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The Yellow River Delta wetland is a habitat for wintering waterfowl, where mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and tundra bean goose (Anser fabalis) are commonly observed. Although the intestinal flora plays a pivotal role in maintaining host health and promoting nutrient absorption, it remains unclear whether the same overwintering habitat and challenging feeding conditions specifically affect the composition and diversity of intestinal flora in both species. Here, high-throughput sequencing was used to compare the intestinal bacterial communities of mallard and tundra bean goose from the same region. There was no significant difference in alpha diversity and beta diversity between the two species. Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the two predominant phyla, accounting for more than 50.00% of the total. They enhanced the nutrient absorption and metabolic efficiency during overwintering. Catellicoccus was the most dominant genus in the intestinal flora of tundra bean goose, accounting for 33.91%, whereas Clostridium sensu stricto 1 was the most dominant genus in mallard, accounting for 7.34%. This difference is considered to be related to the feeding habits of these two species. No significant differences in the structure and diversity of intestinal bacterial communities were observed between mallard and tundra bean goose, and the similarity of intestinal flora between them was high. This study deepens our understanding of the intestinal flora of two coexisting species with different dietary preferences in the Yellow River Delta. It also lays the foundation for waterfowl disease prevention in this area, carrying significant scientific and practical implications for biodiversity and ecosystem conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To analyze the factors affecting patients' prognoses based on the community acquired-bloodstream infection patient data from 2017 to 2021. Patients and Methods: The data of 940 patients were retrieved, having at least one positive bilateral blood culture within 48 hours of hospitalization, and grouped into survivor and non-survivor groups. The clinical characteristics, laboratory results, causative pathogen and other indicators were collected and compared, and risk factors were identified by applying Cox proportional hazard regression model to the data. Results: Community acquired-bloodstream infection is most commonly caused by Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species and Staphylococcus hominis. Among the total of 940 selected patients, 52 (5.5%) died during hospitalization. The demographic parameters like age and gender, clinical protocols like maintenance hemodialysis, glucocorticoid use during hospitalization, catheter placement, procaicitonin, total protein, albumin, creatinine, uric acid contents and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores were significantly different between the survivor and non-survivor groups. The survival analysis results revealed that age (HR=1.02, 95% CI: 1.00– 1.05, P=0.002), glucocorticoid use during hospitalization (HR=3.69, 95% CI: 1.62– 8.37, P=0.021) and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (HR=1.10, 95% CI: 1.03– 1.18, P=0.004) might be the risk factors affecting 30-day mortality in patients with community acquired-bloodstream infection. Conclusion: The identified risk factors may help guide clinical treatment protocol for patients with community acquired-bloodstream infection, providing more effective treatment strategy selection with improved clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the incredible advancement of information technology, the communication between vehicles (V2V), vehicle and infrastructure (V2I) improves the traffic efficiency and safety. In this work, we present a modified coupled map car-following model with the control terms of the velocity difference and headway difference under V2X (vehicle to everything) environment. Then we study the impact of the control term on the stability and dynamic performance, respectively. The stability of the modified model is analyzed and the conditions for the stability of the traffic flow are presented. Besides, the simulations are carried out from the micro and macro perspectives. The numerical simulation results are consistent with the theory, and the validity of the model is verified. Moreover, in order to study the macro properties of traffic, through sumo numerical experiments, the evolution of the macro quantity of the traffic system has also been studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sufficient water is pivotal in maintaining the stability of boundaries in sandy river systems. However the current methodologies employed for computing the water demand for sediment transport in rivers frequently neglect this component. This research utilizes data spanning 1960 to 2020 from seven principal hydrological stations located in the lower Yellow River to establish the correlation between key factors pertaining to the sediment transport capacity of flow. A closed equation system was established based on the principles of river dynamics to solve unknown hydraulic parameters. Finding a suitable hydraulic geometric relationship equation as a supplementary equation is a key step in constructing a closed equation system. The findings indicate that sediment transport water demands are 71.79, 133.24, 226.89, 286.12, and 313.6 × 108 m3, respectively, when sediment inflow is at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 × 108 t, with a bankfull discharge of 4000 m3/s. As the sediment inflow diminishes and the unit water demand for sediment transport increases, the sediment transport efficiency of the lower Yellow River reduces. The outcomes of this research can serve as a foundation for the joint operation of the Yellow River's main and branch reservoirs, as well as for designing water resource allocation schemes within the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connected vehicles can obtain the position and velocity of multiple preceding vehicles. According to the characteristics of connected vehicles, this paper proposes the new control term and improves the original car-following model. The model considers the optimized acceleration and velocity difference information among the preceding vehicles. Meanwhile, linear stability analysis of the proposed model is executed and the stability criterion is given. It shows that the model has better stability compared with the existing car-following models. Three scenarios including car-following evolution, starting process and braking process are simulated, and the response time, space headway and velocity fluctuations are analyzed separately. The numerical simulation results show that the controlling strategy proposed in this paper has a noticeable effect on the stability of the traffic system. In addition, the calibration results based on the measured data show that the proposed model is more consistent with the actual traffic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to use systematic review and meta-analysis to establish the influence of antifungal therapy on pulmonary Candida colonisation of patients with mechanical ventilation (MV)., Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis., Data Sources: An extensive search was undertaken on publications from inception to 25 July 2023, through PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data and VIP Databases., Eligibility Criteria for Selecting Studies: Randomised trials, cohort studies and case-control studies comparing the efficacy of antifungal treatment in immunocompetent patients with pulmonary Candida colonisation after invasive ventilation., Data Extraction and Synthesis: Two reviewers independently extracted the data and assessed the quality of studies. Dichotomous outcomes were expressed as ORs with 95% CIs. Continuous outcomes were expressed as standardised mean differences (SMD) with 95% CIs., Primary and Secondary Outcome Measures: The primary outcomes included intensive care unit (ICU), hospital, 28-day, and 90-day mortality. The secondary outcomes included ICU length of stay, MV duration and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)., Results: Nine high-quality studies were included. According to the data collected from these nine studies, there is no significant evidence showing a difference between the therapy group treated with antifungal drugs and the control group without antifungal drugs in clinical outcomes, including ICU mortality (OR: 1.37; 95% CI 0.84 to 2.22), hospital mortality (OR: 1.17; 95% CI 0.57 to 2.38), 28-day mortality (OR: 0.71; 95% CI 0.45 to 1.14), 90-day mortality (OR: 0.76; 95% CI 0.35 to 1.63), ICU length of stay (SMD: -0.15; 95% CI -0.88 to 0.59), MV duration (SMD: 0.11; 95% CI -0.88 to 1.10) and VAP (OR: 1.54; 95% CI 0.56 to 4.20). Subgroup analysis of different treatment types indicates that the combined effect size is stable and unaffected by different treatment types including inhalation (OR: 2.32; 95% CI 0.30 to 18.09) and intravenous (OR: 0.65; 95% CI 0.13 to 3.34)., Conclusion: The application of antifungal treatment did not improve clinical outcomes in patients with MV. We do not suggest initiating antifungal treatment in patients with Candida pulmonary colonisation after invasive ventilation., Trial Registration Number: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews, CRD42020161138., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)