This study aims to investigate the relationship between serum folate levels and the risk of psoriasis by integrating observational study with Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis.We firstly conducted an observational study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Subsequently, genetic instruments were selected for two-sample MR analyses to investigate the causal relationship between serum folate levels and the risk of psoriasis. The observational study showed no significant association between serum folate levels and psoriasis. In the fully adjusted model: serum folate as a continuous variable (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.00, P = 0.071); serum folate quartiles Q4 vs Q1 (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.58 to 1.19, P = 0.309). The MR analysis revealed that higher genetically predicted serum folate levels from Icelandic and Danish populations was significantly associated with a reduced risk of psoriasis (OR = 0.63, 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.88, P = 0.005). Similarly, higher genetically predicted serum folate levels from South Asian populations were also significantly associated with a lower risk of psoriasis (OR = 0.84, 95% CI, 0.72 to 0.98, P = 0.025). Integrating observational study with MR analysis suggests that serum folate levels are protective factors against psoriasis, indicating that higher serum folate levels may help prevent the onset of the disease.

A multifunctional optical diagnostic system, which includes an interferometer, a refractometer and a multi-frame shadowgraph, has been developed at the Shenguang-II upgrade laser facility to characterize underdense plasmas in experiments of the double-cone ignition scheme of inertial confinement fusion. The system employs a 266 nm laser as the probe to minimize the refraction effect and allows for flexible switching among three modes of the interferometer, refractometer and multi-frame shadowgraph. The multifunctional module comprises a pair of beam splitters that attenuate the laser, shield stray light and configure the multi-frame and interferometric modules. By adjusting the distance and angle between the beam splitters, the system can be easily adjusted and switched between the modes. Diagnostic results demonstrate that the interferometer can reconstruct electron density below 1019 cm–3, while the refractometer can diagnose density approximately up to 1020 cm–3. The multi-frame shadowgraph is used to qualitatively characterize the temporal evolution of plasmas in the cases in which the interferometer and refractometer become ineffective.

Physically compliant actuator brings significant benefits to robots in terms of environmental adaptability, human–robot interaction, and energy efficiency as the introduction of the inherent compliance. However, this inherent compliance also limits the force and position control performance of the actuator system due to the induced oscillations and decreased mechanical bandwidth. To solve this problem, we first investigate the dynamic effects of implementing variable physical damping into a compliant actuator. Following this, we propose a structural scheme that integrates a variable damping element in parallel to a conventional series elastic actuator. A damping regulation algorithm is then developed for the parallel spring-damping actuator (PSDA) to tune the dynamic performance of the system while remaining sufficient compliance. Experimental results show that the PSDA offers better stability and dynamic capability in the force and position control by generating appropriate damping levels.

In the present study, acid-modified attapulgite was used, as an adsorbent, to remove as much Cd2+ as possible from aqueous solution. Static adsorption experiments using powdered acid-modified attapulgite, and dynamic adsorption using granular acid-modifed attapulgite, were conducted to explore the practical application of modified attapulgite in the adsorption of Cd2+. The modified attapulgite had a larger specific surface area and thinner fibrous crystals than the unmodified version. No obvious differences were noted, in terms of the crystal structure, between the natural attapulgite and the modified version. The effects of initial concentration, pH, contact time, and ionic strength on the adsorption of Cd2+ were investigated, and the results showed that the adsorption capacity of the modified attapulgite was increased with increasing pH and the initial Cd2+ concentration. The adsorption properties were analyzed by means of dynamic adsorption tests with respect to various Cd2+ concentrations and flow rates. The maximum adsorption capacity of 8.83 mg/g occurred at a flow rate of 1 mL/min and at an initial concentration of 75 mg/L. Because there was better accord between the data and a pseudo-second order model than a pseudo-first-order model, external mass transfer is suggested to be the rate-controlling process. The experimental data were also fitted for the intraparticle diffusion model, implying that the intraparticle diffusion of Cd2+ onto the modified attapulgite was also important for controlling the adsorption process. The Bohart-Adams model was more suitable than the Thomas model for describing the dynamic behavior with respect to the flow rate and the initial Cd2+ concentration. This research provided the theoretical basis for the dynamic adsorption of Cd2+ on the modified attapulgite. Compared to the powdered modified attapulgite, the dynamic adsorption by granular modified attapulgite appeared more favorable in terms of practical application.

Straightplasma channels are widely used to guide relativistic intense laser pulses over several Rayleigh lengths for laser wakefield acceleration. Recently, a curved plasma channel with gradually varied curvature was suggested to guide a fresh intense laser pulse and merge it into a straight channel for staged wakefield acceleration [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 154801 (2018)]. In this work, we report the generation of such a curved plasma channel from a discharged capillary. Both longitudinal and transverse density distributions of the plasma inside the channel were diagnosed by analyzing the discharging spectroscopy. Effects of the gas-filling mode, back pressure and discharging voltage on the plasma density distribution inside the specially designed capillary are studied. Experiments show that a longitudinally uniform and transversely parabolic plasma channel with a maximum channel depth of 47.5 μm and length of 3 cm can be produced, which is temporally stable enough for laser guiding. Using such a plasma channel, a laser pulse with duration of 30 fs has been successfully guided along the channel with the propagation direction bent by 10.4°.

The optimization of laser pulse shapes is of great importance and a major challenge for laser direct-drive implosions. In this paper, we propose an efficient intelligent method to perform laser pulse optimization via hydrodynamic simulations guided by the genetic algorithm and random forest algorithm. Compared to manual optimizations, the machine-learning guided method is able to efficiently improve the areal density by a factor of 63% and reduce the in-flight-aspect ratio by a factor of 30% at the same time. A relationship between the maximum areal density and ion temperature is also achieved by the analysis of the big simulation dataset. This design method has been successfully demonstrated by the 2021 summer double-cone ignition experiments conducted at the SG-II upgrade laser facility and has great prospects for the design of other inertial fusion experiments.

We evaluated the distributions of dental splatters and the corresponding control measure effects with high-speed videography and laser diffraction. Most of the dental splatters were small droplets (<50 μm). High-volume evacuation combined with a suction air purifier could clear away most of the droplets and aerosols.

The present study aimed to explore the association between dietary patterns in abdominal obesity obtained by reduced-rank regression (RRR) with visceral fat index (VFI) as a dependent variable and dyslipidemia in rural adults in Henan, China. A total of 29538 people aged 18–79 were selected from the Henan Rural Cohort Study. RRR analysis was used to identify dietary patterns; logistic regression analysis and restricted cubic spline regression models were applied to analyze the association between dietary patterns in abdominal obesity and dyslipidemia. VFI was used as a mediator to estimate the mediation effect. The dietary pattern in abdominal obesity was characterized by high carbohydrate and red meat intake and low consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, etc. After full adjustment, the highest quartile of dietary pattern scores was significantly associated with an increased risk of dyslipidemia (OR: 1·33, 95 % CI 1·23–1·44, P trend < 0·001), there was a non-linear dose–response relationship between them (P overall-association < 0·001, P non-lin-association = 0·022). The result was similar in dose-response between the dietary pattern scores and VFI. The indirect effect partially mediated by VFI was significant (OR: 1·07, 95 % CI 1·06–1·08). VIF explained approximately 53·3 % of odds of dyslipidemia related to the dietary pattern. Abdominal obesity dietary pattern scores positively affected VFI and dyslipidemia; there was a dose-response in both relationships. Dyslipidemia progression increased with higher abdominal obesity dietary pattern scores. In addition, VFI played a partial mediating role in relationship between abdominal obesity dietary pattern and dyslipidemia.

In this paper, we developed a new navigation system, called ATCM, which detects obstacles in a sliding window with an adaptive threshold clustering algorithm, classifies the detected obstacles with a decision tree, heuristically predicts potential collision and finds optimal path with a simplified Morphin algorithm. This system has the merits of optimal free-collision path, small memory size and less computing complexity, compared with the state of the arts in robot navigation. The modular design of 6-steps navigation provides a holistic methodology to implement and verify the performance of a robot’s navigation system. The experiments on simulation and a physical robot for the eight scenarios demonstrate that the robot can effectively and efficiently avoid potential collisions with any static or dynamic obstacles in its surrounding environment. Compared with the particle swarm optimisation, the dynamic window approach and the traditional Morphin algorithm for the autonomous navigation of a mobile robot in a static environment, ATCM achieved the shortest path with higher efficiency.

A southern population (S) from Xiushui County (29°1′N, 114°4′E) and a northern population (N) from Shenyang city (41°48′N, 123°23′E) of the cabbage beetle, Colaphellus bowringi vary greatly in their life-history traits, and may serve as an excellent model with which to study the inheritance of life-history traits. In the present study, we performed intraspecific hybridization using the two populations, comparing the key life-history traits (fecundity, development time, body weight, growth rate, and sexual size dimorphism (SDD)) between the two populations (S♀ × S♂ and N♀ × N♂) and their two hybrid populations (S♀ × N♂ and N♀ × S♂ populations) at 19, 22, 25, and 28°C. Our results showed that there were significant differences in life-history traits between the two parental populations, with the S population having a significantly higher fecundity, shorter larval development time, larger body weight, higher growth rate, and greater weight loss during metamorphosis than the N population at almost all temperatures. However, these life-history traits in the two hybrid populations were intermediate between those of their parents. The life-history traits in the S × N and N × S populations more closely resembled those of the maternal S population and N population, respectively, showing maternal effects. Weight loss for both sexes was highest in the S population, followed by the S × N, N × S, and N populations at all temperatures, suggesting that larger pupae lost more weight during metamorphosis. The changes in SSD with temperature were similar between the S and the S × N populations and between the N and the N × S populations, also suggesting a maternal effect. Overall, our results showed no drastic effect of hybridization on C. bowringi, being neither negative (hybrid inferiority) nor positive (heterosis). Rather, the phenotypes of hybrids were intermediate between the phenotypes of their parents.

In this paper, we report a recent theoretical study of the calculation of the binding energy and photoionization cross section of a single dopant in a spherical hollow or core/shell quantum dot taking into account the interaction of the electron with longitudinal optical phonons. Using Frolich approach and Lee-low Pines transformation, we determine the impact of different parameters such as shell thickness and dopant position on the energy and optical response of a bound polaron for two types of ionic II–VI semiconductors CdTe and ZnSe with different phonon coupling constants. Regardless of the material used, the electron–phonon interaction visibly reduces binding energy. For photoionization cross section, a redshift of resonance peaks was found when the effect of phonons is taken into consideration or when the donor is moved away from the shell center. These calculations provide us insights when choosing between materials for optoelectronic applications.

Bile acids (BA) have emerged as signalling molecules regulating intestinal physiology. The importance of intestinal microbiota in production of secondary BA, for example, lithocholic acid (LCA) which impairs enterocyte proliferation and permeability, triggered us to determine the effects of oral probiotics on intestinal BA metabolism. Piglets were weaned at 28 d of age and allocated into control (CON, n 14) or probiotic (PRO, n 14) group fed 50 mg of Lactobacillus plantarum daily, and gut microbiota and BA profile were determined. To test the potential interaction of LCA with bacteria endotoxins in inducing damage of enterocytes, IPEC-J2 cells were treated with LCA, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and LCA + LPS and expressions of genes related to inflammation, antioxidant capacity and nutrient transport were determined. Compared with the CON group, the PRO group showed lower total LCA level in the ileum and higher relative abundance of the Lactobacillus genus in faeces. In contrast, the relative abundances of Bacteroides, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Parabacteroides and Ruminococcus_1, important bacteria genera in BA biotransformation, were all lower in the PRO than in the CON group. Moreover, PRO piglets had lower postprandial glucagon-like peptide-1 level, while higher glucose level than CON piglets. Co-administration of LPS and LCA led to down-regulated expression of glucose and peptide transporter genes in IPEC-J2 cells. Altogether, oral L. plantarum altered BA profile probably by modulating relative abundances of gut microbial genera that play key roles in BA metabolism and might consequently impact glucose homoeostasis. The detrimental effect of LCA on nutrient transport in enterocytes might be aggravated under LPS challenge.

In the three-phase (pure donor, pure acceptor, and mixed phases) morphologies of organic solar cells, the mixed phases produce an energy cascade that promotes the generation of free carriers. However, how to optimize the content of the mixed phases is a challenging problem. The authors proposed to control different content of mixed phases in DRTB-T and IDIC blends by additive and solvent vapor annealing (SVA). The authors first formed the largest extent amount of mixed phases by the additive cinene (2%) to inhibit the crystallization of DRTB-T and IDIC. And then, different amounts of mixed phases were achieved by further SVA for different times (from 0 to 50 s) to increase the content of pure DRTB-T and IDIC phases. The energetic offsets (ΔE) of pure and mixed phases gradually decrease from 0.529 to 0.477 eV for different content of mixed phases. When ΔE was 0.498 eV, the highest photocurrent density (Jsc) was obtained. The power conversion efficiency was increased from 3.23% (without any treatment) to 8.54%. Therefore, the authors demonstrated that the optimized content of the mixed phases is critical to device performance.

In this paper, a novel multilayer substrate integrated dual-mode dielectric resonator (DR) filter is proposed. The square dual-mode DR is made of the high permittivity substrate by removing the undesired portions and the surface coppers so that the relatively high unloaded quality factor of the dominate TM11 pair can be obtained which compared to these fully dielectric-filled substrate integrated waveguides. Meanwhile, it can be easily integrated in an equivalent cavity implemented by multilayer printed circuit boards for filter design, showcasing low in-band loss, light weight, and compact size. For demonstration, a multilayer substrate integrated DR bandpass filter centered at X-band is designed and measured. Good agreement between the simulated and measured results can be observed, and the measured insertion loss at the passband center frequency (8.38 GHz) is 1.1 dB.

Nutrition therapy is considered an important treatment of burn patients. The aim of the study was to delineate the nutritional support in severe burn patients and to investigate association between nutritional practice and clinical outcomes. Severe burn patients were enrolled (n 100). In 90 % of the cases, the burn injury covered above 70 % of the total body surface area. Mean interval from injury to nutrition start was 2·4 (sd 1·1) d. Sixty-seven patients were initiated with enteral nutrition (EN) with a median time of 1 d from injury to first feed. Twenty-two patients began with parenteral nutrition (PN). During the study, thirty-two patients developed EN intolerance. Patients received an average of about 70 % of prescribed energy and protein. Patients with EN providing <30 % energy had significantly higher 28- d and in-hospital mortality than patients with EN providing more than 30 % of energy. Mortality at 28 d was 11 % and in-hospital mortality was 45 %. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that EN providing <30 % energy and septic shock were independent risk factors for 28- d prognosis. EN could be initiated early in severe burn patients. Majority patients needed PN supplementation for energy requirement and EN feeding intolerance. Post-pyloric feeding is more efficient than gastric feeding in EN tolerance and energy supplement. It is difficult for severe burn patients to obtain enough feeding, especially in the early stage of the disease. More than 2 weeks of underfeeding is harmful to recovery.

This paper presents a novel balanced-to-balanced power divider (PD) based on a simple and compact three-line coupled structure for the first time. By bisecting the proposed symmetrical structure, the differential mode (DM) and the common mode (CM) equivalent circuits can be obtained for analysis. The DM equivalent circuit exhibits a three-line in-phase power dividing response, and then a resistor is added between the two outputs for achieving good isolation. Meanwhile, the CM equivalent circuit shows a three-line all-stop response so that the CM suppression in this design does not need to be considered. Accordingly, the detailed design procedure of the DM PD is given. For demonstration, a prototype centered at 1.95 GHz is designed, fabricated, and measured. The simulated and measured results with good agreement are presented, showing low DM loss and wideband CM suppression.