Search

The amount and distribution of precipitation can determine dengue risk by affecting mosquito breeding; however, previous studies failed to incorporate this bivariate characteristic to examine dengue fever transmission. In the present research, nationwide data on daily dengue cases in China between January 2005 and December 2020 were obtained, and the top 12 cities accounting for 78% of total cases were selected for analysis. Precipitation patterns were quantified by weekly precipitation and precipitation concentration degree (PCD). On the basis of the combinations of both parameters, the exposure-response relationships of precipitation with dengue risk were established using generalised additive models, and the high-dengue-risk thresholds of precipitation patterns were further identified. Dengue burden was assessed by calculating attributable dengue cases. For the same amount of precipitation, the dispersed precipitation in the pre-summer rainy season leads to a higher dengue risk in autumn. The weekly precipitation of 100–150 mm and PCD of 0.2–0.4 constitute the highest risk scenario, and the average frequency of precipitation associated with dengue risk in 2013–2020 is 1.6 times higher than that in 2005–2012. A total of 3093 attributable dengue cases are identified. From 2005 to 2020, the amount of dispersed precipitation increased in southern and southwestern China and posed high dengue risks in central China. This study has improved the understanding of the health impacts of irregular rainfall under climate change. Our approach to identifying thresholds provides information for early warning systems and helps reduce the risk of dengue transmission in the long run.

Background and Aim: Insomnia has been implicated in gastrointestinal diseases (GIs), but the causal effect between insomnia and GIs and underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Methods: By using the released summary‐level data, we conducted a two‐step Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to examine the relationship between insomnia and four GIs and estimate the mediating role of candidate mediators. The first step was to investigate the causal association between insomnia and GIs using univariable MR analysis. The second step was to estimate the mediation proportion of selected mediators in these associations using multivariable MR analysis. Subsequently, results from different datasets were combined using the fixed‐effect meta‐analysis. Results: Univariable MR analysis provided strong evidence for the causal effects of insomnia on four GIs after Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, including peptic ulcer disease (PUD) (odds ratio [OR] = 1.15, 95% interval confidence [CI] = 1.10–1.20, P = 1.83 × 10−9), gastroesophageal reflux (GORD) (OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.16–1.22, P = 5.95 × 10−42), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.15–1.22, P = 8.69 × 10−25), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.03–1.05, P = 3.46 × 10−3). In the mediation analysis, body mass index (BMI) and waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR) were selected as mediators in the association between insomnia and PUD (BMI: mediation proportion [95% CI]: 13.61% [7.64%–20.70%]; WHR: 8.74% [5.50%–12.44%]) and GORD (BMI: 11.82% [5.94%–18.74%]; WHR: 7.68% [4.73%–11.12%]). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that genetically instrumented insomnia has causal effects on PUD, GORD, IBS, and IBD, respectively. Adiposity traits partially mediated the associations between insomnia and GIs. Further clinical studies are warranted to evaluate the protective effect of insomnia treatment on GIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rubberised concrete is a type of light, green building material, which is prepared by mixing rubber powder or rubber crumb into ordinary concrete in a certain proportion. Similarly, using vibration-free technology, rubber can be added to self-compacting concrete (SCC) to prepare self-compacting rubber concrete (SCRC). Uniaxial compression tests were carried out on SCRC made with two particle sizes at different strain rates, and the effects of strain rate and rubber content on the dynamic mechanical properties of the SCRC were studied. The microstructure of SCRC specimens before and after damage was analysed. Compared with ordinary SCC, the SCRC was capable of maintaining good integrity during damage when the rubber powder content exceeded 10% and the rubber crumb content exceeded 15%. It was also found that, as the strain rate increased, both the peak stress and the elastic modulus increased, indicating the strain rate enhancement effect; the strain rate effect on the peak strain was not evident. Equations relating peak stress and elastic modulus to the strain rate effect were established, a dynamic damage constitutive model was developed, the damage evolution was analysed and stress intervals were assigned to the various stages of damage evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The method of describing deformation camouflage spots based on feature space has some shortcomings, such as inaccurate description and difficult reproduction. Depending on the strong fitting ability of the generative adversarial network model, the distribution of deformation camouflage spot pattern can be directly fitted, thus simplifying the process of spot extraction and reproduction. The requirements of background spot extraction are analyzed theoretically. The calculation formula of limiting the range of image spot pixels is given and two kinds of spot data sets, forestland and snowfield, are established. Spot feature is decomposed into shape, size and color features, and a GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) framework is established. The effects of different loss functions on network training results are analyzed in the experiment. In the meantime, when the input dimension of generator network is 128, the balance between sample diversity and quality can be achieved. The effects of sample generation are investigated in two aspects. Subjectively, the probability of the generated spots being distinguished in the background is counted, and the results are all less than 20% and mostly close to zero. Objectively, the features of the spot shape are calculated and the independent sample T-test is applied to verify that the features are from the same distribution, and all the P-Values are much higher than 0.05. Both subjective and objective methods prove that the spots generated by this method are similar to the background spots. The proposed method can directly generate the desired camouflage pattern spots, which provides a new technical method for the deformation camouflage pattern design and camouflage effect evaluation.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been declared a public health emergency of international concerns. Cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) is a critical clinical symptom of severe COVID-19 patients, and the macrophage is recognized as the direct host cell of SARS-CoV-2 and potential drivers of CSS. In the present study, peramivir was identified to reduce TNF-α by partly intervention of NF-κB activity in LPS-induced macrophage model. In vivo, peramivir reduced the multi-cytokines in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), alleviated the acute lung injury and prolonged the survival time in mice. In human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (hPBMCs), peramivir could also inhibit the release of TNF-α. Collectively, we proposed that peramivir might be a candidate for the treatment of COVID-19 and other infections related CSS.

Objective: The efficacy and safety of adjunctive magnetic seizure therapy (MST) for patients with schizophrenia are unclear. This systematic review was conducted to examine the efficacy and safety of adjunctive MST for schizophrenia.Methods: Chinese (WanFang and Chinese Journal Net) and English (PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library) databases were systematically searched.Results: Two open-label self-controlled studies (n = 16) were included and analyzed in this review. In these studies, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total scores and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) total scores significantly decreased from baseline to post-MST (all Ps < 0.05), without serious adverse neurocognitive effects. Mixed findings on the neurocognitive effects of adjunctive MST for schizophrenia were reported in the two studies. A discontinuation rate of treatment of up to 50% (4/8) was reported in both studies. The rate of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) was evaluated in only one study, where the most common ADRs were found to be dizziness (25%, 2/8) and subjective memory loss (12.5%, 1/8).Conclusion: There is inconsistent evidence for MST-related adverse neurocognitive effects and preliminary evidence for the alleviation of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia.

Abstract Background Rapid demographic and economic changes have made chronic disease the number one health issue in China, contributing to more than 80% of the country’s 10.3 million annual deaths and nearly 70% of its total disease burden (Wang et al., Toward a Healthy and Harmonious Life in China: Stemming the Rising Tide of Non-Communicable Diseases, 2011; Yip and Hsiao, Lancet 384: 805-18, 2014). Diabetes is a major contributor to the chronic disease burden and is experienced by nearly 11% of the adult population of China (Yang et al., N Engl J Med 362:1090-101, 2010). In response to the challenges of chronic disease, the Chinese government initiated comprehensive health care reforms nationwide in 2009. A key measure was a hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system for monitoring and reducing chronic diseases and improving the community health service system (Barber et al., Health Policy Plan 29:367-78, 2014). Primary hospitals, such as community health service centers, are the main gatekeepers for management of diabetes and other chronic diseasesin China. In recognition of the need for a more patient-centered approach, the Chinese government has piloted a program incorporating methods of diabetes self-management for chronic care: the Happy Life Club (Browning et al., Front in Public Health 2:181, 2015). This program is modeled on a similar program developed in Australia (Kelly et al., Aust J Prim Health 9:186-9, 2003). The ICDMS is an important tool in the implementation of patient-centered programs targeting chronic health issues, and its success is determined by factors, such as frequent contact between patients and doctors and effective website training for patients. This retrospective study used de-identified data from the Fangzhuang (Beijing) intelligent chronic disease management system (ICDMS) database to evaluate the effect of an intelligent chronic disease management system on selected Beijing community patients who have type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods A comparative study before and after ICDMS implementation was performed to evaluate the effect of ICDMS on the rates of follow-up and laboratory examinations, measurement rates of blood glucose and lipids, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and blood lipid levels, as well as the corresponding health parameters. Continuous variables and categorical variables were analyzed using paired t-test and McNemar’s tests, respectively. Results A total of 2451 T2DM patients met inclusion/exclusion criteria. Compared with the pre-index period, the laboratory examination, rates of blood glucose and blood lipids increased significantly in the post-index period (p

Microplitis pallidipes Szépligeti (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is an important parasitic wasp of second and third-instar noctuid larvae such as the insect pests Spodoptera exigua, Spodoptera litura, and Spodoptera frugiperda. As in other insects, M. pallidipes has a chemosensory recognition system that is critical to foraging, mating, oviposition, and other behaviors. Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are important to the system, but those of M. pallidipes have not been determined. This study used PacBio long-read sequencing to identify 170,980 M. pallidipes unigenes and predicted 129,381 proteins. Following retrieval of possible OBP sequences, we removed those that were redundant or non-full-length and eventually cloned five OBP sequences: MpOBP2, MpOBP3, MpOBP8, MpOBP10, and MpPBP 429, 429, 459, 420, and 429 bp in size, respectively. Each M. pallidipes OBP had six conserved cysteine residues. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the five OBPs were located at different branches of the phylogenetic tree. Additionally, tissue expression profiles indicated that MpOBP2 and MpPBP were mainly expressed in the antennae of male wasps, while MpOBP3, MpOBP8, and MpOBP10 were mainly expressed in the antennae of female wasps. MpOBP3 was also highly expressed in the legs of female wasps. Temporal profiles revealed that the expression of each M. pallidipes OBP peaked at different days after emergence to adulthood. In conclusion, we identified five novel odorant-binding proteins of M. pallidipes and demonstrated biologically relevant differences in expression patterns.

In order to enhance the quality of thread processing by tap, a systematic analysis of its forming mechanism and factors affecting forming quality is conducted. Effects of the number of edges, the amount of shovel back, the extrusion cone, the calibration part and the extrusion cone angle on the torque and temperature are achieved by finite element analysis and experiments. From the perspective of reducing torque and temperature during the forming process, the optimal combination of tap structural parameters for machining M22×2 internal threads on 42CrMo4 high-strength steel are further obtained through orthogonal optimization. The results show that, unlike the cutting process of threads, the extrusion forming process of threads is a net forming process in which metal undergoes plastic deformation in a limited space, and the metal material continuously flows along the edge of the V-shaped groove of the tap, gradually piling up to form the thread tooth shape. This also caused a noticeable lack of flesh at the top of the extruded thread teeth. Better quality threads can be obtained by machining with optimized structural parameters. The maximum torque and temperature during the machining process are reduced by 22.86% and 20.31%, respectively. The depth of the hardened layer increased by 0.05 mm, and the root and top hardness of the teeth increased by 10 HV0.2 and 5 HV0.2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the thread‐forming quality of diesel engine piston connecting rod, the internal thread cold extrusion process was adopted for the through‐hole structure of 42CrMo4 high‐strength steel. The influence of different structural parameters of the tap on the residual stress distribution of the cold extrusion internal threads and self‐wear were discussed with the help of three‐dimensional elastic–plastic finite element model. The wear of tap was observed by an electron microscope, coordinated with the residual stress distribution of thread was measured by X‐ray diffraction to explore the relationship between residual stress distribution of the cold extrusion internal thread, tool wear and tap structure. The optimal combination of tap structure parameters of residual stress and tool wear was obtained through grey relation method. The residual compressive stress and the depth of stress layer near the thread surface increased and the wear condition of the extrusion tap was improved when the tap with optimised structural parameters was used for processing, while maintaining the original thread connection strength. The results show that the internal thread with better‐forming quality can be obtained by using the optimised extrusion tap, while the service life of the tap was prolonged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]