Genome assembly of autotetraploid Actinidia arguta highlights adaptive evolution and enables dissection of important economic traits.

Actinidia arguta, the most widely distributed Actinidia species and the second cultivated species in the genus, can be distinguished from the currently cultivated Actinidia chinensis on the basis of its small and smooth fruit, rapid softening, and excellent cold tolerance. Adaptive evolution of tetraploid Actinidia species and the genetic basis of their important agronomic traits are still unclear. Here, we generated a chromosome-scale genome assembly of an autotetraploid male A. arguta accession. The genome assembly was 2.77 Gb in length with a contig N50 of 9.97 Mb and was anchored onto 116 pseudo-chromosomes. Resequencing and clustering of 101 geographically representative accessions showed that they could be divided into two geographic groups, Southern and Northern, which first diverged 12.9 million years ago. A. arguta underwent two prominent expansions and one demographic bottleneck from the mid-Pleistocene climate transition to the late Pleistocene. Population genomics studies using paleoclimate data enabled us to discern the evolution of the species' adaptation to different historical environments. Three genes (AaCEL1, AaPME1, and AaDOF1) related to flesh softening were identified by multi-omics analysis, and their ability to accelerate flesh softening was verified through transient expression assays. A set of genes that characteristically regulate sexual dimorphism located on the sex chromosome (Chr3) or autosomal chromosomes showed biased expression during stamen or carpel development. This chromosome-level assembly of the autotetraploid A. arguta genome and the genes related to important agronomic traits will facilitate future functional genomics research and improvement of A. arguta.

Investigations of Water Transport in Shale Reservoir with Dual-Wettability by Using Monte Carlo Method.

How liquids transport in the shale system has been the focus because of fracturing fluid loss. In this study, a single-nanopore model is established for liquid transport in shale while considering the slip effect and effective viscosity of confined fluids. Then, the fractal Monte Carlo (FMC) model is proposed to upscale the single-pore model into shale porous media. The effects of different transport mechanisms, shale wettability, and pore characteristic parameters on confined liquid flow in shale rock are investigated. Results show that FMC permeabilities are 2-3 orders of magnitude larger than intrinsic and slip-corrected permeabilities in organic matter. However, the slip effect and effective viscosity have little influence on water flow in inorganic matter. With the contact angle of organic pore (θom) increasing and contact angle of inorganic pore (θin) decreasing, the effective permeability of the whole shale matrix grows in number. The enhancement factor in the situation of θom = 170° and θin = 20° is 4 orders of magnitude larger than the case of θom = 130° and θin = 40°, although the close effective macroscopic contact angle (θeff = 80°) occurs in these two cases, which indicates that shale microscopic wettability has a significant impact on the confined liquid transport. Moreover, with the increase of porosity and maximum pore diameters, shale permeability increases rapidly, but the enhancement factor has the opposite trend. Compared with the tiny impact of the variance of minimum inorganic pore diameters, minimum organic pore diameters have more significant impacts on liquid flow in shale systems, and the enhancement factor also rapidly increases up to 30 times for the case of 0.5 nm because of the strong slip effect.

[Assessment of the Availability of Soil Copper and Related Influencing Factors at a County Scale].

Understanding the spatial distribution of total copper, available copper, and the spatial non-stationary relationships between available copper and relevant environmental factors is important for the delineation of soil risk areas and the development of related control measures. This study was conducted in Zhangjiagang County of Jiangsu Province, China. The risk status for soil copper was assessed based on 357 soil samples in the study area. The effects of soil type and land-use type on the concentration of available soil copper were discussed first. Then, ordinary kriging was adopted to map the spatial distribution patterns of the total soil copper and available soil copper, and the spatial distribution map of the copper availability ratio (i.e., available copper/total copper) was also developed for the study area. The risk areas for soil copper were delineated based on the spatial distribution patterns of available soil copper and the copper availability ratio. Finally, a new spatial local regression technique, geographic weighted regression (GWR), was used to explore the local spatial regression relationships between available copper and its three main impact factors (i.e., total soil copper, soil pH, and SOM). Results showed that both soil type and land-use type had some effect on the concentration of available soil copper. The copper availability ratio had a strong spatial heterogeneity, with the higher values mainly in the northeast, southeast, and northwest of the study area and the lower values mainly in the middle and southwest of the study area. The range of the copper availability ratio is 13.56% to 29.15%. The results of the comparison of the traditional ordinary least squares regression (OLSR) and GWR showed that the GWR model had higher fitting accuracy than the OLSR model[i.e., a larger decision coefficient R2, and smaller corrected Akaike information criteria (AICc) and the sum of squares of residuals] in modeling the relationships between available copper and its three main impact factors. The GWR analysis showed that the effect of soil factors on the concentration of soil available copper was non-stationary. The GWR could effectively reveal the spatial non-stationary influence of the related soil factors on the concentration of available soil copper, and the results could explain the reasons for the accumulation of available soil copper in local areas. Potential risk areas for available soil copper were delineated based on the copper availability ratio and the concentration of available soil copper in the study area. The results should be crucial data for developing specific control measures for soil copper at a regional scale.

Common Diagnoses among Refugee Populations: Linked Results with Statewide Hospital Discharge Database.

BACKGROUND: According to the U.S. State Department's Refugee Processing Center and the U.S. Census Bureau, in the fiscal year 2016, among all states in the United States, Nebraska resettled the highest number of refugees per capita. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to determine the most common reasons for refugees utilizing hospital services in Nebraska between January 2011 and September 2015, and to examine whether refugee patients had increased risks for adverse health conditions compared to non-refugee patients. METHODS: Statewide linkage was performed between Nebraska Medicaid Program's immigration data, and 2011-2015 Nebraska hospital discharge data inpatient and outpatient files. The linkage produced 3017, 5460, and 775 cases for emergency department visits, outpatient clinic visits, and inpatient care for the refugee sample, respectively. FINDINGS: Refugee patients were at increased risk for a number of diagnoses or medical conditions, including pregnancy complications, abdominal pain, upper respiratory infections, viral infections, mood disorders, disorders of teeth and jaw, deficiency and anemia, urinary system disorders, headache, nausea and vomiting, limb fractures, spondylosis, essential hypertension, and uncomplicated diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest a greater emphasis on preventive healthcare, especially in areas of maternal health and perinatal outcomes, psychological counseling, screening for infectious diseases, nutrition and healthy eating, and oral health. Additionally, culturally appropriate measures to address prevention, health screening, and treatments should be adopted by health providers who care for refugees.

Seatbelt use to save money: Impact on hospital costs of occupants who are involved in motor vehicle crashes.

OBJECTIVE: Seatbelt use is the single most effective way to save lives in motor vehicle crashes (MVC). However, although safety belt laws have been enacted in many countries, seatbelt usage throughout the world remains below optimal levels, and educational interventions may be needed to further increase seatbelt use. In addition to reducing crash-related injuries and deaths, reduced medical expenditures resulting from seatbelt use are an additional benefit that could make such interventions cost-effective. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to estimate the correlation between seatbelt use and hospital costs of injuries involved in MVC. METHODS: The data used in this study were from the Nebraska CODES database for motor vehicle crashes that occurred between 2004 and 2013. The hospital cost information and information about other factors were obtained by linking crash reports with hospital discharge data. A multivariable regression model was performed for the association between seatbelt use and hospital costs. RESULTS: Mean hospital costs were significantly lower among motor vehicle occupants using a lap-shoulder seatbelt ($2909), lap-only seatbelt ($2289), children's seatbelt ($1132), or booster ($1473) when compared with those not using any type of seatbelt ($7099). After adjusting for relevant factors, there were still significantly decreased hospital costs for motor vehicle occupants using a lap-shoulder seatbelt (84.7%), lap-only seatbelt (74.1%), shoulder-only seatbelt (40.6%), children's seatbelt (95.9%), or booster (82.8%) compared to those not using a seatbelt. CONCLUSION: Seatbelt use is significantly associated with reduced hospital costs among injured MVC occupants. The findings in this study will provide important educational information for emergency department nurses who can encourage safety belt use for vehicle occupants.

Seat belt use to save face: impact on drivers' body region and nature of injury in motor vehicle crashes.

BACKGROUND: Seat belt use is the single most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in motor vehicle crashes. However, some case reports described seat belt use as a double-edged sword because some injuries are related to seat belt use in motor vehicle crashes. To comprehensively understand the effects of seat belt use, we systemically investigated the association between seat belt use and injuries based on anatomic body region and type of injury in drivers involved in motor vehicle crashes. METHODS: The injury information was obtained by linking crash reports with hospital discharge data and categorized by using the diagnosis codes based on the Barell injury diagnosis matrix. A total of 10,479 drivers (≥15 years) in passenger vehicles involved in motor vehicle crashes from 2006 to 2011 were included in this study. RESULTS: Seat belt use significantly reduced the proportions of traumatic brain injury (10.4% non-seat belt; 4.1% seat belt) and other head, face, and neck injury (29.3% non-seat belt; 16.6% seat belt) but increased the proportion of spine: thoracic to coccyx injury (17.9% non-seat belt; 35.5% seat belt). Although the proportion of spine: thoracic to coccyx injury was increased in drivers with seat belt use, the severity of injury was decreased, such as fracture (4.2% with seat belt use; 22.0% without seat belt use). Furthermore, the total medical charges decreased due to the change of injury profiles in drivers with seat belt use from a higher percentage of fractures (average cost for per case $26,352) to a higher percentage of sprains and/or strains ($1,897) with spine: thoracic to coccyx injury. CONCLUSION: This study provide a comprehensive picture for understanding the protective effect of seat belt use on injuries based on anatomic body region and type of injury in drivers involved in motor vehicle crashes.

[Assessment for spatial uncertainty of daily minimum temperature by using sequential Gaussian simulation].

Understanding daily minimum temperature is of great importance for assessing low temperature damages to crops and guiding people to take timely remedial measures to ensure food security. Kriging is a widely used technology for mapping the spatial distribution of the near-surface temperature. However, the smoothing effect, commonly found in the Kriging maps, leads to low values to be overestimated and high values to he underestimated. For daily minimum temperature on Hainan Island which was affected by cold air on December 12, 2011, cross-validation was adopted to evaluate the prediction accuracy of ordinary Kriging (OK) and Kriging with external drift (KED). The spatial distribution maps of daily minimum temperature on Hainan Island on December 12, 2011 produced by OK and sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) were compared. Results showed that the prediction accuracy of KED (r = 0.86) was not superior to OK (r = 0.86) significantly. SGS could generate multiple equiprobable simulation realizations, and the distribution and variance function of the original data could be reproduced in the realizations. The simulation realizations generated by SGS overcame the smoothing effect of Kriging and could more truly reflect the spatial distribution of minimum temperature on the day on Hainan Island. In the region where daily minimum temperature was low, and the temperature change was small, the conditional variance of the SGS results was less than the ordinary Kriging variance. Spatial uncertainty of a potential chilling damage area could be quantified by multiple simulation realizations generated by SGS. SGS was a valuable tool for assessing agro-meteorological disasters caused by low temperature.

Pulse oximetry with clinical assessment to screen for congenital heart disease in neonates in China: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Several pioneering studies have provided evidence for the introduction of universal pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease. However, whether the benefits of screening reported in studies from high-income countries would translate with similar success to low-income countries is unknown. We assessed the feasibility and reliability of pulse oximetry plus clinical assessment for detection of major congenital heart disease, especially critical congenital heart disease, in China. METHODS: We did a pilot study at three hospitals in Shanghai to assess the accuracy of pulse oximetry plus clinical assessment for detection of congenital heart disease. We made a data collection plan before recruitment. We then undertook a large, prospective, and multicentre screening study in which we screened all consecutive newborn babies (aged 6-72 h) born at 18 hospitals in China between Aug 1, 2011, and Nov 30, 2012. Newborn babies with positive screen results (either an abnormal pulse oximetry or abnormal clinical assessment) were referred for echocardiography within 24 h of screening. We identified false-negative results by clinical follow-up and parents' feedback. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and positive and negative likelihood ratios for pulse oximetry alone, and in combination with clinical assessment, for detection of major and critical congenital heart disease. FINDINGS: In the pilot study, 6785 consecutive newborn babies were screened; 46 of 49 (94%) cases of asymptomatic major congenital heart disease and eight of eight (100%) cases of asymptomatic critical disease were detected by pulse oximetry and clinical assessment. In the prospective multicentre study, we screened 122,738 consecutive newborn babies (120,707 asymptomatic and 2031 symptomatic), and detected congenital heart disease in 1071 (157 critical and 330 major). In asymptomatic newborn babies, the sensitivity of pulse oximetry plus clinical assessment was 93·2% (95% CI 87·9-96·2) for critical congenital heart disease and 90·2% (86·4-93·0) for major disease. The addition of pulse oximetry to clinical assessment improved sensitivity for detection of critical congenital heart disease from 77·4% (95% CI 70·0-83·4) to 93·2% (87·9-96·2). The false-positive rate for detection of critical disease was 2·7% (3298 of 120,392) for clinical assessment alone and 0·3% (394 of 120,561) for pulse oximetry alone. INTERPRETATION: Pulse oximetry plus clinical assessment is feasible and reliable for the detection of major congenital heart disease in newborn babies in China. This simple and accurate combined method should be used in maternity hospitals to screen for congenital heart disease. FUNDING: Key Clinical Research Project sponsored by Ministry of Health, Shanghai Public Health Three-Year Action Plan sponsored by Shanghai Municipal Government, and National Basic Research Project of China.

Prevalence of congenital heart disease at live birth: an accurate assessment by echocardiographic screening.

AIM: To determine the true prevalence of congenital heart disease (CHD) at live birth using echocardiographic screening. METHODS: A total of 5190 consecutive newborns from two secondary hospitals were included. Each neonate had a complete clinical evaluation with echocardiographic diagnosis at average 47 h of age. Newborns with persistent CHD underwent at least 4 months of follow-up, and the temporal trend of prevalence of mild CHD was assessed. RESULTS: Overall live birth prevalence of CHD was 26.6‰ (severe 3.5‰, moderate 5.4‰ and mild 17.7‰), and prevalence of CHD that could be detected by clinical evaluation was 12.1‰. The most common CHD was ventricular septal defect (VSD, 17.3‰), followed by atrial septal defect (ASD, 6.2‰), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA, 1.3‰), tetralogy of Fallot (TOF, 0.4‰), single ventricle (SV, 0.4‰), atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD, 0.2‰) and double outlet right ventricle (DORV, 0.2‰). Female predominance was observed in mild CHD (VSD, ASD), and male predominance was observed in severe CHD. The prevalence of CHD was reduced to 19.5‰ at the 4-month follow-up, which was largely caused by spontaneous closure rate of muscular VSD. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of CHD determined by echocardiography screening was higher but more accurate than that obtained from birth defect registries.