Through wind tunnel experiments, we measured the surface drifting sand flux structure and sand transport rate at height of 0~70 cm on a bed surface under conditions of ridge microtopography with different height and different spacing. The results show that the percentage of sand transport in 0~10 cm layer above the bed surface is significantly reduced under ridge microtopography condition compared with no ridges condition. Under ridge microtopography condition, the percentage of sand transport in 0~10 cm layer decreases with the increase of ridge height, while it generally increases with the increase of ridge spacing and wind velocity. Under no ridges condition, the sand transport rate decreases in a power function law with the increase of height. The variation of sand transport rate with height under ridge microtopography condition could be divided into two cases: one shows that sand transport rate decreases exponentially with the increase of height, while the other shows that sand transport rate increases with the increase of height under a certain height, and above the certain height it decreases exponentially with the increase of height, known as “elephant nose” effect which seems similar to the structure of drifting sand flux in Gobi desert. For all the ridge heights and spacings, the total sand transport rate at height of 0~70 cm increases with the increase of friction velocity in a power function law, and it increases with the increase of ridge spacing. The simulation of the drifting sand flux structure and the relationship between sand transport rate and height shows that the ridge microtopography reduces the sand transport ratio of near surface air flow compared with no ridges condition. The results will contribute to studies on recognizing the process and mechanism of soil wind erosion in ridge farmland.

Purpose: In mitral stenosis (MS) patients, determining stenosis severity in atrial fibrillation (AF) is time-consuming by averaging measurement by multiple cardiac cycles. Whether a single beat method can be used to measure the mitral valve area (MVA) and transmitral gradient for stenosis severity assessment in AF is still uncertain. Methods: Forty-eight MS patients with AF (mean age 46.8+8.6 years) underwent routine echocardiographic study. The MVA by pressure half time (PHT) and transmitral mean gradient were measured by four methods: the standard approach (averaging multiple beats), single short R-R cycle, single long R-R cycle, and single beat RRp/RRpp = 1. 2D and 3D planimetry MVA were measured at the mitral orifice. Results: The single beat RRp/RRpp = 1 showed no significant difference in MVA PHT measurement compared with standard approach (0.8 (0.3 – 2.7 vs 0.9 + 0.3 cm 2 ) cm 2, P = 0.472), whereas there was a significant difference in MVA by PHT when short R-R cycle (1.0 (0.4 – 2.7) cm 2, P = 0.0001) and long R-R cycle (0.8 (0.3 – 1.7) cm 2, P = 0.013) were selected. There was a significant difference in mean MVG measurement when short R-R cycle (12.1 + 3.9 mmHg, P = 0.001) , long R-R cycle (10.1 + 4.0 mmHg, P = 0.007), and single beat RRp/RRpp = 1 (12.2 + 4.4 mmHg, P = 0.0001) were selected. Correlation coefficients for MVA PHT calculated by single beat RRp/RRpp = 1 compared with MVA PHT measured by standard approach are r = 0.87 ( P < 0.001). There is weak correlation in measurement MVA between PHT single beat RRp/RRpp = 1 and 3D planimetry ( r = 0.316, P = 0.044). Conclusion: In AF, the single beat method RRp/RRpp = 1 for measurement MVA by PHT in MS has a high correlation with the current standard approach by averaging multiple beats. Compared with MVA by 3D planimetry as the reference measurement of MVA, measurement of MVA by PHT standard approach and single beat RRp/RRpp = 1 have a weak correlation in AF patients. MVA by planimetry especially 3D planimetry, is considered as a reference measurement, but MVA by PHT single beat RRp/RRpp =1 can be an alternative, especially when MVA by planimetry is not feasible.

Patterns and drivers of succession provide insight into the mechanisms that govern community assembly and are indicators of community resilience and stability but are still poorly understood in microbial communities. We assessed whether the successional trends of woody vegetation are mirrored by foliar fungal endophyte communities of three tree species that are abundant across the woody successional gradient using a total amplicon sequencing approach. Additionally, we test the relative contribution of host identity, abiotic predictors, biotic factors, and spatial distance between sites in predicting community composition and species richness of endophyte communities. Unlike the woody community, endophyte communities showed no consistent evidence of deterministic successional trends. Host identity was the most important factor structuring fungal endophyte community composition. Spatial distance played some role in explaining differences in community composition, but the effects of this and other environmental variables were small and not consistent between different host species. Much of the variation in endophyte composition remained unexplained. Host identity was most important in predicting endophyte richness. Although endophyte communities showed no deterministic succession, community assembly was most strongly influenced by host identity and spatial distance.

The effects of different straw returning and nitrogen addition levels on soil quality are important for proper coastal saline soil remediation. Two maize/wheat straw returning levels (1.0 × 10 4 kg ha -1 (2S) and 5.0 × 10 3 kg ha -1 (S)) and three inorganic nitrogen addition levels (300 kg ha -1 (N2), 150 kg ha -1 (N) and 75 kg ha -1 (N1/2))—were studied, with 150 kg ha -1 inorganic nitrogen and without straw addition treatment as the control (CK), to elucidate the response of soil physical and chemical properties to the two factors. Dry-sieving technique was applied to fractionate the soils into silt-plus-clay particles (< 0.053 mm, CS), microaggregates (0.053–0.25 mm, MI), small macroaggregates (0.25–2.0 mm, SM), and large macroaggregates (> 2 mm, LM). After four consecutive wheat-maize cycles, different straw and N fertilizer treatments obviously decreased the salinity contents, increased the total nutrient contents, and optimized the soil structure of the saline soil. The saline soil reclamation effects showed significant distinctions among the different straw and N fertilizer treatments. The 2SN2 treatment displayed the greatest effects in regard to decreasing salinity, increasing the total soil nutrient contents and optimizing the soil structure, which resulted in the best remediation effect. Straw returning play a major role in decreasing soil salinity and enhancing saline soil aggregate formation. N fertilizer addition supplies rich nutrients for straw decomposition, and promotes soil microbial growth and reproduction, which brought about C sequestration in coastal saline soil. During the coastal saline soil remediation process in the Yellow River Delta, it is suggested to prioritize straw returning and moderate N fertilizer addition, and live together with moderate P fertilizer application.

Extreme meteorological events occur frequently, and changes in the spatial pattern of land use have greatly affected the soil erosion process in the hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau. As a typical governance watershed in the hilly and gully area of the Loess Plateau, the Jiuyuangou watershed has experienced significant changes in land use and land cover (LULCC) in the past ten years due to the conversion of farmland to forests, economic construction, and abandonment of cultivated land. However, the evolution process of soil erosion under LULCC in the watershed is unclear. This study uses satellite images to extract information on LULCC in the watershed and the Chinese soil loss equation (CSLE) model to evaluate the temporal and spatial evolution of soil erosion in the watershed from 2010 to 2020. The main results showed that: (1) The continuous vegetation restoration project in the watershed reduced soil erosion from 2010 to 2015; however, the frequency of extreme rainfall events after 2015 reduced its impact. The annual average soil erosion modulus decreased from 10.85 t ha –1 yr –1 in 2010 to 8.03 t ha –1 yr –1 in 2015, but then increased to 10.57 t ha –1 yr –1in 2020; (2) The main LULC type in the Jiuyuangou watershed is grassland, accounting for 62.23% of the total area of the watershed, followed by forest land (28.41%), cropland (6.77%), building (2.49%), and water (0.09%). The multi-year average soil erosion modulus for land use type is cropland > grassland > building > forest land; (3) Significant spatial correlations between soil erosion change and LULCC for common ‘no change’ and common ‘gain’ occurred in the settlements, roads, valleys, and areas near the human influences with good soil and water conservation, but not other regions due to the influence of climatic factors (heavy rain events). This study provides a scientific reference for planning and managing water and soil conservation and ecological environment construction in the basin.

Cationic helical peptides play a crucial role in applications such as anti-microbial and anti-cancer activity. The activity of these peptides directly correlates with their helicity. In this study, we have performed extensive all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of 25 Lysine-Leucine co-polypeptide sequences of varying charge density ( λ ) and patterns. Our findings showed that an increase in the charge density on the peptide leads to a gradual decrease in the helicity up to a critical charge density λ c . Beyond, λ c a complete helix to coil transition was observed. The decrease in the helicity correlated with the increased number of water molecules in first solvation shell, solvent-exposed surface area, and a higher value of the radius of gyration of the peptide.

The influence of various additives on the coacervate phase behaviour of micellar solution of non-ionic surfactant was investigated. Above the critical micelle concentration, nonionic surfactant in aqueous solution shows phase separation, at cloud point (CP), an increase in temperature results in consequent changes in micellar size, shape, and interactions. The addition of external material to surfactant solution changes the temperature, at which clouding occurs. Herein we report how cloud point changes in presence of alcohol as additives. The CP temperature of non-ionic surfactant Polyoxyethylene (4) lauryl ether (Brij-30) was investigated at various concentrations of surfactant in pure and additives mixed systems. The results demonstrate that the CP of pure Brij-30 surfactant shows a decreasing trend with increasing surfactant concentration from 1 to 10 % (w/v) in a 22% aqueous ethanolic medium. Simultaneously the CP values of Brij-30 with n-alcohols show an increasing trend in the presence of C3OH and C4OH chain length alcohols, due to the fact that they remain in the solution helps the formation of expanded water structures hence favoring micelle hydration, while the presence of C5OH, C6OH and C7OH chain length alcohols showing decreasing trend due to increasing in micelle size. These changes in CP values of Brij-30 in presence of various n-alcohols are useful to study the effect of the structure of additives on the stability of micelle. The stability of micelle aggregation was also discussed by using foam ability and foam stability. The “Phase Separation Model “is useful for calculating thermodynamic parameters of clouding

In order to analyze the fracture behavior of FRP-strengthened concrete beams under dynamic loads, three-point bending dynamic tests of FRP-strengthened concrete beam specimens with four different initial crack-depth ratios (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) were carried out in this paper. The crack propagation was quantitatively analyzed by acoustic emission (AE) technique and digital image correlation (DIC) method, and the toughening mechanism of FRP-strengthened concrete beam during crack propagation was studied. The test results show that, there are three key points in the failure process of FRP-strengthened concrete beams with cracks, which are the crack initiation point, crack resistance point and peak load point, respectively. The load values at the three key points of FRP-strengthened concrete beams with cracks decrease with the increase of initial crack-depth ratios. The location analysis of AE shows that the number of AE events can be used to indicate the crack width in the fracture process zone (FPZ) of FRP-strengthened concrete. The crack width of concrete beam specimens can be quantitatively determined by DIC and decrease with the increase of initial crack-depth ratios, indicating that observation results of DIC and AE technology are consistent, which is effective for characterizing the dynamic fracture behavior of concrete materials.

Brucellosis is a common zoonotic disease caused by Brucella, which causes enormous economic loss and public burden to the epidemic areas. Earlier and precise diagnosis and timely culling of infected animals are crucial to prevent the infection of Brucella and the spread of the disease. In recent years, RNA-guided CRISPR/Cas12a nucleases have shown great promise in nucleic acid detection. This research aims to develop a CRISPR/CAST (CRISPR/Cas12a Test strip) package that can rapidly detect Brucella nucleic acid on-site screening, especially on the remote family pasture. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and its associated protein 12a (Cas12a), the CRISPR/Cas12a system combined with recombinase polymerase amplification(RPA), and lateral flow read-out. The CRISPR/CAST package can complete the assay of Brucella nucleic acid within 30 min under isothermal temperature conditions, with a sensitivity of 10 copies/μl, and no antigen cross-reacting against Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 , Escherichia coli O157 , Salmonella enterica serovar Urbana O:30 , and Francisella tularensis. The serum samples of 398 sheep and 100 cattle were tested by CRISPR/CAST package, of which 31 sheep and 8 cattle were Brucella DNA positive. The detection rate was consistent with the qPCR and higher than the Rose Bengal Test (RBT, 19 sheep, and 5 cattle were serum positive). CRISPR/CAST package can accurately detect the infected livestock’s Brucella DNA and accomplish within 30 min, which has the advantages of simple, fast, high sensitivity, and strong specificity, with no window period. Besides, the package needs no expensive equipment, standard laboratory, or professional operators. It is an effective tool for field screening and earlier, rapid diagnosis of Brucella infection. A package is an efficient tool for epidemic prevention and control.

A document by Mia Maria Bengtsson. Click on the document to view its contents.

Chironomid is the most important macroinvertebrate species in aquatic ecosystem. Chironomus represents the most important genus of the Chironomidae. However, the species of this genus lack a high-quality assembled genome. Here, a high-quality chromosome-level assembled genome of Chironomus striatipennis which is an important model organism in aquatic ecological detection and toxicological application has been reported. The assembled genome size of C. striatipennis was 181.84 Mb, with a scaffold N50 value of 54.13 Mb. Furthermore, the molecular mechanism of adaptive evolution of Chironomid to benthic environment was elucidated by combining transcriptome data of different stages. The complete metabolic pathway of Hemoglobin was clarified in C. striatipennis for the first time to suggests the regulatory mechanism underlying its adaptation to benthic living. The expansions of CYP450s gene family related to detoxification explain its tolerance to the harsh environment. The key gene family, JHAMT, involved in biosynthesis of juvenile hormone are substantially expanded. The expansion of JHAMT genes and the regular regulation of juvenile hormone and ecdysone explain the developmental plasticity of C. striatipennis. In this study, it was also found that C. striatipennis is more dependent on JNK signal pathway induced metamorphosis than Drosophila melanogaster. This study provides some views into genetic basis of tolerance and adaptation of C. striatipennis to harsh benthic environments and lays a part of the foundation for the adaptive evolution of benthic animals.

Commentary for manuscript BJOG 2022 Gurol-Urganci et al (10.1111/1471-0528.17193)

In this paper, we describe a rare case of a giant aneurysm of the circumflex artery that we managed. A 59-year-old female patient presented in cardiogenic shock after partial aneurysm rupture. Giant aneurysms of the circumflex artery are extremely rare entities. The optimal surgical management dictates meticulous preoperative planning and the operation should be carried out on an elective basis.

Background: There is a need to identify clinical parameters for early and effective risk stratification and prediction of bacterial blood stream infections (BSI) in patients with febrile neutropenia (FN). 1,2,3,4 Acetaminophen is used widely to treat fever in FN; however, little research exists on whether fever response to acetaminophen can be used as a predictor of BSIs. Objectives: Investigate the relationship between fever response to acetaminophen and bacteremia in FN. Design/Method: A retrospective review of patients (1-21 years old) presenting with FN and bacteremia at Rady Children’s Hospital (2012-2018) was performed. Demographic information, presenting signs/symptoms, degree of neutropenia (ANC > 500 or < 500 cells/µL), absolute monocyte count (AMC), blood culture results, temperatures 1-, 2-, and 6-hours after acetaminophen, and timing of antibiotic administration were examined. Patients were stratified into three malignancy categories: leukemia/lymphoma, solid tumor, and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Patients were matched with culture negative controls based on sex, age, malignancy category, and degree of neutropenia. Results: Thirty-five cohort-control pairs met inclusion criteria (70 presentations of FN). Mean age of cohort was 10.7 years (± 6.3) vs. 10.0 years (± 5.9) for the controls. Twenty were female (57%). Twenty-three pairs were categorized as leukemia/lymphoma (66%), 8 as solid tumor (23%) and 4 as HSCT (11%). Thirty-four pairs (97%) had a presenting ANC < 500 cells/µL. Higher temperature 1-hour post-acetaminophen was associated with bacteremia (p = 0.04). Logistic regression demonstrated that temperature 1-hour post-acetaminophen had significant predictive value for bacteremia (p = 0.011). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC-ROC) for logistic regression and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis were 0.70 and 0.71 respectively. Conclusion: While temperature 1-hour post-acetaminophen was higher among patients with bacteremia and was a significant predictor of bacteremia, fever response in isolation lacks sufficient predictive value to impact clinical decision making. Future studies are needed to assess fever responsiveness as an adjunct to existing modalities of FN risk stratification.

A document by Jiali Liu. Click on the document to view its contents.

IntroductionHematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is an important treatment modality for patients with both benign and malignant hematological diseases [1].Tremendous advances have occurred in the field of stem cell transplant with the use of mismatched and haploidentical donors and improved supportive care to prevent graft versus host disease enabling more patients to undergo transplant safely. Patients undergoing stem cell transplant are at an increased risk of bacterial, viral and fungal infections [2]. Patients have severe neutropenia in the immediate peri-transplant period and are at highest risk of bacterial infections [3, 4]. Infection is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing transplants [5,6]. There can be several reasons for high rates of infections in these patients [7]. Bacteremia occurs in as high as 20% of patients [8].Multiorgan dysfunction and mortality ensues in complicated cases. Some studies have reported that gram-positive cocci (GPC) blood stream infections (most commonly coagulase negative staphylococcus) occur more commonly than gram-negative bacilli (GNB) infections. However, gram-negative infections contributed to as high as 45% mortality in these patients [9].Measures to decrease the incidence of infections like isolation, HEPA filter fitted rooms [10] and gut decontamination have been used in transplant patients. Antibiotic prophylaxis with fluoroquinolone has been recommended by the IDSA and ASCO for patients who are expected to have a profound (< 100 neutrophils/uL) and prolonged neutropenia (> 7 days) [11]. In a recent meta-analysis antibiotic prophylaxis significantly reduced the all-cause mortality in neutropenic patients [8]. However, it has been shown to alter the gut microbiome increasing chance of clostridium difficile infections [12]. There are concerns regarding subsequent emergence of fluroquinolone resistance increasing need for therapy with carbapenem antibiotics. Many authors have argued against using prophylactic antibiotics and advocate well-structured sepsis care bundles that focuses on timely identification and treatment of neutropenic sepsis [13]. There is also a concern around rising carbapenem resistant enterobacteracae (CRE) around the world [14]. In this study we evaluate the role of antibiotic prophylaxis in patients undergoing stem cell transplant at our center.

A man in his 50s with no significant past medical history developed subarachnoid hemorrhage due to ruptured left middle cerebral artery aneurysm. 9th hospital day, he experienced a ruptured visceral aneurysm with segmental arterial mediolysis, and we successfully treated with transarterial embolization using metallic coils.

Moisture sorption characteristics of gari sold in Ebonyi, Enugu, and Abia state were studied. The gari samples were coded thus; Abia white gari sample (ABW), Abia yellow gari sample (ABY), Ebonyi white gari sample (EBW), Ebonyi yellow gari sample (EBY), Enugu white gari sample (ENW) and Enugu yellow gari sample (ENY), accordingly. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC) was determined using a standard Gravimetric method with tetraoxosulphate (VI) salt and water mixtures providing equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) 15, 25,35, 45, 55 and 65 % to yield a water activity (aw) range of 0.0972 - 0.9811 at 30, 40 and 50 oC for adsorption and desorption isotherm arms. The sorption data generated were fitted into GAB and Handerson models. A sigmoidal behaviour ( type II) was observed which is a typical attribute of a dry carbohydrate dense food. There was a general increase in the equilibrium moisture content (%) with increasing water activity. A little difference was observed between the sorption behaviour of ABW, EBW and ENW; ABY, EBY and ENY gari sample. The equilibrium moisture content decreased with increase in temperature at constant water activity. The goodness fit of the two models were determined using four statistical parameters; coefficient of determination (r 2), root mean square error (RMSE), percentage mean relative deviation modulus (%p) and chi square (x 2). GAB model appeared as the most suitable model than Henderson model. EBW and EBY gari samples proves to be of good shelf stability.

In existing surgery process, surgeons need to manually adjust the laparoscopes to provide a better field of view during operation, which may distract surgeons and slow down the surgery process. This paper presents a data-driven control method that uses a continuum laparoscope to adjust the field of view by tracking the surgical instruments. A Koopman-based system identification method is firstly applied to linearize the nonlinear system. Shifted Chebyshev polynomials are used to construct observation functions that transfer low-dimension observations to high-dimension ones. The Koopman operator is approximated using a finite-dimensional estimation method. An optimal controller is further developed according to the trained linear model. Furthermore, a learning-based pose estimation framework is designed to detect keypoints on surgical instruments and provide visual feedback for adjusting the laparoscope. Compared with other detection methods, the proposed scheme achieves a higher detection precision and provides more optional keypoints for tracking. Simulation and experiments validate the feasibility of the proposed control method. Experiment results show that the proposed method can automatically adjust the field of continuum laparoscope through tracking surgical instruments in a timely manner and the number of surgical tools is not limited.

Frail patients may have atrophic jaws. Frail patients typically have a low bite force capability. Bone in atrophic jaws may be dense and able to resist occlusal loads. Appropriate length mini-implants, immediately loaded can retain a denture. Mini-implants retaining a complete denture can provide a better quality of life.

Infective endocarditis rarely presents with cutaneous manifestations due to earlier diagnosis and treatment. We present a case of a middle-aged male patient presenting with an erythematous papular rash in the upper extremities and left knee, further progressing into painful ulcers.

Analysis of the genetic bases of adaptation to climate changes are often conducted on natural populations. We report here on a study based on diachronic sampling (1980 & 2010) of the self-fertilising crop species, Oryza sativa (Asian rice) and Oryza glaberrima (African rice), in the tropical forest and the Sudanian savannah of West Africa. First, using historical meteorological data we confirmed changes in temperatures (+1°C on average) and rainfall regime (less predictable and reduced amount) in the target area. Second, phenotyping the populations for phenology, we observed significantly earlier heading time (up to 10 days) in the 2010 samples. Third, we implemented two genome-scan methods, one of which specially developed for selfing species, and detected 31 independent selection footprints. These loci showed significant enrichment in genes involved in reproductive processes and bore known heading time QTLs and genes, including OsGI, Hd1 and OsphyB. This rapid adaptive evolution, originated from subtle changes in the standing variation in genetic network regulating heading time, did not translate into predominance of multilocus genotypes, as it is often the case in selfing plants, and into notable selective sweeps. We argue that this high adaptive potential results from the multiline genetic structure of the rice landraces, and the rather large and imbricated genetic diversity of the rice meta-population at the farm, the village and the region levels, that hosted the adaptive variants in multiple genetic backgrounds well before the advent of the environmental selective pressure. The complex selection footprints observed in this empirical study calls for further model development on genetic bases of plant adaptation to environmental changes.

This paper is devoted to study a class of Kirchhoff type problems with variable exponent. By means of perturbation technique, variational methods and a priori estimation, the existence of nonnegative nontrivial solutions to this problem is obtain.

Glucosamine (GlcN) is a natural amino monosaccharide in which a hydroxyl group of glucose is substituted for an amino group. It belongs to functional amino sugar compounds. The traditional GlcN production method is prepared by hydrolyzing the exoskeleton of shrimp and crab. This method has many potential problems such as geographical and seasonal restrictions on raw material supply, serious environmental pollution and potential allergic reactions. The microbial fermentation method has the advantages of short fermentation time, high production intensity, wide source of raw materials, green and sustainable process, and product safety. This paper mainly summarizes the research on strain construction, metabolic pathway design, and fermentation condition optimization in microbial fermentation, which has certain guiding significance for the further production of glucosamine.