Folate metabolism is involved in the development and progression of various cancers. We investigated the association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in folate-metabolising genes and their interactions with serum folate concentrations with overall survival (OS) and liver cancer-specific survival (LCSS) of newly diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. We detected the genotypes of six SNP in three genes related to folate metabolism: methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase reductase (MTRR) and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase (MTR). Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI. This analysis included 970 HCC patients with genotypes of six SNP, and 864 of them had serum folate measurements. During a median follow-up of 722 d, 393 deaths occurred, with 360 attributed to HCC. In the fully-adjusted models, the MTRR rs1801394 polymorphism was significantly associated with OS in additive (per G allele: HR = 0·84, 95 % CI: 0·71, 0·99), co-dominant (AG v. AA: HR = 0·77; 95 % CI: 0·62, 0·96) and dominant (AG + GG v. AA: HR = 0·78; 95 % CI: 0·63, 0·96) models. Carrying increasing numbers of protective alleles was linked to better LCSS (HR10–12 v. 2–6 = 0·70; 95 % CI: 0·49, 1·00) and OS (HR10–12 v. 2–6 = 0·67; 95 % CI: 0·47, 0·95). Furthermore, we observed significant interactions on both multiplicative and additive scales between serum folate levels and MTRR rs1801394 polymorphism. Carrying the variant G allele of the MTRR rs1801394 is associated with better HCC prognosis and may enhance the favourable association between higher serum folate levels and improved survival among HCC patients.

Purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus L.) is one of the world’s resilient upland weeds, primarily spreading through its tubers. Its emergence in rice (Oryza sativa L.) fields has been increasing, likely due to changing paddy-farming practices. This study aimed to investigate how C. rotundus, an upland weed, can withstand soil flooding and become a problematic weed in rice fields. The first comparative analysis focused on the survival and recovery characteristics of growing and mature tubers of C. rotundus exposed to soil-flooding conditions. Notably, mature tubers exhibited significant survival and recovery abilities in these environments. Based on this observation, further investigation was carried out to explore the morphological structure, nonstructural carbohydrates, and respiratory mechanisms of mature tubers in response to prolonged soil flooding. Over time, the mature tubers did not form aerenchyma but instead gradually accumulated lignified sclerenchymal fibers, with lignin content also increasing. After 90 d, the lignified sclerenchymal fibers and lignin contents were 4.0 and 1.1 times higher than those in the no soil-flooding treatment. Concurrently, soluble sugar content decreased while starch content increased, providing energy storage, and alcohol dehydrogenase activity rose to support anaerobic respiration via alcohol fermentation. These results indicated that mature tubers survived in soil-flooding conditions by adopting a low-oxygen quiescence strategy, which involves morphological adaptations through the development of lignified sclerenchymal fibers, increased starch reserves for energy storage, and enhanced anaerobic respiration. This mechanism likely underpins the flooding tolerance of mature C. rotundus tubers, allowing them to endure unfavorable conditions and subsequently germinate and grow once flooding subsides. This study provides a preliminary explanation of the mechanism by which mature tubers of C. rotundus from the upland areas confer flooding tolerance, shedding light on the reasons behind this weed’s increasing presence in rice fields.

Everyone faces uncertainty on a daily basis. Two kinds of probability expressions, verbal and numerical, have been used to characterize the uncertainty that we face. Because our cognitive concept of living things differs from that of non-living things, and distinguishing cognitive concepts might have linguistic markers, we designed four studies to test whether people use different probability expressions when faced with animate or inanimate uncertainty. We found that verbal probability is the preferred way to express animate uncertainty, whereas numerical probability is the preferred way to express inanimate uncertainty. The “verbal-animate” and “numerical-inanimate” associations were robust enough to persist when tested with forced-choice response patterns regardless of the information (e.g., equally likely outcomes, frequencies, or personal beliefs) used to construct probabilities of events. When the response pattern was changed to free-responses, the associations were evident unless the subjects were asked to write their own probability predictions for vague uncertainty. Given that the world around us consists of both animate (i.e., living) and inanimate (i.e., non-living) things, “verbal-animate” and “numerical-inanimate” associations may play a major role in risk communication and may otherwise be useful for practitioners and consultants.

The tectonic evolution of the Sibumasu Block during the Permian remains controversial, and Permian faunas and their paleobiogeographic affinities provide some insight into its paleogeographic and tectonic evolutionary histories. In this paper, a new brachiopod fauna dominated by Spinomartinia prolifica Waterhouse, 1981 is described from the uppermost part of the Taungnyo Group in the Zwekabin Range, eastern Myanmar. This brachiopod fauna includes 23 species and its age is well constrained as late Kungurian by the associated conodonts, i.e., Vjalovognathus nicolli Yuan et al., 2016 and Mesogondolella idahoensis (Youngquist, Hawley, and Miller, 1951), contrary to the late Sakmarian age given to the same brachiopod faunas previously reported from southern Thailand and Malaysia. Based on comprehensive comparisons of the Cisuralian brachiopod faunas and other data in different parts of the Sibumasu Block, we consider that they are better subdivided into two independent stratigraphic assemblages, i.e., the lower (earlier) Bandoproductus monticulus-Spirelytha petaliformis Assemblage of a Sakmarian to probably early Artinskian age, and the upper (younger) Spinomartinia prolifica-Retimarginifera alata Assemblage of a late Kungurian age. The former assemblage is a typical cold-water fauna, mainly composed of Gondwanan-type genera, e.g., Bandoproductus Jin and Sun, 1981, Spirelytha Fredericks, 1924, and Sulciplica Waterhouse, 1968. The latter assemblage is strongly characterized by an admixture of both Cathaysian and Gondwanan elements, as well as some genera restricted to the Cimmerian continents. Notably, the spatial distribution pattern of these two separate brachiopod assemblages varies distinctly. The Sakmarian cold-water brachiopod faunas have been found in association with glacial-marine diamictites throughout the Sibumasu Block including both the Irrawaddy and Sibuma blocks. In contrast, the Kungurian biogeographically mixed brachiopod faunas are only recorded in the Irrawaddy Block, unlike the Sibuma Block that contains a contemporaneous paleotropical Tethyan fusuline fauna. Thus, it appears likely that by the end of Cisuralian (early Permian), the Sibumasu Block comprised the Irrawaddy Block in the south with cool climatic conditions, and the Sibuma Block in the north with a temperate to warm-water environment, separated by the incipient Thai-Myanmar Mesotethys.

Over recent decades, Chinese giant salamanders Andrias spp. have declined dramatically across much of their range. Overexploitation and habitat degradation have been widely cited as the cause of these declines. To investigate the relative contribution of each of these factors in driving the declines, we carried out standardized ecological and questionnaire surveys at 98 sites across the range of giant salamanders in China. We did not find any statistically significant differences between water parameters (temperature, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity, alkalinity, hardness and flow rate) recorded at sites where giant salamanders were detected by survey teams and/or had been recently seen by local respondents, and sites where they were not detected and/or from which they had recently been extirpated. Additionally, we found direct and indirect evidence that the extraction of giant salamanders from the wild is ongoing, including within protected areas. Our results support the hypothesis that the decline of giant salamanders across China has been primarily driven by overexploitation. Data on water parameters may be informative for the establishment of conservation breeding programmes, an initiative recommended for the conservation of these species.

Findings for the roles of dairy products, Ca and vitamin D on ovarian cancer risk remain controversial. We aimed to assess these associations by using an updated meta-analysis. Five electronic databases (e.g. PubMed and Embase) were searched from inception to 24 December 2019. Pooled relative risks (RR) with 95 % CI were calculated. A total of twenty-nine case–control or cohort studies were included. For comparisons of the highest v. lowest intakes, higher whole milk intake was associated with increased ovarian cancer risk (RR 1·35; 95 % CI 1·15, 1·59), whereas decreased risks were observed for higher intakes of low-fat milk (RR 0·84; 95 % CI 0·73, 0·96), dietary Ca (RR 0·71; 95 % CI 0·60, 0·84) and dietary vitamin D (RR 0·80; 95 % CI 0·67, 0·95). Additionally, for every 100 g/d increment, increased ovarian cancer risks were found for total dairy products (RR 1·03; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·04) and for whole milk (RR 1·07; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·11); however, decreased risks were found for 100 g/d increased intakes of low-fat milk (RR 0·95; 95 % CI 0·91, 0·99), cheese (RR 0·87; 95 % CI 0·76, 0·98), dietary Ca (RR 0·96; 95 % CI 0·95, 0·98), total Ca (RR 0·98; 95 % CI 0·97, 0·99), dietary vitamin D (RR 0·92; 95 % CI 0·87, 0·97) and increased levels of circulating vitamin D (RR 0·84; 95 % CI 0·72, 0·97). These results show that whole milk intake might contribute to a higher ovarian cancer risk, whereas low-fat milk, dietary Ca and dietary vitamin D might reduce the risk.

The frequency division multiple access (FDMA) strategy used in GLONASS causes inter-frequency phase bias (IFPB) and inter-frequency code bias (IFCB) between receivers from different manufacturers. The existence of IFPB and IFCB significantly increases the difficulties of fixing GLONASS ambiguity and limits the accuracy and reliability of GLONASS positioning. Moreover, the initial value of IFPB and IFCB may be unavailable or unreliable with the increasing number of receivers from different manufacturers in recent years. In this study, a real-time and reliable calibration algorithm of IFPB and IFCB based on multi-GNSS assistance is proposed by providing a fixed solution. Real-time IFPB rate and IFCB can be obtained using this algorithm without the initial IFPB and IFCB. The IFPB rate for all GLONASS satellites and IFCB for each GLONASS satellite are estimated due to different characteristics of IFPB and IFCB. IFPB calibration can be divided into constant and real-time IFPB calibrations to meet the different positioning requirements. Results show that constant IFPB rate has only 2 mm difference from the mean value of real-time IFPB rate. The IFPB rate and IFCB estimated by this algorithm have excellent stability, and the change in reference satellite cannot affect the results of IFPB rate and the stability of IFCB. The centimetre-level positioning results can be obtained using two calibration methods, and the positioning results with real-time calibration method are 10%–20% better than those with the constant calibration method. Under satellite-deprived environments, the improvements of multi-GNSS positioning accuracy with constant inter-frequency bias calibration gradually increase as the satellite cut-off elevation angle increases compared with GPS/BDS, which can reach up to 0·9 cm in the vertical direction.

Graphite nitride carbon nanosheets have received more and more attention toward the photocatalytic research and applications. Ultrathin g-CN nanosheets with porous structure were synthesized successfully by thermal calcination of melamine supramolecular complexes, which was obtained by pre-treating melamine in nitric acid solution at different concentrations (0.5–2 mol/L). Effects of HNO3 pre-treatment on the microstructure of supramolecular complexes were studied. The characteristics of g-CN nanosheets were investigated by X-ray diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The degradation performance for RhB and water splitting hydrogen production performance were used to evaluate the photocatalytic performances of g-CN nanosheets. The morphology and microstructure of HNO3/melamine supramolecular complexes are different from those of melamine precursor due to the better arrangement of the melamine units. Ultrathin porous g-CN nanosheets which possess a thickness of less than 2 nm were successfully prepared by calcination of melamine pre-treated with 1.0 mol/L nitric acid. The g-CN(1.0) nanosheets possess the highest photocatalytic degradation performance and water splitting hydrogen production performance due to the effective separation of photogenerated carriers and high specific surface area providing a large number of active sites.

Risk factors and prevalence of pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) diseases were retrospectively evaluated in 1208 suspected pulmonary TB patients seeking care at the Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University between July 2018 and December 2018. Further analysis of 390 culture-positive cases demonstrated that 358 (358/390, 91.8%) were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), 24 (24/390, 6.2%) with NTM and eight (8/390, 2.0%) with both MTB and NTM. M. intracellulare was the most prevalent NTM isolated (16/24, 66.7%), followed by M. abscessus (3/24), M. kansasii (2/24), M. avium (1/24), M. szulgai (1/24) and M. fortuitum (1/24). The difference between NTM and TB case rates for the ⩾65-year-old age group significantly exceeded the difference for the reference group (patients aged 25–44 years) (OR (95% CI): 4.63 (1.03–20.90)). Pulmonary NTM diseases incidence positively correlated with prior TB history (OR (95% CI): 12.92 (3.24–31.82)). Moreover, pulmonary NTM patients were significantly more likely to exhibit underlying bronchiectasis than pulmonary TB patients (OR (95% CI): 18.89 (7.54–47.88)). In conclusion, approximately one-tenth of culture-positive suspected pulmonary TB patients are infected with NTM (most frequently M. intracellulare) in Zhejiang Province, China. The elderly and those with bronchiectasis or a history of TB are at the greatest risk of contracting pulmonary NTM disease.

Permian faunal affinity in the Lhasa Block plays a critical role in reconstructing its paleogeographic evolution. Cisuralian and Guadalupian faunas have been described from the Lhasa Block, but very few Lopingian (late Permian) brachiopods have been reported so far. In this paper, a new diverse brachiopod fauna consisting of 17 species of 17 genera and an unidentifiable Orthotetoidea is described from the uppermost part of the Xiala Formation at the Aduogabu section in the central part of the Lhasa Block. The age of this fauna can be assigned to the Changhsingian (late Lopingian) as indicated by the associated foraminifers Colaniella parva (Colani, 1924) and Reichelina pulchra Miklukho-Maklay, 1954. Characteristic brachiopods include Spinomarginifera chengyaoyenensis Huang, 1932, Haydenella wenganensis (Huang, 1932), and Araxathyris cf. dilatatus Shen, He, and Zhu, 1992. They also generally suggest a Changhsingian age. Paleobiogeographically, this fauna is uniformly composed of typical Tethyan elements represented by Spinomarginifera Huang, 1932 and Haydenella Reed, 1944, and some cosmopolitan elements, but no typical cold-water taxa of Gondwanan affinity. This is in contrast to the contemporaneous brachiopod faunas from the Tethys Himalayan region that are characterized by typical cold-water taxa of Gondwanan affinity, e.g., Costiferina indica (Waagen, 1884), Retimarginifera xizangensis Shen et al., 2000, Neospirifer (Quadrospina) tibetensis Ding, 1962. Thus, it is strongly indicative that the Lhasa Block had drifted into a relatively warm-water regime during the Changhsingian. An analysis of the paleobiogeographic change of brachiopods in the Lhasa Block throughout the entire Permian further suggests that the Lhasa Block probably had rifted away from the northern peri-Gondwanan margin between the latest Cisuralian and middle Guadalupian, that is, the Neotethys Ocean had opened before middle Guadalupian.

Nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) are widely used for antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), but real-world data on treatment patterns and long-term clinical outcomes are not always available. Using data from electronic medical records between January 2011 and December 2016 in Shanghai, China, we evaluated patient characteristics, treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with CHB. There were 6688 patients in the study cohort. The incidences of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were 41.0‰ and 6.8‰ person-years, respectively. There were more cirrhosis and HCC cases among patients who had shorter NA treatment duration (<365 days), or who were less compliant (<80%). In addition, increased risk of cirrhosis and HCC was observed in patients who did not achieve hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss/seroconversion. Moreover, patients with cirrhosis developed after antiviral treatments had a higher incidence of HCC (adjusted hazard ratio 15.86, 95% confidence interval 7.35–34.24). Good compliance with treatment and longer treatment duration significantly decreased the risk of developing cirrhosis and HCC. HBsAg loss seemed to be a protective factor for cirrhosis/HCC in NAs-treated patients with CHB, and cirrhosis was a confirmed risk factor for HCC development as expected.

Choices between options represented in a multidimensional space, in which each dimension signifies a distinct attribute describing the objects, are presumably guided by the principle of value maximization. However, the current study assumes that in a real-world setting, those who are able to imagine things that do not actually exist could modify the multidimensional space by self-generating an unoffered but fictional dimension. We define the utility (Uv) assigned by the decision makers to the options on the offered/given dimension as value (v[x]) and the utility (Uw) on the self-generated/fictional dimension as worth (w[xc]). Our series of experiments demonstrated that an option with a greater value established strictly on that given set of dimensions might not necessarily be chosen (which contradicted the principle of value maximization). Choosing an option with less value (i.e. giving away the bigger pear) behavior can be described and explained by the “worth-based choice” approach, as people behave to select the option with the highest worth rather than that with the highest value. We are optimistic that the resulting findings will facilitate our understanding of the beauty of such a “one step further” choice and assist us in understanding the following: the ability to further generate a fictional dimension and to assign a delayed utility (worth) to the options on the fictional dimension, and to make a worth-based choice, which could eventually be taken as the operational definition to measure the degree of “fiction-generating ability”, as proposed by Harari (2014).