Dusty plasmas typically contain various species of dust particles, though most studies have focused on homogeneous systems. This paper investigates the propagation of dust acoustic waves in an inhomogeneous dusty plasma with an interface, analysing how plasma inhomogeneity influences wave behaviour. Using scattering and reductive perturbation methods, we show that both transmitted and reflected waves depend strongly on the mass ratio between regions. Dust acoustic waves cannot propagate through a dust lattice when the wavelength is smaller than the lattice constant. At a discontinuous interface, at least one transmitted solitary wave is generated, with its amplitude determined by the mass ratio, while at most one reflected solitary wave can exist. These results underscore the critical role of the mass ratio in wave propagation and suggest a method for estimating dust particle masses and properties by analysing the incident, transmitted and reflected waves.

Postpartum maternal diet quality has been linked with optimal infant feeding practices. However, whether maternal diet quality during pregnancy influences infant feeding practices remains unclear. The present study explored the relationship between maternal diet quality in pregnancy and infant feeding practices in Australian women. A brief 15-item FFQ was used to collect maternal dietary data (n 469). Diet quality was calculated using a modified 2013 Dietary Guideline Index (DGI). Multivariable linear and logistic regressions with adjustment for covariates were used to examine associations between maternal diet quality in pregnancy and infant feeding practices: infant feeding mode, breast-feeding duration and timing of solids introduction. Higher DGI score during pregnancy was associated with higher odds of breast-feeding than formula/mixed feeding (adjusted OR (AOR) 1·03, 95 % CI 1·00, 1·07), longer breast-feeding duration (adjusted β 0·09, 95 % CI 0·03, 0·15) and higher odds of breast-feeding for ≥ 6 months (AOR 1·04, 95 % CI 1·02, 1·07) than for < 6 months. Associations between maternal DGI score and breast-feeding variables were moderated by maternal country of birth, with significant associations observed in Australian-born mothers only. No association was found between maternal DGI score and timing of solids introduction. Higher maternal diet quality was associated with better infant feeding practices, and the association was moderated by country of birth. Our findings provide evidence to support the initiation of dietary interventions to promote diet quality during pregnancy, particularly among Australian-born women. Further research could explore underlying mechanisms linking maternal diet quality and infant feeding practices.

A modulational instability of nonlinearly interacting electron whistlers and magnetosonic perturbations is studied in the present paper. For typical parameters, there is no modulational instability. However, modulational instability appears in special cases. For example, when the whistler wavenumber is small enough, there is modulational instability. Its growth rate decreases as the angle between the external magnetic field and the perturbed wave's direction increases, while it increases as the whistler wavenumber increases. It is also found that there is no modulational instability when the whistler wavenumber is larger than a critical value ($k_0 > 0.05$), in which the perturbed wave frequency increases as the angle between the external magnetic field and the perturbed wave's direction increases when the angle between the external magnetic field and the perturbed wave's direction is large enough. Whereas, the perturbed wave frequency first increases as the whistler wavenumber increases, reaches a peak value and then decreases as whistler wavenumber increases.

The Hamiltonian of a conventional quantum system is Hermitian, which ensures real spectra of the Hamiltonian and unitary evolution of the system. However, real spectra are just the necessary conditions for a Hamiltonian to be Hermitian. In this paper, we discuss the metric operators for pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian which is similar to its adjoint. We first present some properties of the metric operators for pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonians and obtain a sufficient and necessary condition for an invertible operator to be a metric operator for a given pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian. When the pseudo-Hermitian Hamiltonian has real spectra, we provide a new method such that any given metric operator can be transformed into the same positive-definite one and the new inner product with respect to the positive-definite metric operator is well defined. Finally, we illustrate the results obtained with an example.

This study evaluated the association between inflammatory diets as measured by the Dietary Inflammatory index (DII), inflammation biomarkers and the development of preeclampsia among the Chinese population. We followed the reporting guidelines of the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology statement for observational studies. A total of 466 preeclampsia cases aged over 18 years were recruited between March 2016 and June 2019, and 466 healthy controls were 1:1 ratio matched by age (±3 years), week of gestation (±1 week) and gestational diabetes mellitus. The energy-adjusted DII (E-DII) was computed based on dietary intake assessed using a seventy-nine item semiquantitative FFQ. Inflammatory biomarkers were analysed by ELISA kits. The mean E-DII scores were −0·65 ± 1·58 for cases and −1·19 ± 1·47 for controls (P value < 0·001). E-DII scores positively correlated with interferon-γ (r s = 0·194, P value = 0·001) and IL-4 (r s = 0·135, P value = 0·021). After multivariable adjustment, E-DII scores were positively related to preeclampsia risk (P trend < 0·001). The highest tertile of E-DII was 2·18 times the lowest tertiles (95 % CI = 1·52, 3·13). The odds of preeclampsia increased by 30 % (95 % CI = 18 %, 43 %, P value < 0·001) for each E-DII score increase. The preeclampsia risk was positively associated with IL-2 (OR = 1·07, 95 % CI = 1·03, 1·11), IL-4 (OR = 1·26, 95 % CI = 1·03, 1·54) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) (OR = 1·17, 95 % CI = 1·06, 1·29). Therefore, proinflammatory diets, corresponding to higher IL-2, IL-4 and TGF-β levels, were associated with increased preeclampsia risk.

Chronic inflammation exerts pleiotropic effects in the aetiology and progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Glucosamine is widely used in many countries and may have anti-inflammatory properties. We aimed to prospectively evaluate the association of regular glucosamine use with incident COPD risk and explore whether such association could be modified by smoking in the UK Biobank cohort, which recruited more than half a million participants aged 40–69 years from across the UK between 2006 and 2010. Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for potential confounding factors were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) as well as 95 % CI for the risk of incident COPD. During a median follow-up of 8·96 years (interquartile range 8·29–9·53 years), 9016 new-onset events of COPD were documented. We found that the regular use of glucosamine was associated with a significantly lower risk of incident COPD with multivariable adjusted HR of 0·80 (95 % CI, 0·75, 0·85; P < 0·001). When subgroup analyses were performed by smoking status, the adjusted HR for the association of regular glucosamine use with incident COPD were 0·84 (0·73, 0·96), 0·84 (0·77, 0·92) and 0·71 (0·62, 0·80) among never smokers, former smokers and current smokers, respectively. No significant interaction was observed between glucosamine use and smoking status (P for interaction = 0·078). Incident COPD could be reduced by 14 % to 84 % through a combination of regular glucosamine use and smoking cessation.

The FNDC5 gene encodes the fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 that is a membrane protein mainly expressed in skeletal muscle, and the FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism may be associated with liver disease severity in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We investigated the influence of the FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism on the relationship between sarcopenia and the histological severity of NAFLD. A total of 370 adult individuals with biopsy-proven NAFLD were studied. The association between the key exposure sarcopenia and the outcome liver histological severity was investigated by binary logistic regression. Stratified analyses were undertaken to examine the impact of FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism on the association between sarcopenia and the severity of NAFLD histology. Patients with sarcopenia had more severe histological grades of steatosis and a higher prevalence of significant fibrosis and definite non-alcoholic steatohepatitis than those without sarcopenia. There was a significant association between sarcopenia and significant fibrosis (adjusted OR 2·79, 95 % CI 1·31, 5·95, P = 0·008), independent of established risk factors and potential confounders. Among patients with sarcopenia, significant fibrosis occurred more frequently in the rs3480 AA genotype carriers than in those carrying the FNDC5 rs3480 G genotype (43·8 v. 17·2 %, P = 0·031). In the association between sarcopenia and liver fibrosis, there was a significant interaction between the FNDC5 genotype and sarcopenia status (P value for interaction = 0·006). Sarcopenia is independently associated with significant liver fibrosis, and the FNDC5 rs3480 G variant influences the association between sarcopenia and liver fibrosis in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

Terrorist attacks can occur anywhere. As the threat of terrorism develops, the China-Eurasia Expo held in Ürümqi, China is attracting fewer potential visitors. A nationwide survey of 2034 residents from 31 provinces and municipalities in China was conducted to examine the relation between the distance to respondents’ city of residence from Ürümqi and their levels of concern for safety and security concerning the Expo. The two were found to be positively related: the closer the respondents lived to Ürümqi, the less concerned they were with the safety and security of the Expo. This is consistent with the “psychological typhoon eye” effect, which states that people living closer to the center of an unfortunate event (whether natural or man-made hazards) are less concerned with the event’s negative consequences. This effect appears to hold for terrorism. There are implications of this finding for international counter-terrorism practice, tourism, and research.

Novel NiMoO4-integrated electrode materials were successfully prepared by solvothermal method using Na2MoO4·2H2O and NiSO4·6H2O as main raw materials, water, and ethanol as solvents. The morphology, phase, and structure of the as-prepared materials were characterized by SEM, XRD, Raman, and FT-IR. The electrochemical properties of the materials in supercapacitors were investigated by cyclic voltammetry, constant current charge–discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. The effects of volume ratio of water to ethanol (W/E) in solvent on the properties of the product were studied. The results show that the pure phase monoclinic crystal NiMoO4 product can be obtained when the W/E is 2:1. The diameter and length are 0.1–0.3 µm and approximately 3 µm, respectively. As an active material for supercapacitor, the NiMoO4 nanorods material delivered a discharge specific capacitance of 672, 498, and 396 F/g at a current density of 4, 7, and 10 A/g, respectively. The discharge specific capacitance slightly decreased from 815 to 588 F/g with a retention of 72% after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1 A/g. With these superior capacitance properties, the novel NiMoO4 integrated electrode materials could be considered as promising material for supercapacitors.

The Zhenzhu Spring, located in the Tengchong volcanic field, Yunnan, China, is an acid hot spring with high SO42− concentrations and intense acid aerosol generation. In order to understand the formation mechanism of sulfate minerals at the Zhenzhu Spring and provide a better insight into the sulfur isotope geochemistry of the associated Rehai hydrothermal system, we investigated the spring water hydrochemistry, mineralogy and major-element geochemistry of sulfate minerals at the Zhenzhu Spring together with the sulfur-oxygen isotope geochemistry of sulfur-containing materials at the Rehai geothermal field and compared the isotope results with those in other steam-heated environments. Subaerial minerals include a wide variety of sulfate minerals (gypsum, alunogen, pickeringite, tamarugite, magnesiovoltaite and a minor Mg–S–O phase) and amorphous SiO2. The δ34S values of the subaerial sulfate minerals at the Zhenzhu Spring varied subtly from –0.33 to 1.88‰ and were almost consistent with the δ34S values of local H2S (–2.6 to 0.6‰) and dissolved SO42− (–0.2 to 5.8‰), while the δ18O values (–8.94 to 20.1‰) were between that of the spring waters (–10.19 to –6.7‰) and atmospheric O2 (~23.88‰). The results suggest that most of the sulfate minerals are derived from the oxidation of H2S, similar to many sulfate minerals from modern steam-heated environments. However, the rapid environmental change (different ratio of atmospheric and water oxygen) at the Zhenzhu Spring accounts for the large variation of δ18O. The formation of subaerial sulfate minerals around the Zhenzhu Spring is related to acid aerosols (vapour and acid water droplets). The intense activity of spring water around vents supply the aerosol with H2SO4 (H2S oxidation and acid water droplets formed by bubble bursting) and few cations. Deposition of the acid sulfate aerosol forms the acid condensate, which attacks the underlying rocks and releases many cations and anions to form subaerial sulfate minerals at the Zhenzhu Spring.

Environmental characteristics (for example, temperature, photoperiod) as seasonal cues can affect the offspring sex ratio and reproductive tactics of many hymenopteran insects. Leptocybe invasa Fisher & La Salle is the most critical invasive insect pest of Eucalyptus spp. in the world and displays thelytokous reproduction. In the current study, we studied the effects of temperature and photoperiod on offspring sex ratio and reproductive tactics in L. invasa. Results show that sex ratio (female: male) of L. invasa was under 15, 25 and 35 °C with both L 12: D 12 and L 16: D 8, and cold and thermal acclimation were 74.5:1, 71.0:1, 59.0:0, 17.3:1, 53.0:0, 64.0:0, 47.0:1 and 56.0:0, respectively, which was highly significantly female biased and with no significant difference due to temperature or photoperiod. Offspring virgin females oviposited and induced the bump-shaped galls on plants under the same conditions as described above. Constant temperature, photoperiod and their interaction, and cold and thermal acclimation had no significant effect on the infestation rates of Eucalyptus branches induced by offspring virgin females. Thus, temperature, photoperiod and cold and thermal acclimation did not influence female-biased sex ratio and tactics with thelytokous reproduction of offspring females in L. invasa.

We examined the in vitro developmental competence of parthenogenetic activation (PA) oocytes activated by an electric pulse (EP) and treated with various concentrations of AZD5438 for 4 h. Treatment with 10 µM AZD5438 for 4 h significantly improved the blastocyst formation rate of PA oocytes in comparison with 0, 20, or 50 µM AZD5438 treatment (46.4% vs. 34.5%, 32.3%, and 24.0%, respectively; P < 0.05). The blastocyst formation rate was higher in the group treated with AZD5438 for 4 h than in the groups treated with AZD5438 for 2 or 6 h (42.8% vs. 38.6% and 37.2%, respectively; P > 0.05). Furthermore, 66.67% of blastocysts derived from these AZD5438-treated PA oocytes had a diploid karyotype. The blastocyst formation rate of PA and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos was similar between oocytes activated by an EP and treated with 2 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine for 4 h and those activated by an EP and treated with 10 µM AZD5438 for 4 h (11.11% vs. 13.40%, P > 0.05). In addition, the level of maturation-promoting factor (MPF) was significantly decreased in oocytes activated by an EP and treated with 10 µM AZD5438 for 4 h. Finally, the mRNA expression levels of apoptosis-related genes (Bax and Bcl-2) and pluripotency-related genes (Oct4, Nanog, and Sox2) were checked by RT-PCR; however, there were no differences between the AZD5438-treated and non-treated control groups. Our results demonstrate that porcine oocyte activation via an EP in combination with AZD5438 treatment can lead to a high blastocyst formation rate in PA and SCNT experiments.

To understand the clinical epidemiology and molecular characteristics of human bocavirus (HBoV) infection in children with diarrhoea in Guangzhou, South China, we collected 1128 faecal specimens from children with diarrhoea from July 2010 to December 2012. HBoV and five other major enteric viruses were examined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Human rotavirus (HRV) was the most prevalent pathogen, detected in 250 (22·2%) cases, followed by enteric adenovirus (EADV) in 76 (6·7%) cases, human astrovirus (HAstV) in 38 (3·4%) cases, HBoV in 17 (1·5%) cases, sapovirus (SaV) in 14 (1·2%) cases, and norovirus (NoV) in 9 (0·8%) cases. Co-infections were identified in 3·7% of the study population and 23·5% of HBoV-positive specimens. Phylogenetic analysis revealed 14 HBoV strains to be clustered into species HBoV1 with only minor variations among them. Overall, the detection of HBoV appears to partially contribute to the overall detection gap for enteric infections, single HBoV infection rarely results in severe clinical outcomes, and HBoV sequencing data appears to support conserved genomes across strains identified in this study.