Background: Nipocalimab (a fully human, effectorless anti-neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn) monoclonal antibody) may ameliorate gMG disease manifestations by selectively targeting FcRn IgG recycling and lowering IgG, including pathogenic autoantibodies in generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of intravenous nipocalimab added to background standard-of-care therapy in adolescents with gMG. Methods: Seropositive patients (12-<18 years) with gMG (MGFA Class II-IV) on stable therapy but inadequately controlled, were enrolled in a 24-week open label study. Nipocalimab was administered as a 30 mg/kg IV loading dose followed by 15 mg/kg IV every 2 Weeks. Results: Seven adolescents were enrolled; 5 completed 24-weeks of dosing. The mean(SD) age was 14.1(1.86) years; seven were anti-AChR+, six were female. Mean(SD) baseline MG-ADL/QMG scores were 4.29(2.430)/12.50(3.708). Nipocalimab showed a significant reduction in total serum IgG at week-24; the mean(SD) change from baseline to week-24 for total serum IgG was -68.98%(7.561). The mean(SD) change in MG-ADL/QMG scores at week-24 was -2.40(0.418)/-3.80(2.683); 4 of 5 patients achieved minimum symptom expression (MG-ADL score 0-1) by week-24. Nipocalimab was well-tolerated; there were no serious adverse events. There were no clinically meaningful laboratory changes. Conclusions: Nipocalimab demonstrated efficacy and safety in this 6-month trial in seropositive adolescents with gMG.

Quantum field theory predicts a nonlinear response of the vacuum to strong electromagnetic fields of macroscopic extent. This fundamental tenet has remained experimentally challenging and is yet to be tested in the laboratory. A particularly distinct signature of the resulting optical activity of the quantum vacuum is vacuum birefringence. This offers an excellent opportunity for a precision test of nonlinear quantum electrodynamics in an uncharted parameter regime. Recently, the operation of the high-intensity Relativistic Laser at the X-ray Free Electron Laser provided by the Helmholtz International Beamline for Extreme Fields has been inaugurated at the High Energy Density scientific instrument of the European X-ray Free Electron Laser. We make the case that this worldwide unique combination of an X-ray free-electron laser and an ultra-intense near-infrared laser together with recent advances in high-precision X-ray polarimetry, refinements of prospective discovery scenarios and progress in their accurate theoretical modelling have set the stage for performing an actual discovery experiment of quantum vacuum nonlinearity.

Ultrafast optical probing is a widely used method of underdense plasma diagnostic. In relativistic plasma, the motion blur limits spatial resolution in the direction of motion. For many high-power lasers the initial pulse duration of 30–50 fs results in a 10–15 μm motion blur, which can be reduced by probe pulse post-compression. Here we used the compression after compressor approach [Phys.-Usp. 62, 1096 (2019); JINST 17 P07035 (2022)], where spectral broadening is performed in thin optical plates and is followed by reflections from negative-dispersion mirrors. Our initially low-intensity probe beam was down-collimated for a more efficient spectral broadening and higher probe-to-self-emission intensity ratio. The setup is compact, fits in a vacuum chamber and can be implemented within a short experimental time slot. We proved that the compressed pulse retained the high quality necessary for plasma probing.

In this paper, we investigate the attitude manoeuver planning and tracking control of the flexible satellite equipped with a coilable mast. Due to its flexible beamlike structure, the coilable mast experiences bending and torsional modal vibrations in multi-direction. The complex nonlinear coupling and other external disturbances significantly impact the achievement of high-precision attitude control. To overcome these challenges, a robust attitude tracking controller is proposed for easy implementation by the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS). The controller consists of a disturbance compensator, feedforward controller and output feedback controller. The compensator, based on a Nonlinear Disturbance Observer (NDO), effectively compensates for the cluster disturbances caused by vibrations, environmental factors and parameter perturbations. The feedforward controller tracks the desired path in the nominal satellite model. Furthermore, the output feedback controller enables large-angle manoeuver control of the satellite and evaluates the suppression effect of the controlled output on the observation error of cluster disturbances used the ${L_2}$-gain. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed controller successfully achieves high-precision attitude tracking control during large-angle manoeuvering.

The great demographic pressure brings tremendous volume of beef demand. The key to solve this problem is the growth and development of Chinese cattle. In order to find molecular markers conducive to the growth and development of Chinese cattle, sequencing was used to determine the position of copy number variations (CNVs), bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the function of ZNF146 gene, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for CNV genotyping and one-way analysis of variance was used for association analysis. The results showed that there exists CNV in Chr 18: 47225201-47229600 (5.0.1 version) of ZNF146 gene through the early sequencing results in the laboratory and predicted ZNF146 gene was expressed in liver, skeletal muscle and breast cells, and was amplified or overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, which promoted the development of tumour through bioinformatics. Therefore, it is predicted that ZNF146 gene affects the proliferation of muscle cells, and then affects the growth and development of cattle. Furthermore, CNV genotyping of ZNF146 gene was three types (deletion type, normal type and duplication type) by Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The association analysis results showed that ZNF146-CNV was significantly correlated with rump length of Qinchuan cattle, hucklebone width of Jiaxian red cattle and heart girth of Yunling cattle. From the above results, ZNF146-CNV had a significant effect on growth traits, which provided an important candidate molecular marker for growth and development of Chinese cattle.

The presence of comorbid anxiety disorders (AD) and bipolar II disorders (BP-II) compounds disability complicates treatment, worsens prognosis, and has been understudied. The genes involved in metabolizing dopamine and encoding dopamine receptors, such as aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) and dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) genes, may be important to the pathogenesis of BP-II comorbid with AD. We aimed to clarify ALDH2 and DRD2 genes for predisposition to BP-II comorbid with and without AD. The sample consisted of 335 subjects BP-II without AD, 127 subjects BP-II with AD and 348 healthy subjects as normal control. The genotypes of the ALDH2 and DRD2 Taq-IA polymorphisms were determined using polymerase chain reactions plus restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant association between DRD2 Taq-I A1/A2 genotype and BP-II with AD (OR = 2.231, P = 0.021). Moreover, a significant interaction of the DRD2 Taq-I A1/A1 and the ALDH2*1*1 genotypes in BP-II without AD was revealed (OR = 5.623, P = 0.001) compared with normal control. Our findings support the hypothesis that a unique genetic distinction between BP-II with and without AD, and suggest a novel association between DRD2 Taq-I A1/A2 genotype and BP-II with AD. Our study also provides further evidence that the ALDH2 and DRD2 genes interact in BP-II, particularly BP-II without AD.

In this paper, a novel single-cavity triangular substrate-integrated waveguide (TSIW) dual-band filter loading a complementary triangular split ring resonator (CTSRR) is proposed, which has three transmission zeros (TZs) in the stopband in total. The dual-band response is achieved by the CTSRR and the degenerate modes of the TSIW cavity. In order to control the TZs, we propose two adjustment techniques, shift feeding technique and adding via perturbation. In addition, the CTSRR etched on the surface can produce a new TZ in the upper first-passband. Finally, a dual-band filter with three TZs is simulated, fabricated, and measured. There is a good agreement between the simulated results and measured ones.

In order to understand the transport of fast electrons within solid density targets driven by an optical high power laser, we have numerically investigated the dynamics and structure of strong self-generated magnetic fields in such experiments. Here we present a systematic study of the bulk magnetic field generation due to the ponderomotive current, Weibel-like instability and resistivity gradient between two solid layers. Using particle-in-cell simulations, we observe the effect of varying the laser and target parameters, including laser intensity, focal size, incident angle, preplasma scale length, target thickness and material and experimental geometry. The simulation results suggest that the strongest magnetic field is generated with laser incident angles and preplasma scale lengths that maximize laser absorption efficiency. The recent commissioning of experimental platforms equipped with both optical high power laser and X-ray free electron laser (XFEL), such as European XFEL-HED, LCLS-MEC and SACLA beamlines, provides unprecedented opportunities to probe the self-generated bulk magnetic field by X-ray polarimetry via Faraday rotation with simultaneous high spatial and temporal resolution. We expect that this systematic numerical investigation will pave the way to design and optimize near future experimental setups to probe the magnetic fields in such experimental platforms.

We report on a novel processing route to prepare La0.8Ce0.2(Fe0.95Co0.05)11.8Si1.2/Cu bulk composites by low-temperature hot pressing. With increasing copper content, the compressive strength of the composites first decrease and then increase owing to the buffering effect of copper, but the magnetocaloric effect reduces to some extent. Copper addition improves the thermal conductivity of the composites, which compensates for the decrease in thermal conductivity due to porosity. A relatively large entropy change of 5.75–7.19 J/(kg K) at 2 T near the Curie temperature (249 K), good thermal conductivity of 7.51–15.55 W/(m·K), and improved compressive strength of 151.1–248.0 MPa make these composites attractive magnetic refrigeration materials.

Introduction: With the increasing volume of medical literature published each year, it is difficult for clinicians to translate the latest research into practice. Awareness is the first step of knowledge translation and journals have begun using social media to increase the dissemination and awareness of their publications. Infographics can describe research findings visually, are shared broadly on social media, and may be a more effective way to convey information. We hypothesized that infographic abstracts would increase the social media dissemination and online readership of research articles relative to traditional abstracts. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 24 original research articles were chosen from the six issues of the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine (CJEM) published between July 2016 and May 2017 (4 articles per issue). Half were randomized to the infographic and control groups within each issue. Infographic articles were promoted using a visual infographic outlining the findings of the article. Control articles were promoted using a screen capture image of each articles abstract. Both were disseminated through the journals social media accounts (Twitter and Facebook) along with the link to the selected article. Infographics were also published on CanadiEM.org. Abstract views, full text views, and the change in Altmetric score were tracked for 30 days and compared between groups. Unpaired two-tailed t-tests were used to detect significant differences. Results: Abstract views (mean, SD) were significantly higher for infographic articles (378.9, 162.0) than control articles (175.5, 69.2, p<0.001). Mean Altmetric scores were significantly higher for infographic articles (26.4, 13.8) than control articles (3.4, 1.7, p<0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference in full-text views between infographic (49.7, 90.4) and control articles (25.3, 12.3). Conclusion: CJEM articles promoted on social media using infographics had higher abstract viewership and Altmetric scores than those promoted with traditional abstracts. Although there was no difference in full-text readership, our results suggest that infographic abstracts may have a role in increasing the dissemination of medical literature.

TAOS II is a next-generation occultation survey with the goal of measuring the size distribution of the small end of the Kuiper Belt (objects with diameters 0.5–30 km). Such objects have magnitudes r > 30, and are thus undetectable by direct imaging. The project will operate three telescopes at San Pedro Mártir Observatory in Baja California, México. Each telescope will be equipped with a custom-built camera comprised of a focal-plane array of CMOS imagers. The cameras will be capable of reading out image data from 10,000 stars at a cadence of 20 Hz. The telescopes will monitor the same set of stars simultaneously to search for coincident occultation detections, thus minimising the false-positive rate. This talk described the project, and reported on the progress of the development of the survey infrastructure.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the leading causes of death and morbidity associated with liver disease. Risk factors identified for the transmission of HCV include contaminated blood products, intravenous drug use, body piercing, an infected mother at birth, sexual activity, and dental therapy, among others. However, the exact diversity of the HCV genotype and genetic variation among patients with low-risk factors is still unknown. In this study, we briefly described and analysed the genotype distribution and genetic variation of HCV infections with low-risk factors using molecular biology techniques. The results suggested that genotype 1b was predominant, followed by genotypes 2a and 1a. Genetic variations in the 5′ UTR sequences of HCV were identified, including point mutations, deletions, and insertions. The frequency of genetic variations in 1b was higher than in 2a. This study provides considerable value for the prevention and treatment of liver disease caused by HCV among patients with low-risk factors and for the development of HCV diagnostic reagents and vaccines.

In rock engineering, evaluating the post-peak strength and deformation of rock is necessary. To explore the elasto-plastic behavior of sandstone in the post-peak stage, a series of strain-controlled triaxial tests were conducted under different confining pressures. According to the post-peak characteristics, a constitutive model based on nonlinear elasticity and generalized plasticity is proposed. This proposed model is characterized by the following features: (1) Nonlinear elasticity is observed under hydrostatic and shear loading; (2) the associated flow rule is followed; (3) substantial plastic deformation occurs during shear loading; and (4) post-peak softening behavior is accurately predicted. This model requires twelve material parameters, three for elasticity and nine for plasticity. The proposed model was validated by comparing the triaxial test results of Mushan sandstone at different hydrostatic pressures under dry and saturated conditions. In addition, the model is versatile; it can simulate the deformational behavior of two other sandstones. In summary, the proposed model can reasonably predict the complete stress–strain curve of sandstone.

Dengue fever (DF) is the most prevalent and rapidly spreading mosquito-borne disease globally. Control of DF is limited by barriers to vector control and integrated management approaches. This study aimed to explore the potential risk factors for autochthonous DF transmission and to estimate the threshold effects of high-order interactions among risk factors. A time-series regression tree model was applied to estimate the hierarchical relationship between reported autochthonous DF cases and the potential risk factors including the timeliness of DF surveillance systems (median time interval between symptom onset date and diagnosis date, MTIOD), mosquito density, imported cases and meteorological factors in Zhongshan, China from 2001 to 2013. We found that MTIOD was the most influential factor in autochthonous DF transmission. Monthly autochthonous DF incidence rate increased by 36·02-fold [relative risk (RR) 36·02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 25·26–46·78, compared to the average DF incidence rate during the study period] when the 2-month lagged moving average of MTIOD was >4·15 days and the 3-month lagged moving average of the mean Breteau Index (BI) was ⩾16·57. If the 2-month lagged moving average MTIOD was between 1·11 and 4·15 days and the monthly maximum diurnal temperature range at a lag of 1 month was <9·6 °C, the monthly mean autochthonous DF incidence rate increased by 14·67-fold (RR 14·67, 95% CI 8·84–20·51, compared to the average DF incidence rate during the study period). This study demonstrates that the timeliness of DF surveillance systems, mosquito density and diurnal temperature range play critical roles in the autochthonous DF transmission in Zhongshan. Better assessment and prediction of the risk of DF transmission is beneficial for establishing scientific strategies for DF early warning surveillance and control.