Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) has been widely used as a microstructure characterization technology. In this work, a fully connected dense forward network is applied to inversely retrieve the mean particle size and particle distribution from SAXS data of samples dynamically compressed with high-power lasers and probed with X-ray free electron lasers. The trained network allows automatic acquisition of microstructure information, performing well in predictions on single-species nanoparticles on the theoretical model and in situ experimental data. We evaluate our network by comparing it with other methods, revealing its reliability and efficiency in dynamic experiments, which is of great value for in situ characterization of materials under high-power laser-driven dynamic compression.

Competitive adsorption between phosphate, tartrate and oxalate was studied on two hydroxy aluminum montmorillonite complexes (AlMt1.6 and AlMt6), which were prepared by adding a base to pH 5.5 to samples containing 1.6 and 6.0 mol Al per kg clay. The quantities of phosphate, tartrate and oxalate adsorbed were more closely related to the amount of OH-Al species coatings on the montmorillonite than to the surface area of the complexes. The adsorption capacity of phosphate was much greater than that of tartrate or oxalate for both samples. Adding molar amounts of oxalate and tartrate resulted in an oxalate/tartrate adsorption ratio (Rf) of ∼1. However, in the presence of phosphate, Rf values were <1.0, and the Rf values decreased with increasing amounts of added phosphate, indicating that tartrate competed with phosphate more effectively than oxalate. The presence of tartrate also reduced phosphate adsorption by the complexes. The efficiency of tartrate in reducing phosphate adsorption increased by increasing the initial tartrate/phosphate molar ratio and by adding tartrate 2 h before phosphate addition. Tartrate and oxalate added as a mixture in equimolar quantities were much more effective in inhibiting phosphate sorption than tartrate alone under the same organic ligand concentrations, probably because more sites with high affinity for both the organic ligands were occupied by tartrate and oxalate than by tartrate alone. The efficiency of tartrate alone, or combined with oxalate, in preventing phosphate adsorption was greater for the complex containing a lesser amount of OH-Al species coating the montmorillonite surfaces. This result may be attributable to a greater proportion of sites specific for organic ligands present on AlMt1.6 compared to AlMt6 complex.

Competition among the two-plasmon decay (TPD) of backscattered light of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), filamentation of the electron-plasma wave (EPW) and forward side SRS is investigated by two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Our previous work [K. Q. Pan et al., Nucl. Fusion 58, 096035 (2018)] showed that in a plasma with the density near 1/10 of the critical density, the backscattered light would excite the TPD, which results in suppression of the backward SRS. However, this work further shows that when the laser intensity is so high ($>{10}^{16}$ W/cm2) that the backward SRS cannot be totally suppressed, filamentation of the EPW and forward side SRS will be excited. Then the TPD of the backscattered light only occurs in the early stage and is suppressed in the latter stage. Electron distribution functions further show that trapped-particle-modulation instability should be responsible for filamentation of the EPW. This research can promote the understanding of hot-electron generation and SRS saturation in inertial confinement fusion experiments.

To investigate the downstream rim seal gas ingestion characteristics of a 1.5-stage turbine, the URANS equations were solved numerically using the SST turbulence model. The effects of different purge flow rates and the second vane on the ingestion characteristics of the aft cavity and the nonuniform fluctuations of the main gas path pressure are analysed. The results showed that the aft cavity is affected by the combined effects of the blade and the second vane, and the potential field at the leading edge of the second vane greatly influence the airflow variation in the aft cavity, which enhances the ingress of the mainstream into the wheel-space. The front purge flow weakens the egress between the suction side of the blade and the suction side of the second vane. The potential field at the leading edge of the second vane suppresses the nonuniform distribution of airflow in the aft cavity caused by the rotational effect of the blade.

This paper proposes an alternating elliptical impingement chamber in the leading edge of a gas turbine to restrain the cross flow and enhance the heat transfer, and investigates the detailed flow and heat transfer characteristics. The chamber consists of straight sections and transition sections. Numerical simulations are performed by solving the three-dimensional (3D) steady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with the Shear Stress Transport (SST) k– $\omega$ turbulence model. The influences of alternating the cross section on the impingement flow and heat transfer of the chamber are studied by comparison with a smooth semi-elliptical impingement chamber at a cross-flow Velocity Ratio (VR) of 0.2 and Temperature Ratio (TR) of 1.00 in the primary study. Then, the effects of the cross-flow VR and TR are further investigated. The results reveal that, in the semi-elliptical impingement chamber, the impingement jet is deflected by the cross flow and the heat transfer performance is degraded. However, in the alternating elliptical chamber, the cross flow is transformed to a pair of longitudinal vortices, and the flow direction at the centre of the cross section is parallel to the impingement jet, thus improving the jet penetration ability and enhancing the impingement heat transfer. In addition, the heat transfer in the semi-elliptical chamber degrades rapidly away from the stagnation region, while the longitudinal vortices enhance the heat transfer further, making the heat transfer coefficient distribution more uniform. The Nusselt number decreases with increase of VR and TR for both the semi-elliptical chamber and the alternating elliptical chamber. The alternating elliptical chamber enhances the heat transfer and moves the stagnation point up for all VR and TR, and the heat transfer enhancement is more obvious at high cross-flow velocity ratio.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a disease with a high case-fatality rate that is caused by infection with the SFTS virus (SFTSV). Five electronic databases were systematically searched to identify relevant articles published from 1 January 2011 to 1 December 2019. The pooled rates with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by a fixed-effect or random-effect model analysis. The results showed that 92 articles were included in this meta-analysis. For the confirmed SFTS cases, the case-fatality rate was 0.15 (95% CI 0.11, 0.18). Two hundred and ninety-six of 1384 SFTS patients indicated that they had been bitten by ticks and the biting rate was 0.21 (95% CI 0.16, 0.26). The overall pooled seroprevalence of SFTSV antibodies among the healthy population was 0.04 (95% CI 0.03, 0.05). For the overall seroprevalence of SFTSV in animals, the seroprevalence of SFTSV was 0.25 (95% CI 0.20, 0.29). The infection rate of SFTSV in ticks was 0.08 (95% CI 0.05, 0.11). In conclusion, ticks can serve as transmitting vectors of SFTSVs and reservoir hosts. Animals can be infected by tick bites, and as a reservoir host, SFTSV circulates continuously between animals and ticks in nature. Humans are infected by tick bites and direct contact with patient secretions.

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common pathogen associated with nosocomial infections and is characterised serologically by capsular polysaccharide (K) and lipopolysaccharide O antigens. We surveyed a total of 348 non-duplicate K. pneumoniae clinical isolates collected over a 1-year period in a tertiary care hospital, and determined their O and K serotypes by sequencing of the wbb Y and wzi gene loci, respectively. Isolates were also screened for antimicrobial resistance and hypervirulent phenotypes; 94 (27.0%) were identified as carbapenem-resistant (CRKP) and 110 (31.6%) as hypervirulent (hvKP). isolates fell into 58 K, and six O types, with 92.0% and 94.2% typeability, respectively. The predominant K types were K14K64 (16.38%), K1 (14.66%), K2 (8.05%) and K57 (5.46%), while O1 (46%), O2a (27.9%) and O3 (11.8%) were the most common. CRKP and hvKP strains had different serotype distributions with O2a:K14K64 (41.0%) being the most frequent among CRKP, and O1:K1 (26.4%) and O1:K2 (17.3%) among hvKP strains. Serotyping by gene sequencing proved to be a useful tool to inform the clinical epidemiology of K. pneumoniae infections and provides valuable data relevant to vaccine design.

In this paper, we characterize a high repetition-rate regenerating plasma mirror produced by the thin film of liquid formed when two laminar streams collide. The use of a flowing liquid film is inexpensive and the interaction surface refreshes automatically, avoiding buildup of on-target debris. The composition of the liquid material and the relative angle of the film-generating nozzles was optimized for this application. Spectra measured in reflection from a water-based plasma mirror showed a blue shift but an optical reflectivity of up to 30%. The thickness of the film was found to be of the order of 2 ${\rm \mu}$m, and the stability of the reflected spot was ${\approx }1$ mrad. The reflected beam profile was highly distorted but stable. Further optimization of the nozzles to affect the fluid flow should enable significant improvements in control of the fluid films and increase in the reflectivity of these mirrors.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among infectious diseases. China has a high burden of TB and accounted for almost 13% of the world's cases of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB. Spinal TB is one reason for the resurgence of TB in China. Few large case studies of MDR spinal TB in China have been conducted. The aim of this research was to observe the epidemiological characteristics of inpatients with MDR spinal TB in six provinces and cities of China from 1999–2015. This is a multicentre retrospective observational study. Patients' information was collected from the control disease centre and infectious disease database of hospitals in six provinces and cities in China. A total of 3137 patients with spinal TB and 272 patients with MDR spinal TB were analysed. The result showed that MDR spinal TB remains a public health concern and commonly affects patients 15–30 years of age (34.19%). The most common lesions involved the thoracolumbar spine (35.66%). Local pain was the most common symptom (98.53%). Logistic analysis showed that for spinal TB patients, reside in rural district (OR 1.79), advanced in years (OR 1.92) and high education degree (OR 2.22) were independent risk factors for the development of MDR spinal TB. Women were associated with a lower risk of MDR spinal TB (OR 0.48). The most common first-line and second-line resistant drug was isoniazid (68.75%) and levofloxacin (29.04%), respectively. The use of molecular diagnosis resulted in noteworthy clinical advances, including earlier initiation of MDR spinal TB treatment, improved infection control and better clinical outcome. Chemotherapy and surgery can yield satisfactory outcomes with timely diagnosis and long-term treatment. These results enable a better understanding of the MDR spinal TB in China among the general public.

The strong-coupling mode, called the “quasimode”, is excited by stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in high-intensity laser–plasma interactions. Also SBS of the quasimode competes with SBS of the fast mode (or slow mode) in multi-ion species plasmas, thus leading to a low-frequency burst behavior of SBS reflectivity. Competition between the quasimode and the ion-acoustic wave (IAW) is an important saturation mechanism of SBS in high-intensity laser–plasma interactions. These results give a clear explanation of the low-frequency periodic burst behavior of SBS and should be considered as a saturation mechanism of SBS in high-intensity laser–plasma interactions.

Crystal structure and electronic structure of YMnO3 were investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy related techniques. According to the density of states (DOS), the individual interband transitions to energy loss peaks in the low energy loss spectrum were assigned. The hybridization of O 2p with Mn 3d and Y 4d analyzed by the partial DOS was critical to the ferroelectric nature of YMnO3. From the simulation of the energy loss near-edge structure, the fine structure of O K-edge was in good agreement with the experimental spectrum. The valence state of Mn (+3) in YMnO3 was determined by a comparison between experiment and calculations.

The COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) project is a large international collaborative effort to analyze individual-level phenotype data from twins in multiple cohorts from different environments. The main objective is to study factors that modify genetic and environmental variation of height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) and size at birth, and additionally to address other research questions such as long-term consequences of birth size. The project started in 2013 and is open to all twin projects in the world having height and weight measures on twins with information on zygosity. Thus far, 54 twin projects from 24 countries have provided individual-level data. The CODATwins database includes 489,981 twin individuals (228,635 complete twin pairs). Since many twin cohorts have collected longitudinal data, there is a total of 1,049,785 height and weight observations. For many cohorts, we also have information on birth weight and length, own smoking behavior and own or parental education. We found that the heritability estimates of height and BMI systematically changed from infancy to old age. Remarkably, only minor differences in the heritability estimates were found across cultural–geographic regions, measurement time and birth cohort for height and BMI. In addition to genetic epidemiological studies, we looked at associations of height and BMI with education, birth weight and smoking status. Within-family analyses examined differences within same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins in birth size and later development. The CODATwins project demonstrates the feasibility and value of international collaboration to address gene-by-exposure interactions that require large sample sizes and address the effects of different exposures across time, geographical regions and socioeconomic status.

Laser interaction with an ultra-thin pre-structured target is investigated with the help of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. With the existence of a periodic structure on the target surface, the laser seems to penetrate through the target at its fundamental frequency even if the plasma density of the target is much higher than the laser’s relativistically critical density. The particle-in-cell simulations show that the transmitted laser energy behind the pre-structured target is increased by about two orders of magnitude compared to that behind the flat target. Theoretical analyses show that the transmitted energy behind the pre-structured target is actually re-emitted by electron ‘islands’ formed by the surface plasma waves on the target surfaces. In other words, the radiation with the fundamental frequency is actually ‘surface emission’ on the target rear surface. Besides the intensity of the component with the fundamental frequency, the intensity of the high-order harmonics behind the pre-structured target is also much enhanced compared to that behind the flat target. The enhancement of the high-order harmonics is also related to the surface plasma waves generated on the target surfaces.