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Biochar is the carbon-rich product obtained from the thermochemical conversion of biomass under oxygen-limited conditions. Preparation methods contribute to biochar properties, which are widely concerned in the agronomic and environmental benefits of agro-ecosystems. This research aims to use bibliometrics methods to comprehensively and objectively analyze the research trends in the global biochar production field from 2006 to 2019 based on the Web of Science Core Collection database. The results showed that 1434 papers related to biochar preparation were published, which gradually increased each year. The research topics were diversified, which were mainly divided into “Environmental Sciences and Ecology,” “Engineering” and “Agriculture”. Moreover, Bioresource Technology was the most published journal contained biochar preparation. Authors from China had the most publications, followed by the US, Australia and the UK. Meanwhile, Yong Sik Ok from Korea University contributed most of the publications and had the highest H-index. Keywords analysis indicated that biochar preparation by pyrolysis was a current hotspot, of which microwave and hydrothermal were a future research trend. Besides, gasification would be used to develop new biomass energy. Biochar has the characteristics of high pH, high specific surface area, high carbon content, and rich functional groups. It is mainly used in soil improvement, water pollutant adsorption, carbon sequestration and emission reduction, and energy storage materials, etc. Furthermore, raw materials, pyrolysis temperature and pyrolysis time will also affect its characteristics and applications. It is expected that this study may provide insight into the future research interests regarding biochar preparation.

Kitchen wastes (KW) dramatically increasing with population and economy enhancing, and dry anaerobic fermentation was used to treat it. However, the large amount of biogas residue severely restricted the application of dry anaerobic fermentation, because the high total solid might lead to the system failure. Therefore, it is urgent to find appropriate way to improve the efficiency of dry anaerobic fermentation and reduce the great amount of biogas residue. In this study, a tentative experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of biochar prepared from biogas residue on the performance of dry anaerobic fermentation system. The results showed that almost half of the biogas residue was reduced and converted into biochar. At the presence of biochar, methane yield was 308.6 mL/gVS, which was 10.5% higher than that of control. Compared to the system without biochar, the highest volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration was 19.3% higher and the percentage of acetate and valerate was 25.3％ and 12.8％, while it was 16.3% and 22.0% in the control, suggesting that biochar accelerated the degradation of VFA. Bacteria community diversity increased, Fastidiosipila and Proteiniphilum enriched at the presence of biochar, which might accelerate the hydrolysis and acidification of KW. Hydrogenotrophic methanogens was dominated and syntrophic acetate oxidation was the primary pathway to produce methane. This study developed a new recycle route for improving the efficiency of dry anaerobic fermentation while reducing the large amount of biogas residue generated from dry anaerobic fermentation.

Biochar has been paid great attentions during the last two decades, because of its resources potentials and environmental benefits. A bibliometric analysis was applied to assess the publications regarding the keyword biochar from the Web of Science database during the period of 1999 to 2018. A total of 8629 publications were obtained with a rapid increase of annual citations and number of papers. The research topics were diversified, which were mainly divided into "Environmental Sciences and Ecology," "Agriculture," and "Engineering." Bioresource Technology was the journal which published most of the relevant papers. China ranked first in the number of published papers, followed by the USA, Australia, UK, and Germany. Especially, China established close collaboration with the USA in joint publication. Analysis of the keywords indicated that biochar production, comparative sorption, soil-applied black carbon, and soil management were the main research hotspots of biochar. The burst detection reflected that the innovation of biochar production and the new application field of biochar was the future research trends. These results can provide insight into the research progress regarding biochar.

Channels have always been vital geologic features in the exploration of hydrocarbon reservoirs, which makes the interpretation of channels an important task. Many different seismic attributes have been proposed to help the process of channel interpretation. A single seismic attribute could not fully and accurately reflect the geologic structure and edge details of a channel. Therefore, interpretation on a single attribute causes inaccurate segmentation. A 3D channel body interpretation method based on multiple attributes and supervoxel graph cut is applied in this paper, which identifies and segments the channel geologic body with fuzzy boundaries, poor continuity, or even data loss more accurately. First, a nonlinear dimensionality reduction method (locally linear embedding with geodesic distance) is applied to fuse a variety of seismic attributes to make channels clearer. Then, a graph-cut method based on the super geologic voxel is introduced, which reduces the computational complexity of segmentation and generates supervoxels more fitted to the edge of the channel body. Finally, a smooth 3D surface of the channel is obtained through the isosurface extraction. We use the data of a work area in northwest China and Parihaka-3D to evaluate the performance of our method. Our results show that, compared with other methods, the information provided by the fusion attribute is more complete, and the edge continuity of the channel is improved. The 3D channel bodies obtained by our method are clear and continuous. In the case of a complex channel body, our method can also work well.

Background Patients with sepsis are at risk for developing sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy (SIC). Previous studies offer inconsistent results regarding the association of SIC and mortality. This study sought to assess whether SIC is linked to mortality in patients with sepsis and to evaluate predictors of the development of SIC. Methods In this retrospective study, patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit with a diagnosis of sepsis in the absence of acute coronary syndrome were included. SIC was identified using transthoracic echocardiogram and was defined by a new-onset decline in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of up to 50% or a decline of at least 10% in LVEF relative to baseline in patients with a history of heart failure with reduced EF. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed using the R software program (R Foundation for Statistical Computing). Results Of the 359 patients in the final analysis, 19 (5.3%) had SIC, and eight (42.1%) of these 19 patients and 60 (17.6%) of the 340 patients in the non-SIC group died. SIC was associated with an increased risk for all-cause in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 4.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.15-18.69; P=0.03). Independent predictors for the development of SIC were albumin level (OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.23-0.93; P=0.03) and culture positivity (OR, 8.47; 95% CI, 2.24-55.61; P=0.006). Concomitant right ventricular hypokinesis was noted in 13 (68.4%) of the 19 SIC patients. Conclusion SIC was associated with an increased risk for all-cause in-hospital mortality. Low albumin level and culture positivity were independent predictors of SIC.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF)is a progressive lung disease characterized by pulmonary interstitial fibrosis and pulmonary dysfunction.Cell microenvironment is mainly composed of cell components,extracellular matrix,extracellular regulators,and liquid substances.Changes in microenvironment components are closely related to IPF.This article elaborates the roles of cell microenvironments including cytokines,mesenchymal cells,extracellular matrix,and unfolded proteins in the pathogenesis of IPF.

Introduction The impact of whiteboard use in labor rooms has not previously been studied. This quality improvement study aimed to evaluate patient knowledge of their delivering physician's name and the change in patient satisfaction after the implementation of a whiteboard in labor rooms. Methods A multidisciplinary team designed a dry-erase whiteboard prompting care providers to record their names, roles and patient care information. A questionnaire was administered to patients before and after the whiteboard implementation. Patients who had a planned cesarean or vaginal birth within 1 h of admission were excluded. Categorical variables were compared using Chi square and Fisher's exact tests. A multivariable logistic regression was performed to control for confounders. Results 191 patients completed the questionnaires. Although patients were not randomized, the pre-and post-intervention groups were similar. Post-intervention, we found a significant increase in recalling the delivery resident's name [21/101 (20.8%) vs. 33/90 (36.7%), p = 0.016] and a non-significant increase in recalling the name of the attending and nurse [19/101 (18.8%) vs. 23/90 (25.6%), p = 0.296; 46/101 (45.5%) vs. 53/90 (58.9%), p = 0.082]. Post-intervention, patient satisfaction with care was significantly higher [83/101 (82.2%) vs. 83/89 (93.3%), p = 0.028]. Knowledge of the delivery resident's name was associated with higher patient satisfaction [115/137 (84%) vs. 51/53 (96%), p = 0.03] and attendance of the postpartum care visit [50.4% (69/137) vs. 64.8% (35/54), p = 0.049]. Discussion The use of a well-designed whiteboard increases laboring patients' knowledge of their delivery physician's name and may improve patient satisfaction with care on Labor and Delivery.

Soybean seed oil was valued in foods, animal feed and some industrial applications. Molecular marker-assisted selection (MAS) for high-oil-content cultivars was an important method for soybean breeders. The objective of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) and epistatic QTL underlying the seed oil content of soybeans across two backcross (BC) populations (with one common male parent ‘Dongnong47’) and two different environments. Two molecular genetic maps were constructed. They encompassed 1046.8 cM [with an average distance of 6.75 cM in the ‘Dongnong47’ × ‘Jiyu89’ (DJ) population] and 846.10 cM [with an average distance of 5.76 cM in the ‘Dongnong47’ × ‘Zaoshu18’ (DZ) population]. Nine and seven QTL were identified to be associated with oil content in the DJ and DZ populations, respectively. The phenotypic variation explained by most of the QTL was usually less than 10%. Among the identified QTL, those stable ones across multiple environments and populations often had stronger additive effects. In addition, three stable QTL in the DZ populations were identified in the similar genomic region of the three QTL in the DJ population [qDJE and qDZE-1 were located near Satt151 of Chromosome 15 (Chr15), qDJA1 and qDZA1 were located near Satt200 of Chr15 (LG A1), and qDJD2-1 and qDZD2-1 were located near Sat365 of Chr17]. In conclusion, MAS will be able more effectively to combine beneficial alleles of the different donors to design new genotypes with higher soybean seed oil content using the BC populations.

OBJECTIVE To create, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a cesarean delivery checklist on maternal and neonatal outcomes in a rural African hospital. METHODS Based on input from local authorities, WHO's Safe Surgical Checklist was modified for cesarean delivery and adapted for use in low-resource settings. Retrospective chart review between April and August 2013 in Kibogora Hospital, Nyamasheke, Rwanda, included the first 100 women undergoing cesarean after checklist implementation and the last 100 women undergoing cesarean before implementation. Checklist utilization was determined and degree of completeness assessed. Outcomes were compared between patients for whom the checklist was utilized and patients for whom the checklist was not utilized, in both pre and post-implementation groups. RESULTS Checklist utilization rate was 83.0% (83/100). Checklist utilization was associated with significant increases in documentation of estimated blood loss (91.6% [76/83] vs 0.9% [1/117], P

Clustering analysis is an important step in extracting and analyzing technology bibliography trend. The bibliographic records, consisting of the title, authors, keywords, and publications, are short texts carrying less information than long texts, while bibliographic network has the citation relations among bibliographies. The experimental dataset therein refers to bibliographies in the computer field crawled from the existing literature databases. Based on traditional Hierarchical Clustering algorithm, this paper merges the cocitation relations. The experiment result shows that the mean silhouette coefficient of the Agglomerative Clustering algorithm that merges the co-citation relations among the bibliographies is improved obviously, thus effectively improving clustering result among bibliographies with strong co-citation relations, and good clusters provide a solid research basis for the follow-up bibliography trend analysis.

Candidiasis is often observed in immunocompromised patients and is the 4th most common cause of bloodstream infections. However, antifungals are limited, so novel antifungal agents are urgently needed. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered as potential alternatives of conventional antibiotics. In the present study, antimicrobial peptide protonectin was chemically synthesized and its antifungal activity and mode of action were studied. Our results showed that protonectin has potent antifungal activity and fungicidal activity against the tested fungi cells. Its action mode involved the disruption of the membrane integrity and the inducing of the production of cellular ROS. Furthermore, protonectin could inhibit the formation of biofilm and kill the adherent fungi cells. In conclusion, with the increase of fungal infection, protonectin may offer a new strategy and be considered as a potential therapeutic agent against fungal disease.

The Muller F element (4.2 Mb, ~80 protein-coding genes) is an unusual autosome of Drosophila melanogaster; it is mostly heterochromatic with a low recombination rate. To investigate how these properties impact the evolution of repeats and genes, we manually improved the sequence and annotated the genes on the D. erecta, D. mojavensis, and D. grimshawi F elements and euchromatic domains from the Muller D element. We find that F elements have greater transposon density (25–50%) than euchromatic reference regions (3–11%). Among the F elements, D. grimshawi has the lowest transposon density (particularly DINE-1: 2% vs. 11–27%). F element genes have larger coding spans, more coding exons, larger introns, and lower codon bias. Comparison of the Effective Number of Codons with the Codon Adaptation Index shows that, in contrast to the other species, codon bias in D. grimshawi F element genes can be attributed primarily to selection instead of mutational biases, suggesting that density and types of transposons affect the degree of local heterochromatin formation. F element genes have lower estimated DNA melting temperatures than D element genes, potentially facilitating transcription through heterochromatin. Most F element genes (~90%) have remained on that element, but the F element has smaller syntenic blocks than genome averages (3.4–3.6 vs. 8.4–8.8 genes per block), indicating greater rates of inversion despite lower rates of recombination. Overall, the F element has maintained characteristics that are distinct from other autosomes in the Drosophila lineage, illuminating the constraints imposed by a heterochromatic milieu.

Objective To compare the rate of wound complications among women who underwent cesarean delivery through a Pfannenstiel skin incision followed by subcuticular closure with either poliglecaprone 25 suture or polyglactin 910 suture. Methods Patients undergoing nonemergent cesarean delivery at or beyond 37 weeks of gestation were randomized to undergo subcuticular skin closure with either poliglecaprone 25 or polyglactin 910. The primary outcome was a wound composite outcome of one or more of the following: surgical site infection, wound separation, hematoma, or seroma within the first 30 days postpartum. To detect a reduction in the primary outcome rate from 12% to 4%, with a power of 0.90 and a two-tailed α of 0.05, 237 women per study group were required. Analysis was performed according to the intent-to-treat principle. Results From May 28, 2015, to August 5, 2016, 275 women were randomized to poliglecaprone 25 and 275 to polyglactin 910, of whom 520 (95%) were included in the final analysis: 263 in the poliglecaprone 25 group [of whom 231 (88%) actually underwent poliglecaprone 25 closure) and 257 in the polyglactin 910 group [of whom 209 (81%) actually underwent polyglactin 910 closure]. The groups were similar in demographic characteristics, medical comorbidities, and perioperative characteristics. Poliglecaprone 25 was associated with a significantly decreased rate of overall wound complications when compared with polyglactin 910, 8.8% compared with 14.4% (relative risk 0.61, 95% CI 0.37-0.99; P=.04). Conclusion Closure of the skin after cesarean delivery with poliglecaprone 25 suture decreases the rate of wound complications compared with polyglactin 910 suture. Clinical trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02459093.

The incidence of life-threatening invasive fungal infections increased significantly in recent years. However, the antifungal therapeutic options are very limited. Antimicrobial peptides are a class of potential lead chemical for the development of novel antifungal agents. Antimicrobial peptide polybia-CP was purified from the venom of the social wasp Polybia paulista. In this study, we synthesized polybia-CP and determined its antifungal effects against a series of Candidian species. Our results showed that polybia-CP has potent antifungal activity and fungicidal activity against the tested fungal cells with a proposed membrane-active action mode. In addition, polybia-CP could induce the increase of cellular reactive oxygen species production, which would attribute to its antifungal activity. In conclusion, the present study suggests that polybia-CP has potential as an antifungal agent or may offer a new strategy for antifungal therapeutic option.

“Public tourism services” is an generic term covering public tourism affairs which focus on tourists demands and aim at satisfying the conjunctive demands for public tourism and recreation—but for a nonprofit purpose. Based on more than 10 years’ practical experience of public tourism services, the services can be divided into tourism information/consultation services, tourism infrastructure, the safeguards of the interests of tourists, tourism safety assurance, and the local soft environment in tourist destinations, etc. In order to find out whether the public tourism services of tourist destinations meet the tourists’ demands, an investigation was launched in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. The results indicate tourism infrastructure, local soft environment, and tourism safety assurance are what most concern tourists in respect of public tourism services.

With the increasing emergence of resistant fungi, the discovery and development of novel antifungal therapeutics were urgently needed. Compared with conventional antibiotics, the limited propensity of AMPs to induce resistance in pathogens has attracted great interest. In the present study, the antifungal activity and its mechanism-of-action of polybia-MPI, a cationic peptide from the venom of Social wasp Polybia Paulista was investigated. We demonstrated that polybia-MPI could potently inhibit the growth of Candida albicans (C. albicans) and Candida glabrata (C. glabrata). The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of Polybia-MPI against cancer cells were much higher than the MICs against the tested C. albicans and C. glabrata cells, indicating that polybia-MPI had high selectivity between the fungal and mammalian cells. Our results also indicated that membrane disturbance mechanism was involved in the antifungal activity. Furthermore, polybia-MPI could inhibit the bio film forming of C. glabrata, which was frequently associated with clinically significant biofilm. These results suggest that polybia-MPI has great advantages in the development of antifungal agents.

We model the endomesoderm tissue specification process in the vegetal half of the early sea urchin embryo using Boolean models with continuous-time updating to represent the regulatory network that controls gene expression. Our models assume that the network interaction rules remain constant over time and the dynamics plays out on a predetermined program of cell divisions. An exhaustive search of two-node models, in which each node may represent a module of several genes in the real regulatory network, yields a unique network architecture that can accomplish the pattern formation task at hand – the formation of three latitudinal tissue bands from an initial state with only two distinct cell types. Analysis of an eight-gene model constructed from available experimental data reveals that it has a modular structure equivalent to the successful two-node case. Our results support the hypothesis that the gene regulatory network provides sufficient instructions for producing the correct pattern of tissue specification at this stage of development (between the fourth and tenth cleavages in the urchin embryo).

During early embryonic development, a network of regulatory interactions among genes dynamically determines a pattern of differentiated tissues. We show that important timing information associated with the interactions can be faithfully represented in autonomous Boolean models in which binary variables representing expression levels are updated in continuous time, and that such models can provide a direct insight into features that are difficult to extract from ordinary differential equation (ODE) models. As an application, we model the experimentally well-studied network controlling fly body segmentation. The Boolean model successfully generates the patterns formed in normal and genetically perturbed fly embryos, permits the derivation of constraints on the time delay parameters, clarifies the logic associated with different ODE parameter sets and provides a platform for studying connectivity and robustness in parameter space. By elucidating the role of regulatory time delays in pattern formation, the results suggest new types of experimental measurements in early embryonic development.