Atomic Ruthenium-Promoted Cadmium Sulfide for Photocatalytic Production of Amino Acids from Biomass Derivatives.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are widely used as important ingredients for other nitrogen-containing molecules. Here, we report the sustainable production of amino acids from biomass-derived hydroxy acids with high activity under visible-light irradiation and mild conditions, using atomic ruthenium-promoted cadmium sulfide (Ru1/CdS). On a metal basis, the optimized Ru1/CdS exhibits a maximal alanine formation rate of 26.0 molAla·gRu­1·h­1, which is 1.7 times and more than two orders of magnitude higher than that of its nanoparticle counterpart and the conventional thermocatalytic process, respectively. Integrated spectroscopic analysis and density functional theory calculations attribute the high performance of Ru1/CdS to the facilitated charge separation and O-H bond dissociation of the a-hydroxy group, here of lactic acid. The operando nuclear magnetic resonance further infers a unique "double activation" mechanism of both the CH-OH and CH3-CH-OH structures in lactic acid, which significantly accelerates its photocatalytic amination toward alanine.

Universal growth of perovskite thin monocrystals from high solute flux for sensitive self-driven X-ray detection.

Metal-halide perovskite thin monocrystals featuring efficient carrier collection and transport capabilities are well suited for radiation detectors, yet their growth in a generic, well-controlled manner remains challenging. Here, we reveal that mass transfer is one major limiting factor during solution growth of perovskite thin monocrystals. A general approach is developed to overcome synthetic limitation by using a high solute flux system, in which mass diffusion coefficient is improved from 1.7×10-10 to 5.4×10-10 m2 s-1 by suppressing monomer aggregation. The generality of this approach is validated by the synthesis of 29 types of perovskite thin monocrystals at 40-90 °C with the growth velocity up to 27.2 µm min-1. The as-grown perovskite monocrystals deliver a high X-ray sensitivity of 1.74×105 µC Gy-1 cm-2 without applied bias. The findings regarding limited mass transfer and high-flux crystallization are crucial towards advancing the preparation and application of perovskite thin monocrystals.

Ultrahigh Bifunctional Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction and H2 Evolution by Synergistic Interaction of Heteroatomic Pt-Ru Dimerization Sites.

Diatomic-site catalysts (DASCs) inherit the excellent performance of single-atom catalysts (SACs) by utilizing two adjacent atomic metal species to achieve functional complementarity and synergistic effects that improve the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) and H2 evolution reaction (HER) kinetics. Herein, we report a method to further improve the catalytic efficiency of Pt by using Pt and Ru single atoms randomly anchored on a g-C3N4 surface, yielding partial Pt-Ru dimers. The synthesized catalyst exhibits extraordinary photocatalytic activity and stability in both the CO2RR and HER processes. In-depth experimentation, the pH-dependent chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method, and theoretical analyses reveal that the excellent performance is attributed to orbital coupling between the Pt atoms and the neighboring Ru atoms (mainly dxy and dxz), which decreases the orbital energy levels and weakens the bond strength with intermediates, resulting in improved CO2RR and HER performance. This study successfully applies the pH-dependent CEST imaging NMR method to catalytic reactions, and CO2 adsorption is directly observed using CEST 2D imaging maps. This work presents significant potential for a variety of catalytic reaction applications by systematically designing bimetallic dimers with higher activity and stability.

Carbon nitride nanosheet-supported CuO for efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction with 100% CO selectivity.

The optimal ratio of reaction solutions resulted in excellent performance and product selectivity of CuO/g-C3N4 composites in the photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction. A pH-dependent chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method was used to confirm that CuO modification improves the adsorption capacity of CO2.

Cyclocarya paliurus leaves alleviate high-sucrose diet-induced obesity by improving intestinal metabolic disorders.

High-sucrose diets are common in daily life but harmful to human health. Cyclocarya paliurus leaves (CPL) are a kind of tea used to alleviate metabolic diseases and are widely used in China. However, the effects of CPL on high-sucrose-induced obesity are unknown. This study aimed to describe the changes in gut metabolism induced by a high-sucrose diet and to reveal the potential mechanisms through which CPL alleviate high-sucrose diet-induced obesity. A high-sucrose-induced obesity model was generated in C57BL/6J and KM mice. The effects of CPL on obese mice were evaluated, and changes in the gut microbiota and intestinal metabolites induced by CPL treatment were observed. Furthermore, the fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) method was used to prove that the effects of CPL on high-sucrose induced obesity depend on the changes of gut microbiota. The results of the C57BL/6J mouse experiment revealed that high-sucrose intake induced fat deposition and altered the gut microbiota. CPL treatment decreased fat deposition and alleviated disorders of the gut microbiota. Furthermore, CPL treatment increased the utilization of amnio acids, long fatty acids and saccharides and produced more bile acids, indole derivatives and less trimethylamine (TMA). A confirmatory experiment in KM mice also revealed that CPL can alleviate obesity, ameliorate intestinal metabolic disorders, and upregulate the expression of tight junction proteins in the intestinal mucosa. These results demonstrated that CPL could prevent high sucrose-induced obesity and generate more beneficial intestinal microbial metabolites but less harmful intestinal microbial metabolites.

Low serum total cholesterol levels predict inferior prognosis of patients with POEMS syndrome.

Low serum cholesterol levels are associated with increased tumor morbidity and mortality. However, the relationship between serum lipid profile and POEMS syndrome (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein, skin changes) is still unclear. The aim of our study was to clarify the importance of the serum lipid profile in predicting the severity and prognosis of patients with POEMS syndrome. Forty-three patients with newly diagnosed POEMS syndrome admitted to the Department of Hematology of Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital between August 2013 and February 2023 were selected. They had explicit serum lipid profiles. There were 27 males and 16 females with a median age of 54 years (range, 28-77 years). Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method, and comparisons between the two groups were performed using the log-rank test. The Cox proportional-hazards model examined risk factors associated with the prognosis of POEMS syndrome. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves assessed the predictive accuracy. 23 (53.5%) patients had low total cholesterol (TC) levels. Low levels of TC were concerned with unfavorable progression-free survival (PFS) (p = 0.007) and overall survival (OS) (p = 0.004), and at the same time, the low circulating TC concentration was an independent risk factor for PFS (p = 0.020) and OS (p = 0.011). Low TC values could improve the risk stratification, especially in high-risk patients. In conclusion, low serum TC levels may predict inferior prognosis in patients with POEMS syndrome; in future clinical application, low TC may be a reliable indicator of prognosis.

Development of preoperative and postoperative models to predict recurrence in postoperative glioma patients: a longitudinal cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Glioma recurrence, subsequent to maximal safe resection, remains a pivotal challenge. This study aimed to identify key clinical predictors influencing recurrence and develop predictive models to enhance neurological diagnostics and therapeutic strategies. METHODS: This longitudinal cohort study with a substantial sample size (n = 2825) included patients with non-recurrent glioma who were pathologically diagnosed and had undergone initial surgical resection between 2010 and 2018. Logistic regression models and stratified Cox proportional hazards models were established with the top 15 clinical variables significantly influencing outcomes screened by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method. Preoperative and postoperative models predicting short-term (within 6 months) postoperative recurrence in glioma patients were developed to explore the risk factors associated with short- and long-term recurrence in glioma patients. RESULTS: Preoperative and postoperative logistic models predicting short-term recurrence had accuracies of 0.78 and 0.87, respectively. A range of biological and early symptomatic characteristics linked to short- and long-term recurrence have been pinpointed. Age, headache, muscle weakness, tumor location and Karnofsky score represented significant odd ratios (t > 2.65, p < 0.01) in the preoperative model, while age, WHO grade 4 and chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatments (t > 4.12, p < 0.0001) were most significant in the postoperative period. Postoperative predictive models specifically targeting the glioblastoma and IDH wildtype subgroups were also performed, with an AUC of 0.76 and 0.80, respectively. The 50 combinations of distinct risk factors accommodate diverse recurrence risks among glioma patients, and the nomograms visualizes the results for clinical practice. A stratified Cox model identified many prognostic factors for long-term recurrence, thereby facilitating the enhanced formulation of perioperative care plans for patients, and glioblastoma patients displayed a median progression-free survival (PFS) of only 11 months. CONCLUSION: The constructed preoperative and postoperative models reliably predicted short-term postoperative glioma recurrence in a substantial patient cohort. The combinations risk factors and nomograms enhance the operability of personalized therapeutic strategies and care regimens. Particular emphasis should be placed on patients with recurrence within six months post-surgery, and the corresponding treatment strategies require comprehensive clinical investigation.

D-box-binding protein alleviates vascular calcification in rats with chronic kidney disease by activating microRNA-195-5p and downregulating cyclin D1.

Vascular calcification (VC) is a critical complication in chronic kidney disease (CKD), where transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRs) could potentially play a pivotal role in its pathogenesis and progression. To explore the potential molecular mechanism by which the TF D-box-binding protein (DBP) regulates the miR-195-5p/cyclin D1 (CCND1) axis and its impact on aortic VC in CKD rats, we established a rat model of CKD with VC through a 5/6 nephrectomy procedure. This model was treated with lentivirus overexpressing DBP or CCND1 to analyze their roles in aortic VC. Additionally, an in vitro cell model of VC was induced by high phosphorus. This model underwent transfection with lentivirus overexpressing DBP or miR-195-5p mimic/inhibitor to confirm their regulatory roles in aortic VC in vitro. We assessed the interactions between DBP and miR-195-5p, as well as between miR-195-5p and CCND1. Our results indicated that the expression of DBP and miR-195-5p was reduced, while CCND1 levels were elevated in both the rat and cell models.  Overexpression of miR-195-5p inhibited VC in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Bioinformatics prediction and dual luciferase assays confirmed that DBP could act as a TF to enhance miR-195-5p expression, with Ccnd1 identified as a downstream target gene of miR-195-5p. Overexpression of DBP inhibited aortic calcification in CKD rats, whereas overexpression of CCND1 produced the opposite effect. In conclusion, the TF DBP can inhibit CCND1 expression through transcriptional activation of miR-195-5p, thereby preventing VC in rats with CKD.

Selectively Probing the Magnetic Resonance Signals of γ-Aminobutyric Acid in Human Brains In Vivo.

BACKGROUND: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in human brains, playing a role in the pathogenesis of various psychiatric disorders. Current methods have some non-neglectable shortcomings and noninvasive and accurate detection of GABA in human brains is long-term challenge. PURPOSE: To develop a pulse sequence capable of selectively detecting and quantifying the 1 H signal of GABA in human brains based on optimal controlled spin singlet order. STUDY TYPE: Prospective. SUBJECTS/PHANTOM: A phantom of GABA (pH = 7.3 ± 0.1) and 11 healthy subjects (5 females and 6 males, body mass index: 21 ± 3 kg/m2 , age: 25 ± 4 years). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 7 Tesla, 3 Tesla, GABA-targeted magnetic resonance spectroscopy (GABA-MRS-7 T, GABA-MRS-3 T), magnetization prepared two rapid acquisition gradient echoes sequence. ASSESSMENT: By using the developed pulse sequences applied on the phantom and healthy subjects, the signals of GABA were successfully selectively probed. Quantification of the signals yields the concentration of GABA in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) in human brains. STATISTICAL TESTS: Frequency. RESULTS: The 1 H signals of GABA in the phantom and in the human brains of healthy subjects were successfully detected. The concentration of GABA in the dACC of human brains was 3.3 ± 1.5 mM. DATA CONCLUSION: The developed pulse sequences can be used to selectively probe the 1 H MR signals of GABA in human brains in vivo. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 1.

The Interplay of TGF-ß1 and Cholesterol Orchestrating Hepatocyte Cell Fate, EMT, and Signals for HSC Activation.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1) plays important roles in chronic liver diseases, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). MASLD involves various biological processes including dysfunctional cholesterol metabolism and contributes to progression to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the reciprocal regulation of TGF-ß1 signaling and cholesterol metabolism in MASLD is yet unknown. METHODS: Changes in transcription of genes associated with cholesterol metabolism were assessed by RNA sequencing of murine hepatocyte cell line (alpha mouse liver 12/AML12) and mouse primary hepatocytes treated with TGF-ß1. Functional assays were performed on AML12 cells (untreated, TGF-ß1 treated, or subjected to cholesterol enrichment [CE] or cholesterol depletion [CD]), and on mice injected with adenovirus-associated virus 8-control/TGF-ß1. RESULTS: TGF-ß1 inhibited messenger RNA expression of several cholesterol metabolism regulatory genes, including rate-limiting enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis in AML12 cells, mouse primary hepatocytes, and adenovirus-associated virus-TGF-ß1-treated mice. Total cholesterol levels and lipid droplet accumulation in AML12 cells and liver tissue also were reduced upon TGF-ß1 treatment. Smad2/3 phosphorylation after 2 hours of TGF-ß1 treatment persisted after CE or CD and was mildly increased after CD, whereas TGF-ß1-mediated AKT phosphorylation (30 min) was inhibited by CE. Furthermore, CE protected AML12 cells from several effects mediated by 72 hours of incubation with TGF-ß1, including epithelial-mesenchymal transition, actin polymerization, and apoptosis. CD mimicked the outcome of long-term TGF-ß1 administration, an effect that was blocked by an inhibitor of the type I TGF-ß receptor. In addition, the supernatant of CE- or CD-treated AML12 cells inhibited or promoted, respectively, the activation of LX-2 hepatic stellate cells. CONCLUSIONS: TGF-ß1 inhibits cholesterol metabolism whereas cholesterol attenuates TGF-ß1 downstream effects in hepatocytes.

Preparation and Property Characterization of Sm2EuSbO7/ZnBiSbO5 Heterojunction Photocatalyst for Photodegradation of Parathion Methyl under Visible Light Irradiation.

An unprecedented photocatalyst, Sm2EuSbO7, was successfully fabricated in this paper, through a high-temperature solid-state calcination method, which represented its first ever synthesis. Additionally, using the solvothermal method, the Sm2EuSbO7/ZnBiSbO5 heterojunction photocatalyst (SZHP) was fabricated, marking its debut in this study. XRD analysis confirmed that both Sm2EuSbO7 and ZnBiSbO5 exhibited pyrochlore-type crystal structures with a cubic lattice, belonging to the Fd3m space group. The crystal cell parameter was determined to be 10.5682 Å or 10.2943 Å for Sm2EuSbO7 or ZnBiSbO5, respectively. The band gap width measured for Sm2EuSbO7 or ZnBiSbO5 was 2.73 eV or 2.61 eV, respectively. Under visible light irradiation for 150 min (VLTI-150 min), SZHP exhibited remarkable photocatalytic activity, achieving 100% removal of parathion methyl (PM) concentration and 99.45% removal of total organic carbon (TOC) concentration. The kinetic constant (k) for PM degradation and visible light illumination treatment was determined to be 0.0206 min-1, with a similar constant k of 0.0202 min-1 observed for TOC degradation. Remarkably, SZHP exhibited superior PM removal rates compared with Sm2EuSbO7, ZnBiSbO5, or N-doped TiO2 photocatalyst, accompanied by removal rates 1.09 times, 1.20 times, or 2.38 times higher, respectively. Furthermore, the study investigated the oxidizing capability of free radicals through the use of trapping agents. The results showed that hydroxyl radicals had the strongest oxidative capability, followed by superoxide anions and holes. These findings provide a solid scientific foundation for future research and development of efficient heterojunction compound catalysts.

Relationship of close contact settings with transmission and infection during the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2 epidemic in Shanghai.

INTRODUCTION: We analysed case-contact clusters during the Omicron BA.2 epidemic in Shanghai to assess the risk of infection of contacts in different settings and to evaluate the effect of demographic factors on the association of infectivity and susceptibility to the Omicron variant. METHODS: Data on the settings and frequency of contact, demographic characteristics and comorbidities of index cases, contacts and secondary cases were analysed. Independent effect of multiple variables on the risk for transmission and infection was evaluated using generalised estimating equations. RESULTS: From 1 March to 1 June 2022, we identified 450 770 close contacts of 90 885 index cases. The risk for infection was greater for contacts in farmers' markets (fixed locations where farmers gather to sell products, adjusted OR (aOR): 3.62; 95% CI 2.87 to 4.55) and households (aOR: 2.68; 95% CI 2.15 to 3.35). Children (0-4 years) and elderly adults (60 years and above) had higher risk for infection and transmission. During the course of the epidemic, the risk for infection and transmission in different age groups initially increased, and then decreased on about 21 April (17th day of citywide home quarantine). Compared with medical workers (reference, aOR: 1.00), unemployed contacts (aOR: 1.77; 95% CI 1.53 to 2.04) and preschoolers (aOR: 1.61; 95% CI 1.26 to 2.05) had the highest risk for infection; delivery workers (aOR: 1.90, 95% CI 1.51 to 2.40) and public service workers (aOR: 1.85; 95% CI 1.64 to 2.10) had the highest risk for transmission. Contacts who had comorbidities (aOR: 1.10; 95% CI 1.09 to 1.12) had a higher risk for infection, particularly those with lung diseases or immune deficiency. CONCLUSION: Farmers' markets and households were the main setting for transmission of Omicron. Children, the elderly, delivery workers and public service workers had the highest risk for transmission and infection. These findings should be considered when implementing targeted interventions.

Ferroelectricity and Thermochromism in a 2D Dion-Jacobson Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite.

2D organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) have become one of the hottest research topics due to their excellent environmental stability and unique optoelectronic properties. Recently, the ferroelectricity and thermochromism of 2D OIHPs have attracted increasing interests. Integrating ferroelectricity and thermochromism into perovskites can significantly promote the development of multichannel intelligent devices. Here, a novel 2D Dion-Jacobson OIHP of the formula (3AMP)PbI4 (where 3AMP is 3-(aminomethyl)pyridinium) is reported, which has a remarkable spontaneous polarization value (Ps) of 15.6 µC cm-2 and interesting thermochromism. As far it is known, such a large Ps value is the highest for 2D OIHPs recorded so far. These findings will inspire further exploration and application of multifunctional perovskites.

The spatiotemporal analysis of the population migration network in China, 2021.

Population migration is a critical component of large-scale spatiotemporal models of infectious disease transmission. Identifying the most influential spreaders in networks is vital to controlling and understanding the spreading process of infectious diseases. We used Baidu Migration data for the whole year of 2021 to build mobility networks. The nodes of the network represent cities, and the edges represent the population flow between cities. By applying the k-shell decomposition and the Louvain algorithm, we could get the k-shell values for each city and community partition. Then, we identified the most efficient nodes or pathways in a complex network by generating random networks. Furthermore, we analyzed the eigenvalue of the migration matrix to find the nodes that have the most impact on the network. We also found the consistency between k-shell value and eigenvalue through Kendall's τ test. The main result is that in Spring Festival and National Day, the network is at higher risk of an infectious disease outbreak and the Yangtze River Delta is at the highest risk of an epidemic all year around. Shanghai is the most significant node in both k-shell value and eigenvalue analysis. The spatiotemporal property of the network should be taken into account to model the transmission of infectious diseases more accurately.

Impact of Varicella Immunization and Public Health and Social Measures on Varicella Incidence: Insights from Surveillance Data in Shanghai, 2013-2022.

To evaluate the impact of a two-dose VarV program on varicella incidence among the whole population, considering the influence of public health and social measures (PHSMs), we extracted surveillance data on varicella cases during 2013-2022 in Minhang, Shanghai. Then, we estimated the incidence trend of varicella through interrupted time-series analyses and quantified the impact of the immunization program and PHSMs using Serfling regression. We also explored the associations between PHSMs and varicella cases. The implementation of the two-dose VarV strategy was followed by a significant decrease in varicella incidence (-1.84% per month). After one year of the program, varicella incidence was estimated at a 45.25% reduction, which was higher in children (59.12% and 54.09%) than in adults (19.49%). The decrease attributed to PHSMs was 31.26% during 2020-2022, and school closing was identified as the most relevant PHSM (b = -8.03 cases, r = -0.67 with a 1-week lag). These findings indicate that the two-dose immunization program has more effectively reduced the varicella incidence compared with the one-dose vaccine, and interventions like school closings are also encouraged to serve as supplementary measures to prevent varicella epidemics.

Clostridium butyricum Strain CCFM1299 Reduces Obesity via Increasing Energy Expenditure and Modulating Host Bile Acid Metabolism.

Clostridium butyricum is a butyrate-producing microorganism which has beneficial effects on various diseases, including obesity. In our previous study, the anti-obesity Clostridium butyricum strain CCFM1299 (C20_1_1) was selected, but its anti-obesity mechanism was not clarified. Herein, CCFM1299 was orally administrated to high-fat-diet-treated C57BL/6J mice for 12 weeks to uncover the way the strain alleviates obesity. The results indicated that CCFM1299 alleviated obesity through increasing the energy expenditure and increasing the expression of genes related to thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (BAT). Moreover, strain CCFM1299 could also affect the expression of immune-related genes in epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT). This immunomodulatory effect might be achieved through its influence on the complement system, as the expression of the complement factor D (CFD) gene decreased significantly. From the view of metabolites, CCFM1299 administration increased the levels of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in feces and taurohyodeoxycholic acid (THDCA) in serum. Together, the anti-obesity potential of CCFM1299 might be attributed to the increase in energy consumption, the regulation of immune-related gene expression in eWAT, and the alteration of bile acid metabolism in the host. These provided new insights into the potential application of anti-obesity microbial preparations and postbiotics.

Lithium impacts the function of hematopoietic stem cells via disturbing the endoplasmic reticulum stress and Hsp90 signaling.

Lithium (Li) has been widely used in clinical therapy and new Li-ion battery industry. To date, the impact of Li on the development of immune cells is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of Li on hematopoiesis. C57BL/6 (B6) mice were treated with 50 ppm LiCl, 200 ppm LiCl, or the control via drinking water for 3 months, and thereafter the hematopoiesis was evaluated. Treatment with Li increased the number of mature lymphoid cells while suppressing the number of mature myeloid cells in mice. In addition, a direct action of Li on hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) suppressed endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress to reduce the proliferation of HSC in the bone marrow (BM), thus leading to fewer HSC in mice. On the other hand, the suppression of ER stress by Li exposure increased the expression of Hsp90, which promoted the potential of lymphopoiesis but did not impact that for myelopoiesis in HSC in the BM of mice. Moreover, in vitro treatment with Li also likely disturbed the ER stress-Hsp90 signaling, suppressed the proliferation, and increased the potential for lymphopoiesis in human HSC. Our study reveals a previously unrecognized toxicity of Li on HSC and may advance our understanding for the immunotoxicology of Li.

A method for detecting abnormal behavior of ships based on multi-dimensional density distance and an abnormal isolation mechanism.

Abnormal ship behavior detection is essential for maritime navigation safety. Most existing abnormal ship behavior detection methods only build A ship trajectory position outlier detection model; however, the construction of a ship speed outlier detection model is also significant for maritime navigation safety. In addition, in most existing methods for detecting a ship's abnormal behavior based on abnormal thresholds, one unsuitable threshold leads to the risk of the ship not being minimized as much as possible. In this paper, we proposed an abnormal ship behavior detection method based on distance measurement and an isolation mechanism. First, to address the problem of traditional trajectory compression methods and density clustering methods only using ship position information, the minimum description length principle based on acceleration (AMDL) algorithm and Multi-Dimensional Density Clustering (MDDBSCAN) algorithm is used in this study. These algorithms not only considered the position information of the ship, but also the speed information. Second, regarding the issue of the difficulty in determining the anomaly threshold, one method for determining the anomaly threshold based on the relationship between the velocity weights and noise points of the MDDBSCAN algorithm has been introduced. Finally, due to the randomness issue of the selected segmentation value in iForest, a strategy of selectively constructing isolated trees was proposed, thus further improving the efficiency of abnormal ship behavior detection. The experimental results on the historical automatic identification system data set of Xiamen port prove the practicality and effectiveness of our proposed method. Our experiment results show that the proposed method achieves an improvement of about 10% over the trajectory outlier detection based on the local outlier fraction method, about 14% over the isolation-based online anomalous trajectory method in terms of the accuracy of ship position information anomaly detection, and about 3% over the feature fusion method in terms of the accuracy of ship speed anomaly detection. This method improves algorithm efficiency by about 5% compared to the traditional isolation forest anomaly detection algorithm.

Coverage and impact of influenza vaccination among children in Minhang District, China, 2013-2020.

Background: Young children have a great disease burden and are particularly vulnerable to influenza. This study aimed to assess the direct effect of influenza vaccination among children and to evaluate the indirect benefit of immunizing children. Methods: The influenza vaccination records for all children born during 2013-2019 in Minhang District and surveillance data for reported influenza cases were obtained from the Minhang CDC. 17,905 children were recorded in the vaccination system and included in this study. Descriptive epidemiology methods were used for data analysis, including an ecological approach to estimate the number of influenza cases averted by vaccination and linear regression to estimate the reduction in influenza cases in the general population per thousand additional childhood vaccination doses. Results: During the study period, the annual vaccination coverage rate ranged from 10.40% in 2013-2014 to 27.62% in 2015-2016. The estimated number of influenza cases averted by vaccination ranged from a low of 0.28 (range: 0.23-0.34) during 2013-2014 (PF: 6.15%, range: 5.11-7.38%) to a high of 15.34 (range: 12.38-18.51) during 2017-2018 (PF: 16.54%, range: 13.79-19.30%). When increasing vaccination coverage rate by 10% in each town/street, a ratio of 7.27-10.69% cases could be further averted on the basis of observed cases. In four selected periods, the number of influenza cases in the general population was most significantly correlated with the cumulative childhood vaccination doses in the prior 2-5 months, and the reduction in influenza cases ranged from 0.73 to 3.18 cases per thousand additional childhood vaccination doses. Conclusion: Influenza vaccination among children is estimated to have direct effects in terms of averted cases and might provide an underlying indirect benefit to the general population. Vaccination coverage in high-coverage areas should be further expanded to avert more influenza cases.

Mercury chloride activates the IFNγ-IRF1 signaling in myeloid progenitors and promotes monopoiesis in mice.

Inorganic mercury (Hg2+) is a highly toxic heavy metal in the environment. To date, the impacts of Hg2+ on the development of monocytes, or monopoiesis, have not been fully addressed. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of Hg2+ on monopoiesis. In this study, we treated B10.S mice and DBA/2 mice with 10 µM or 50 µM HgCl2 via drinking water for 4 wk, and we then evaluated the development of monocytes. Treatment with 50 µM HgCl2, but not 10 µM HgCl2, increased the number of monocytes in the blood, spleen and bone marrow (BM) of B10.S mice. Accordingly, treatment with 50 µM HgCl2, but not 10 µM HgCl2, increased the number of common myeloid progenitors (CMP) and granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (GMP) in the BM. Functional analyses indicated that treatment with 50 µM HgCl2 promoted the differentiation of CMP and GMP to monocytes in the BM of B10.S mice. Mechanistically, treatment with 50 µM HgCl2 induced the production of IFNγ, which activated the Jak1/3-STAT1/3-IRF1 signaling in CMP and GMP and enhanced their differentiation potential for monocytes in the BM, thus likely leading to increased number of mature monocytes in B10.S mice. Moreover, the increased monopoiesis by Hg2+ was associated with the increased inflammatory status in B10.S mice. In contrast, treatment with 50 µM HgCl2 did not impact the monopoiesis in DBA/2 mice. Our study reveals the impact of Hg on the development of monocytes.