North China Craton indicates that hot material from the mantle is more likely to upwell beneath deep faults or active orogenic areas. Our model indicates that the northern and central parts of the Ordos Block retain stable structures at the uppermost mantle, while its southeastern has been reworked by hot material.

Z-pinch using a deuterium gas-puff load has been validated as a plasma neutron source on many accelerators such as Saturn, Z, Angara-5, and S-300. The experimental results on these accelerators show that the production of the neutron can be scaled as Yn∝Im4, where Yn is the yield and Im is the peak current of the accelerator, no matter what mechanism is eventually determined to be responsible for generating fusion neutrons. The neutron production on the Qiang-Guang I generator (1.5 MA, 100 ns) is analytically estimated that approximately 4 × 1010 D-D neutrons would be produced, among which the thermonuclear neutrons is only 7 × 107. The gas puff construction used on Qiang-Guang I is introduced, and the optimum line mass of the D2 gas is given. The results show that the optimum line mass is approximately 50 µg/cm for the driving current of Qiang-Guang I. The mass density distribution obtained with the classical ballistic-transport model demonstrates that the gas puff forms a hollow gas shell with the length of 2 cm. For D2 to produce a gas flow with the line mass of 50 µg/cm, the firing time of Qiang-Guang I changes to 250 µs and the absolute pressure of the chamber is increased to 4.2 atm.

ObjectivesMany studies have explored the association between Helicobacter pylori infection and osteoporosis. However, the results remain controversial. Therefore, we performed this systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between H. pylori infection and osteoporosis.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis of case–control studies.Data sourcesDatabases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, were screened from inception to 30 April 2018.Eligibility criteriaCase–control studies aimed at assessing the association between H. pylori infection and osteoporosis.Data extraction and analysisStudy characteristics and study quality sections were reviewed. Studies were selected, and data were extracted by two reviewers. Pooled ORs and 95% CIs were calculated using random effects model if heterogeneity existed; otherwise, fixed effects model was used. Subgroup analyses were performed to explore the source of heterogeneity. Publication bias and sensitivity analyses were also tested.ResultsA total of 21 studies with 9655 participants were included in our analyses. Taking together, we found that H. pylori infection was associated with increased odds of osteoporosis (OR (95% CI): 1.39 (1.13 to 1.71)); there was no significant difference between osteoporosis and osteopaenia; the association between osteoporosis and H. pylori infection was relatively higher in men than women but did not reach significant level. However, the decrease of bone mineral density in H. pylori-positive patients was not significant when compared with H. pylori negative controls, which may due to the sample size.ConclusionsOur meta-analysis suggests an association between osteoporosis and H. pylori infection. The clinicians should pay more attention to the patients infected with H. pylori. Further studies were still needed to exploring the confounding factors among studies and to elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms.

Most previous studies tend to simplify the lunar regolith as a homogeneous medium. However, the lunar regolith is not completely homogeneous, because there are weak reflections from the lunar regolith layer. In this study, we examined the weak heterogeneity of the lunar regolith layer using a self-organization model by matching the reflection pattern of both the lunar regolith layer and the top of the ejecta layer. After a series of numerical experiments, synthetic results show great consistency with the observed Chang’E-4 lunar penetrating radar data and provide some constraints on the range of controlling parameters of the exponential self-organization model. The root mean square permittivity perturbation is estimated to be about 3% and the correlation distance is about 5–10 cm. Additionally, the upper layer of ejecta has about 1–2 rocks per square meter, and the rock diameter is about 20–30 cm. These parameters are helpful for further study of structural characteristics and the evolution process of the lunar regolith. The relatively small correlation distance and root mean square perturbation in the regolith indicate that the regolith is mature. The weak reflections within the regolith are more likely to be due to structural changes rather than material composition changes.

The high-frequency channel of lunar penetrating radar (LPR) onboard Yutu-2 rover successfully collected high quality data on the far side of the Moon, which provide a chance for us to detect the shallow subsurface structures and thickness of lunar regolith. However, traditional methods cannot obtain reliable dielectric permittivity model, especially in the presence of high mix between diffractions and reflections, which is essential for understanding and interpreting the composition of lunar subsurface materials. In this paper, we introduce an effective method to construct a reliable velocity model by separating diffractions from reflections and perform focusing analysis using separated diffractions. We first used the plane-wave destruction method to extract weak-energy diffractions interfered by strong reflections, and the LPR data are separated into two parts: diffractions and reflections. Then, we construct a macro-velocity model of lunar subsurface by focusing analysis on separated diffractions. Both the synthetic ground penetrating radar (GPR) and LPR data shows that the migration results of separated reflections have much clearer subsurface structures, compared with the migration results of un-separated data. Our results produce accurate velocity estimation, which is vital for high-precision migration; additionally, the accurate velocity estimation directly provides solid constraints on the dielectric permittivity at different depth.

The Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) onboard the Yutu-2 rover from China’s Chang’E-4 (CE-4) mission is used to probe the subsurface structure and the near-surface stratigraphic structure of the lunar regolith on the farside of the Moon. Structural analysis of regolith could provide abundant information on the formation and evolution of the Moon, in which the rock location and property analysis are the key procedures during the interpretation of LPR data. The subsurface velocity of electromagnetic waves is a vital parameter for stratigraphic division, rock location estimates, and calculating the rock properties in the interpretation of LPR data. In this paper, we propose a procedure that combines the regolith rock extraction technique based on local correlation between the two sets of LPR high-frequency channel data and the common offset semblance analysis to determine the velocity from LPR diffraction hyperbola. We consider the heterogeneity of the regolith and derive the relative permittivity distribution based on the rock extraction and semblance analysis. The numerical simulation results show that the procedure is able to obtain the high-precision position and properties of the rock. Furthermore, we apply this procedure to CE-4 LPR data and obtain preferable estimations of the rock locations and the properties of the lunar subsurface regolith.

Background: There is no clear conclusion on the immunogenicity and adverse events of concomitant administration the viral respiratory infectious disease vaccines. We aimed to evaluate the impact of concomitant administering viral respiratory infectious disease vaccines on efficiencies, safety and influencing factors. Methods: This meta-analysis included studies from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials, Web of Science, WHO COVID19 Research, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases. Randomized controlled trials of the adult participants concomitant administered with viral respiratory infectious disease vaccine and other vaccines were included. The main outcomes were the seroconversion rate and seroprotection rate of each vaccine. Used the Mantel–Haenszel fixed effects method as the main analysis to estimate the pooled RRs and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals. The risk of bias for each trial was assessed using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, while evidence certainty was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system. Results: A total of 21 studies comprising 14060 participants with two types of vaccines were retained for the meta-analysis. Concomitant immunization reduced the geometric mean titer (RR: 0.858, 95% CI: (0.785 to 0.939)) and the geometric mean fold rise (0.754 (0.629 to 0.902)) in the SARS-COV-2 vaccine group but increased the seroconversion rate (1.033 (1.0002 to 1.067)) in the seasonal influenza vaccine group. Concomitant administration were influenced by the type of vaccine, adjuvant content, booster immunization, and age and gender of the recipient. Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggested that the short-term protection and safety of concomitant administered were effective. Appropriate adjuvants, health promotion and counselling and booster vaccines could improve the efficiency and safety of Concomitant vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]