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We report a case of hereditary acrodermatitis enteropathica. A 12-year old boy was admitted to the hospital due to recurrent skin erythema around the mouth and buttocks for 12 years and aggravation for 2 months. He was born from consanguineous marriage. The clinical manifestations included recurrent dermatitis around the mouth, nose, anus, and limb joints, accompanied by diarrhea, hair loss, and delayed growth and development. Dermatological examination revealed complete loss of hair on the head, eyebrows and armpits. Well-defined erythema and plaques were seen around the mouth, nose, eyes, groins, buttocks, extensors of knees and elbows, wrists and ankle joints, hands and feet, and skin between the fingers and toes, some of which were accompanied by yellowish-brown seborrheic thick scabs, yellowish purulent secretions with foul odor. Laboratory examination showed blood zinc levels of 4.2 μmol/L and alkaline phosphatase content of 11 U/L. The gene detection of the patient and his parents showed a homozygous deletion of exon 1 in the SLC39A4 gene. Patient was diagnosed with hereditary acrodermatitis enteropathica. Following 10 days of zinc supplement and anti-infection, diarrhea was improved and the rash gradually subsided. The blood levels of zinc and alkaline phosphatase were 8.7 μmol/L and 78 U/L, respectively. Patient continued to take zinc supplement after discharge. Hair appeared on the scalp and eyebrows at one-month follow-up. Skin lesions almost completely healed with hyperpigmentation.

ObjectiveTo analyze the epidemiological characteristics of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province from 2013 to 2022, so as to provide a basis for HFMD prevention, control, and evaluation of intervention effectiveness.MethodsHFMD data of Zhangjiakou City from 2013 to 2022 were collected. Descriptive statistics and the Joinpoint regression model were used to analyze the trend of the epidemic.ResultsThe incidence of HFMD in Zhangjiakou was predicted to decrease with APC=-14.86% in 2013‒2022. The top five regions with the highest incidence showed varying trends: Qiaodong District (APC=-26.21%), Qiaoxi District (APC=-18.29%), Xuanhua District (APC=-14.28%), Chicheng District (APC=-18.68%), and Zhuolu County (APC=51.43% in 2013‒2016, APC=-14.27% in 2016‒2022), indicating a downward trend. Three age groups showed an upward trend in incidence: the 0-year-old group (APC=-42.82% in 2013‒2016, APC=16.54% in 2016‒2022), the 7-year-old group (AAPC=9.60%), and the 9-year-old group (AAPC=12.76%). HFMD cases occurred throughout the year, peaking from June to August, with July being the most significant month. The male-to-female ratio was 1.40∶1, with no statistical difference (χ2=5.932, P>0.05). A high incidence was in children under 5 years old, with those aged 1‒4 years being the main affected group. In terms of occupation, scattered children (6 245 cases, 57.65%) and preschool children (3 653 cases, 33.72%) were the most affected. A total of 504 laboratory-confirmed cases were reported, with a detection rate of 4.65% (504/10 832). The composition of confirmed cases included CoxA 16 (193 cases, 38.29%), EV71 (75 cases, 14.88%), and other enteroviruses (236 cases, 46.83%).ConclusionFrom 2013 to 2022, HFMD in Zhangjiakou City showed a downward trend with clear seasonal, regional, and occupational distributions. It is suggested that epidemic monitoring should be strengthened, etiological detection should be enhanced, and education efforts in key areas should be improved. High-incidence counties should analyze data and conduct risk assessments effectively.

ObjectiveTo investigate beverage consumption and influence factors of primary and secondary school students， and provide a scientific basis for guiding the reasonable consumption of beverages for middle and elementary school students in Hebei Province.MethodsMulti-stage stratified cluster random sampling method was applied to sample participants， and 3 259 primary and secondary school students were enrolled. Food Frequency Questionnaire was employed to collect beverage consumption situation in the last month.ResultsThe beverage consumption rate of primary and secondary school students in Hebei Province was 66.62% （2 171/3 259）. And the most common beverages were： vegetable protein beverages （28.60%）， carbonated beverages （24.70%）， non-100% fruit and vegetable juices （24.09%）. The consumption rates of plant protein beverages， non-100% fruit and vegetable juice beverages， carbonated beverages， and milk-containing beverages among primary school students were higher than those among middle school students （P

【Background】 Excessive irrigation and fertilization during seedling stage of banana are common in China, which is not only a waste of resources and increases costs, but also compromises plant quality and undermines healthy and sustainable banana production. 【Objective】 The purpose of this paper is to investigate water consumption of banana seedlings under different soil water contents, as well as its consequence for morphological and physiological traits in attempts to propose an improved water-saving irrigation scheme for banana production in China. 【Method】 We used the best tissue seedlings of the cultivar Mimosa nana Lour. as the model plant, and conducted the experiment in pots by controlling water content in them in the range from 20% to 90% of the field capacity, with keeping water content at the field capacity as the control (CK). During the experiment, we measured morphological and physiological traits of the plant for each treatment. 【Result】 Regardless of soil water contents, daily water consumption per plant increased first before plateauing as the plants grew. Increasing soil water content increased daily water consumption per plant, and the difference in water consumption between treatments was significant (PF0.01, P

Polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel-cells are one of the most promising energy conversion technologies for renewable clean energy applications. A major challenge preventing the widespread use and commercialization of PEM fuel cells is achieving high performance with low-loadings of platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts. One of the factors driving performance limitations in the cell is the mass transport losses within the cathode catalyst layers (CCL) due tosluggish oxygen-reduction reactions occurring at the platinum-ionomer interface. Any resistance to transport of these ionic and gaseous species within the CCL results in mass-transport limitations and performance losses, especially at high current densities. It is known that mass-transport losses increase with reduced platinum loading, thereby creating a performance-cost tradeoff for fuel cells. A viable solution to reduce the transport resistances in the catalyst layers is to create new ionomers that can provide good ion and oxygen transport needed to accomplish high-performing fuel cell catalysts. Using this approach Tetramer Technologies and LBNL propose improved fuel-cell catalyst ionomers based on Tetramers proprietary polymer chemistry.

Alkaline anion-conducting polymer-based CO2 electrolysis and water electrolysis are among two emerging renewable energy conversion technologies. Their system design and integration offer promise of lower capital cost due to utilization of low-cost catalysts, in contrast to platinum group metal catalysts required for cation-conducting polymer-based devices. However, a critical component, the polymer electrolyte membrane, remains an obstacle hampering system performance and durability. In this study, commercially-available Sustainion® membranes with and without PTFE-reinforcement were investigated to understand previously unreported origins of improved device performance when compared to alternative membrane chemistries. We report critical membrane properties, such as morphology, thermal stability, as well as temperature-, hydration-, and counter-ion dependent ion conductivity. Moveover, the changes in uptake and conductivity of membranes in supporting electrolytes of K2CO3 and KOH investigated as a function of their concentration. Presence of reinforcement and supporting electrolyte type alter the membrane's transport functionality, which could help guide device design for improved performance. The obtained results not only show how Sustainion® properties change with operating environment for CO2 and water electrolysis applications, but also provide understanding for internal and external factors controlling anion-exhcnage membrane functionality in electrochemical devices.

In the version of this Article initially published, processing errors affected the graphics in Figs. 3 and 5. In Fig. 3e,f, the two center column x-axis labels inadvertently duplicated Fig. 2e,f labels. The labels have been corrected to read “Naf850 /Cu with Li+” and “Naf1100 /Cu with Li+” from left to right, for Fig. 3e and Fig. 3f. In Fig. 5, arrow tails have been restored to the seven arrowheads at top and bottom of the figure, while in Fig. 5c, “OH–” has been repositioned next to “CEI changes local.” The changes have been made to the online version of the Article.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (CO2R) provides a promising pathway for sustainable generation of fuels and chemicals. Copper (Cu) electrocatalysts catalyse CO2R to valuable multicarbon (C2+) products, but their selectivity depends on the local microenvironment near the catalyst surface. Here we systematically explore and optimize this microenvironment using bilayer cation- and anion-conducting ionomer coatings to control the local pH (via Donnan exclusion) and CO2/H2O ratio (via ionomer properties), respectively. When this tailored microenvironment is coupled with pulsed electrolysis, further enhancements in the local ratio of CO2/H2O and pH are achieved, leading to selective C2+ production, which increases by 250% (with 90% Faradaic efficiency and only 4% H2) compared with static electrolysis over bare Cu. These results underscore the importance of tailoring the catalyst microenvironment as a means of improving overall performance in electrochemical syntheses.

Polymer-electrolyte membranes (PEMs) are a key component in electrochemical energy conversion devices where their main function is to selectively transport ionic species. Reducing PEM thickness is an effective strategy for improving performance by minimizing transport losses. However, how thickness affects the intrinsic properties of a membrane remains unexplored. This work aims to understand the effect of membrane thickness on structure-property relationships of 3 M perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer. We carried out a systematic investigation of membranes in a thickness range of 5-70 μm to examine their hydration behavior, morphology, crystallinity, mechanical properties, and gas and proton transport, with a discussion on the effect of thermal treatments. The collected dataset demonstrates PFSA membranes exhibit transitions in certain structural features below 10 μm, accompanied by an increased anisotropy in swelling and conductivity. Many properties deviate within 10%-20% without monotonic changes with thickness, however, linear correlations are observed between thickness and thermal-mechanical properties and gas permeability, although the latter is less significant. Identifying the thickness-dependence of PFSA properties could help expand the parameter window of PEMs, thereby enabling their optimization for automotive fuel cells, heavy-duty applications, and electrolyzers, especially if the membrane thickness is considered as part of dispersion-casting and reinforcement strategies.

Abstract Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous, small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by mediating gene silencing at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in high plants. However, the diversity of miRNAs and their roles in floral development in Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc) remains largely unexplored. Imperfect flowers with pistil abortion seriously decrease production yields. To understand the role of miRNAs in pistil development, pistil development-related miRNAs were identified by Solexa sequencing in Japanese apricot. Results Solexa sequencing was used to identify and quantitatively profile small RNAs from perfect and imperfect flower buds of Japanese apricot. A total of 22,561,972 and 24,952,690 reads were sequenced from two small RNA libraries constructed from perfect and imperfect flower buds, respectively. Sixty-one known miRNAs, belonging to 24 families, were identified. Comparative profiling revealed that seven known miRNAs exhibited significant differential expression between perfect and imperfect flower buds. A total of 61 potentially novel miRNAs/new members of known miRNA families were also identified by the presence of mature miRNAs and corresponding miRNA*s in the sRNA libraries. Comparative analysis showed that six potentially novel miRNAs were differentially expressed between perfect and imperfect flower buds. Target predictions of the 13 differentially expressed miRNAs resulted in 212 target genes. Gene ontology (GO) annotation revealed that high-ranking miRNA target genes are those implicated in the developmental process, the regulation of transcription and response to stress. Conclusions This study represents the first comparative identification of miRNAomes between perfect and imperfect Japanese apricot flowers. Seven known miRNAs and six potentially novel miRNAs associated with pistil development were identified, using high-throughput sequencing of small RNAs. The findings, both computationally and experimentally, provide valuable information for further functional characterisation of miRNAs associated with pistil development in plants.

Accurate air traffic flow prediction assists controllers formulate control strategies in advance and alleviate air traffic congestion, which is important to flight safety. While existing works have made significant efforts in exploring the high dynamics and heterogeneous interactions of historical air traffic flow, two key challenges still remain. (1) The transfer patterns of air traffic are intricate, subject to numerous constraints and limitations such as controllers, flight regulations, and other regulatory factors. Relying solely on mining historical traffic evolution patterns makes it difficult to accurately predict the constrained air traffic flow. (2) Weather conditions exert a substantial influence on air traffic, making it exceptionally difficult to simulate the impact of external factors (such as thunderstorms) on the evolution of air traffic flow patterns. To address these two challenges, we propose a Spatiotemporal Knowledge Distillation Network (ST-KDN) for air traffic flow prediction. Firstly, recognizing the inherent future insights embedded within flight plans, we develop a 'teacher-student' distillation model. This model leverages the prior knowledge of upstream-downstream migration patterns and future air traffic trends inherent in flight plans. Subsequently, to model the influence of external factors and predict air traffic flow disturbed by thunderstorm weather, we propose a student network based on the 'parallel-fusion' structure. Finally, employing a feature-based knowledge distillation approach to integrate prior knowledge from flight plans and extract meteorological features, our method can accurately capture complex and constrained spatiotemporal dependencies in air traffic and explicitly model the impact of weather on air traffic flow. Experimental results on real-world flight data demonstrate that our method can achieve better prediction performance than other state-of-the-art comparison methods, and the advantages of the proposed method are particularly prominent in modeling the complicated transfer pattern of air traffic and inferring nonrecurrent flow patterns., Author(s): Zhiqi Shen [1]; Kaiquan Cai (corresponding author) [1]; Quan Fang [2]; Xiaoyan Luo [3] 1. Introduction With the rapid development of civil aviation industry, the number of aircraft has [...]

Ionomer thin-films (i.e., 20–100 nm) on supports serve as model systems to understand ionomer-catalyst interfacial behavior as well as the confinement-driven deviation in properties from bulk membranes. While ionomer thin-films have been examined for proton exchange ionomers, the thin-film properties of anion exchange ionomers (AEIs) remain largely unexplored. More importantly, delineating the convoluted impact of chemistry and confinement on thin-film morphology and hydration is of interest to advancing the field on functional ionic interfaces. In this work, these aspects are studied by using AEIs of different backbones (perfluorinated, aliphatic, and aromatic) and side chains (various lengths, and single versus dual functional groups). Quartz-crystal microbalance and spectroscopic ellipsometry are used to analyze density and coupled with calculated free volume fraction of thin-films to provide insights on their gas transport properties. AEI side-chain's chemical character plays a key role in how confinement modulates hydration (in thin-film versus bulk). The results elucidate the effects of backbone, side-chain chemistry versus anion/cation type in the confinement-driven changes in thin-film morphology and swelling. This study also provides new insights for tuning AEI transport functionalities at interfaces via chemistry, which can benefit the design and development of electrode-ionomers for alkaline membrane-based energy systems.