The study was to evaluate the reproducibility and validity of the FFQ for residents of northeast China. A total of 131 participants completed two FFQ (FFQ1 and FFQ2) within a 3-month period, 125 participants completed 8-d weighed diet records (WDR) and 112 participants completed blood biomarker testing. Reproducibility was measured by comparing nutrient and food intake between FFQ1 and FFQ2. The validity of the FFQ was assessed by WDR and the triad method. The Spearman correlation coefficients (SCC) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for reproducibility ranged from 0·41 to 0·69 (median = 0·53) and from 0·18 to 0·68 (median = 0·53) for energy and nutrients and from 0·37 to 0·73 (median = 0·59) and from 0·33 to 0·86 (median = 0·60) for food groups, respectively. The classifications of same or adjacent quartiles ranged from 73·64 to 93·80 % for both FFQ. The crude SCC between the FFQ and WDR ranged from 0·27 to 0·55 (median = 0·46) for the energy and nutrients and from 0·26 to 0·70 (median = 0·52) for food groups, and classifications of the same or adjacent quartiles ranged from 65·32 to 86·29 %. The triad method indicated that validation coefficients for the FFQ were above 0·3 for most nutrients, which indicated a moderate or high level of validity. The FFQ that was developed for residents of northeast China for the Northeast Cohort Study of China is reliable and valid for assessing the intake of most foods and nutrients.

No relevant studies have yet been conducted to explore which measurement can best predict the survival time of patients with cancer cachexia. This study aimed to identify an anthropometric measurement that could predict the 1-year survival of patients with cancer cachexia. We conducted a nested case–control study using data from a multicentre clinical investigation of cancer from 2013 to 2020. Cachexia was defined using the Fearon criteria. A total of 262 patients who survived less than 1 year and 262 patients who survived more than 1 year were included in this study. Six candidate variables were selected based on clinical experience and previous studies. Five variables, BMI, mid-arm circumference, mid-arm muscle circumference, calf circumference and triceps skin fold (TSF), were selected for inclusion in the multivariable model. In the conditional logistic regression analysis, TSF (P = 0·014) was identified as a significant independent protective factor. A similar result was observed in all patients with cancer cachexia (n 3084). In addition, a significantly stronger positive association between TSF and the 1-year survival of patients with cancer cachexia was observed in participants aged > 65 years (OR: 0·94; 95 % CI 0·89, 0·99) than in those aged ≤ 65 years (OR: 0·96; 95 % CI 0·93, 0·99; Pinteraction = 0·013) and in participants with no chronic disease (OR: 0·92; 95 % CI 0·87, 0·97) than in those with chronic disease (OR: 0·97; 95 % CI 0·94, 1·00; Pinteraction = 0·049). According to this study, TSF might be a good anthropometric measurement for predicting 1-year survival in patients with cancer cachexia.

In this paper, we focus on the configuration design of a reconfigurable robot that merges the functions of wheels, tracks, and legs together. A deformable rim is utilized to make the robot wheel reconfigurable to change its locomotion mode. Three rules of configuration design to achieve reconfiguration between different modes are proposed: (1) in wheel mode, the track wheel set should be hidden inside the wheel rim; (2) in track/leg mode, the folded wheel rim should be hidden inside the caterpillar loop; (3) the circumference of the wheel rim in wheel mode should be equal to the length of the track ring in track mode. According to these rules, the configuration of the deformable rim, track wheel set, and telescopic spoke are analyzed and designed. A prototype of the reconfigurable wheel is fabricated by three-dimensional printing, and its functions of locomotion in different modes, the switch between different modes, and its load-bearing ability are tested, verifying the effectiveness of the configuration design. Furthermore, a prototype of the reconfigurable robot is manufactured by computerized numerical control (CNC) machining to verify the structural design of the reconfigurable wheel. Compared to traditional hybrid robots with separate wheels, tracks, and legs, this reconfigurable design lends the multimodal robot both excellent terrain adaptability and a compact structure; thus, it can be widely used as a universal mobile platform in search and rescue missions and explosive object disposal missions.

We incorporate deep learning (DL) into tiled aperture coherent beam combining (CBC) systems for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. By using a well-trained convolutional neural network DL model, which has been constructed at a non-focal-plane to avoid the data collision problem, the relative phase of each beamlet could be accurately estimated, and then the phase error in the CBC system could be compensated directly by a servo phase control system. The feasibility and extensibility of the phase control method have been demonstrated by simulating the coherent combining of different hexagonal arrays. This DL-based phase control method offers a new way of eliminating dynamic phase noise in tiled aperture CBC systems, and it could provide a valuable reference on alleviating the long-standing problem that the phase control bandwidth decreases as the number of array elements increases.

Underground Nuclear Astrophysics in China (JUNA) will take the advantage of the ultra-low background in Jinping underground lab. High current accelerator with an ECR source and detectors were commissioned. JUNA plans to study directly a number of nuclear reactions important to hydrostatic stellar evolution at their relevant stellar energies. At the first period, JUNA aims at the direct measurements of 25Mg(p,γ)26 Al, 19F(p,α) 16 O, 13C(α, n) 16O and 12C(α,γ) 16O near the Gamow window. The current progress of JUNA will be given.

Existing measurement equipments easily determine position with high precision. However, they evaluate orientation with low precision. It is necessary to minimize the effect of measurement error on identification accuracy. In this study, a method for kinematic calibration based on the product of exponentials (POE) is presented to improve the absolute positioning accuracy of a sliding manipulator. An error model with uniform and generic modeling rules is established in which the tool frame is selected as the reference frame. Furthermore, the redundant parameters of the error model are removed. Subsequently, the actual kinematic parameters are identified by using the least square method. Finally, the process of the improved method is discussed. Kinematic calibration simulations of a sliding manipulator are implemented. The results indicate that the proposed method significantly improves the precision of the sliding manipulator. The improved POE kinematic calibration method offers convenience, efficiency, and high precision. The proposed method can be applied to all types of serial robots with n-DOF

Barium-rich silicates were recently found in the lower Cambrian black shale sequence of Anhui Province, South China. The Ba silicates can be divided into Ba-poor K-feldspar, Ba-rich K-feldspar and cymrite, on the basis of occurrence and composition. The Ba-poor K-feldspar have low BaO contents (<1.00 wt.%) and occur as sporadic grains in mudstone. In contrast, the Ba-rich K-feldspar have higher BaO contents (1.36–20.51 wt.%) and occur mainly as rims around grains of Ba-poor K-feldspar in mudstone, as void fillings in dolostone, and as grains dispersed in chert. The cymrite is observed only in chert and occurs as dispersed euhedral tabular crystals. Analyses of the Ba-poor K-feldspar and Ba-rich K-feldspar provide compositions that total <100 wt.% and show non-stoichiometry characterized by (Na + K + Ba + Ca)apfu less than 1.00 and (Al + Si)apfu slightly higher than 4.00. Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopy has revealed the presence of ${\rm NH}_{\rm 4}^{\rm +} $ and H2O in the Ba-rich K-feldspar, which accounts for the unusual composition of these feldspars. We suggest that the formation processes of the Ba-poor K-feldspar, Ba-rich K-feldspar and cymrite were closely associated with multi-stage hydrothermal fluids enriched in Ba and NH4, consistent with an extensional tectonic setting during the early Cambrian. The Ba-poor K-feldspars might have formed through interactions between pre-existing K-feldspars and hydrothermal fluids. The Ba-rich K-feldspars in mudstone and dolostone formed mainly by precipitation from hydrothermal fluids that infiltrated the sediments, and we suggest the Ba-rich K-feldspars and cymrite in the chert are of exhalative hydrothermal origin.

In the above publication by Chen et al. (2017), the authors neglected to include that Dr. Zhang was supported by the 111 Project (Grant Number B16031) as part of their financial support and conflicts of interest. The complete corrected conflicts of interest section is provided below:

The authors report grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grants from the National Science & Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period, and grants from the Key Discipline in Shanghai during the conduct of the study. Dr. Zhang was supported by the 111 Project (Grant Number B16031).

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) and intervention program in Shanghai, China.

Methods: This study included the quantitative analyses of the UNHS-Shanghai database in 2002–12 and qualitative assessment of the program. The Otoacoustic Emissions and the Automated Auditory Brainstem Evoked Responses tests were conducted in screening. The costs and benefits were calculated based on the number of participants in each stage. The short-term and long-term periods were defined as from birth to 15 years of age or to death (82-year-olds), respectively. Sensitivity analyses were conducted.

Results: A total 1,574,380 newborns were included, representing 93.6 percent of all eligible babies in Shanghai during the study period. The prevalence of newborn hearing loss was 1.66‰. The short-term/long-term program costs were ¥488.5 million (US$75.52 million)/¥1.08 billion (US$167.12 million), and the short-term/long-term program benefit was ¥980.1 million (US$151.53 million)/¥8.13 billion (US$1.26 billion). The program benefit was greater than its cost if the proportion of hearing-loss children enrolled in regular schools was no less than 41.4 percent of all hearing impaired children, as well as if the wage growth rate ranged from 3 percent to 8 percent. Qualitative results also suggested that stakeholders strongly supported this program.

Conclusions: The universal newborn hearing screening and intervention program in Shanghai is justified in terms of the resource input in the long run, although there is still room for further improvement with respect to educational rehabilitation and a better infrastructure system.

Objective: To study the relationship of Nε-(carboxymethyl)-lysine level (CML) with microstructure changes of white matter (WM), and cognitive impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to discuss the potential mechanism underlying T2DM-associated cognitive impairment. Methods: The study was performed in T2DM patients (n=22) with disease course ≥5 years and age ranging from 65 to 75 years old. A control group consisted of 25 sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers. Fractional anisotropy (FA) of several WM regions was analyzed by diffusion tensor imaging scan. Plasma CML levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and cognitive function was assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA). Results: The total Mini-Mental State Examination score in the patient group (25.72±3.13) was significantly lower than the control group (28.16±2.45) (p<0.05). In addition, the total MoCA score in the patient group (22.15±3.56) was significantly lower than the control group 25.63±4.12) (p<0.01). In the patient group, FA values were significantly decreased in the corpus callosum, cingulate fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, parietal WM, hippocampus, and temporal lobes relative to corresponding regions of healthy controls (p<0.05). Plasma CML level was negatively correlated with average FA values in the global brain (r=−0.58, p<0.01) and MoCA scores (r=−0.47, p<0.05). Conclusions: In T2DM, WM microstructure changes occur in older patients, and elevations in CML may play a role in the development of cognitive impairment.

Recent cladistic analyses have all suggested a diapsid origin of ichthyosaurs. However, an intermediate evolutionary stage of the lower temporal region of ichthyosaurian skull between basal diapsids and derived ichthyosaurs has been absent from the fossil record. Here we describe the cranial skeleton of a new mixosaurid ichthyosaur specimen with a well-preserved lower temporal region from the Anisian Guanling Formation of eastern Yunnan. It is characterized by the most primitive lower temporal region within known ichthyosaurs. The primitive characters of the lower temporal region include both external and internal separation between the jugal and the quadratojugal, an anterior process of the quadratojugal, an apparent posteroventral process of the jugal, and a large lower temporal opening surrounded by the jugal, the postorbital, the squamosal, and the quadratojugal. The lower temporal region of this specimen provides the most direct evidence to the diapsid origin of ichthyosaurs. It also suggests that the disappearance of the lower temporal fenestra is caused initially by the reduction of the lower temporal arcade rather than the enlargement of the surrounding bones.

Rapid growth processing of KDP crystals was improved by employing continuous filtration to eliminate bulk defects. The performances of the KDP crystals, including scattering defects, laser damage resistance and transmittance, were measured and analyzed. Compared with rapid-grown KDP without continuous filtration, the transmittance in the near-infrared was increased by at least 2%, almost all of ‘micron size’ defects were eliminated and ‘sub-micron size’ defects were decreased by approximately 90%. Laser damage testing revealed that the laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs), as well as the consistency of the LIDTs from sample to sample, were improved greatly. Moreover, it identified that ‘micron size’ defects were the precursors which initiated laser damage at relative lower laser fluence (4–6 J cm−2), and there was a lower correlation between smaller size scattering defects and laser damage initiation. The improved consistency in the LIDTs, attributed to elimination of ‘micron size’ defects, and LIDT enhancement originated from the decreased absorption of the KDP crystals.

Materials in the Ti–Al–C ternary system commonly contain three coexisting phases, Ti3AlC2, Ti2AlC, and TiC. Quantitative phase analysis in this ternary system was investigated using X-ray diffraction. First, nonoverlap diffraction peaks were selected: the (002) peak at 2θ=9.5° for Ti3AlC2 (I∕I0=26.5), the (002) peak at 2θ=13.0° for Ti2AlC (I∕I0=39), and the (111) peak at 2θ=35.9° for TiC (I∕I0=78), respectively. Then, based on the mixing-sample method without internal standards, a set of equations was derived for determining the amounts of Ti3AlC2, Ti2AlC, and TiC in a sample using the intensities of the selected diffraction peaks. Finally, the applicability and error sources for this method were investigated. The method is simple and straightforward, and is applicable to the entire Ti–Al–C ternary system, since the derivation of this equation group is self-checking.

Vegetables, the indispensable staple produce providing humans with many beneficial substances, are readily contaminated by nitrate, heavy metals and pesticides during conventional cultivation. In particular, off-season vegetables grown in protected systems with low light intensity do tend to accumulate more nitrate in tissues due to excess N fertilization driven by farmers' desire for high yields. Over-the-limit accumulation of the harmful substances in vegetables constitutes a serious hazard to human health globally. Soilless cultivation, currently a fraction of vegetable cultivation in China, is a promising cultivation method to decrease the accumulation of harmful substances through nutrient solution regulation and environmental factor control. However, conventional inorganic nutrient solutions present few quality benefits besides plant nutrition for the widely acknowledged formulations. Currently, high-quality vegetables are urgently desired by humans globally, but they are difficult to grow for lack of an effective and practical cultivation method to lower the accumulation of harmful substances and to improve nutritional quality simultaneously. Although some attempts have been made, few commercial formulations have been applied in practice. Biogas manure (biogas slurry and biogas dregs) is a by-product of biogas production. It has been shown to be a good fertilizer with abundant nutrients, amino acids and bioactive substances. In China, as a product of the recycling process of agricultural wastes, biogas manure is an ever-growing resource due to the rapid development of biogas projects. Therefore, the need to utilize biogas manure is an urgent issue that relates both to environment protection and nutrient resources utilization. In this paper, the updated research results on yield and the quality effects of vegetables cultivated with biogas dregs and the solutions modified from biogas slurry in China are summarized, highlighting the feasibility and benefits of biogas manure in high-quality vegetable production. It is concluded that biogas manure is an effective nutrient source for high-quality vegetable production based on its synergistic effects and effectiveness in yield and quality improvement (particularly depression effects on nitrate accumulation), and stress resistance. However, deliberate component regulations need to be developed for better yield and quality of vegetables under soilless cultivation due to the large variability of components of biogas manure caused by various combinations of fermentative materials.

With the rapid development of nanotechnology, the security of nanomaterials has been an increasing cause for concern. In this study, the impact of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2) on the phyllosphere bacterial community were analysed by both a culturable-dependent method and a polymerase chain reaction denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) method. The quantity of culturable phyllosphere bacteria was significantly reduced with an increased concentration of nano-TiO2. With increasing concentrations from 0.002 to 20 mg/ml of nano-TiO2, the quantity of culturable phyllosphere bacteria decreased from 1.8×106 to 3.1×105 cfu/g. The phyllosphere bacteria community was analysed by PCR-DGGE, and when the concentrations of nano-TiO2 were higher than 0.02 mg/ml, the DGGE bands were significantly lower than in the control. Sequencing results of the bands from the DGGE gel showed that there were at least seven genera in the phyllosphere bacteria. Only one uncultured bacterium was unaffected by the concentration of nano-TiO2.

To identify Porcine haemagglutinating encephalomyelitis virus (HEV) 67N receptor in porcine kidney (PK) cell membranes, the S1 protein of HEV was expressed in Pichia pastoris and purified by Ni2+ affinity chromatograph. Polyclonal antibodies to HEV were prepared by immunizing rabbits by injecting the purified S1 protein four times. After SDS–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE), the PK cell membrane proteins were transferred on to nitrocellulose membrane. A virus overlay protein binding assay (VOPBA) was performed using the recombinant S1 protein to identify the protein binding receptor, HEV-S1. The result showed that HEV-S1 protein bound to one band (about 90 kDa) in PK cell membranes. This result is very important for the study of the pathogenic mechanism of HEV.

The functional mitochondrial protein alternative oxidase (AOX) gene was used as a marker to analyse the phylogenetic relationship between Cryptosporidium isolates. This gene was characterized, and the phylogentic tree was established from Cryptosporidium isolates and compared to those generated from 18S rRNA and heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) gene sequences. The present trial aimed at finding out whether the AOX gene is suitable for phylogenetic analysis of the Cryptosporidium genus. The results revealed that the genus Cryptosporidium contained the phylogenetically distinct species C. parvum, C. hominis, C. suis and C. baileyi, which were consistent with the biological characterization and host specificity reported earlier. Cryptosporidium species formed two clades: one included C. hominis, C. suis, C. parvum cattle genotypes and C. parvum mouse genotype; and the other comprised C. meleagridis and C. baileyi isolates. Within C. parvum, both the mouse genotype and the pig genotype I (also known as C. suis) isolates differed from cattle and human (also known as C. hominis) genotypes, based on the aligned nucleotide sequences. The sequence identity of the AOX gene was higher between C. meleagridis and C. baileyi than between C. meleagridis and C. parvum. The phylogenetic trees showed that C. meleagridis was closer to C. baileyi than to C. parvum. This result was inconsistent with the phylogenetic analysis deduced from 18S rRNA and HSP70 gene sequences, respectively. The present results suggest that the AOX gene is not only equally suitable for the phylogenetic analysis of Cryptosporidium, but also provides an outstanding and new approach in determining Cryptosporidium heredity.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2004 in Savannah, Georgia, USA, August 1–5, 2004.