The environmental effects of nanoparticles have attracted widespread attention. The removal and recycling of nanoparticles are crucial for both environmental protection and resource reuse. However, current removal and recycling methods are not yet mature, and there is a need to explore inexpensive materials for the efficient removal and recycling of nanoparticles. This study investigates the effects of pyrite species, thermal modification temperature, pH and ionic strength on the adsorption of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by pyrite. The experimental results demonstrate that the adsorption rate of artificially thermally modified pyrite is slightly faster than that of naturally thermally modified pyrite. However, the concentration of Fe ions dissolved from the artificially thermally modified pyrite is higher. Natural pyrite, when thermally modified at 400°C and 500°C, adsorbs 100% of AuNPs within 10 min. The lower the acidity of the system, the faster the adsorption rate. Conversely, an increase in ionic strength decreases the adsorption rate. Artificially thermally modified pyrite primarily adsorbs AuNPs through electrostatic gravitational attraction, which is supplemented by a significant amount of chemisorption. After four recycling cycles, the adsorption and desorption rates of AuNPs using artificially thermally modified pyrite were 92.1% and 94.2%, respectively, indicating excellent adsorption and recovery performance. The results of this study provide a new method for the recycling of nanoparticles and an experimental basis for the further application of thermally modified pyrite in environmental treatments.

We present a practical verification method for safety analysis of the autonomous driving system (ADS). The main idea is to build a surrogate model that quantitatively depicts the behavior of an ADS in the specified traffic scenario. The safety properties proved in the resulting surrogate model apply to the original ADS with a probabilistic guarantee. Given the complexity of a traffic scenario in autonomous driving, our approach further partitions the parameter space of a traffic scenario for the ADS into safe sub-spaces with varying levels of guarantees and unsafe sub-spaces with confirmed counter-examples. Innovatively, the partitioning is based on a branching algorithm that features explainable AI methods. We demonstrate the utility of the proposed approach by evaluating safety properties on the state-of-the-art ADS Interfuser, with a variety of simulated traffic scenarios, and we show that our approach and existing ADS testing work complement each other. We certify five safe scenarios from the verification results and find out three sneaky behavior discrepancies in Interfuser which can hardly be detected by safety testing approaches.

This study aimed to understand the potassium voltage-gated channel KQT-like subfamily, member 1 gene polymorphism in a rural elderly population in a county in Guangxi and to explore the possible relationship between its gene polymorphism and blood sugar. The 6 SNP loci of blood DNA samples from 4355 individuals were typed using the imLDRTM Multiple SNP Typing Kit from Shanghai Tianhao Biotechnology Co. The data combining epidemiological information (baseline questionnaire and physical examination results) and genotyping results were statistically analyzed using GMDR0.9 software and SPSS22.0 software. A total of 4355 elderly people aged 60 years and above were surveyed in this survey, and the total abnormal rate of glucose metabolism was 16·11 % (699/4355). Among them, male:female ratio was 1:1·48; the age group of 60–69 years old accounted for the highest proportion, with 2337 people, accounting for 53·66 % (2337/4355). The results of multivariate analysis showed that usually not doing farm work (OR 1·26; 95 % CI 1·06, 1·50), TAG ≥ 1·70 mmol/l (OR 1·19; 95 % CI 1·11, 1·27), hyperuricaemia (OR 1·034; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·66) and BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2 (OR 1·06; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·09) may be risk factors for abnormal glucose metabolism. Among all participants, rs151290 locus AA genotype, A allele carriers (AA+AC) were 0.70 times more likely (0.54 to 0.91) and 0.82 times more likely (0.70 to 0.97) to develop abnormal glucose metabolism than CC genotype carriers, respectively. Carriers of the T allele at the rs2237892 locus (CT+TT) were 0.85 times more likely to have abnormal glucose metabolism than carriers of the CC genotype (0.72 to 0.99); rs2237897 locus CT gene. The possibility of abnormal glucose metabolism in the carriers of CC genotype, TT genotype and T allele (CT + TT) is 0·79 times (0·67–0·94), 0·74 times (0·55–0·99) and 0·78 times (0·66, 0·92). The results of multifactor dimensionality reduction showed that the optimal interaction model was a three-factor model consisting of farm work, TAG and rs2237897. The best model dendrogram found that the interaction between TAG and rs2237897 had the strongest effect on fasting blood glucose in the elderly in rural areas, and they were mutually antagonistic. Environment–gene interaction is an important factor affecting abnormal glucose metabolism in the elderly of a county in Hechi City, Guangxi.

This paper retrospectively analysed the prevalence of macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MRMP) in some parts of China. Between January 2013 and December 2019, we collected 4,145 respiratory samples, including pharyngeal swabs and alveolar lavage fluid. The highest PCR-positive rate of M. pneumoniae was 74.5% in Beijing, the highest resistance rate was 100% in Shanghai, and Gansu was the lowest with 20%. The highest PCR-positive rate of M. pneumoniae was 74.5% in 2013, and the highest MRMP was 97.4% in 2019; the PCR-positive rate of M. pneumoniae for adults in Beijing was 17.9% and the MRMP was 10.48%. Among the children diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), the PCR-positive and macrolide-resistant rates of M. pneumoniae were both higher in the severe ones. A2063G in domain V of 23S rRNA was the major macrolide-resistant mutation, accounting for more than 90%. The MIC values of all MRMP to erythromycin and azithromycin were ≥ 64 μg/ml, and the MICs of tetracycline and levofloxacin were ≤ 0.5 μg/ml and ≤ 1 μg/ml, respectively. The macrolide resistance varied in different regions and years. Among inpatients, the macrolide-resistant rate was higher in severe pneumonia. A2063G was the common mutation, and we found no resistance to tetracycline and levofloxacin.

Dietary antioxidant indices (DAI) may be potentially associated with relative telomere length (RTL) of leucocytes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between DAI and RTL. A cross-sectional study involving 1656 participants was conducted. A generalised linear regression model and a restricted cubic spline model were used to assess the correlation of DAI and its components with RTL. Generalised linear regression analysis revealed that DAI (β = 0·005, P = 0·002) and the intake of its constituents vitamin C (β = 0·043, P = 0·027), vitamin E (β = 0·088, P < 0·001), Se (β = 0·075, P = 0·003), and Zn (β = 0·075, P = 0·023) were significantly and positively correlated with RTL. Sex-stratified analysis showed that DAI (β = 0·006, P = 0·005) and its constituents vitamin E (β = 0·083, P = 0·012), Se (β = 0·093, P = 0·006), and Zn (β = 0·092, P = 0·034) were significantly and positively correlated with RTL among females. Meanwhile, among males, only vitamin E intake (β = 0·089, P = 0·013) was significantly and positively associated with RTL. Restricted cubic spline analysis revealed linear positive associations between DAI and its constituents’ (vitamin E, Se and Zn) intake and RTL in the total population. Sex-stratified analysis revealed a linear positive correlation between DAI and its constituents’ (vitamin E, Se and Zn) intake and RTL in females. Our study found a significant positive correlation between DAI and RTL, with sex differences.

As the main global terrestrial ecosystem component, grasslands are extremely sensitive to global climate change. With increasing human activities over the last century, grassland ecosystems have been degraded to different degrees. However, the evolution of lake-grassland ecosystems in recent centuries remains unclear due to the dearth of high-resolution records. Here, we present high-resolution lacustrine sediment grain size, pollen (Artemisia, Myriophyllum), Pediastrum, and n-alkane records from Ganggeng Nur Lake to investigate vegetation, lake evolution, and human effects in semiarid northern China. Four stages were identified from the last ca. 150 years: (1) the natural evolution stage (AD 1870–1945), in which there was a wet climate around Ganggeng Nur and the lake level rose from increased runoff; (2) the human disturbance stage (AD 1945–1967), in which the regional climate got drier and human activities began having a detectable effect on the grassland ecosystem; (3) the human transformation stage (AD 1967–2005), in which a completely arid climate coupled with the implementation of a series of land reclamation policies resulted in a large reduction in grassland areas, extensive soil erosion, exacerbated climate change, and shrinking lake areas; and (4) the posttreatment stage (AD 2005–2018), in which soil erosion was alleviated by policy implementation and a favorable humid climate.

Cryptosporidium spp. are significant opportunistic pathogens causing diarrhoea in humans and animals. Pigs are one of the most important potential hosts for Cryptosporidium. We evaluated the prevalence of Cryptosporidium in pigs globally using published information and a random-effects model. In total, 131 datasets from 36 countries were included in the final quantitative analysis. The global prevalence of Cryptosporidium in pigs was 16.3% (8560/64 809; 95% confidence interval [CI] 15.0–17.6%). The highest prevalence of Cryptosporidium in pigs was 40.8% (478/1271) in Africa. Post-weaned pigs had a significantly higher prevalence (25.8%; 2739/11 824) than pre-weaned, fattening and adult pigs. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium was higher in pigs with no diarrhoea (12.2%; 371/3501) than in pigs that had diarrhoea (8.0%; 348/4874). Seven Cryptosporidium species (Cryptosporidium scrofarum, Cryptosporidium suis, Cryptosporidium parvum, Cryptosporidium muris, Cryptosporidium tyzzeri, Cryptosporidium andersoni and Cryptosporidium struthioni) were detected in pigs globally. The proportion of C. scrofarum was 34.3% (1491/4351); the proportion of C. suis was 31.8% (1385/4351) and the proportion of C. parvum was 2.3% (98/4351). The influence of different geographic factors (latitude, longitude, mean yearly temperature, mean yearly relative humidity and mean yearly precipitation) on the infection rate of Cryptosporidium in pigs was also analysed. The results indicate that C. suis is the dominant species in pre-weaned pigs, while C. scrofarum is the dominant species in fattening and adult pigs. The findings highlight the role of pigs as possible potential hosts of zoonotic cryptosporidiosis and the need for additional studies on the prevalence, transmission and control of Cryptosporidium in pigs.

The association between dietary Cu intake and mortality risk remains uncertain. We aimed to investigate the relationship of dietary Cu intake with all-cause mortality among Chinese adults. A total of 17 310 participants from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, a national ongoing open cohort of Chinese participants, were included in the analysis. Dietary intake was measured by three consecutive 24-h dietary recalls in combination with a weighing inventory over the same 3 d. The average intakes of the 3-d dietary macronutrients and micronutrients were calculated. The study outcome was all-cause mortality. During a median follow-up of 9·0 years, 1324 (7·6 %) participants died. After adjusting for sex, age, BMI, ever alcohol drinking, ever smoking, education levels, occupations, urban or rural residents, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and the intakes of fat, protein and carbohydrate, the association between dietary Cu intake and all-cause mortality followed a J-shape (P for nonlinearity = 0·047). When dietary Cu intake was assessed as quartiles, compared with those in the first quartile (<1·60 mg/d), the adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were 0·87 (95 % CI (0·71, 1·07)), 0·98 (95 % CI (0·79, 1·21)) and 1·49 (95 % CI (1·19, 1·86)), respectively, in participants in the second (1·60–<1·83 mg/d), third (1·83–<2·09 mg/d) and fourth (≥2·09 mg/d) quartiles. A series of subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses showed similar results. Overall, our findings emphasised the importance of maintaining optimal dietary Cu intake levels for prevention of premature death.

Cryptosporidium spp. are important pathogens with some species causing diarrhoea in humans and animals. Sheep are one of the most common potential hosts for various Cryptosporidium spp. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium in sheep globally was evaluated from published information including molecular data via meta-analysis. In total, 126 datasets from 41 countries were included for final quantitative analysis. Sheep aged <3 months had a significantly higher prevalence (27.8%; 3284/11 938) than those at the age of 3–12 and >12 months. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium in sheep with diarrhoea of 35.4% (844/1915) was higher than in sheep that did not show diarrhoea (11.3%; 176/1691). Fourteen Cryptosporidium species/genotypes were detected in sheep globally. The proportion of subgenotype family XIIa of Cryptosporidium ubiquitum was 90.0% (216/240); the proportions of subgenotypes IIdA20G1 and IIaA15G2R1 of Cryptosporidium parvum were 15.4% (62/402) and 19.7% (79/402). The results indicate that C. parvum is the dominant species in Europe while Cryptosporidium xiaoi is the dominant species in Oceania, Asia and Africa and C. ubiquitum is the dominant species in North America and South America. Subgenotype family IIa of C. parvum is particularly widespread among sheep worldwide. The results highlight the role of sheep as a reservoir host for zoonotic cryptosporidia and the need for further study of prevalence, transmission and control of this pathogen in sheep.

We report the experimental results of the commissioning phase in the 10 PW laser beamline of the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF). The peak power reaches 2.4 PW on target without the last amplifying during the experiment. The laser energy of 72 ± 9 J is directed to a focal spot of approximately 6 μm diameter (full width at half maximum) in 30 fs pulse duration, yielding a focused peak intensity around 2.0 × 1021 W/cm2. The first laser-proton acceleration experiment is performed using plain copper and plastic targets. High-energy proton beams with maximum cut-off energy up to 62.5 MeV are achieved using copper foils at the optimum target thickness of 4 μm via target normal sheath acceleration. For plastic targets of tens of nanometers thick, the proton cut-off energy is approximately 20 MeV, showing ring-like or filamented density distributions. These experimental results reflect the capabilities of the SULF-10 PW beamline, for example, both ultrahigh intensity and relatively good beam contrast. Further optimization for these key parameters is underway, where peak laser intensities of 1022–1023 W/cm2 are anticipated to support various experiments on extreme field physics.

We report a generation of energetic protons by the interaction of a high-energy electron driving beam with an underdense plasma slab. After an interaction period of approximately 4000 fs, a proton beam with maximum energy greater than 250 MeV can be achieved by applying a driving beam with energy 1.0 GeV to a 200 $\mathrm {\mu }$m plasma slab. Our two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations also show that the proton acceleration process can be divided into two stages. In the first stage, a strong positive longitudinal electric field appears near the rear boundary of the plasma slab after the driving beam has passed through it. This acceleration process is similar to the target normal sheath acceleration scheme by the interaction between intense pulsed laser with overdense plasma targets. In the second stage, the accelerated protons experience a long-range acceleration process with a two-stream instability between the high-energy driving beam and the proton beam. Further analyses show that this accelerated proton beam is equipped with the property of good collimation and high energy. This scheme presents a new way for proton or ion acceleration on some special occasions.

Widely distributed Mid-Neoproterozoic mafic rocks of the Qilian – Qaidam – East Kunlun region record the tectonic evolution of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. This study presents whole-rock geochemistry, zircon U–Pb geochronology and Hf isotopes for the Xialanuoer gabbros of the central South Qilian Belt (SQB). Zircon laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U–Pb dating indicates that the gabbros were emplaced at ca. 738 Ma, indicating they are contemporaneous with mafic magmatism elsewhere in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau. The gabbros have low SiO2, Cr and Ni contents and Mg# values, are relatively enriched in light rare-earth elements (LREEs) and depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs; e.g. Nb and Ta), have no positive Zr or Hf anomalies and have relatively high Nb/Ta but low Nb/La ratios. These data indicate that the Xialanuoer gabbros formed from calc-alkaline basaltic magmas that were originally generated by the partial melting of an enriched mantle of type-I (EMI-type) enriched region of the lithospheric mantle, underwent little to no crustal contamination prior to their emplacement, and have within-plate basalt geochemical affinities. Combining these data with the presence of widespread contemporaneous continental rift-related magmatism and sedimentation in the North Qilian, Central Qilian, South Qilian, Quanji, North Qaidam and East Kunlun regions suggests that the northeastern Tibetan Plateau underwent Mid-Neoproterozoic continental rifting, which also affected other Rodinian blocks (e.g. Tarim, South China, Australia, North America and Southern Africa).

This study is performed to figure out how the presence of diabetes affects the infection, progression and prognosis of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the effective therapy that can treat the diabetes-complicated patients with COVID-19. A multicentre study was performed in four hospitals. COVID-19 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) or hyperglycaemia were compared with those without these conditions and matched by propensity score matching for their clinical progress and outcome. Totally, 2444 confirmed COVID-19 patients were recruited, from whom 336 had DM. Compared to 1344 non-DM patients with age and sex matched, DM-COVID-19 patients had significantly higher rates of intensive care unit entrance (12.43% vs. 6.58%, P = 0.014), kidney failure (9.20% vs. 4.05%, P = 0.027) and mortality (25.00% vs. 18.15%, P < 0.001). Age and sex-stratified comparison revealed increased susceptibility to COVID-19 only from females with DM. For either non-DM or DM group, hyperglycaemia was associated with adverse outcomes, featured by higher rates of severe pneumonia and mortality, in comparison with non-hyperglycaemia. This was accompanied by significantly altered laboratory indicators including lymphocyte and neutrophil percentage, C-reactive protein and urea nitrogen level, all with correlation coefficients >0.35. Both diabetes and hyperglycaemia were independently associated with adverse prognosis of COVID-19, with hazard ratios of 10.41 and 3.58, respectively.