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Background: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging epidemic infectious disease with high mortality rate. This study aimed to investigate the association of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and mortality risk in hospitalized SFTS patients. Methods: Clinical data of SFTS patients was retrospectively collected from three hospitals between October 2010 and August 2022. Cox proportional hazards model was used to identity the risk factors for fatal outcome. The predictive value of RDW for fatal outcome was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and Kaplan–Meier methods. Results: Of 292 patients, the median age was 61.5 years. Non-survivors showed higher RDW value than survivors (13.6% vs.13.0%, P < 0.001). The mortality rate was 44.8% in patients with elevated RDW compared to 18.4% of patients with normal RDW, with a relative risk (RR) of 2.439. Elevated RDW was an independent risk factor of mortality (hazards ratio: 1.167, P = 0.019). Patients with elevated RDW had a higher cumulative mortality than patients with normal RDW. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of RDW for the prediction of mortality was 0.690 (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Elevated RDW was associated with higher mortality risk for patients hospitalized for SFTS. RDW may be helpful for risk stratification in SFTS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an epidemic emerging infectious disease with high mortality rate. We investigated the association between liver injury and clinical outcomes in patients with SFTS. Methods: A total of 291 hospitalized SFTS patients were retrospectively included. Cox proportional hazards model was adopted to identify risk factors of fatal outcome and Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate cumulative risks. Results: 60.1% of patients had liver injury at admission, and the median alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and total bilirubin (TBil) levels were 76.4 U/L, 152.3 U/L, 69.8 U/L and 9.9 μmol/L, respectively. Compared to survivors, non-survivors had higher levels of AST (253.0 U/L vs. 131.1 U/L, P < 0.001) and ALP (86.2 U/L vs. 67.9 U/L, P = 0.006), higher proportion of elevated ALP (20.0% vs. 4.4%, P < 0.001) and liver injury (78.5% vs. 54.9%, P = 0.001) at admission. The presence of liver injury (HR 2.049, P = 0.033) at admission was an independent risk factor of fatal outcome. Conclusions: Liver injury was a common complication and was strongly associated with poor prognosis in SFTS patients. Liver function indicators should be closely monitored for SFTS patients. Author summary: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging epidemic infectious disease with high mortality rate. However, the prevalence of liver injury and its association with the prognosis of SFTS patients has not been well characterized. In this multi-center cohort study, we found that the incidence of liver injury in non-survivors was significantly higher than that in survivors both at admission and during hospitalization. Patients with liver injury at admission had higher cumulative mortality risk than those without liver injury. Our study demonstrated that the presence of liver injury is strongly associated with poor prognosis in SFTS patients. Liver function should be closely monitored in SFTS patients, which may contribute to better management of SFTS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auxin signalling plays a key role in various developmental processes ranging from embryogenesis to senescence in plants. Auxin response factor (ARF), a key component of auxin signalling, functions by binding to auxin response element within promoter of auxin response genes, activating or repressing the target genes. Increasing evidences show that ARFs are crucial for plant response to stresses. This review summarises the recent advance on the functions and their regulatory pathways of rice ARFs in development and responding to stresses. The importance of OsARFs is demonstrated by their roles in triggering various physiological, biochemical and molecular reactions to resist adverse environmental conditions. We also describe the transcriptional and post‐transcriptional regulation of OsARFs, and discuss the major challenges in this area. Summary Statement: OsARF, a key component of rice auxin signalling, plays critical roles in rice development and helps to adverse abiotic and biotic stresses. Here, we summarise the functions of OsARFs in growth/development‐ and stress‐related signalling pathways which is helpful in breeding climate resilient crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The clinical features have been well described in obese chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, little is known about the clinical features of lean CHB‐NAFLD patients. Methods: The study retrospectively included treatment‐naïve CHB patients who underwent ultrasound between 2015 and 2021. Liver fibrosis was assessed by aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index (APRI), Fibrosis‐4 score (FIB‐4), NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), and transient elastography. Results: Among 1226 CHB‐NAFLD patients, 25.0% patients were lean. The age, gender, and platelet, alanine aminotransferase, AST, and albumin levels were comparable between lean CHB‐NAFLD and nonlean patients. The levels of plasma glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and uric acid, as well as proportions of concurrent hypertension and diabetes, were lower in lean patients. Lean patients presented higher hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels (3.4 log10 IU/ml vs. 3.2 log10 IU/ml, p = 0.006), hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels (4.1 log10 IU/ml vs. 3.2 log10 IU/ml, p < 0.001), and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive proportions (40.4% vs. 30.2%, p = 0.002) than nonlean patients. The values of APRI, FIB‐4, and liver stiffness were comparable between two groups. However, lean patients had lower NFS values (−3.0 vs. −2.6, p < 0.001) and lower proportions (12.6% vs. 21.1%, p = 0.003) of advanced fibrosis (NFS ≥ −1.5) than nonlean patients. Similar results were observed in HBeAg‐positive and HBeAg‐negative subgroups. Conclusions: Nearly a quarter of CHB‐NAFLD patients were lean. Lean patients had lower proportions of metabolic abnormalities and advanced liver fibrosis than nonlean patients. However, lean CHB‐NAFLD patients had higher HBsAg levels, HBV DNA levels, and HBeAg‐positive proportions. Registry and registration no. of the study/trial: Clinicaltrials.gov, Identifier: NCT03097952. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Realistic estimation of power MOSFET switching losses is critical for predicting the maximum junction temperature and efficiency of power electronics circuits. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the internal physics of MOSFET switching processes using a physically based semiconductor device modeling approach, and subsequently examine the commonly used power loss calculation method in light of the new physical insights. The widely accepted output capacitance loss term is found to be redundant and erroneous based on the new modeling and measurement results. In addition, the existing method of approximating switching times with the power MOSFET gate charge parameters grossly overestimates the switching power loss. This paper recommends a new MOSFET gate charge parameter specification and an effective switching time estimation method to compensate for the power loss calculation error introduced by the two-slope voltage transition waveform of the power MOSFET. Index Terms--Power converters, power MOSFET, switching power loss.

Reliability of power-electronic modules is of paramount importance for the commercial success of various types of electric vehicles. In this paper, we study the technical feasibility of detecting and utilizing early symptoms and warning signs of power-module degradation due to thermomechanical stress and fatigue and develop a prognostic system that can monitor the state of health of the power modules in electric, hybrid, and fuel-cell vehicles. A special degradation trace on the [V.sub.CEsat] of the insulated-gate bipolar-transistor modules was observed by a power-cycling accelerated test, which was not reported in literatures. A prognostic system based on utilizing the aforementioned trace is then developed. The system consists of the hardware architecture and current adaptive-algorithm-based software architecture. In addition, this prognostic system hardly increases the hardware cost on existing vehicle-driver system. An extensive simulation based on MATLAB/Simulink verifies the developed prognostic system. Index Terms--Electric vehicles, electronics module, hybrid vehicles, reliability.

In this paper, a novel principle of an active power filter based on the harmonic impedance control of a transformer is proposed for high-voltage power distribution systems application. A linear transformer with multiple secondary windings is adopted. The primary winding is shunted with harmonic-producing loads, while the secondary windings are connected with inverters. The primary harmonic current is detected and then tracked by the inverters with fixed compensation coefficient. When the harmonic current compensation condition is satisfied, the transformer can really exhibit nearly zero impedance to harmonic current and primary self-impedance to fundamental current. As a result, the harmonic currents in power systems can be led to flow into the transformer branch. The operation principle, the control scheme, and the harmonic current detection method are discussed in detail. Finally, simulated waveforms and experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the active power filter. Index Terms--Active power filter, harmonic impedance, high power, high voltage, linear, multiple windings, power distribution systems, pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) inverter, transformer.