The propagation of multiple ultraintense femtosecond lasers in underdense plasmas is investigated theoretically and numerically. We find that the energy merging effect between two in-phase seed lasers can be improved by using two obliquely incident guiding lasers whose initial phase is $\pi$ and $\pi /2$ ahead of the seed laser. Particle-in-cell simulations show that due to the repulsion and energy transfer of the guiding laser, the peak intensity of the merged light is amplified by more than five times compared to the seed laser. The energy conversion efficiency from all incident lasers to the merged light is up to approximately 60$\%$. The results are useful for many applications, including plasma-based optical amplification, charged particle acceleration and extremely intense magnetic field generation.

Natural infection by Trichinella sp. has been reported in humans and more than 150 species of animals, especially carnivorous and omnivorous mammals. Although the presence of Trichinella sp. infection in wild boars (Sus scrofa) has been documented worldwide, limited information is known about Trichinella circulation in farmed wild boars in China. This study intends to investigate the prevalence of Trichinella sp. in farmed wild boars in China. Seven hundred and sixty-one (761) muscle samples from farmed wild boars were collected in Jilin Province of China from 2017 to 2020. The diaphragm muscles were examined by artificial digestion method. The overall prevalence of Trichinella in farmed wild boars was 0.53% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.51–0.55]. The average parasite loading was 0.076 ± 0.025 larvae per gram (lpg), and the highest burden was 0.21 lpg in a wild boar from Fusong city. Trichinella spiralis was the only species identified by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. The 5S rDNA inter-genic spacer region of Trichinella was amplified and sequenced. The results showed that the obtained sequence (GenBank accession number: OQ725583) shared 100% identity with the T. spiralis HLJ isolate (GenBank accession number: MH289505). Since the consumption of farmed wild boars is expected to increase in the future, these findings highlight the significance of developing exclusive guidelines for the processing of slaughtered farmed wild boar meat in China.

Isolated multi-MeV $\gamma$-rays with attosecond duration, high collimation and beam angular momentum (BAM) may find many interesting applications in nuclear physics, astrophysics, etc. Here, we propose a scheme to generate such $\gamma$-rays via nonlinear Thomson scattering of a rotating relativistic electron sheet driven by a few-cycle twisted laser pulse interacting with a micro-droplet target. Our model clarifies the laser intensity threshold and carrier-envelope phase effect on the generation of the isolated electron sheet. Three-dimensional numerical simulations demonstrate the $\gamma$-ray emission with 320 attoseconds duration and peak brilliance of $9.3\times 10^{24}$ photons s${}^{-1}$ mrad${}^{-2}$ mm${}^{-2}$ per 0.1$\%$ bandwidth at 4.3 MeV. The $\gamma$-ray beam carries a large BAM of $2.8 \times 10^{16}\mathrm{\hslash}$, which arises from the efficient BAM transfer from the rotating electron sheet, subsequently leading to a unique angular distribution. This work should promote the experimental investigation of nonlinear Thomson scattering of rotating electron sheets in large laser facilities.

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.

In order to develop high-performance adsorbents to remove toxic methylene blue (MB) from wastewater, palygorskite (Plg) was utilized as a template to prepare palygorskite/carbon (Plg/C) composites by using a hydrothermal reaction in the presence of glucose. The porous Plg/C composites were then activated with ZnCl2. The effects of the dose of the activator and the activation temperature on the crystal structure, micro-morphology, specific surface area, and adsorption performance of the porous Plg/C composites were studied systematically here. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicated that the crystal structure of Plg was destroyed during the activation process and irregular porous carbon was closely attached to the residual aluminosilicate skeleton. The activation was optimized at 400°C with a ZnCl2:Plg/C impregnation ratio of 2:1. The sample had a specific surface area of 1497.88 m2/g, together with a total pore volume and micropore volume of 1.0355 and 0.5464 cm3/g, respectively. The MB adsorption capacity was 381.04 mg/g. Such inexpensive, high-performance, porous Plg/C composites could find potential applications in wastewater treatment.

Chlorite is a layered silicate mineral group of importance in geology, agriculture, and in the processing of mineral resources. A more detailed analysis of the surface charge of chlorite minerals is important in order to improve our fundamental understanding of such particle structures and their behavior in suspension. In this study, the anisotropic surface charging of chlorite has been established using Atomic Force Microscopy surface-force measurements with a silicon nitride tip. The surface-charge densities and surface potentials at the chlorite basal-plane surfaces and edge surface were obtained by fitting force curves with the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theoretical model. The results show that at pH 5.6, 8.0, and 9.0 the chlorite mica-like face is negatively charged with the isoelectric point (IEP) less than pH 5.6. In contrast, the chlorite brucite-like face is positively charged in this pH range and the IEP is greater than pH 9.0. The surface charging of the chlorite edge surface was found to be pH-dependent with the IEP occurring at pH 8.5, which is slightly greater than the edge surfaces of talc and muscovite due to the larger content of magnesium hydroxide at the chlorite edge surface. Findings from the present research are expected to provide a fundamental foundation for the analysis of industrial requirements, e.g. collector adsorption, slime coating, and particle interactions in the area of mineral-processing technology.

Background: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of April 9, 2022, there had been 494,587,638 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,170,283 deaths reported worldwide. In Hong Kong, in recent outbreak, ~55% of confirmed cases were residential care home (RCH) residents and >800 staff were infected. In 2016, ~15% of people aged ≥80 years were living in residential care homes. Objectives: To assess healthcare worker (HCW) knowledge level and attitudes about PPE use in residential care homes. Methods: This cross-sectional study, included participants who worked in the residential care homes, registered as healthcare workers (HCWs). HCWs who were part-time staff or worked <3 months in the residential care home were excluded. Ethical review approval from the faculty research committee of the university was obtained in January 2022. The Knowledge, Attitude, Practical (KAP) questionnaire was adapted. The questionnaire has 33 items pertaining to knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding PPE. Results: In total, 50 questionnaires were received; 32 respondents (64%) were female and 18 (36%) were male. Nearly half of the participants had completed a high diploma course, and 32% had graduated from secondary school. Using ANOVA, there were no significant differences of education level of participants or participant knowledge level of PPE [F(2,47) = .181; P = .835], attitudes [F(2,47) = 1.995; P = .147] and practice [F(2,47) = .459; P = .635]. The Pearson correlation was used to measure the relationship between knowledge level and PPE practices. Our results indicated a significant difference and moderate correlation between knowledge level and PPE practice among HCWs. Conclusions: Knowledge level does not directly affect HCW practice regarding PPE. PPE practice skills have been influenced by various factors during the pandemic situation, such as availability of PPE, manpower, workload, and communication.

Pharmacological treatment of major depressive disorder is often inefficient, and multiple strategies are used for inadequate response to antidepressants. Second-generation antipsychotics are used as augmentation measures in clinical practice; evidence of their efficacy and acceptability is insufficient, and it remains confusing as to which drug should be selected first. In this systematic review and network meta-analysis, we included randomised controlled trials of second-generation antipsychotics used as adjunctive treatment in patients with suboptimal responses. Outcome measures were efficacy (response and remission) and acceptability (dropout due to any reason and adverse events). Thirty-three trials comprising 10 602 participants were included. Regarding efficacy, response rates indicated that all antipsychotics except for ziprasidone were more efficacious than the placebo, with the odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 1.34 for olanzapine and cariprazine [95% credible interval (CrI) 1.04–1.73 and 1.07–1.67, respectively] to 2.17 for risperidone (95% CrI 1.38–3.42). When considering remission, cariprazine was not effective (OR 1.21, 95% CrI 0.96–1.54). For acceptability, quetiapine (OR 0.68, 95% CrI 0.50–0.91), brexpiprazole (OR 0.69, 95% CrI 0.55–0.86), and cariprazine (OR 0.61, 95% CrI 0.46–0.82) were worse than the placebo. With regards to tolerability, only olanzapine (OR 0.51, 95% CrI 0.25–1.07) and risperidone (OR 0.48, 95% CrI 0.10–2.21) showed no significant differences compared with placebo. The administration of adjunctive antipsychotics is associated with high effectiveness and low acceptability. Risperidone and aripiprazole are more efficacious and accepted than other atypical antipsychotics.

Weapon target allocation (WTA) is an effective method to solve the battlefield fire optimisation problem, which plays an important role in intelligent automated decision-making. We researched the multitarget allocation problem to maximise the attack effectiveness when multiple interceptors cooperatively attack multiple ground targets. Firstly, an effective and reasonable fitness function is established, based on the situation between the interceptors and targets, by comprehensively considering the relative range, relative angle, speed, capture probability and radiation source matching performance and thoroughly evaluating them based on the advantage of the attack effectiveness. Secondly, the optimisation performance of the particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm is adaptively improved. We propose an adaptive simulated annealing-particle swarm optimisation (SA-PSO) algorithm by introducing the simulated annealing algorithm into the adaptive PSO algorithm. The proposed algorithm can enhance the convergence speed and overcome the disadvantage of the PSO algorithm easily falling into a local extreme point. Finally, a simulation example is performed in a scenario where ten interceptors cooperate to attack eight ground targets; comparative experiments are conducted between the adaptive SA-PSO algorithm and PSO algorithm. The simulation results indicate that the proposed adaptive SA-PSO algorithm demonstrates great performance in convergence speed and global optimisation capabilities, and a maximised attack effectiveness can be guaranteed.

Cancer remains the leading cause of death worldwide, and metastasis is still the major cause of treatment failure for cancer patients. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been shown to play a critical role in the metastasis cascade of epithelium-derived carcinoma. Tumour microenvironment (TME) refers to the local tissue environment in which tumour cells produce and live, including not only tumour cells themselves, but also fibroblasts, immune and inflammatory cells, glial cells and other cells around them, as well as intercellular stroma, micro vessels and infiltrated biomolecules from the nearby areas, which has been proved to widely participate in the occurrence and progress of cancer. Emerging and accumulating studies indicate that, on one hand, mesenchymal cells in TME can establish ‘crosstalk’ with tumour cells to regulate their EMT programme; on the other, EMT-tumour cells can create a favourable environment for their own growth via educating stromal cells. Recently, our group has conducted a series of studies on the interaction between tumour-associated macrophages (TAMs) and colorectal cancer (CRC) cells in TME, confirming that the interaction between TAMs and CRC cells mediated by cytokines or exosomes can jointly promote the metastasis of CRC by regulating the EMT process of tumour cells and the M2-type polarisation process of TAMs. Herein, we present an overview to describe the current knowledge about EMT in cancer, summarise the important role of TME in EMT, and provide an update on the mechanisms of TME-induced EMT in CRC, aiming to provide new ideas for understanding and resisting tumour metastasis.

Circadian rhythms, metabolic processes and dietary intake are inextricably linked. Timing of food intake is a modifiable temporal cue for the circadian system and may be influenced by numerous factors, including individual chronotype – an indicator of an individual’s circadian rhythm in relation to the light–dark cycle. This scoping review examines temporal patterns of eating across chronotypes and assesses tools that have been used to collect data on temporal patterns of eating and chronotype. A systematic search identified thirty-six studies in which aspects of temporal patterns of eating, including meal timings; meal skipping; energy distribution across the day; meal frequency; time interval between meals, or meals and wake/sleep times; midpoint of food/energy intake; meal regularity; and duration of eating window, were presented in relation to chronotype. Findings indicate that, compared with morning chronotypes, evening chronotypes tend to skip meals more frequently, have later mealtimes, and distribute greater energy intake towards later times of the day. More studies should explore the difference in meal regularity and duration of eating window amongst chronotypes. Currently, tools used in collecting data on chronotype and temporal patterns of eating are varied, limiting the direct comparison of findings between studies. Development of a standardised assessment tool will allow future studies to confidently compare findings to inform the development and assessment of guidelines that provide recommendations on temporal patterns of eating for optimal health.

The global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is greatly threatening the public health in the world. We reconstructed global transmissions and potential demographic expansions of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 based on genomic information. We found that intercontinental transmissions were rare in January and early February but drastically increased since late February. After world-wide implements of travel restrictions, the transmission frequencies decreased to a low level in April. We identified a total of 88 potential demographic expansions over the world based on the star-radiative networks and 75 of them were found in Europe and North America. The expansion numbers peaked in March and quickly dropped since April. These findings are highly concordant with epidemic reports and modelling results and highlight the significance of quarantine validity on the global spread of COVID-19. Our analyses indicate that the travel restrictions and social distancing measures are effective in containing the spread of COVID-19.