Maternal Hb and fetal growth change dynamically throughout pregnancy. We examined the associations of time-specific Hb levels and Hb trajectories with fetal biometrics and adverse birth outcomes. This prospective study included 6844 pregnant women (mean age 26·6 (sd 3·7) years) from the Tongji-Huaxi-Shuangliu Birth Cohort. Hb levels were measured at four periods: early (6–12 gestational weeks), middle (13–27), middle-late (28–32) and late pregnancy (33–37). Fetal biometrics were assessed by ultrasound from middle to late pregnancy. Birth outcomes were obtained from medical records, including small for gestational age (SGA), low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth. Three Hb trajectories were identified: consistent decline (Trajectory 1), consistently low (Trajectory 2) and increase from middle-late pregnancy (Trajectory 3). Compared with Trajectory 1, Trajectory 3 was associated with lower estimated fetal weight (β, −0·54; 95 % CI −0·99, −0·09) and abdominal circumference (β, −0·21; 95 % CI −0·40, −0·01) in late pregnancy and higher umbilical artery resistance index across pregnancy (β, 0·65; 95 % CI 0·31, 1·00). Trajectory 3 was also associated with higher risk of LBW (OR, 1·57; 95 % CI 1·09, 2·26). In middle-late pregnancy, higher Hb (≥ 130 g/l) was associated with higher risks of LBW (OR, 2·26; 95 % CI 1·08, 4·25) and preterm birth (OR, 2·03; 95 % CI 1·12, 3·44) compared with the reference (110–129 g/l). Elevated maternal Hb from middle-late pregnancy onwards may be associated with lower fetal weight and increased risk of LBW. Dynamic monitoring of maternal Hb may facilitate targeted nutritional management in pregnant women.

Double-cone ignition [Zhang et al., Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 378, 20200015 (2020)] was proposed recently as a novel path for direct-drive inertial confinement fusion using high-power lasers. In this scheme, plasma jets with both high density and high velocity are required for collisions. Here we report preliminary experimental results obtained at the Shenguang-II upgrade laser facility, employing a CHCl shell in a gold cone irradiated with a two-ramp laser pulse. The CHCl shell was pre-compressed by the first laser ramp to a density of 3.75 g/cm3 along the isentropic path. Subsequently, the target was further compressed and accelerated by the second laser ramp in the cone. According to the simulations, the plasma jet reached a density of up to 15 g/cm3, while measurements indicated a velocity of 126.8 ± 17.1 km/s. The good agreements between experimental data and simulations are documented.

Collaborative robots are becoming intelligent assistants of human in industrial settings and daily lives. Dynamic model identification is an active topic for collaborative robots because it can provide effective ways to achieve precise control, fast collision detection and smooth lead-through programming. In this research, an improved iterative approach with a comprehensive friction model for dynamic model identification is proposed for collaborative robots when the joint velocity, temperature and load torque effects are considered. Experiments are conducted on the AUBO I5 collaborative robots. Two other existing identification algorithms are adopted to make comparison with the proposed approach. It is verified that the average error of the proposed I-IRLS algorithm is reduced by over 14% than that of the classical IRLS algorithm. The proposed I-IRLS method can be widely used in various application scenarios of collaborative robots.

An online pattern recognition method of lower limb movements is proposed based on the personalized surface electromyography (sEMG) signals, and the corresponding experimental researches are performed in the rehabilitation training. Further, a wireless wearable acquisition instrument is used. Based on this instrument, a host computer for the personal online recognition and real-time control of rehabilitation training is developed. Three time-domain features and two features in the nonlinear dynamics are selected as the joint set of the characteristic values for the sEMG signals. Then a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to optimize the feature channels, and a k-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm and the extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm are combined to classify and recognize individual sample data. Based on the multi-pose lower limb rehabilitation robot, the real-time motion recognition and the corresponding rehabilitation training are carried out by using the online personalized classifier. The experimental results of eight subjects indicate that it takes only 6 min to build an online personalized classifier for the four types of the lower limb movements. The recognition between switches of different rehabilitation training movements is timely and accurate, with an average recognition accuracy of more than 95%. These results demonstrate that this system has a strong practicability.

Aberrant DNA methylation patterns in sperm are a cause of embryonic failure and infertility, and could be a critical factor contributing to male recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). The purpose of this study was to reveal the potential effects of sperm DNA methylation levels in patients with male RSA. We compared sperm samples collected from fertile men and oligoasthenospermia patients. Differentially methylated sequences were identified by reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) methods. The DNA methylation levels of the two groups were compared and qRT-PCR was used to validate the expression of genes showing differential methylation. The results indicated that no difference in base distribution was observed between the normal group and the patient group. However, the chromosome methylation in these two groups was markedly different. One site was located on chromosome 8 and measured 150 bp, while the other sites were on chromosomes 9, 10, and X and measured 135 bp, 68 bp, and 136 bp, respectively. In particular, two genes were found to be hypermethylated in these patients, one gene was DYDC2 (placed in the differential methylation region of chromosome 10), and the other gene was NXF3 (located on chromosome X). Expression levels of DYDC2 and NXF3 in the RSA group were significantly lower than those in the normal group (P < 0.05). Collectively, these results demonstrated that changes in DNA methylation might be related to male RSA. Our findings provide important information regarding the potential role of sperm DNA methylation in human development.

As acute infectious pneumonia, the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has created unique challenges for each nation and region. Both India and the United States (US) have experienced a second outbreak, resulting in a severe disease burden. The study aimed to develop optimal models to predict the daily new cases, in order to help to develop public health strategies. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models, generalised regression neural network (GRNN) models, ARIMA–GRNN hybrid model and exponential smoothing (ES) model were used to fit the daily new cases. The performances were evaluated by minimum mean absolute per cent error (MAPE). The predictive value with ARIMA (3, 1, 3) (1, 1, 1)14 model was closest to the actual value in India, while the ARIMA–GRNN presented a better performance in the US. According to the models, the number of daily new COVID-19 cases in India continued to decrease after 27 May 2021. In conclusion, the ARIMA model presented to be the best-fit model in forecasting daily COVID-19 new cases in India, and the ARIMA–GRNN hybrid model had the best prediction performance in the US. The appropriate model should be selected for different regions in predicting daily new cases. The results can shed light on understanding the trends of the outbreak and giving ideas of the epidemiological stage of these regions.

The effects of the thermal cyclic aging treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 2060 Al–Li alloy laser beam welded joints were investigated. Aging treatments were conducted at different temperatures and for different cycles. Test results showed that the tensile strength of the weld joints increased and the elongation slightly decreased after the thermal cycling treatment. It was also found that the heat affected zone (HAZ) of the welds exhibited a significant increase in microhardness, whilst the microhardness variation of the nondendrite equiaxed zone (EQZ) can be neglected. The strengthening effect of the thermal cycling became more obvious as the temperature and cycles increased. The highest strength of around 513 MPa (96% of the base metal) was obtained at the temperature of 180 °C. Reprecipitation of strengthening phases such as T1 in the HAZ at 180 °C was observed by TEM, which can be considered as the main reason for the strengthening effect of the aging treatment.

In the past few years, we have performed a 22 GHz H2O maser survey towards hundreds of BGPS sources using the 25-meter Nanshan Radio Telescope (NSRT) of the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, and detected more than one hundred masers. Our aim is to study star formation activities associated with these sources, as well as search for any correlations that may exist between 22 GHz H2O masers and the evolutionary stage of high-mass star formation regions. The NSRT has been upgraded and have now an effective diameter of 26 meter. Besides, cryogenically cooled dual-beam receiver systems covering seven millimeter-wave observing bands have been installed on the NSRT. For the next step of maser observation, we will continue to do H2O and SiO masers survey of massive dust clumps and monitor some maser sources.

Chemically exfoliated two-dimensional (2D) materials have shown promise in a variety of applications such as thin film transistors and photovoltaic devices. Here, we present a scalable method for preparing black phosphorus membranes via direct liquid-phase exfoliation of the bulk crystal in organic solvents. The black phosphorus sheets are characterized by Raman and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and optical microscopy. The properties of these chemically exfoliated black phosphorus was compared to mechanically exfoliated nanomembranes. The liquid-phase exfoliation nonetheless yields the potential for large-area scalability. Our results highlight the important aspects of forming solution dispersions of 2D black phosphorus which can subsequently be the stepping stone for future work on the ink-jet printing of such dispersions over a wide range of substrates.

To obtain accurate navigation results with respect to Earth simultaneously with those with respect to the target for an interplanetary probe to approach the target planet, this paper proposes a Radio/Optical integrated navigation method based on ephemeris correction, which deeply affects the fusion accuracy. In this paper, the model of the ephemeris error is established, and taking the analytical solution of the ephemeris uncertainty as measurement, the target ephemeris error and its covariance are estimated by Kalman filter and fed back to modify the force models. By correcting the target ephemeris and using information fusion, the Radio/Optical integrated navigation prevents the ephemeris uncertainty polluting the fusion accuracy, and efficiently combines the radio and optical navigation results. The results show the influence of the ephemeris error can be removed, and the Radio/Optical integrated navigation is capable of providing accurate navigation results with respect to Earth and the target. The results demonstrate the proposed method yields an accuracy superior to the conventional method, which proves its effectiveness.

A defect in the intestinal barrier is one of the characteristics of Crohn's disease (CD). The tight junction (TJ) changes and death of epithelial cells caused by intestinal inflammation play an important role in the development of CD. DHA, a long-chain PUFA, has been shown to be helpful in treating inflammatory bowel disease in experimental models by inhibiting the NF-κB pathway. The present study aimed at investigating the specific effect of DHA on the intestinal barrier function in IL-10-deficient mice. IL-10-deficient mice (IL-10− / −) at 16 weeks of age with established colitis were treated with DHA (i.g. 35·5 mg/kg per d) for 2 weeks. The severity of their colitis, levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, epithelial gene expression, the distributions of TJ proteins (occludin and zona occludens (ZO)-1), and epithelial apoptosis in the proximal colon were measured at the end of the experiment. DHA treatment attenuated the established colitis and was associated with reduced infiltration of inflammatory cells in the colonic mucosa, lower mean histological scores and decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-17, TNF-α and interferon-γ). Moreover, enhanced barrier function was observed in the DHA-treated mice that resulted from attenuated colonic permeability, rescued expression and corrected distributions of occludin and ZO-1. The results of the present study indicate that DHA therapy may ameliorate experimental colitis in IL-10− / − mice by improving the intestinal epithelial barrier function.

Equations based on simple anthropometric measurements to predict body fat percentage (BF%) are lacking in Chinese population with increasing prevalence of obesity and related abnormalities. We aimed to develop and validate BF% equations in two independent population-based samples of Chinese men and women. The equations were developed among 960 Chinese Hans living in Shanghai (age 46·2 (sd 5·3) years; 36·7 % male) using a stepwise linear regression and were subsequently validated in 1150 Shanghai residents (58·7 (sd 6·0) years; 41·7 % male; 99 % Chinese Hans, 1 % Chinese minorities). The associations of equation-derived BF% with changes of 6-year cardiometabolic outcomes and incident type 2 diabetes (T2D) were evaluated in a sub-cohort of 780 Chinese, compared with BF% measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA; BF%-DXA). Sex-specific equations were established with age, BMI and waist circumference as independent variables. The BF% calculated using new sex-specific equations (BF%-CSS) were in reasonable agreement with BF%-DXA (mean difference: 0·08 (2 sd 6·64) %, P= 0·606 in men; 0·45 (2 sd 6·88) %, P< 0·001 in women). In multivariate-adjusted models, the BF%-CSS and BF%-DXA showed comparable associations with 6-year changes in TAG, HDL-cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, C-reactive protein and uric acid (P for comparisons ≥ 0·05). Meanwhile, the BF%-CSS and BF%-DXA had comparable areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for associations with incident T2D (men P= 0·327; women P= 0·159). The BF% equations might be used as surrogates for DXA to estimate BF% among adult Chinese. More studies are needed to evaluate the application of our equations in different populations.