A Prediction Model for Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients: Construction and Accuracy Assessment.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread rapidly with considerable morbidity nationwide since China's liberalization in December 2022. Our work has focused on identifying different predictive factors from the laboratory examination of critically ill patients, and forecasting the unfavorable outcome of critically ill patients with COVID-19 through a combined diagnosis of biological markers. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study at the Department of First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, China, from December 24, 2022, to January 10, 2023, where 434 critically ill patients who met the inclusion criteria were involved. Machine analysis was employed to search for the parameters with the highest predictive value to calculate COVID-19 mortality by exploiting 66 typical laboratory results. RESULTS: Combined diagnosis of serum albumin (ALB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), direct bilirubin (Dbil), ferritin, pulse oxygen saturation (SpO2), and neutrophil count (NEUT#) was evaluated, and the result with the highest predictive value (NEUT#) was selected as the predictor for COVID-19 mortality with a sensitivity of 89.2% and a specificity of 77.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The increased levels of LDH, Dbil, ferritin, and NEUT#, along with lowered ALB and SpO2 levels are the most decisive variables for forecasting the mortality for COVID-19 according to our machine-learning-based model. The combined diagnosis could be used to improve further diagnostic performance.

Fabrication of levofloxacin-loaded porcine acellular dermal matrix hydrogel and functional assessment in urinary tract infection.

Bacterial cystitis, a commonly occurring urinary tract infection (UTI), is renowned for its extensive prevalence and tendency to recur. Despite the extensive utilization of levofloxacin as a conventional therapeutic approach for bacterial cystitis, its effectiveness is impeded by adverse toxic effects, drug resistance concerns, and its influence on the gut microbiota. This study introduces Lev@PADM, a hydrogel with antibacterial properties that demonstrates efficacy in the treatment of bacterial cystitis. Lev@PADM is produced by combining levofloxacin with decellularized porcine acellular dermal matrix hydrogel and exhibits remarkable biocompatibility. Lev@PADM demonstrates excellent stability as a hydrogel at body temperature, enabling direct administration to the site of infection through intravesical injection. This localized delivery route circumvents the systemic circulation of levofloxacin, resulting in a swift and substantial elevation of the antimicrobial agent's concentration specifically at the site of infection. The in vivo experimental findings provide evidence that Lev@PADM effectively prolongs the duration of levofloxacin's action, impedes the retention and invasion of E.coli in the urinary tract, diminishes the infiltration of innate immune cells into infected tissues, and simultaneously preserves the composition of the intestinal microbiota. These results indicate that, in comparison to the exclusive administration of levofloxacin, Lev@PADM offers notable benefits in terms of preserving the integrity of the bladder epithelial barrier and suppressing the recurrence of urinary tract infections.

[Characteristics and Driving Factors of O3 Pollution During 13th Five-Year Period in Tianjin].

The spatial distribution, accumulation features, and driving factors of O3 pollution were analyzed using spatial autocorrelation and hotspot analysis and the STIRPAT model based on the high spatiotemporal resolution online monitoring data from 2016 to 2020 in Tianjin. The results showed that the variation characteristics of O3 concentration in Tianjin from 2016 to 2020 had the trend of pollution occurring in advance and the scope of the pollution expanding. The distribution of O3 pollution showed significant aggregation from June to October. High-high value clustering areas included six urban districts, Beichen District, Jinnan District, and Jinghai District. O3 concentration formed high value hot spots in the southwest and low value cold spots in the northeast. Meteorological factors such as temperature, breeze percentage, and sunshine duration, as well as social factors such as NOx emission, VOCs emission, and motor vehicle ownership had significant effects on O3 concentration. The regression fitting effect of the integrated drive STIRPAT model was better than that of the single meteorological factor or social factor models. In order to promote scientific and efficient prevention and control of ozone pollution during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, meteorological conditions require attention; under the goal of "peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality," it is necessary for Tianjin to further improve the emission performance of steel, petrochemicals, thermal power, building materials, and other industries, Additionally, clean upgrading, transformation, and green development should be guided for enterprises to reduce VOCs and NOx emissions. At same time, the increase in fuel vehicle numbers should be controlled, and new energy vehicles should be vigorously promoted to reduce vehicle emissions.

[Assessment of Emission Reduction Effect of Major Air Pollution Control Measures on PM2.5 Concentrations During 13th Five-Year Period in Tianjin].

The emission reduction effect of major air pollution control measures on PM2.5 concentrations was assessed using air quality simulations based on the calculation data of emission reductions from different air pollution control measures and the high spatiotemporal resolution online monitoring data of PM2.5 during the 13th Five-Year Period in Tianjin. The results showed that the total emission reductions of SO2, NOx, VOCs, and PM2.5 from 2015 to 2020 were 4.77×104, 6.20×104, 5.37×104, and 3.53×104 t, respectively. SO2 emission reduction was mainly due to the prevention of process pollution, loose coal combustion, and thermal power. NOx emission reduction was mainly due to the prevention of process pollution, thermal power, and steel industry. VOCs emission reduction was mainly due to prevention of process pollution. PM2.5 emission reduction was mainly due to the prevention of process pollution, loose coal combustion, and the steel industry. The concentrations, pollution days, and heavy pollution days of PM2.5 decreased significantly from 2015 to 2020 by 31.4%, 51.2%, and 60.0% compared to those in 2015, respectively. The concentrations and pollution days of PM2.5 decreased slowly in the later stage (from 2018 to 2020)as compared with those in the early stage (from 2015 to 2017), and the days of heavy pollution remained for approximately 10 days. The results of air quality simulations showed that meteorological conditions contributed one-third to the reduction in PM2.5 concentrations, and the emission reductions of major air pollution control measures contributed two-thirds to the reduction in PM2.5 concentrations. For all air pollution control measures from 2015 to 2020, PM2.5 concentrations were reduced by the prevention of process pollution, loose coal combustion, the steel industry, and thermal power by 2.66, 2.18, 1.70, and 0.51 µg·m-3, respectively, accounting for 18.3%, 15.0%, 11.7%, and 3.5% of PM2.5 concentration reductions. In order to promote the continuous improvement in PM2.5 concentrations during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, under the total coal consumption control and the goal of "peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality," Tianjin should continue to optimize and adjust the coal structure and further promote the coal consumption to the power industry with an advanced pollution control level. At the same time, it is necessary to further improve the emission performance of industrial sources in the whole process, taking environmental capacity as the constraint; design the technical route for industrial optimization, adjustment, transformation, and upgrading; and optimize the allocation of environmental capacity resources. Additionally, the orderly development model for key industries with limited environmental capacity should be proposed, and clean upgrading, transformation, and green development should be guided for enterprises.

[Pollution Characteristics and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in PM2.5 of Different Air Masses During Heating Season in Tianjin].

In order to explore the pollution characteristics and health risks of heavy metals in PM2.5 in Tianjin, heavy metal samples (Pb, Cd, Cr, As, Zn, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, and V) in PM2.5 were analyzed from November 2020 to March 2021 using the Xact-625 heavy metal online analyzer. The spatial and temporal distribution characteristics were analyzed using the HYSPLIT model, and the health risks of heavy metals were analyzed using the US EPA risk assessment model. The results indicated that the average total concentration of the 10 heavy metal elements was (261.56±241.74) ng·m-3, among which the concentrations of Cr ï¼»converted Cr(Ⅵ)ï¼½ and As were higher than the annual average limit of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (GB 3095-2012). According to the back trajectory results, the medium-distance transmissions from northwest areas (NO.1), the long-distance transmissions from northwest areas (NO.2), the transmissions from southwest areas (NO.3), and the transmissions from northeast areas (NO.4) were the major sources in Tianjin City. The heavy metals of different air masses presented different pollution characteristics and health risks; the concentration of PM2.5, the total concentration of the 10 heavy metal elements, and the total carcinogenic risk of the five heavy metal elements of the NO.3 air mass were the highest, whereas the total non-carcinogenic risk of the 10 heavy metal elements of the NO.2 air mass was higher than that of the other two air mass. The health risk assessment showed that Mn posed non-carcinogenic risks to children, and Cr and As presented carcinogenic risk. Meanwhile, Cd of the NO.3 air masses also presented carcinogenic risk.

Ball-milling as effective and economical process for biodiesel production under Kraft lignin activated carbon stabilized potassium carbonate.

Biodiesel is a typical renewable energy and the previous transesterification processes for biodiesel production mainly focus on thermocatalytic methods. In this paper, the ball-milling process was investigated into the biodiesel production under Kraft lignin activated carbon stabilized K2CO3. Biodiesel yield increased to 66 % after only 5 min and reached 100 % within 25 min under optimal ball-milling conditions (0.5 g of the catalyst; methanol/oil molar ratio 18:1; 195 g of ball-mill beads; 1400 rpm; 25 °C). The power demand between the thermocatalytic method and the ball-milling method was also compared. Based on the computation, the ball-milling method has lower power demand than the traditional method (38 vs 201 kWh·mol-1). Therefore, the ball-milling method is an effective and economical process for biodiesel production.

A novel full-length transcriptome resource from multiple immune-related tissues in turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) using Pacbio SMART sequencing.

Turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) is an important cold-water economic fish. However, the production and development of turbot industry has been constantly hindered by the frequent occurrence of some diseases. Lacking full-length transcriptome for turbot limits immune gene discoveries and gene structures analysis. Therefore, we generated a full-length transcriptome using mixed immune-related tissues of turbot with PacBio Sequel platform. In this study, a total of 31.7 Gb high quality data were generated with the average subreads length of 2618 bp. According to the presence of 5' and 3' primers as well as poly (A) tails, FL (Full-length) and NFL (Non-full-length) isoforms were obtained. Meanwhile, we identified 32,003 non-redundant transcripts, 76.02% of which was novel isoforms of known genes. In addition, 12,176 alternative splicing (AS) events, 6614 polyadenylation (APA) events, 1905 transcription factors, and 2703 lncRNAs were identified. This work is a comprehensive report on the full-length transcriptome of immune-related tissues of turbot, and it also provides valuable molecular resources for future research on the adaptation mechanisms and functional genomics of turbot.

Research on the Current Situation and Countermeasures of Inpatient Cost and Medical Insurance Payment Method for Rehabilitation Services in City S.

Objective: This study aimed to introduce bed-day payment for rehabilitation services in City S, China, and analyze the cost of inpatient rehabilitation services. Key issues were defined and relevant countermeasures were discussed. Methods: The data about the rehabilitation cost of 3,828 inpatient patients from June 2018 to December 2019 was used. Descriptive statistics and the Kruskal-Wallis test were employed to describe sample characteristics and clarify the comparity of cost and length of stay (LOS) across different groups. After normalizing the distribution of cost and LOS by Box-Cox transformation, multiple linear regression was used to explore the factors influencing cost and LOS by calculating the variance inflation factor (VIF) to identify multicollinearity. Finally, 20 senior and middle management personnel of the hospitals were interviewed through a semi-structured interview method to further figure out the existing problems and countermeasures. Results: (1) During 2015-2019: both discharges and the cost of rehabilitation hospitalization in City S rose rapidly. (2) The highest number of discharges were for circulatory system diseases (57.65%). Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases were noted to have the longest average length of stay (ALOS) reaching 105.8 days. The shortest ALOS was found to be 24.2 days from the diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue. Neurological, circulatory, urological, psychiatric, infectious, and parasitic diseases were observed to be generally more costly. (3) The cost of rehabilitation was determined to mainly consist of the rehabilitation fee (23.63%), comprehensive medical service fee (22.61%), and treatment fee (19.03%). (4) Type of disease, age, nature of the hospital, and grade of the hospital have significant influences both on cost and LOS (P < 0.05). The most critical factor affecting the cost was found to be the length of stay (standardized coefficient = 0.777). (5) The key issues of City S's rehabilitative services system were identified to be the incomplete criteria, imperfections in the payment system, and the fragmentation of services. Conclusions: Bed-day payment is the main payment method for rehabilitation services, but there is a conflict between rapidly rising costs and increasing demand for rehabilitation. The main factors affecting the cost include the length of stay, type of disease, the grade of the hospital, etc. Lack of criteria, imperfections in the payment system, and the fragmentation of services limit sustainability. The core approach is to establish a three-tier rehabilitative network and innovate the current payment system.

The Impact of Digital Economy on the Economic Growth and the Development Strategies in the post-COVID-19 Era: Evidence From Countries Along the "Belt and Road".

The digital economy is considered as an effective measure to mitigate the negative economic impact of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic. However, few studies evaluated the role of digital economy on the economic growth of countries along the "Belt and Road" and the impact of COVID-19 on their digital industries. This study constructed a comprehensive evaluation index system and applied a panel data regression model to empirically analyze the impact of digital economy on the economic growth of countries along the "Belt and Road" before COVID-19. Then, a Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model was used to examine the impact of COVID-19 on their digital industries and trade pattern. Our results show that although there is an obvious regional imbalance in the digital economy development in countries along the "Belt and Road", the digital economy has a significantly positive effect on their economic growth. The main impact mechanism is through promoting industrial structure upgrading, the total employment and restructuring of employment. Furthermore, COVID-19 has generally boosted the demand for the digital industries, and the impact from the demand side is much larger than that from the supply side. Specifically, the digital industries in Armenia, Israel, Latvia and Estonia have shown great growth potential during the epidemic. On the contrast, COVID-19 has brought adverse impacts to the digital industries in Ukraine, Egypt, Turkey, and the Philippines. The development strategies are proposed to bridge the "digital divide" of countries along the "Belt and Road," and to strengthen the driving effect of the digital economy on industrial upgrading, employment and trade in the post-COVID-19 era.

Structural characterization, acute toxicity assessment and protective effects of selenylated apple pectin on dextran sulfate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis.

This study was aimed at investigating the structural characterization, acute toxicity and protective effect of selenylated apple pectin on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in mice. Selenylated apple pectin was characterized by ion chromatography, NMR and SEC-RI-MALLS. The acute toxicity and protective effect of selenylated apple pectin against UC were investigated by gavage administration in mice. The organ state and coefficients, inflammatory cytokine (IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α) contents in serum, GSH-Px activity and MPO content in colon tissues were also evaluated. The results indicated that selenylated apple pectin was non-toxic and contained 244.28 µgselenium per g. The monosaccharide composition with different molar ratios, different relative molecular weights and a weakened signal peak (CH2-O group) at 3-4 ppm were observed after selenylation. The selenylated apple pectin showed the protective effect against UC by down-regulating IL-6 and TNF-α contents and up-regulating the IL-10 content in serum, as well as increasing the GSH-Px activity and decreasing the MPO content in colon tissues. Moreover, DSS-induced alterations were effectively recovered by a high-dose sample. These findings provide evidence in support of selenylated apple pectin as a novel dietary selenium supplement for UC protection.

Temperature Tolerance Electric Cell-Substrate Impedance Sensing for Joint Assessment of Cell Viability and Vitality.

Evaluation of the cell health status is critical for drug screening and cell physiological activity investigations. The existing cell health assessment methods are solely devoted to the study of cell vitality or viability, leading to an incomplete evaluation. Herein, we report a convenient and robust method for the joint assessment of cell viability and vitality based on electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) supplied with an environmental temperature control. The static value of electric cell-substrate impedance reflects the survival rate of cells, while the temperature tolerance of cells demonstrates the cell vitality. It was found that the cell vitality evaluated by the temperature tolerance of cells was independent of the initial cell numbers, rendering the proposed method easy to utilize in various applications. We compared the temperature tolerance ECIS method with the traditional trypan blue staining method, the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay, and the direct impedance sensing method for joint evaluation of cell viability and vitality in drug screening. The temperature tolerance ECIS method showed comparable results but with a simpler protocol, faster results, and less dependence on the sample conditions. By providing both information on cell viability and cell vitality, the proposed temperature tolerance ECIS method would pave the way in building a simple and robust sensing system for cell health evaluation.

Patterns and Influencing Factors of eHealth Tools Adoption Among Medicaid and Non-Medicaid Populations From the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2017-2019: Questionnaire Study.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that eHealth tools adoption is associated with better health outcomes among various populations. The patterns and factors influencing eHealth adoption among the US Medicaid population remain obscure. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to explore patterns of eHealth tools adoption among the Medicaid population and examine factors associated with eHealth adoption. METHODS: Data from the Health Information National Trends Survey from 2017 to 2019 were used to estimate the patterns of eHealth tools adoption among Medicaid and non-Medicaid populations. The effects of Medicaid insurance status and other influencing factors were assessed with logistic regression models. RESULTS: Compared with the non-Medicaid population, the Medicaid beneficiaries had significantly lower eHealth tools adoption rates for health information management (11.2% to 17.5% less) and mobile health for self-regulation (0.8% to 9.7% less). Conversely, the Medicaid population had significantly higher adoption rates for using social media for health information than their counterpart (8% higher in 2018, P=.01; 10.1% higher in 2019, P=.01). Internet access diversity, education, and cardiovascular diseases were positively associated with health information management and mobile health for self-regulation among the Medicaid population. Internet access diversity is the only factor significantly associated with social media adoption for acquisition of health information (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.26-3.11). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest digital disparities in eHealth tools adoption between the Medicaid and non-Medicaid populations. Future research should investigate behavioral correlates and develop interventions to improve eHealth adoption and use among underserved communities.

How Identity Conflict and Identity Synergy Influence Innovative Performance of Employees With Multiple Team Membership.

Multiple team membership refers to the extent to which team members are engaged in more than one team and switch between different teams. In order to reduce cost and improve efficiency, many organizations or work units allow their employees to work in different teams simultaneously. The purpose of this study is to examine how identity conflict and identity synergy of employees with multiple team membership may influence their innovative performance. Survey data were collected from 149 Chinese employees with multiple team membership. Hierarchical regression was used to test the hypotheses. The results show that identity synergy of employees with multiple team membership has a positive influence on innovative performance, and that self-reflection partially mediates this positive effect. Identity conflict of employees with multiple team membership has a negative impact on innovative performance, and self-reflection partially mediates this negative effect. This study stresses the importance of providing identity synergy and reducing identity conflict to increase the innovative performance of employees with multiple team membership.

The psychosis analysis in real-world on a cohort of large-scale patients with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: With China experiencing unprecedented economic development and social change over the past three decades, Chinese policy makers and health care professionals have come to view mental health as an important outcome to monitor. Our study conducted an epidemiological study of psychosis in Guangdong province, with 20 million real-world follow-up records in the last decade. METHODS: Data was collected from Guangdong mental health information platform from 2010 to 2019, which had standardized disease registration and follow-up management for nearly 600,000 patients with six categories of mental diseases and 400,000 patients with schizophrenia. We conducted clinical staging for the disease course of the patients and divided the data with various factors into different stages of disease. Quantitative analysis was utilized to investigate the high relevant indicators to the disease. The results were projected on geography map for regional distribution analysis. RESULTS: The majority cases of mental disease incidence were between the age of 15 and 29, while the peak age for both male and female was between 20 to 24 years old. The disease course with the largest number of patients' cases was between 5 to 10 years. The therapeutic effect of patients gradually decreased with the development of disease course, while the risk increased with the disease course. The analysis of influencing factors showed that poor economic conditions incurred higher risk scores, and good medication adherence was effective in improving treatment outcomes. In addition, receiving good education contributed to the reduction of the risk of schizophrenia and the improvement of the efficiency of early treatment. Through the analysis of regional distribution of schizophrenia disease, developed economic conditions and favorable resource conditions could promote the reduction of disease risk, while in economically backward regions, it often accompanied with lower therapeutic effect and higher disease risk. CONCLUSIONS: Certain demographic factors had a relatively prominent impact on the therapeutic effect and risk of schizophrenia, such as high-quality medication adherence. Therapeutic effect and risk were highly correlated. Backward economic conditions often associated with poor efficacy and higher risk assessment, and the developed economy and better medical resource are beneficial for the treatment of psychotic.

Epidemiology of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

In December, 2019, an infectious outbreak of unknown cause occurred in Wuhan, which attracted intense attention. Shortly after the virus was identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) broke out, and an information storm occurred. At that time, 2 important aspects, that is, the stages of spread and the components of the epidemic, were unclear. Answers to the questions (1) what are the sources, (2) how do infections occur, and (3) who will be affected should be clarified as the outbreak continues to evolve. Furthermore, components of the epidemic and the stages of spread should be explored and discussed. Based on information of SARS, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and COVID-19, the components of the epidemic (the sources, the routes of infection, and the susceptible population) will be discussed, as well as the role of natural and social factors involved. Epidemiologic characteristics of patients will be traced based on current information.

Use of optical coherence tomography angiography for assessment of microvascular changes in the macula and optic nerve head in hypertensive patients without hypertensive retinopathy.

PURPOSE: To compare optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) screening parameters of the macula and optic nerve head (ONH) between healthy volunteers and chronic hypertensive patients without hypertensive retinopathy. METHODS: This was an observational, cross-sectional study. Fifty-seven chronic hypertensive patients without hypertensive retinopathy (22 men and 35 women) and 40 healthy volunteers (17 men and 23 women), ranging in age from 60 to 70 years, were included in this study. Patients and volunteers were divided into three groups and one eye was selected randomly from each participant. Group A comprised patients who had a history of hypertension for >10 years (n = 35); Group B comprised patients who had a history of hypertension for 5-10 years (n = 22); and Group C comprised 40 healthy volunteers who had no history of hypertension. A 3 × 3-mm macula scan and a 4.5 × 4.5-mm ONH scan were performed in each group by OCTA using prototype AngioVue software within the AngioVue device. Vessel density (VD), foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, choriocapillaris flow area, ONH capillary density, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and demographic information were compared among the groups. RESULTS: Macula scans showed that superficial plexus VD was significantly lower in groups A and B than in group C (P < 0.05). In addition, FAZ area was significantly larger in group A than in group C (P < 0.05). Inner retinal layer thickness was significantly thinner in groups A and B than in group C (P < 0.05). In ONH scans, RNFL thickness was significantly thinner in group A than in groups B and C (P < 0.05); it was significantly thinner in group B than in group C (P < 0.05). Inside disc capillary density and peripapillary capillary density were significantly lower (P < 0.05) and greater (P < 0.05), respectively, in groups A and B than in group C. CONCLUSIONS: Superficial plexus VD, FAZ area, capillary density, and inner retinal thickness changed significantly in hypertensive patients without hypertensive retinopathy. However, only RNFL thickness was significantly thinner in patients who had >10 years of hypertension, compared to patients who had 5-10 years of hypertension. In addition, OCTA provided a method to prospectively assess changes in retinal microvasculature and thickness, thereby avoiding further long-term retinal damage in hypertensive patients.

Rapid detection of rice disease using microscopy image identification based on the synergistic judgment of texture and shape features and decision tree-confusion matrix method.

BACKGROUND: Rice smut and rice blast are listed as two of the three major diseases of rice. Owing to the small size and similar structure of rice blast and rice smut spores, traditional microscopic methods are troublesome to detect them. Therefore, this paper uses microscopy image identification based on the synergistic judgment of texture and shape features and the decision tree-confusion matrix method. RESULTS: The distance transformation-Gaussian filtering-watershed algorithm method was proposed to separate the adherent rice blast spores, and the accuracy was increased by about 10%. Four shape features (area, perimeter, ellipticity, complexity) and three texture features (entropy, homogeneity, contrast) were selected for decision-tree model classification. The confusion-matrix algorithm was used to calculate the classification accuracy, in which global accuracy is 82% and the Kappa coefficient is 0.81. At the same time, the detection accuracy is as high as 94%. CONCLUSIONS: The synergistic judgment of texture and shape features and the decision tree-confusion matrix method can be used to detect rice disease quickly and precisely. The proposed method can be combined with a spore trap, which is vital to devise strategies early and to control rice disease effectively. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Heavy metal and soil nutrient accumulation and ecological risk assessment of vegetable fields in representative facilities in Shandong Province, China.

Shandong is one of the main areas for protected vegetable cultivation in China. A total of 88.5% of the facility soil samples had a pH between 7.0 and 8.4, indicating the majority of the soils were alkaline. Key properties, including total nitrogen (TN), organic matter (OM), electrical conductivity (EC), available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK), showed an increasing trend with the number of years. The geoaccumulation index (Igeo) indicated that the Cd and Hg contents ranged from uncontaminated to moderate contaminated, while the risk of Hg and Cd reached the class of considerable risk as indicated by the potential ecological risk factor ([Formula: see text]). The mean of Hakanson potential ecological risk index (RI) was 234.00, with the highest contribution from Hg (55.26%), followed by Cd (38.81%). It indicated that the survey area was at the moderate-risk level and Hg had the highest potential ecological risk factor, followed by Cd.

A cell viability assessment approach based on electrical wound-healing impedance characteristics.

Cell viability evaluation is very meaningful for cancer treatment and cell proliferation is an effective evaluation criterion for cell viability. Traditionally, cell proliferation rate is obtained only by monitoring for several cell cycles (about 12 h) and yet there is no rapid assessment method to evaluate cell proliferation. In this paper, a rapid, real-time and online assessment approach (about 12.5 min) of cell proliferation based on electrical wound-healing impedance characteristics is proposed to evaluate the cell proliferation rate and improve cell viability assessment. The electrical wounding threshold uth is firstly studied, then an electrical signal (u1 < uth) is applied to analyze cell recovery impedance characteristics, next an electrical signal (u2 > uth) is applied to wound cells on the electrodes to death. The real-time monitoring of cell proliferation is realized by Chi660E. The results indicate that the speed of cell recovery and proliferation become slower with a higher concentration of H2O2 added. On this basis, a model of the relationship between cell recovery impedance characteristics and cell proliferation is built for cell proliferation evaluation. Finally, the effect of temperature on cell recovery is also discussed to provide theoretical support for influencing factors of the biosensor design.

A cell viability assessment method based on area-normalized impedance spectrum (ANIS).

Impedance measurement of cells using electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) is widely accepted as an effective method to assess cell status. However, the sensitive frequency drifts over time with the changes of culture condition according to the built circuit model and experimental results. The area-normalized impedance spectrum (ANIS) method, which uses normalized area of impedance spectrum in a certain interval to assess cell viability, was proposed in this paper to solve the problem. The certain interval is calculated due to the threshold Zth, which is determined by 2% decline of the maximum impedance. Stabilities of two methods were analyzed by normalizing the area and impedance, showing that the normalized impedance fluctuated like a wave, while the normalized area was smoother. In addition, Cell Count Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was carried out proving that the correlation index of ANIS method increases by 2.4% compared with impedance sensing method, and the maximum error of ANIS method decreases by 4%. Comparison analysis of two methods with random measurement noise was also discussed in this paper, and the results showed that the ANIS method was less affected by measurement noise than impedance sensing method. It demonstrated that the ANIS method is a more stable and accurate method to assess cell viability.