This study aimed to develop a predictive tool for identifying individuals with high antibody titers crucial for recruiting COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) donors and to assess the quality and storage changes of CCP. A convenience sample of 110 plasma donors was recruited, of which 75 met the study criteria. Using univariate logistic regression and random forest, 6 significant factors were identified, leading to the development of a nomogram. Receiver operating characteristic curves, calibration plots, and decision curve analysis (DCA) evaluated the nomogram’s discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility. The nomogram indicated that females aged 18 to 26, blood type O, receiving 1 to 2 COVID-19 vaccine doses, experiencing 2 symptoms during infection, and donating plasma 41 to 150 days after symptom onset had higher likelihoods of high antibody titres. Nomogram’s AUC was 0.853 with good calibration. DCA showed clinical benefit within 9% ~ 90% thresholds. CCP quality was qualified, with stable antibody titres over 6 months (P > 0.05). These findings highlight developing predictive tools to identify suitable CCP donors and emphasize the stability of CCP quality over time, suggesting its potential for long-term storage.

Revealing the impact of forest succession processes on changes in plant diversity is crucial for understanding the mechanisms that maintain plant diversity across various succession stages. While previous research has predominantly focused on the influence of environmental factors or management strategies on plant diversity within rubber plantation understories, there is a scarcity of studies examining the effects of forest succession processes on plant diversity. This study focuses on the plant diversity of the understory herbaceous layer within the rubber forest of the Yinggeling area, located in National Park of Hainan Tropical Rainforest. It employs a spatial analysis approach, rather than a temporal one, to examine the characteristics of the understory herbaceous community. The findings revealed that (1) The understory of Yinggeling rubber plantations harbors 175 plant species from 149 genera and 75 families, with Gramineae and Rubiaceae representing 46.45% of total species. And the dominant families are Rubiaceae, Gramineae, and Moraceae, with Ficus and Pteris being the dominant genera. (2) The dominant species vary with succession duration, with Tetrastigma pachyphyllum dominating in 0-year succession, Paspalum conjugatum in 3-year succession, and Microstegium fasciculatum in 7-year succession. (3) Diversity indices such as the Shannon–Wiener index, Simpson index, and Pielou index peak at 7 years of natural succession, while the species richness is highest at 3 years. (4) The similarity coefficient between understory herbaceous plant communities in rubber plantations undergoing 0 and 3 years of natural succession is highest 0.56, indicating a significant similarity, while similarity is lowest between 0 and 7 years of succession. This research shows that natural restoration helps increase species diversity in the understory herb layer of rubber forests. Succession leads to changes in the dominant families, genera, and species of the herbaceous layer. This change can be attributed to the intraspecific competition and ecological competition that occur during the succession process, leading to changes in biological and resource allocation.

Daqingshan is located in the northwestern North China Craton where late Neoarchaean supracrustal rocks occur widely, but where magmatic zircon ages have rarely been reported for plutonic rocks. In this study, we report SIMS U–Pb zircon ages and Hf isotope, whole-rock element and Nd isotope compositions for 12 magmatic samples, including TTG, quartz monzonitic and monzogranitic gneisses, and meta-gabbroic and dioritic rocks. They have magmatic zircon ages of 2530–2469 Ma; some samples have ages of <2.48 Ga likely influenced by late Palaeoproterozoic tectonothermal events, making their ages less reliable. TTG gneisses have low Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, with whole-rock ϵNd(t) and in situ magmatic zircon ϵHf(t) values of +1.2 to +2.4 and −1.1 to +6.2, respectively. Quartz monzonite and monzogranite gneisses and gabbroic to dioritic rocks have similar Nd–Hf isotope compositions to the TTG gneisses. The absence of zircon >2.6 Ga in the early Precambrian rocks suggests that the Sanggan Group may have formed in an oceanic environment, whereas the TTG rocks formed as a result of partial melting of the basaltic rocks of the Sanggan Group under relatively low-pressure conditions. Combined with previous studies, the main conclusions are that in the Daqingshan area, late Neoarchaean magmatism was widespread, the late Mesoarchaean – early Neoarchaean was an important period of juvenile continental crustal growth, and the late Neoarchaean supracrustal and plutonic rocks most likely formed in an arc environment. These are common signatures for Neoarchaean crustal evolution throughout much of the North China Craton, and also globally.

As for the efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), one of the important goals is to increase the light harvesting efficiency to further improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE). The excellent photoanode materials should possess a uniform porous structure, a large surface area, high crystallinity, and good stability. Herein, the porous TiO2 electrode (named as S-1.5) with the above merits had been prepared by the simple template-assisted method with camphene as the pore-forming reagent. The surface area of the porous TiO2 electrode can be tailored by introducing the amount of camphene. The porous TiO2 layer with the optimal surface area directly adhered on the top of the ultra-thin P25 dense layer had been constructed and this unique electrode with a “double layers structure”, which named as S-1.5/P25. When DSSCs assembled with this photoanode, a desirable PCE of 8.31% had been achieved, which was obviously higher than that of the commercial P25 (7.62%) in parallel. The improved PCE can be attributed to the improved utilization of sunlight, the facilitated photo-generated electron transfer, and the reduced interface resistance. Meanwhile, the related characterization including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy, and intensity-modulated photocurrent spectroscopy was characterized to explore the possible mechanism.

This research communication describes a genome-wide association study for Italian buffalo mammary gland morphology. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (AX-85117983, AX-8509475 and AX-85117518) were identified to be significantly associated with buffalo anterior teat length, posterior teat length and distance between anterior and posterior teat, respectively. Two significant signals for buffalo mammary gland morphology were observed in two genomic regions on the chromosome 10, and chromosome 20. One of the regions located on the chromosome 10 has the most likely candidate genes ACTC1 and GJD2, both of which have putative roles in the regulation of mammary gland development. This study provides new insights into the genetic variants of buffalo mammary gland morphology and may be beneficial for understanding of the genetic regulation of mammary growth.

A novel solid-clad-by-liquid method was developed to form a 10-m long by 10-mm wide by 80-μm thick Ni–5 at.% W/Ni–9.3 at.% W/Ni–5 at.% W composite tape. Three deformation routes (cold rolling, cold rolling with intermediate annealing, and cold rolling combined with warm rolling) have been investigated in short Ni–5 at.% W/Ni–9.3 at.% W/Ni–5 at.% W composite substrate. To optimize the dynamic continuous annealing parameters for the long composite substrates, air-cooled and furnace-cooled annealing procedures were compared in short Ni–5 at.% W/Ni–9.3 at.% W/Ni–5 at.% W composite substrates. Improved cube texture of 98.7% in a 10-m long by 10-mm wide by 80-μm thick Ni–5 at.% W/Ni–9.3 at.% W/Ni–5 at.% W composite substrate was achieved via warm rolling deformation at 550 °C and two-step dynamic continuous annealing (750 °C for 1 h followed by 1200 °C for 1 h). The yield strength, Curie temperature, and saturation magnetization of 176 MPa, 324 K, and 18 emu/g, respectively, were obtained.

We explore the meaning of parochialism (xiao nong yi shi, 小农意识) to explain certain paradoxical Chinese managerial behaviors. We discuss how cultural, political, and economic traditions in China formed a salient context to cultivate parochialism. Qualitative data from Chinese and American managers reveal that the conceptual framework of parochialism includes a cognitive dimension of closed-mindedness, a behavioral dimension of self-protection, and a relational dimension of in-group focused social relationship. Parochialism hampers effective globalization of Chinese firms because it negatively impacts key facets of organizational culture: employee development, communication, customer orientation, social responsibility, strategic planning, and innovation. The study offers theoretical and practical implications for Chinese management research and the development of global competence.

Since the 1990s, the number of women in Chinese courts has been increasing steadily. Many women judges have risen to mid-level leadership positions, such as division chiefs and vice-chiefs, in the judicial bureaucracy. However, it remains difficult for women to be promoted to high-level leadership positions, such as vice-presidents and presidents. What explains the stratified patterns of career mobility for women in Chinese courts? In this article, we argue that two social processes are at work in shaping the structural patterns of gender inequality: dual-track promotion and reverse attrition. Dual-track promotion is dominated by a masculine and corrupt judicial culture on the political track that prevents women from obtaining high-level promotions, but still allows them to rise to mid-level leadership positions on the professional track based on their expertise and work performance. Reverse attrition enables women to take vacant mid-level positions left by men who exit the judiciary to pursue other careers. Taken together, the vertical and horizontal mobility of judges in their career development presents a processual logic to gender inequality and shapes women's structural positions in Chinese courts, a phenomenon that we term the “elastic ceiling.”

Let $X,Y$ be two Banach spaces and $B_{X}$ the closed unit ball of $X$. We prove that if there is an isometry $f:B_{X}\rightarrow Y$ with $f(0)=0$, then there exists an isometry $F:X\rightarrow Y^{\ast \ast }$. If, in addition, $Y$ is weakly nearly strictly convex, then there is an isometry $F:X\rightarrow Y$. Making use of these results, we show that if $Y$ is weakly nearly strictly convex and there is an isometry $f:B_{X}\rightarrow Y$ with $f(0)=0$, then there exists a linear isometry $S:X\rightarrow Y$.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between baseline peritoneal transport types and nutritional status in Chinese continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. In the present single-centre, prospective study, incident CAPD patients were included from 15 April 2010 to 31 December 2011 and were followed up for 12 months. According to the results of baseline peritoneal equilibration test, patients were divided into lower peritoneal transport group (lower transporters) and higher peritoneal transport group (higher transporters). Nutritional status was evaluated by both subjective global assessment (SGA) and protein–energy wasting (PEW) score. The body composition parameters were assessed by body impedance analysis. A total of 283 CAPD patients were included in the study, of which 171 (60·4 %) were males with a mean age of 47·0 (sd 14·9) years. Compared with lower transporters (n 92), higher transporters (n 181) had lower levels of serum albumin (37·1 (sd 4·3) v. 39·6 (sd 4·3) g/l, P< 0·001), serum pre-albumin (356 (sd 99) v. 384 (sd 90) mg/l, P= 0·035), phase angle (6·15 (sd 0·39) v. 6·27 (sd 0·47)°, P< 0·05) and higher rate of malnutrition defined by SGA (52·5 v. 25·0 %, P< 0·001) and PEW score (37·0 v. 14·1 %, P< 0·001) at 1-year of follow-up. Baseline higher peritoneal transport, analysed by multivariate binary logistic regressions, was independently associated with malnutrition (SGA mild to moderate and severe malnutrition: OR 3·43, 95 % CI 1·69, 6·96, P< 0·01; PEW: OR 2·40, 95 % CI 1·08, 5·31, P= 0·03). It was concluded that baseline higher peritoneal transport was independently associated with worse nutritional status of CAPD patients in Southern China.

Protein–energy wasting (PEW) is strongly associated with high mortality in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. However, its clinical assessment has not been well defined. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between combined nutritional indicators and mortality in CAPD patients. In the present retrospective cohort study, a total of 885 incident CAPD patients were enrolled. Nutritional status at the initiation of CAPD was assessed by BMI and biochemical indices (serum albumin, prealbumin, transferrin, creatinine and total cholesterol). The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Principal components factor analysis was used to identify the combined nutritional parameters. Their association with mortality was examined by multivariable-adjusted Cox models. The mean age was 47·4 (sd 14·8) years, 59·2 % (n 524) were male and 24·6 % (n 218) were diabetic. Of the total patients, 130 (14·7 %) had BMI < 18·5 kg/m2, 439 (49·6 %) had albumin < 38 g/l ( < 3·8 g/dl), 303 (34·2 %) had prealbumin < 300 mg/l ( < 30 mg/dl), 404 (45·6 %) had transferrin < 2 g/l ( < 200 mg/dl), 501 (56·6 %) had total cholesterol < 5·2 mmol/l ( < 200 mg/dl) and 466 (52·7 %) had creatinine < 707 μmol/l ( < 8 mg/dl). Overall, three components such as visceral proteins, muscle-mass surrogate and BMI were extracted, which explained 69·95 % of the total variance of the nutritional parameters. After adjusting for demographic variables, co-morbid conditions, Hb, TAG and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, the factor score of visceral proteins including albumin, prealbumin and transferrin was independently associated with mortality (hazard ratio 0·73, 95 % CI 0·60, 0·89; P= 0·002). Lower visceral protein concentrations may be independently associated with higher mortality in incident CAPD patients. Simultaneous measurements of serum albumin, prealbumin and transferrin could be helpful to monitor PEW.

First-generation adenovirus can be engineered with powerful promoters to drive expression of therapeutic transgenes. Numerous clinical trials for glioblastoma multiforme using first generation adenoviral vectors have either been performed or are ongoing, including an ongoing, Phase III, multicenter trial in Europe and Israel (Ark Therapeutics, Inc.). Although in the absence of anti-adenovirus immune responses expression in the brain lasts 6–18 months, systemic infection with adenovirus induces immune responses that inhibit dramatically therapeutic transgene expression from first generation adenoviral vectors, thus, potentially compromising therapeutic efficacy. Here, we show evidence of an immunization threshold for the dose that generates an immune response strong enough to eliminate transgene expression from the CNS. For the systemic immunization to eliminate transgene expression from the brain, ≥1×107 infectious units (iu) of adenovirus need to be used as immunogen. Furthermore, this immune response eliminates >90% of transgene expression from 1×107–1×103 iu of vector injected into the striatum 60 days earlier. Importantly, elimination of transgene expression is independent of the nature of the promoter that drives transgene expression and is accompanied by brain infiltration of CD8+ T cells and macrophages. In conclusion, once the threshold for systemic immunization (i.e. 1×107 iu) is crossed, the immune response eliminates transgene expression by >90% even from brains that receive as little as 1000 iu of adenoviral vectors, independently of the type of promoter that drives expression.