FePd2Te2: An Anisotropic Two-Dimensional Ferromagnet with One-Dimensional Fe Chains.

Two-dimensional (2D) magnets have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their importance in the research on both fundamental physics and spintronic applications. Here, we report the discovery of a new ternary compound FePd2Te2. It features a layered quasi-2D crystal structure with 1D Fe zigzag chains extending along the b-axis in the cleavage plane. Single crystals of FePd2Te2 with centimeter size could be grown. Density functional theory calculations, mechanical exfoliation, and atomic force microscopy on these crystals reveal that they are 2D materials that can be thinned down to ∼5 nm. Magnetic characterization shows that FePd2Te2 is an easy-plane ferromagnet with TC ∼ 183 K and strong in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. Magnetoresistance and the anomalous Hall effect demonstrate that ferromagnetism could be maintained in FePd2Te2 flakes with large coercivity. A crystal twinning effect is observed by scanning tunneling microscopy which makes the Fe chains right angle bent in the cleavage plane and creates an intriguing spin texture. Besides, a large electronic specific heat coefficient of up to γ ∼ 32.4 mJ mol-1 K-2 suggests FePd2Te2 is a strongly correlated metal. Our results show that FePd2Te2 is a correlated anisotropic 2D magnet that may attract multidisciplinary research interests.

A 10-year retrospective study of antibacterial-induced thrombocytopenia in a women and children hospital using China Hospital Pharmacovigilance System and Visual Basic for Applications.

AIMS: We aimed to investigate antibacterial-induced thrombocytopenia using the China Hospital Pharmacovigilance System (CHPS) in conjunction with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). METHODS: Between September 2011 and December 2022, a 2-phase workflow was employed to identify antibacterial-induced thrombocytopenia, including preliminary screening in phase (I) conducted by CHPS algorithms and causality assessment by trained pharmacists in phase (II) using VBA. The incidence of thrombocytopenia in each antibacterial was calculated, and comparisons were performed between paediatric and adult patients. RESULTS: CHPS algorithms identified 4080 cases from 485 238 admissions (including 223 735 admissions receiving at least 1 antibacterial treatment). After ruling out cases with chemotherapy and abnormal platelet count at admission, 3832 cases were available. Using VBA, pharmacists identified 1039 cases (1246 antibacterial treatments, 28 agents) as potential thrombocytopenia instances (κ = 0.89), with an incidence of 0.46%. All antibacterial treatments correlated temporally with thrombocytopenia. Carbapenems (meropenem 1.77%), glycopeptides (vancomycin 1.55%) and lincosamides (clindamycin 0.44%) were prominent causal groups. The highest incidences of thrombocytopenia in the cephalosporins and penicillins groups were ceftazidime (2.04%) and piperacillin/tazobactam (1.24%), respectively. Among all antibacterial treatments, clindamycin showed the shortest time to onset (TTO), and erythromycin showed the longest TTO. Paediatric patients exhibited a longer TTO (61 vs. 29 h), extended time to nadir (83 vs. 37 h), lower platelet nadir count values (110 vs. 92 × 109/L), and a higher severe case proportion (12.37 vs. 3.86%) when compared with adults. CONCLUSION: Different antibacterial agents exhibit varying incidences of thrombocytopenia, with notable disparities between adults and children in the characteristics of thrombocytopenia.

Fused-Ring Pyrrole-Based Near-Infrared Emissive Organic RTP Material for Persistent Afterglow Bioimaging.

Organic near-infrared room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials offer remarkable advantages in bioimaging due to their characteristic time scales and background noise elimination. However, developing near-infrared RTP materials for deep tissue imaging still faces challenges since the small band gap may increase the non-radiative decay, resulting in weak emission and short phosphorescence lifetime. In this study, fused-ring pyrrole-based structures were employed as the guest molecules for the construction of long wavelength emissive RTP materials. Compared to the decrease of the singlet energy level, the triplet energy level showed a more effectively decrease with the increase of the conjugation of the substituent groups. Moreover, the sufficient conjugation of fused ring structures in the guest molecule suppresses the non-radiative decay of triplet excitons. Therefore, a near-infrared RTP material (764 nm) was achieved for deep penetration bioimaging. Tumor cell membrane is used to coat RTP nanoparticles (NPs) to avoid decreasing the RTP performance compared to traditional coating by amphiphilic surfactants. RTP NPs with tumor-targeting properties show favorable phosphorescent properties, superior stability, and excellent biocompatibility. These NPs are applied for time-resolved luminescence imaging to eliminate background interference with excellent tissue penetration. This study provides a practical solution to prepare long-wavelength and long-lifetime organic RTP materials and their applications in bioimaging.

Multifunctional Au@Ag@SiO2 Core-Shell-Shell Nanoparticles for Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence, Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering, and Photocatalysis Applications.

Au@Ag@SiO2 core-shell-shell nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by a facile one-pot synthetic technique. The Au@Ag core size and SiO2 shell thicknesses are readily controlled by adjusting the precursor concentration. The multilayered NPs with dielectric SiO2 outer shells and bimetallic Au@Ag cores exhibited both the chemical stability of Au with the high scattering efficiency of Ag. Furthermore, the SiO2 shell is beneficial to the metal-enhanced fluorescence for biomedical applications. Metal-enhanced fluorescence, surface-enhanced Raman scattering, and photocatalytic activities of silica-coated Au@Ag, Ag, Au, and Au/Ag core-shell NPs were compared and discussed. The size and structure of Au@Ag@SiO2 core-shell-shell NPs were optimized to maximize their optical and catalytic activities.

Post-marketing safety concerns with nirmatrelvir: A disproportionality analysis of spontaneous reports submitted to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System.

AIMS: Nirmatrelvir is an antiviral drug with a novel mechanism of action, targeting the 3-CL protease, and is used in the treatment of COVID-19. However, the potential side effects have not yet been fully studied. The aim of this study was to identify potential safety signals of nirmatrelvir by analysing post-marketing safety data based on the largest publicly available worldwide pharmacovigilance database. METHODS: We analysed nirmatrelvir adverse events to identify and characterize relevant safety signals based on the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System database in 2022. The case/non-case approach was used to estimate the reporting odds ratio (ROR) and information component (IC) with relevant confidence intervals (95% CI) for adverse events (AEs) that numbered 4 or more. RESULTS: A total of 26 846 cases were included. Disease recurrence (ROR [95% CI] = 413.2 [395.6-431.59]), dysgeusia (ROR [95% CI] = 110.84 [106.04-115.85]), anosmia (ROR [95% CI] = 15.21 [12.76-18.11]), ageusia (ROR [95% CI] = 9.80 [8.50-11.3]) and urticaria (ROR [95% CI] = 1.91 [1.69-2.17]) were the main safety signals. In addition, abdominal pain upper and skin toxicity were two specific safety signals of nirmatrelvir. In the pregnant population, there was a significant increased ROR for life-threatening conditions (ROR [95% CI] = 8.00 [1.77-36.20]). CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified that the main and specific safety signals of nirmatrelvir were disease recurrence, dysgeusia, abdominal pain upper and skin toxicity. Clinicians and pharmacists should be vigilant of these AEs, although differentiating between COVID-19 symptoms and AEs can be challenging. Notably, a potential safety concern of nirmatrelvir should be a warning based on a small number of events in the pregnant population. However, the available data are insufficient, and further continued pharmacovigilance and surveillance is needed to fully understand this issue.

Silencing of circ-NT5C2 retards the progression of IL-1ß-induced osteoarthritis in an in vitro cell model by targeting the miR-142-5p/NAMPT axis.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease that occurs mostly in the elderly, and its specific pathogenesis is still unknown, but recent studies have found that circular RNA generally display aberrant expression in OA. Our study explored the expression characteristics and mechanism of action of circ-NT5C2 in OA. Circ-NT5C2, microRNA-142-5p (miR-142-5p), and nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) mRNA levels were measured using RT-qPCR. Western blot was employed to assess the protein level of NAMPT and extracellular matrix (ECM) production-related markers. The viability, proliferation, apoptosis and inflammation were examined using 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) assay, flow cytometry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Relationship between miR-142-5p and circ-NT5C2 or NAMPT was demonstrated by dual-luciferase reporter system and RNA immunoprecipitation assay. We reported that circ-NT5C2 and NAMPT were greatly upregulated, and miR-142-5p level was constrained in OA tissues and in a cell model. Circ-NT5C2 silencing alleviated IL-1ß-induced inhibitory effects on chondrocyte proliferation and ECM generation, meanwhile the promotional role of IL-1ß on chondrocyte apoptosis and inflammation was also weakened. The targeting relationship of miR-142-5p with either circ-NT5C2 or NAMPT was confirmed. Knockdown of miR-142-5p reversed the suppressive effects of circ-NT5C2 silencing on the OA progression in vitro, and NAMPT overexpression also attenuated the effects of miR-142-5p upregulation in an OA cell model. Collectively, circ-NT5C2 accelerated the OA process by targeting the miR-142-5p/NAMPT axis. This study provides valuable information to find a better treatment for OA.

Abnormalities of serum lipid metabolism in patients with acute paraquat poisoning caused by ferroptosis.

As the mechanism of paraquat (PQ) poisoning is still not fully elucidated, and no specific treatment has been developed in medical practice, the management of PQ poisoning continues to present a medical challenge. In this study, the objective was to investigate the early metabolic changes in serum metabolism and identify the key metabolic pathways involved in patients with PQ poisoning. Quantitative analysis was conducted to determine the relevant metabolites. Additionally, experiments were carried out in both plasma and cell to elucidate the mechanisms underlying metabolic disorder and cell death in PQ poisoning. The study found that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and their metabolites, such as arachidonic acid (AA) and hydroxy eicosatetraenoic acids (HETEs), were significantly increased by non-enzymatic oxidative reaction. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production increased rapidly at 2 h after PQ poisoning, followed by an increase in PUFAs at 12 h, and intracellular glutathione, cysteine (Cys), and Fe2+ at 24 h. However, at 36 h later, intracellular glutathione and Cys decreased, HETEs increased, and the expression of SLC7A11 and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) decreased. Ultrastructural examination revealed the absence of mitochondrial cristae. Deferoxamine was found to alleviate lipid oxidation, and increase the viability of PQ toxic cells in the low dose. In conclusion, unsaturated fatty acids metabolism was the key metabolic pathways in PQ poisoning. PQ caused cell death through the induction of ferroptosis. Inhibition of ferroptosis could be a novel strategy for the treatment of PQ poisoning.

Inhibition of circ_0081234 reduces prostate cancer tumor growth and metastasis via the miR-1/MAP 3 K1 axis.

INTRODUCTION: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are crucial regulators of tumor occurrence and progression, and circRNAs are enriched and stable in exosomes. The present study aimed to explore the role and potential mechanism of cancer-derived exosomal circ_0081234 in prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: Exosomes were extracted using the ExoQuick Precipitation Kit (System Biosciences, Mountain View, CA, USA). The levels of circ_0081234, miR-1 and mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 1 (MAP 3 K1) were examined using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction or western blotting. Cell migration and invasion were evaluated via a transwell assay. The protein levels of N-cadherin, vimentin and E-cadherin were detected by western blotting. The interaction between miR-1 and circ_0081234 or MAP 3 K1 was verified via a dual-luciferase reporter assay and an RNA pull-down assay. RESULTS: The circ_0081234 level was increased in PCa tissues with spinal metastasis in comparison to primary PCa tissues without spinal metastasis. Exosomal circ_0081234 promoted the migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of PCa cells. Knockdown of circ_0081234 blocked PCa cell progression by regulating miR-1. In addition, miR-1 overexpression suppressed PCa cell progression by repressing MAP 3 K1. Moreover, circ_0081234 increased MAP 3 K1 level via sponging miR-1. Depletion of circ_0081234 inhibited tumor growth in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Exosomal circ_0081234 promoted migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of PCa cells by regulating the miR-1/MAP 3 K1 axis.

Comparison of dual mTORC1/2 inhibitor AZD8055 and mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin on the metabolism of breast cancer cells using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy metabolomics.

Dual mTORC1/2 inhibitors may be more effective than mTORC1 inhibitor rapamycin. Nevertheless, their metabolic effects on breast cancer cells have not been reported. We compared the anti-proliferative capacity of rapamycin and a novel mTORC1/2 dual inhibitor (AZD8055) in two breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-453) and analyzed their metabolic effects using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy-based metabolomics. We found that AZD8055 more strongly inhibited breast cancer cell proliferation than rapamycin. The half-inhibitory concentration of AZD8055 in breast cancer cells was almost one-tenth that of rapamycin. We identified 22 and 23 metabolites from the 1H NMR spectra of MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-453 cells. The patterns of AZD8055- and rapamycin-treated breast cancer cells differed significantly; we then selected the metabolites that contributed to these differences. For inhibiting glycolysis and reducing glucose consumption, AZD8055 was likely to be more potent than rapamycin. For amino acids metabolism, although AZD8055 has a broad effect as rapamycin, their effects in degrees were not exactly the same. AZD8055 and rapamycin displayed cell-specific metabolic effects on breast cancer cells, a finding that deserves further study. These findings help fill the knowledge gap concerning dual mTORC1/2 inhibitors and provide a theoretical basis for their development.

Anisotropic thermal and electrical transport properties induced high thermoelectric performance in an Ir2Cl2O2 monolayer.

In recent years, the energy crisis and global warming have been urgent problems that need to be solved. As is known, thermoelectric (TE) materials can transfer heat energy to electrical energy without air pollution. High-throughput calculations as a novel approach are adopted by screening promising TE materials. In this paper, we use first-principles calculations combined with the semiclassical Boltzmann transport theory to estimate the TE performance of monolayer Ir2Cl2O2 according to the prediction that Ir2Cl2O2 has potential as a good TE material via high-throughput calculations. The low thermal conductivities of 1.73 and 4.68 W mK-1 of Ir2Cl2O2 along the x- and y-axes are calculated, respectively, which exhibits the strong anisotropy caused by the difference in group velocities of low-frequency phonon modes. Then, the electronic transport properties are explored, and the figure of merit ZT is eventually obtained. The maximum ZT value reaches 2.85 (0.40) along the x-axis (y-axis) at 700 K, revealing that the TE properties of the Ir2Cl2O2 monolayer are highly anisotropic. This work reveals that the anisotropic layer Ir2Cl2O2 exhibits high TE performance, which confirms that it is feasible to screen excellent TE materials via high-throughput calculations.

Association between prenatal exposure to indoor air pollution and autistic-like behaviors among preschool children.

Indoor air pollution is a recognized risk factor for a range of negative health outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the association between maternal prenatal exposure to indoor air pollution and the presence of autistic-like behaviors among preschool children. Data were obtained from the Longhua Child Cohort Study in 2017, in which we enrolled a total of 65 317 preschool children. Associations between maternal exposure to four sources of indoor air pollution (e.g., cooking, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), mosquito coils, and home decoration) during pregnancy and preschool children's autistic traits were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Our results showed that maternal exposure to indoor air pollution from four different sources during pregnancy was associated with the presence of children's autistic-like behaviors. There was dose-response relationship between the accumulative exposure to the four different indoor air pollution sources and the risk of autistic-like behaviors. Furthermore, we found a significant additive interaction between prenatal exposure to both cooking and mosquito coil incense on the risk of autistic-like behaviors. Maternal prenatal exposure to the indoor air pollution from four sources might increase with the risk of autistic-like behaviors being present among preschool children, with an additive interaction effect between some pollution sources.

Promoter methylation changes in the placenta involved in the relationship between prenatal depression and small for gestational age.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that the incidence of small for gestational age (SGA) birth related to maternal depression, but the mechanism is unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the changes of promoter methylation in the placenta which may be involved in the relationship between prenatal depression and SGA. METHODS: Three hundred forty-five pregnant women were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Perinatal emotion and sleep quality in the second and third trimesters were assessed using self-rating depression scale, self-rating anxiety scale, and Pittsburgh sleep quality index. According to the exposure (depressed emotion of mother) and outcome (SGA), the placentas were divided into four groups. Methylation of the promoter regions of the placental CRH, HSD11ß2, SLA16A10, DIO3, and MTNR1B genes was determined using next generation sequencing based on bisulfite sequencing PCR. RESULTS: There were 97 (28.1%) and 95 (27.5%) pregnant women who had depression in the second trimester and third trimester, respectively. Thirty-five pregnant women had an SGA birth. The incidence of SGA births in this prospective cohort was 10.1%. The risk factors of SGA birth were low BMI of pregnancy women (RR = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.54 ~ 0.92), hypertensive disorder complicating pregnancy (HDCP, RR = 4.7, 95%CI = 1.18 ~ 18.72), and maternal depression in the second trimester (RR = 3.71, 95%CI = 1.31 ~ 12.16). We found that the CRH and HSD11ß2 methylation levels were higher in the depression group than those in the non-depression group. Methylation levels of DIO3 were higher in SGA group than that in the non-SGA group. Higher methylation levels of CRH correlated with higher methylation levels of DIO3 in the placenta. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal depression in the second trimester may lead to the changes of methylation levels in the promoter region of CRH and HSD11ß2 gene, while the changes of methylation of DIO3 in subsequent could related to SGA. This study suggests that maternal depressed emotion during pregnancy may result in SGA due to the epigenetic changes of placenta.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for average daily gain and lean meat percentage in two Duroc pig populations.

BACKGROUND: Average daily gain (ADG) and lean meat percentage (LMP) are the main production performance indicators of pigs. Nevertheless, the genetic architecture of ADG and LMP is still elusive. Here, we conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and meta-analysis for ADG and LMP in 3770 American and 2090 Canadian Duroc pigs. RESULTS: In the American Duroc pigs, one novel pleiotropic quantitative trait locus (QTL) on Sus scrofa chromosome 1 (SSC1) was identified to be associated with ADG and LMP, which spans 2.53 Mb (from 159.66 to 162.19 Mb). In the Canadian Duroc pigs, two novel QTLs on SSC1 were detected for LMP, which were situated in 3.86 Mb (from 157.99 to 161.85 Mb) and 555 kb (from 37.63 to 38.19 Mb) regions. The meta-analysis identified ten and 20 additional SNPs for ADG and LMP, respectively. Finally, four genes (PHLPP1, STC1, DYRK1B, and PIK3C2A) were detected to be associated with ADG and/or LMP. Further bioinformatics analysis showed that the candidate genes for ADG are mainly involved in bone growth and development, whereas the candidate genes for LMP mainly participated in adipose tissue and muscle tissue growth and development. CONCLUSIONS: We performed GWAS and meta-analysis for ADG and LMP based on a large sample size consisting of two Duroc pig populations. One pleiotropic QTL that shared a 2.19 Mb haplotype block from 159.66 to 161.85 Mb on SSC1 was found to affect ADG and LMP in the two Duroc pig populations. Furthermore, the combination of single-population and meta-analysis of GWAS improved the efficiency of detecting additional SNPs for the analyzed traits. Our results provide new insights into the genetic architecture of ADG and LMP traits in pigs. Moreover, some significant SNPs associated with ADG and/or LMP in this study may be useful for marker-assisted selection in pig breeding.

Risk factors of early postoperative bowel obstruction for patients undergoing selective colorectal surgeries.

OBJECTIVE: Postoperative bowel obstruction was one of the most severe complications in patients who received colorectal surgeries. This study aimed to explore risk factors of early postoperative obstruction and to construct a nomogram to predict the possibility of occurrence. METHODS: The records of 1437 patients who underwent elective colorectal surgery in Peking University People's Hospital from 2015 to 2020 were retrospectively collected. Risk factors of early postoperative bowel obstruction were identified by logistic regression analysis and a nomogram was then constructed. Bootstrap was applied to verify the stability of the model. RESULTS: COPD, hypothyroidism, probiotic indications, duration of antibiotics, and time to postoperative feeding were identified as independent risk factors and were put into a nomogram for predicting early postoperative bowel obstruction. The nomogram showed robust discrimination, with the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.894 and was well-calibrated. CONCLUSION: A nomogram including independent risk factors of COPD, hypothyroidism, probiotic indications, duration of antibiotics, and time to postoperative feeding were established to predict the risk of early postoperative bowel obstruction.

Ferroptosis: At the Crossroad of Gemcitabine Resistance and Tumorigenesis in Pancreatic Cancer.

The overall five-year survival rate of pancreatic cancer has hardly changed in the past few decades (less than 10%) because of resistance to all known therapies, including chemotherapeutic drugs. In the past few decades, gemcitabine has been at the forefront of treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, but more strategies to combat drug resistance need to be explored. One promising possibility is ferroptosis, a form of a nonapoptotic cell death that depends on intracellular iron and occurs through the accumulation of lipid reactive oxygen species, which are significant in drug resistance. In this article, we reviewed gemcitabine-resistance mechanisms; assessed the relationship among ferroptosis, tumorigenesis and gemcitabine resistance, and explored a new treatment method for pancreatic cancer.

Autophagy-mediating microRNAs in cancer chemoresistance.

Chemoresistance is a complex phenomenon responsible for failure in response to chemotherapy agents and more than 90% of deaths in cancer patients. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), as a subgroup of non-coding RNAs with lengths between 21 and 25 nucleotides, are involved in various cancer processes like chemoresistance via interacting with their target mRNAs and suppressing their expression. Autophagy is a greatly conserved procedure involving the lysosomal degradation of cytoplasmic contents and organelles to deal with environmental stresses like hypoxia and starvation. Autophagy contributes to response to chemotherapy agents: autophagy can act as a protective mechanism for mediating the resistance in response to chemotherapy or can induce autophagic cell death and mediate the sensitivity to chemotherapy. On the other hand, one of the processes targeted by microRNAs in the regulation of chemoresistance is autophagy. Hence, we studied the literatures on chemoresistance mechanisms, the miRNAs' role in cancer, and the miRNAs' role in chemoresistance by modulating autophagy. Graphical Abstract.

The effect of Fe vacancies and Cu adhesion on the magnetic properties of Fe3GeTe2.

Fe3GeTe2 is a promising two-dimensional magnetic material that exhibits a high Curie temperature with monolayer geometry. Using the first principles calculation method, the effects of both Fe vacancies and contact with Cu electrodes on the magnetic properties of Fe3GeTe2 are studied. Calculation results determined that Fe vacancies occur preferentially on the FeII site. As a result, the magnetic moment of FeI ions decreases significantly, while the magnetic moment of FeII increases due to the presence of the FeII vacancies. The Cu(111) layers that act as the electrodes have moderately strong bonds with Fe3GeTe2 but they are found not to distort the primary structure of the Fe3GeTe2 monolayers, thus producing a stable Cu(111)/Fe3GeTe2 interface. The magnetic moments of FeI atoms at the Fe3GeTe2 layer surface decrease substantially following the adhesion of Cu(111) layers. The effect for other Fe atoms, however, is relatively weak. These results are useful for experimental studies and can promote the applications of Fe3GeTe2 in spin electronics.

Prescribing errors in electronic prescriptions for outpatients intercepted by pharmacists and the impact of prescribing workload on error rate in a Chinese tertiary-care women and children's hospital.

BACKGROUND: Prescribing errors may, influenced by some risk factors, cause adverse drug events. Most studies in this field focus on errors in prescriptions for hospital inpatients, with only a few on those for outpatients. Our study aimed to explore the incidence of prescribing errors in electronic prescriptions and illustrate the trend of prescribing workload and error rate over time. METHODS: The cross-section study was performed between September, 2015 and November, 2015. Prescribing errors were intercepted by pharmacists using a prescription reviewing system under which prescriptions with errors were transferred to a specific computer and recorded by another pharmacist and the incidence of total prescribing errors and severe errors was then calculated. A subgroup analysis was conducted in accordance to the number of drug orders, the age group of patients, the seniority of physicians, the specialty of physicians, the working day when prescriptions were issued, and the prescribing workload of physicians. A time-series analysis was employed to analyze the trend of prescribing workload and error rate, and the correlation between them. RESULTS: Totally, 65,407 patients were included in this study and 150,611 prescriptions with 294,564 drug orders (including 584 different drugs) were reviewed for identification of errors. A total of 534 prescribing errors (an error rate of 0.34%) were identified. Severe errors accounted for 13.62% of total errors. The subgroup analysis showed prescriptions of multiple drug orders, for pediatric patients aged 29 days to 12 years, from physicians specializing in ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology, or prescribing on weekdays were more susceptible to errors. A time-series analysis demonstrated no correlation between prescribing workload and error rate which increased at the end of each working shift while prescribing workload decreased. CONCLUSION: Less than 1% of the studied prescriptions came with errors among which one in seven were severe ones. But prescribing errors were in no relation to workloads. What's more, further studies are needed to investigate pharmacist-led intervention to reduce prescribing errors.

Coexistence of piezoelectricity and magnetism in two-dimensional vanadium dichalcogenides.

Akin to three dimensional (3D) multiferroics, two dimensional (2D) piezoelectric materials with intrinsic magnetic properties are promising applications in nanoscale spintronic devices. In this study, 2D magnetic transition metal dichalcogenides (VS2, VSe2, and Janus-VSSe) have been investigated by the first principles method for their structural, magnetic, electronic, and piezoelectric properties. H type Janus-VSSe has been shown to be more stable than the T type, and dynamically stable through phonon frequency analysis. Our calculations show that H type Janus-VSSe is not only a magnetic semiconductor but also exhibits appreciable in-plane and vertical piezoelectricity. Additionally, H type VS2 and VSe2 also show high in-plane piezoelectricity. The calculated values of in-plane piezoelectricity for these magnetic materials are higher than traditional 3D piezoelectric materials such as α-quartz. The coexistence of magnetism and piezoelectricity in H type VS2, Janus-VSSe, and VSe2 makes them promising piezoelectric materials in nanoscale spin devices.

Improved ABC Algorithm Optimizing the Bridge Sensor Placement.

Inspired by sensor coverage density and matching & preserving strategy, this paper proposes an Improved Artificial Bee Colony (IABC) algorithm which is designed to optimize bridge sensor placement. We use dynamic random coverage coding method to initialize colony to ensure the diversity and effectiveness. In addition, we randomly select the factors with lower trust value to search and evolve after food source being matched in order that the relatively high trust point factor is retained in the exploitation of food sources, which reduces the blindness of searching and improves the efficiency of convergence and the accuracy of the algorithm. According to the analysis of the modal data of the Ha-Qi long span railway bridge, the results show that IABC algorithm has faster convergence rate and better global search ability when solving the optimal placement problem of bridge sensor. The final analysis results also indicate that the IABC's solution accuracy is 76.45% higher than that of the ABC algorithm, and the solution stability is improved by 86.23%. The final sensor placement mostly covers the sensitive monitoring points of the bridge structure and, in this way, the IABC algorithm is suitable for solving the optimal placement problem of large bridge and other structures.