The commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software STAR-CCM+ was used to simulate the flow and breakup characteristics of a Liquid Jet Injected into the gaseous Crossflow (LJIC) under real engine operating conditions. The reasonable calculation domain geometry and flow boundary conditions were obtained based on a civil aviation engine performance model similar to the Leap-1B engine which was developed using the GasTurb software and the preliminary design results of its low-emission combustor. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) model was applied to simulate the breakup feature of the near field of LJIC. The numerical method was validated and calibrated through comparison with the public test data at atmospheric conditions. The results showed that the numerical method can capture most of the jet breakup structure and predict the jet trajectory with an error not exceeding ±5%. The verified numerical method was applied to simulate the breakup of LJIC at the real engine operating condition. The breakup mode of LJIC was shown to be surface shear breakup at elevated condition. The trajectory of the liquid jet showed good agreement with Ragucci’s empirical correlation.

Tuberculosis (TB) is generally considered a disease that principally afflicts the low-income segments of a population. In the Nanshan District of Shenzhen, China, with the economic transformation and a new Headquarters Economy (HE) emerging, there are now more cases in office workers than in manufacturing workers. To illustrate this trend, we describe a small TB outbreak in an office building located in the centre of the rapidly growing HE district. Two active pulmonary tuberculosis cases were found in workers who shared an office, and whole genome sequencing showed that the genetic distance between the strains of the two cases was just one single nucleotide polymorphism, consistent with intra-office transmission. Investigation of 30 other workers in the same or adjacent offices with interviews, interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) and chest X-rays, identified one new TB case and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in 40.0% (12/30) of the contacts. The offices were under-ventilated. None of the IGRA positive, asymptomatic contacts agreed to receive treatment for LTBI, presumably due to TB stigma, and over the next 2 years 69.0% (20/29) of the contacts were lost to follow-up. Treatment for LTBI and stigma of TB remain challenges here. Office workers in the HE of rapidly economic developing areas should be targeted with increased vigilance by TB control programmes.

Estimating the feed intake of grazing herbivores is critical for determining their nutrition, overall productivity and utilization of grassland resources. A 17-day indoor feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential use of Medicago sativa as a natural supplement for estimating the total feed intake of sheep. A total of 16 sheep were randomly assigned to four diets (four sheep per diet) containing a known amount of M. sativa together with up to seven forages common to typical steppes. The diets were: diet 1, M. sativa + Leymus chinensis + Puccinellia distans; diet 2, species in diet 1 + Phragmites australis; diet 3, species in diet 2 + Chenopodium album + Elymus sibiricus; and diet 4, species in diet 3 + Artemisia scoparia + Artemisia tanacetifolia. After faecal marker concentrations were corrected by individual sheep recovery, treatment mean recovery or overall recovery, the proportions of M. sativa and other dietary forages were estimated from a combination of alkanes and long-chain alcohols using a least-square procedure. Total intake was the ratio of the known intake of M. sativa to its estimated dietary proportion. Each dietary component intake was obtained using total intake and the corresponding dietary proportions. The estimated values were compared with actual values to assess the estimation accuracy. The results showed that M. sativa exhibited a distinguishable marker pattern in comparison to the other dietary forage species. The accuracy of the dietary composition estimates was significantly (P < 0.001) affected by both diet diversity and the faecal recovery method. The proportion of M. sativa and total intake across all diets could be accurately estimated using the individual sheep or the treatment mean recovery methods. The largest differences between the estimated and observed total intake were 2.6 g and 19.2 g, respectively, representing only 0.4% and 2.6% of the total intake. However, they were significantly (P < 0.05) biased for most diets when using the overall recovery method. Due to the difficulty in obtaining individual sheep recovery under field conditions, treatment mean recovery is recommended. This study suggests that M. sativa, a natural roughage instead of a labelled concentrate, can be utilized as a dietary supplement to accurately estimate the total feed intake of sheep indoors and further indicates that it has potential to be used in steppe grassland of northern China, where the marker patterns of M. sativa differ markedly from commonly occurring plant species.

A numerical comparison of the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation and the finite-difference method for pricing European options under a regime-switching framework is presented in this paper. We consider pricing options on stocks having two to four volatility regimes. Numerical results show that the MC simulation outperforms the Crank–Nicolson (CN) finite-difference method in both the low-frequency case and the high-frequency case. Even though both methods have linear growth, as the number of regimes increases, the computational time of CN grows much faster than that of MC. In addition, for the two-state case, we propose a much faster simulation algorithm whose computational time is almost independent of the switching frequency. We also investigate the performances of two variance-reduction techniques: antithetic variates and control variates, to further improve the efficiency of the simulation.

Globally, the prevalence of oesophageal cancer cases is particularly high in China. Since 1982, oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) has been hypothesized as a risk factor for oesophageal cancer, but no firm evidence of HPV infection in oesophageal cancer has been established to date. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to estimate the high-risk HPV-18 prevalence of oesophageal cancer in the Chinese population. Eligible studies published from 1 January 2005 to 12 July 2014 were retrieved via computer searches of English and Chinese literature databases (including Medline, EMBASE, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform). A random-effects model was used to calculate pooled prevalence and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A total of 2556 oesophageal cancer cases from 19 studies were included in this meta-analysis. Overall, the pooled HPV-18 prevalence in oesophageal cancer cases was 4·1% (95% CI 2·7–5·5) in China, 6·1% (95% CI 2·9–9·3) in fresh or frozen biopsies and 4·0% (95% CI 2·3–5·8) in paraffin-embedded fixed biopsies, 8·2% (95% CI 4·6–11·7) by the E6/E7 region and 2·2% (95% CI 0·9–3·6) by the L1 region of the HPV gene. This meta-analysis indicated that China has a moderate HPV-18 prevalence of oesophageal cancer compared to cervical cancer, although there is variation between different variables. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of HPV in oesophagus carcinogenesis with careful consideration of study design and laboratory detection method, providing more accurate assessment of HPV status in oesophageal cancer.

Mycoplasma infections are most frequently associated with disease in the urogenital or respiratory tracts and, in most cases, mycoplasmas infect the host persistently. In HIV-infected individuals the prevalence and role of genital mycoplasmas has not been well studied. To investigate the six species of Mycoplasma and the risk factors for infection in Jiangsu province, first-void urine and venous blood samples were collected and epidemiological questionnaires were administered after informed consent. A total of 1541 HIV/AIDS patients were recruited in this study. The overall infection rates of six Mycoplasma species were: Ureaplasma urealyticum (26·7%), Mycoplasma hominis (25·3%), M. fermentans (5·1%), M. genitalium (20·1%), M. penetrans (1·6%) and M. pirum (15·4%). The Mycoplasma infection rate in the unmarried group was lower than that of the married, divorced and widowed groups [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1·432, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·077–1·904, P < 0·05]. The patients who refused highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) had a much higher risk of Mucoplasma infection (aOR 1·357, 95% CI 1·097–1·679, P < 0·05). Otherwise, a high CD4+ T cell count was a protective factor against Mycoplasma infection (aOR 0·576, 95% CI 0·460–0·719, P < 0·05). Further research will be required to confirm a causal relationship and to identify risk factors for Mycoplasma infection in HIV/AIDS populations.

To investigate whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 3 and 9 affect the susceptibility of hepatitis B virus (HBV) intrauterine transmission, we genotyped 399 neonates for TLR3 (c.1377C/T) [rs3775290] and TLR9 (G2848A) [rs352140] using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP). A femoral venous blood sample was obtained from these subjects. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) were measured using chemiluminescence immunoassay kits and hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV DNA) levels were determined by fluorescence quantitative PCR assay. Our results showed that when adjusting for maternal HBeAg, maternal HBV DNA and mode of delivery, allele ‘T’ for SNP c.1377C/T was significantly associated with HBV intrauterine transmission susceptibility [adjusted OR (aOR) 0·55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·34–0·91, P = 0·020] and the TT genotype decreased the risk of HBV intrauterine transmission (aOR 0·28, 95% CI 0·09–0·91, P = 0·033). Allele ‘A’ for SNP G2848A was significantly associated with HBV intrauterine transmission susceptibility (aOR 0·62, 95% CI 0·39–1·00, P = 0·048) and the GA genotype protected neonates from HBV intrauterine transmission (aOR 0·45, 95% CI 0·22–0·93, P = 0·031). The TLR3 (c.1377C/T) and TLR9 (G2848A) polymorphisms may be relevant for HBV intrauterine transmission susceptibility, although the reduction in risk to HBV intrauterine transmission is modest and the biological mechanism of the observed association merits further investigation.

Active symptom surveillance was applied to three selected communities ( 160 147 persons) in Tianjin from 2010 to 2012. We examined 1089 individuals showing pertussis-like symptoms, of which 1022 nasopharyngeal specimens were tested for pertussis by polymerase chain reaction and 802 sera for anti-pertussis toxin antibodies. Of the total cases tested, 113 were confirmed, and their demographic, clinical, and vaccination-related data were collected. The annual incidence was 23·52 cases/100 000 persons among communities, which was 16·22 times that obtained via hospital reports for the same period (P < 0·001). The actual incidence in the 15–69 years age group was most significantly underestimated by hospitals, given that it was 43·08 times that of the reported hospital rate. Among the cases aged <15 years, 84·5% were individuals who had been fully vaccinated. The misdiagnosis rate was as high as 94·69%, and only 5·31% of the confirmed pertussis cases were properly diagnosed as pertussis at their first medical visit. Pertussis incidence in China has been severely underestimated and this was in part due to a high misdiagnosis rate. Adolescents and adults have become new high-risk populations. Future work should focus on reinforcing immunization programmes, especially among adolescents and adults.

To investigate the frequencies of dendritic cells (DCs) and Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) in neonates of HBsAg-positive mothers with different HBV serological profiles, we conducted a study in Taiyuan, China. The study included 144 HBsAg-positive mothers and their neonates. The frequencies of DCs and TLR3 were determined using four-colour flow-cytometric analysis. DC and TLR3 frequencies were not related to HBV intrauterine transmission, maternal HBeAg positivity, maternal HBV DNA positivity and HBeAg/HBV DNA double-positivity. The plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) frequencies in neonates whose maternal HBV DNA was >5 × 107 copies/ml decreased significantly compared to that in neonates whose maternal HBV DNA was ⩽5 × 107 copies/ml (Z = − 2·170, P = 0·03) or whose maternal HBV DNA was negative (Z = − 1·981 P = 0·048). This study suggests that neonatal pDC frequencies decrease when maternal HBV DNA loads are >5 × 107 copies/ml.

In order to achieve high performance, the design of devices for large-area electronics needs to be optimized despite material or fabrication shortcomings. In numerous emerging technologies thin-film transistor (TFT) performance is hindered by contact effects. Here, we show that contact effects can be used constructively to create devices with performance characteristics unachievable by conventional transistor designs. Source-gated transistors (SGTs) are not designed with increasing transistor speed, mobility or sub-threshold slope in mind, but rather with improving certain aspects critical for real-world large area electronics such as stability, uniformity, power efficiency and gain. SGTs can achieve considerably lower saturation voltage and power dissipation compared to conventional devices driven at the same current; higher output impedance for over two orders of magnitude higher intrinsic gain; improved bias stress stability in amorphous materials; higher resilience to processing variations; current virtually independent of source-drain gap, source-gate overlap and semiconductor thickness variations. Applications such as amplifiers and drivers for sensors and actuators, low cost large area analog or digital circuits could greatly benefit from incorporating the SGT architecture.

Fatty acid translocase (FAT/CD36) is a membrane receptor that facilitates long-chain fatty acid uptake. To investigate its role in the regulation of long-chain fatty acid composition in muscle tissue, we studied and compared FAT/CD36 gene expression in muscle tissues of commercial broiler chickens and Chinese local Silky fowls. The results from gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of muscle samples demonstrated that Chinese local Silky fowls had significantly higher (P < 0.05) proportions of linoleic acid (LA) and palmitic acid, lower proportions (P < 0.05) of arachidonic acid (AA) and oleic acid than the commercial broiler chickens. The mRNA expression levels of fatty acid (FA) transporters (FA transport protein-1, membrane FA-binding protein, FAT/CD36 and caveolin-1) in the m. ipsilateral pectoralis and biceps femoris were analyzed by Q-PCR, and FAT/CD36 expression levels showed significant differences between these types of chickens (P < 0.01). Interestingly, the levels of FAT/CD36 expression are positively correlated with LA content (r = 0.567, P < 0.01) but negatively correlated with palmitic acid content (r = −0.568, P < 0.01). Further experiments in the stably transfected Chinese hamster oocytes cells with chicken FAT/CD36 cDNA demonstrated that overexpression of FAT/CD36 improves total FA uptake with a significant increase in the proportion of LA and AA, and a decreased proportion of palmitic acid. These results suggest that chicken FAT/CD36 may selectively transport LA and AA, which may lead to the higher LA deposition in muscle tissue.

The current trends in stimulated Brillouin scattering and optical phase conjugation are overviewed. This report is formed by the selected papers presented in the “Fifth International Workshop on stimulated Brillouin scattering and phase conjugation 2010” in Japan. The nonlinear properties of phase conjugation based on stimulated Brillouin scattering and photo-refraction can compensate phase distortions in the high power laser systems, and they will also open up potentially novel laser technologies, e.g., phase stabilization, beam combination, pulse compression, ultrafast pulse shaping, and arbitrary waveform generation.