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Smectite growth is of importance across various fields due to its abundance on the surface of both Earth and Mars. However, the impact of the crystallinity of initial materials on smectite growth processes remains poorly understood. In this study, the kinetic processes of smectite growth were examined via experimental synthesis of trioctahedral Mg-Ni saponites. Mg-Ni saponites were synthesized using mixed precursors, specifically end-member Mg-saponite and Ni-saponite, which exhibit different crystallinities. The crystal chemistry and morphology of samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy. The experimental results converge towards these main conclusions: (i) the formation of Mg-Ni saponite solid solutions are promoted when the precursors are small particles, whereas large-particle precursors limit their own dissolution and do not yield Mg-Ni saponite solid solutions under the experimental conditions; (ii) because Ni exhibits a greater stability within the saponite structure compared to Mg, the Mg-Ni-saponite solid solutions formed more easily from the mixture of Ni-saponite germs and well-crystallized Mg-saponite precursors than from the mixture of Mg-saponite germs and well-crystallized Ni-saponite precursors; (iii) the dissolution extent (DE) of precursor mixtures increases with longer synthesis time, higher synthesis temperature, and larger gap between synthesis temperature of precursors and of samples, and stabilizes once it reaches a certain value. Thus DE can be used to estimate the kinetics of Mg-Ni saponite crystallization from precursor mixtures. These results obtained from the experimental Mg-Ni saponite system are useful for predicting the evolution processes of smectite in natural systems.
Previous studies suggest a link between vitamin D status and COVID-19 susceptibility in hospitalised patients. This study aimed to investigate whether vitamin D concentrations in elderly individuals were associated with their susceptibility to Omicron COVID-19 incidence, the severity of the disease and the likelihood of reoccurrence during the era of the post-‘zero-COVID-19’ policies in China.
Design:
In this retrospective study, participants were categorised into three groups based on their 25(OH)D concentrations: deficiency (< 20 ng/ml), insufficiency (20 to < 30 ng/ml) and sufficiency (≥ 30 ng/ml). The demographic and clinical characteristics, comorbidities and the incidence rate, reoccurrence rate and severity of Omicron COVID-19 were retrospectively recorded and analysed by using hospital information system data and an online questionnaire survey.
Setting:
China.
Participants:
222 participants aged 60 years or older from a health management centre.
Results:
Our findings revealed significant differences in the incidence (P = 0·03) and recurrent rate (P = 0·02) of Omicron COVID-19 among the three groups. Participants with lower 25(OH)D concentrations (< 20 ng/ml) exhibited higher rates of initial incidence and reoccurrence and a greater percentage of severe and critical cases. Conversely, individuals with 25(OH)D concentrations ≥ 30 ng/ml had a higher percentage of mild cases (P = 0·003). Binary and ordinal logistic regression models indicated that vitamin D supplementation was not a significant risk factor for COVID-19 outcomes.
Conclusions:
In the elderly population, pre-infection vitamin D deficiency was associated with increased susceptibility to incidence, severity of illness and reoccurrence rates of Omicron COVID-19.
Isomorphous substitutions of Mg and Fe for Al generally appear in the octahedral sheets of montmorillonite, whereas they are infrequent in kaolinite. Therefore, the release of Mg and Fe from the octahedral sheets probably happens during the transformation of montmorillonite into kaolinite, which could affect the migration of Mg and Fe from clay minerals into surrounding environments. The objective of the current study was to investigate the relationship between Mg and Fe release during the transformation of montmorillonite into kaolinite. The results showed that the d060 value of clay minerals decreased slightly, and the intensities of both the AlMg–OH and AlFe–OH bending vibrations also decreased gradually. In addition, the (Mg+Fe)/Al (major octahedral ions) atomic ratio of kaolinite was lower than that of montmorillonite, especially in identical hydrothermal products. These results indicated that Mg and Fe ions were released progressively from the octahedral sheets during the transformation of montmorillonite into kaolinite. Moreover, the changed relative concentrations of Mg and Fe ions in the supernatant solutions after hydrothermal reactions suggested a random distribution of Mg and/or Fe in the octahedral sheets of the montmorillonite. These results improve understanding of the release relationship between Mg and Fe during clay mineral evolution and of the distribution of these two ions in the octahedral sheets, as well as the chemical composition of clay minerals as an indicator of geological environments.
The relationships between childhood weight self-misperception and obesity-related factors particularly health markers have not been extensively discussed. This study aims to examine the associations between weight self-misperception and obesity-related knowledge, attitudes, lifestyles and cardio-metabolic markers among Chinese paediatric population.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Data sourced from a national survey in Chinese seven provinces in 2013.
Participants:
Children and adolescents aged 5–19 years.
Results:
Of the total 14 079 participants, there were 14·5 % and 2·2 % participants over-estimated and under-perceived their weight, respectively. Multi-variable logistic regression was applied to calculate OR and 95 % CI (95 % Cl) of obesity-related behaviours and cardio-metabolic markers by actual and perceived weight status. Individuals who perceived themselves as overweight/obese were more likely to have prolonged screen time, insufficient dairy intake and over sugar-sweetened beverages consumption (all P < 0·05), regardless of their weight. Furthermore, actual overweight/obese individuals had higher odds of abnormal cardio-metabolic markers, but a smaller magnitude of association was found among weight under-estimators. Among non-overweight/obese individuals, weight over-estimation was positively associated with abdominal obesity (OR: 10·49, 95 % CI: 7·45, 14·76), elevated blood pressure (OR: 1·30, 95 % CI: 1·12, 1·51) and dyslipidemia (OR: 1·43, 95 % CI: 1·29, 1·58).
Conclusions:
Weight over-perception was more prevalent than under-estimation, particularly in girls. Weight over-estimators tended to master better knowledge but behave more unhealthily; both weight over-perception and actual overweight/obesity status were associated with poorer cardio-metabolic markers. Future obesity intervention programmes should additionally pay attention to the population with inaccurate estimation of weight who were easily overlooked.
Developmental signals and environmental stresses regulate carbon distribution in the vegetative and reproductive organs of plants and affect seed yield. Cleistogenes songorica is a xerophytic grass with great potential application value in ecological restoration. However, how carbohydrate transport and distribution during grain filling affect the seed yield of C. songorica under water stress is not clear. The present study showed that the soluble sugar and starch contents of cleistogamous (CL) spikes and chasmogamous (CH) spikes were significantly higher at the milk stage, which was attributed to a significantly higher seed number and seed yield per spike under water stress conditions than under well-watered conditions (P < 0.01). RNA-seq data revealed a total of 54,525 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under water stress conditions, but only 3744 DEGs were shared among all comparison groups. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis showed that the transport and distribution of carbohydrates were regulated by ABA-responsive genes (CsABA8OX1_1, CsABA8OX1_2, CsABA8OX2_1, CsABA8OX2_2, CsNCED3, CsNCED1_1, CsNCED1_2 and CsNCED4_1) and sugar transport and starch synthesis genes (CsSUS1, CsSUS2, CsSUS3, CsAGP1, CsAGP4, CsAGP5, CsSSS1 and CsSBE5) under water stress conditions. These genes jointly regulated carbohydrate remobilization in sources (stems, leaves and sheaths) to promote grain filling and improve seed yield. The present study helped to clarify the phenotypic, metabolic and transcriptional response mechanisms of vegetative organs, such as stems and leaves, and reproductive organs, such as CL spikes and CH spikes, to promote carbohydrate redistribution under water stress, and it provides theoretical guidance for improving seed yields.
Laser–plasma accelerators (LPAs) have great potential to realize a compact X-ray free-electron laser (FEL), which is limited by the beam properties currently. Two-color high-intensity X-ray FEL provides a powerful tool for probing ultrafast dynamic systems. In this paper, we present a simple and feasible method to generate a two-color X-ray FEL pulse based on an LPA beam. In this scheme, time-dependent mismatch along the bunch is generated and manipulated by the designed lattice system, enabling FEL lasing at different wavelength within two undulator sections. The time separation between the two pulses can be precisely adjusted by varying the time-delay chicane. Numerical simulations show that two-color soft X-ray FELs with gigawatt-level peak power and femtosecond duration can be generated, which confirm the validity and feasibility of the scheme.
Environmental hypoxia exposure causes fertility problems in human and animals. Compelling evidence suggests that chronic hypoxia impairs spermatogenesis and reduces sperm motility. However, it is unclear whether paternal hypoxic exposure affects fertilization and early embryo development. In the present study, we exposed male mice to high altitude (3200 m above sea level) for 7 or 60 days to evaluate the effects of hypoxia on sperm quality, zygotic DNA methylation and blastocyst formation. Compared with age-matched controls, hypoxia-treated males exhibited reduced fertility after mating with normoxic females as a result of defects in sperm motility and function. Results of in vitro fertilization (IVF) experiments revealed that 60 days’ exposure significantly reduced cleavage and blastocyst rates by 30% and 70%, respectively. Immunohistochemical staining of pronuclear formation indicated that the pronuclear formation process was disturbed and expression of imprinted genes was reduced in early embryos after paternal hypoxia. Overall, the findings of this study suggested that exposing male mice to hypoxia impaired sperm function and affected key events during early embryo development in mammals.
There have been calls for the expansion of protected areas (PAs) to tackle the ongoing biodiversity loss, yet it is unclear where future PAs might help to protect biodiversity in degraded landscapes under the conservation planning principles of complementarity, connectivity and cost-effectiveness. Our conservation goal is to increase the PA network coverage to up to 30% of the landscape of the Zhangjiang River Basin for target species in the karst area of southwest China, a global biodiversity hotspot. Zonation 4GUI was used to evaluate the adequacy of current PAs and to strategically expand PAs while maximizing the coverage of target species and considering ecological integrity and socioeconomic activities. The results show that significant habitat degradation has occurred across 77.9% of the basin. The current PAs cover 6.3% of the site and represent 8.7% of the total distribution of key species. With regards to the threshold of protection of 30% of the area, protecting an additional 27.2% of the site under an ecological integrity prioritization scenario and a scenario of the socioeconomic costs involved in iteration would cover 93.5% and 80.4% of the ranges of the key species, respectively. Our results can be used to inform the upcoming actions associated with karst area conservation-related policies.
Inflammation might play a role in bipolar disorder (BD), but it remains unclear the relationship between inflammation and brain structural and functional abnormalities in patients with BD. In this study, we focused on the alterations of functional connectivity (FC), peripheral pro-inflammatory cytokines and their correlations to investigate the role of inflammation in FC in BD depression.
Methods
In this study, 42 unmedicated patients with BD II depression and 62 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Resting-state-functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in all participants and independent component analysis was used. Serum levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Interleukin-8 (IL-8) were measured in all participants. Correlation between FC values and IL-6 and IL-8 levels in BD was calculated.
Results
Compared with the HCs, BD II patients showed decreased FC in the left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) implicating the limbic network and the right precentral gyrus implicating the somatomotor network. BD II showed increased IL-6 (p = 0.039), IL-8 (p = 0.002) levels. Moreover, abnormal FC in the right precentral gyrus were inversely correlated with the IL-8 (r = −0.458, p = 0.004) levels in BD II. No significant correlation was found between FC in the left OFC and cytokines levels.
Conclusions
Our findings that serum IL-8 levels are associated with impaired FC in the right precentral gyrus in BD II patients suggest that inflammation might play a crucial role in brain functional abnormalities in BD.
Understanding the patterns of treatment response is critical for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia; one way to achieve this is through using a longitudinal dynamic process study design.
Aims
This study aims to explore the response trajectory of antipsychotics and compare the treatment responses of seven different antipsychotics over 6 weeks in patients with schizoprenia (trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trials Registry Identifier: ChiCTR-TRC-10000934).
Method
Data were collected from a multicentre, randomised open-label clinical trial. Patients were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) at baseline and follow-up at weeks 2, 4 and 6. Trajectory groups were classified by the method of k-means cluster modelling for longitudinal data. Trajectory analyses were also employed for the seven antipsychotic groups.
Results
The early treatment response trajectories were classified into a high-trajectory group of better responders and a low-trajectory group of worse responders. The results of trajectory analysis showed differences compared with the classification method characterised by a 50% reduction in PANSS scores at week 6. A total of 349 patients were inconsistently grouped by the two methods, with a significant difference in the composition ratio of treatment response groups using these two methods (χ2 = 43.37, P < 0.001). There was no differential contribution of high- and low trajectories to different drugs (χ2 = 12.52, P = 0.051); olanzapine and risperidone, which had a larger proportion in the >50% reduction at week 6, performed better than aripiprazole, quetiapine, ziprasidone and perphenazine.
Conclusions
The trajectory analysis of treatment response to schizophrenia revealed two distinct trajectories. Comparing the treatment responses to different antipsychotics through longitudinal analysis may offer a new perspective for evaluating antipsychotics.
The Arsenic (+3 oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT) gene has been identified as a top risk gene for schizophrenia in several large-scale genome-wide association studies. A variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) of this gene is the most significant expression quantitative trait locus, but its role in brain activity in vivo is still unknown.
Methods
We first performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan of 101 healthy subjects during a memory span task, trained all subjects on an adaptive memory span task for 1 month, and finally performed another fMRI scan after the training. After excluding subjects with excessive head movements for one or more scanning sessions, data from 93 subjects were included in the final analyses.
Results
The VNTR was significantly associated with both baseline brain activation and training-induced changes in multiple regions including the prefrontal cortex and the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex. Additionally, it was associated with baseline brain activation in the striatum and the parietal cortex. All these results were corrected based on the family-wise error rate method across the whole brain at the peak level.
Conclusions
This study sheds light on the role of AS3MT gene variants in neural plasticity related to memory span training.
The microbiota–gut–brain axis, especially the microbial tryptophan (Trp) biosynthesis and metabolism pathway (MiTBamp), may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, studies on the MiTBamp in MDD are lacking. The aim of the present study was to analyze the gut microbiota composition and the MiTBamp in MDD patients.
Methods
We performed shotgun metagenomic sequencing of stool samples from 26 MDD patients and 29 healthy controls (HCs). In addition to the microbiota community and the MiTBamp analyses, we also built a classification based on the Random Forests (RF) and Boruta algorithm to identify the gut microbiota as biomarkers for MDD.
Results
The Bacteroidetes abundance was strongly reduced whereas that of Actinobacteria was significantly increased in the MDD patients compared with the abundance in the HCs. Most noteworthy, the MDD patients had increased levels of Bifidobacterium, which is commonly used as a probiotic. Four Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) orthologies (KOs) (K01817, K11358, K01626, K01667) abundances in the MiTBamp were significantly lower in the MDD group. Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between the K01626 abundance and the HAMD scores in the MDD group. Finally, RF classification at the genus level can achieve an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.890.
Conclusions
The present findings enabled a better understanding of the changes in gut microbiota and the related Trp pathway in MDD. Alterations of the gut microbiota may have the potential as biomarkers for distinguishing MDD patients form HCs.
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.
To assess the effect of famine exposure during early life on dietary patterns, chronic diseases, and the interaction effect between famine exposure and dietary patterns on chronic diseases in adulthood.
Design
Cross-sectional study. Dietary patterns were derived by factor analysis. Multivariate quantile regression and log-binomial regression were used to evaluate the impact of famine exposure on dietary patterns, chronic diseases and the interaction effect between famine exposure and dietary patterns on chronic diseases, respectively.
Setting
Hefei, China.
Participants
Adults aged 45–60 years (n 939).
Results
‘Healthy’, ‘high-fat and high-salt’, ‘Western’ and ‘traditional Chinese’ dietary patterns were identified. Early-childhood and mid-childhood famine exposure were remarkably correlated with high intake of the traditional Chinese dietary pattern. Compared with the non-exposed group (prevalence ratio (PR); 95 % CI), early-childhood (3·13; 1·43, 6·84) and mid-childhood (2·37; 1·05, 5·36) exposed groups showed an increased PR for diabetes, and the early-childhood (2·07; 1·01, 4·25) exposed group showed an increased PR for hypercholesterolaemia. Additionally, relative to the combination of non-exposed group and low-dichotomous high-fat and high-salt dietary pattern, the combination of famine exposure in early life and high-dichotomous high-fat and high-salt dietary pattern in adulthood had higher PR for diabetes (4·95; 1·66, 9·05) and hypercholesterolaemia (3·71; 1·73, 7·60), and significant additive interactions were observed.
Conclusions
Having suffered the Chinese famine in childhood might affect an individual’s dietary habits and health status, and the joint effect between famine and harmful dietary pattern could have serious consequences on later-life health outcomes.
Change mode and effects analysis (CMEA) is a powerful technique for measuring product flexibility toward future changes and diminishing the cost of redesign as well as shortening time to market. As a systematic methodology, it provides an in-depth view for the investigation of potential changes, causes, and effects in designs, products, and processes. Traditional CMEA determines the risk priorities of change modes by using change potential number, which requires the risk factors of design flexibility, occurrence, and readiness to be precisely evaluated. However, this is not always possible in real applications due to the uncertainty and subjectivity involved in the early design stages. It has been criticized much for its deficiencies in criteria weighting of the risk factors, change potential number calculation, and risk priorities determination of the change modes. This paper presents a systematic evaluation approach for determining a more rational rank of change modes by combining with the entropy weight method, rough number, and grey relational analysis. In this study, the entropy weight method is adopted to calculate the relative importance of risk factors. Rough number is presented to aggregate individual weights and preferences, and to manipulate the vagueness in the evaluation process. Then a rough number enhanced grey relational analysis is proposed to evaluate the risk ranking of change modes. Finally, a practical example is put forward to validate the performance of the proposed method. The result shows that the proposed change mode evaluation method can effectively overcome the shortcomings of traditional CMEA and strengthen the objectivity of product flexibility measurement.
The composite Li-ion battery anode material of Fe2SiO4, Fe3O4, Fe3C (Fe-Si-O) and carbon nanotubes was prepared by a simple one-step reaction between ferrocene and tetraethyl orthosilicate. When cycled at 100 mA g-1, this material exhibited ever-increasing capacities and reached 588 mAh g-1 at the 280th cycle. At 500 mA g-1, a reversible capacity of 350 mAh g-1 was retained for 600 cycles. Compared with Fe3O4 materials, the Fe-Si-O/CNT exhibited superior long-term high-rate performance, which could mainly result from its enhanced stability and conductivities by introducing silicates and CNTs during the one-step synthesis.
Lower and upper third molars of a proboscidean from the Tha Chang sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand, show a zygodont pattern. The crescentoids are less well developed than those of the type specimen of Zygolophodon gobiensis but similar to those of late Miocene specimens from south China assigned to Z. lufengensis and Z. chinjiensis. On the other hand, the loph(id)s are less oblique and the zygodont crests are less well developed than in Z. lufengensis and Z. chinjiensis. However, it is difficult to erect a new species for these specimens because their anterior loph(id)s are so deeply worn that the morphology of the conelets on these loph(id)s is unclear. Thus, we identify the specimens as Zygolophodon sp. Zygolophodon is known from lower and middle Miocene sediments in Africa while they are usually dated to the early–late Miocene in Europe, South Asia such as Pakistan, and Central and North China. Based on its apparent grade of dental evolution, the new material of Zygolophodon from Thailand is probably late Miocene in age. In addition, this discovery is the first record of a zygodont proboscidean in Southeast Asia.