In the process of composing a double-differenced positioning model, it is difficult to separate different frequency signals between code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, the single-difference ambiguity of the pivot satellite and phase differential inter-system biases (PDISBs). Hence it is difficult to calibrate in advance the bias between systems in order to build an inter-system model which only needs one pivot satellite. Based on analysis of the stability of PDISB parameters for non-overlapping frequency CDMA systems, this study adopts a particle filter to estimate the fractional part of the PDISBs (F-PDISBs) between the systems and proposes a particle filter-based inter-system positioning model. Results show that the F-PDISBs and code DISBs for the baselines with the same receiver types and some with different receiver types are rather stable over time and for these baselines it is feasible to use a particle filter to estimate the F-PDISB parameters in the initial stage. Having attained the F-PDISBs, the inter-system model can be constructed to improve positioning accuracy in complex operational environments.

As China implements the voluntary vaccination programme of one-dose of varicella vaccine (VarV) for decades, robust estimates of the impact of voluntary vaccination era on epidemiology of varicella are needed. We estimated the vaccination coverage (VC) of VarV by using surveillance data on immunisation. The descriptive epidemiological method was used to describe the changing epidemiology of varicella from 2007 to 2018. The screening method was used to estimate the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of VarV. The overall VC for VarV was 71.7%, ranged from 47.7% to 79.5% among 2008–2017 birth cohorts. In total, 16 660 varicella cases were reported during 2007–2018, the incidence increased from 10.0 cases per 100 000 population in 2007 to 65.2 cases per 100 000 population in 2018. A shift in age group of varicella was observed since 2012, with the age increased from 5–9 years to 10–14 years. The overall VE was 79.9%, and the VE increased from 60.1% in 2008 birth cohort to 96.2% in 2017 birth cohort. We found that the overall VE for VarV is moderate, but appears highly effective within 5 years after vaccination. In addition, a shift varicella infection to older ages has occurred at the long-term moderate level VC of one-dose VarV. Therefore, to contain the incidence of varicella and prevent any potential shift to older ages, the introduction of VarV into routine immunisation programme is likely needed in Lu'an.

Evidence has suggested that honey intake has a beneficial impact on glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Whether these findings apply to adults with prediabetes is yet unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine whether honey intake is associated with a lower prevalence of prediabetes. A cross-sectional study was performed in 18 281 participants (mean age 39·6 (sd 11·1) years; men, 51·5 %). Dietary intake was assessed through a validated 100-item FFQ. Prediabetes was defined according to the American Diabetes Association criteria: impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance or raised glycosylated Hb. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between honey consumption and prediabetes. As compared with those who almost never consumed honey, the multivariable OR of prediabetes were 0·94 (95 % CI 0·86, 1·02) for ≤3 times/week, 0·77 (95 % CI 0·63, 0·94) for 4–6 times/week and 0·85 (95 % CI 0·73, 0·99) for ≥1 time/d (Pfor trend < 0·01). These associations did not differ substantially in sensitivity analysis. Higher honey consumption was associated with a decreased prevalence of prediabetes. More large prospective cohort studies are needed to investigate this association.

This work demonstrates a double-step method, a simple chemical bath deposition and an in situ polymerization process, to synthesize the stable structure of a composite of Polyaniline/BiVO4/cellulose aerogel (PBC) in wastewater treatment. The poor stability of the carrier catalyst was improved significantly by forming a dense film of polyaniline (PANI) through polymerization on BiVO4/cellulose aerogel (BC). The developed three-dimensional porous structure enhanced photocatalytic stability. For instance, photocatalytic degradation of a dye, methylene blue, reached to 91.67% under the eight times successive irradiation of the visible light. The resulted fine performance could be owed to the strong adsorption of cellulose aerogel, uniform spreading of BiVO4, and the speedy electron separation efficiency of PBC. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanisms including the role of the free radicals (•OH and •O2−) of the developed PBC were also discussed. The novel structure may present a new insight into the development of the carrier catalyst.

In this research, a novel titanium metallic composite, Ti6Al4V powder mixed with 5 at.% Nb powder, was fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM). The effect of Nb addition on their phase transformation, microstructure evolution, mechanical properties, and corrosion behavior were studied. Interestingly, the novel alloy shows a combination of superior plastic deformation (εp= 18.9 ± 1.8%) and high compressive strength (σc= 1593 ± 38 MPa), which is 60.2 and 3.2% higher than that of the SLM-processed Ti6Al4V alloy under optimum printing parameters, respectively. However, the yield strength of Ti6Al4V + 5Nb (973 ± 45 MPa) is lower than that of the Ti6Al4V alloy (1066 ± 12 MPa). The solidification mechanism changes from planar to cellular mode with Nb addition. The ultrafine microstructure β grains are observed, which show a columnar shape and cellular shape. More importantly, the volume fraction of the β phase is significantly increased from 3.7% to 20.4% because of the Nb addition. In addition, the Ti6Al4V + 5Nb alloy possesses better corrosion resistance than the Ti6Al4V alloy. The research highlights that the addition of Nb powder in Ti6Al4V processed by SLM can improve the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of the material.

In this article, Si nanoparticle (NP) films were prepared by pulsed laser ablation (PLA) in the argon atmosphere of 10 Pa at room temperature under different pulse repetition rates from 1 to 40 Hz without the baffle. Different from the conventional PLA method, the substrates were placed below and parallel to the ablated plume axis. The obtained films containing NPs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectrometer. The experimental results under constant laser fluence demonstrate the strong dependence of the mean size and the area number density of NPs on the repetition rate. Specifically, with the increase of pulse repetition rate, the mean size of the NPs in the film first decreases and reaches its minimum at 20 Hz, and then increases after 20 Hz, and decreases again till 40 Hz. The area number density shows the contrary trend versus mean size. The in situ diagnostic results of Langmuir probe denote the ablated Si ion density increases monotonously with the increase of repetition rate, while the temperature is almost constant. Combining with the nucleation probability, the growth/aggregation duration of NPs in the “nucleation region” and the effect of the baffle, the influence of pulse repetition rate on the formation of NPs is addressed. It is found that the repetition rate impacts the growth modes of NPs (i.e., growth and aggregation). 1–20, 20–30, and 30–40 Hz, respectively, correspond to growth-, aggregation-, and growth-controlled rate ranges without the baffle; however, 1–10, 10–20, and 20–40 Hz, respectively, correspond to growth-controlled, aggregation/growth-coexisted, and aggregation-controlled rate ranges with the baffle.

We report on mode-locked thulium-doped fiber lasers with high-energy nanosecond pulses, relying on the transmission in a semiconductor saturable absorber (SESA) and a carbon nanotube (CNTs-PVA) film separately. A section of an SMF–MMF–SMF structure multimode interferometer with a transmission peak wavelength of ∼2003 nm was used as a wavelength selector to fix the laser wavelength. When the SESA acted as a saturable absorber (SA), the mode-locked fiber laser had a maximum output power of ∼461 mW with a pulse energy of ∼0.14 μJ and a pulse duration of ∼9.14 ns. In a CNT-film-based mode-locked fiber laser, stable mode-locked pulses with the maximum output power of ∼46 mW, pulse energy of ∼26.8 nJ and pulse duration of ∼9.3 ns were obtained. To the best of our knowledge, our experiments demonstrated the first 2 μm region ‘real’ SA-based dissipative soliton resonance with the highest mode-locked pulse energy from a ‘real’ SA-based all-fiberized resonator.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in detecting disease-related rare variants in sequencing studies. Numerous studies have shown that common variants can only explain a small proportion of the phenotypic variance for complex diseases. More and more evidence suggests that some of this missing heritability can be explained by rare variants. Considering the importance of rare variants, researchers have proposed a considerable number of methods for identifying the rare variants associated with complex diseases. Extensive research has been carried out on testing the association between rare variants and dichotomous, continuous or ordinal traits. So far, however, there has been little discussion about the case in which both genotypes and phenotypes are ordinal variables. This paper introduces a method based on the γ-statistic, called OV-RV, for examining disease-related rare variants when both genotypes and phenotypes are ordinal. At present, little is known about the asymptotic distribution of the γ-statistic when conducting association analyses for rare variants. One advantage of OV-RV is that it provides a robust estimation of the distribution of the γ-statistic by employing the permutation approach proposed by Fisher. We also perform extensive simulations to investigate the numerical performance of OV-RV under various model settings. The simulation results reveal that OV-RV is valid and efficient; namely, it controls the type I error approximately at the pre-specified significance level and achieves greater power at the same significance level. We also apply OV-RV for rare variant association studies of diastolic blood pressure.

The present study investigated the effects of Porphyra yezoensis enzyme degradation extract (PYEDE) on the brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases due to oxidative stress. We used in vitro antioxidant systems to verify the antioxidant potential of PYEDE. The results indicated that the PYEDE alleviated weight loss and organ atrophy, reduced the levels of lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation and elevated reduced glutathione (GSH) content in the serum and brains of the d-galactose-induced ageing model mice. The PYEDE also renewed the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase and total antioxidant capability activities, down-regulated the inducible nitric oxide synthase activity and nitric oxide levels, normalised the hippocampal neurons and modulated multiple neurotransmitter systems by inhibiting the activities of acetylcholinesterase and monoamine oxidase in the up-regulation of acetylcholine, dopamine and noradrenaline levels. Overall, the PYEDE is a promising supplement for the alleviation of oxidative stress and age-associated brain diseases.

The Chinese National Twin Registry (CNTR), initiated in 2001, has now become the largest twin registry in Asia. From 2015 to 2018, the CNTR continued to receive Chinese government funding and had recruited 61,566 twin-pairs by 2019 to study twins discordant for specific exposures such as environmental factors, and twins discordant for disease outcomes or measures of morbidity. Omic data, including genetics, genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, and gut microbiome will be tested. The integration of omics and digital technologies in public health will advance our understanding of precision public health. This review introduces the updates of the CNTR, including study design, sample size, biobank, zygosity assessment, advances in research and future systems epidemiologic research.

In this work, we studied an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process of ZrO2 with the precursors of tetrakis(dimethylamido)zirconium(IV) and water. We investigated the growth characteristics and mechanism of the ALD ZrO2 in the temperature range of 50–275 °C. Furthermore, the evolutions of film thickness and morphology were studied and discussed. It was found that the growth rate of ZrO2 decreased almost linearly with the increasing temperature from ∼1.81 Å/cycle at 50 °C to ∼0.8 Å/cycle at 225 °C. Interestingly, it was revealed that the growth of ZrO2 films ceased after a certain number of ALD cycles at a temperature higher than 250 °C. We also verified that the crystallinity of ZrO2 evolved with deposition temperature from amorphous to crystalline phase. In addition, the wettability of ZrO2 films was studied, showing a hydrophobic nature.

Animal studies have suggested that mushroom intake can alleviate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. However, the association between mushroom intake and NAFLD is unknown in humans. We aimed to investigate the association of mushroom intake with NAFLD among Chinese adults. This is a cross-sectional study of 24 236 adults (mean (standard deviation) age: 40·7 (sd 11·9) years; 11 394 men (47·0 %)). Mushroom intake was assessed via a validated FFQ. Newly diagnosed NAFLD was identified based on the results of annual health examinations, including ultrasound findings and a self-reported history of the disease. Multiple logistic models were used to examine the association between mushroom intake and NAFLD. The prevalence of newly diagnosed NAFLD was 19·0 %. Compared with those consuming mushrooms less frequently (≤1 time/week), the fully adjusted OR of newly diagnosed NAFLD were 0·95 (95 % CI 0·86, 1·05) for those consuming 2–3 times/week and 0·76 (95 % CI 0·63, 0·92) for those consuming ≥4 times/week (Pfor trend = 0·01). The inverse association was consistent in subgroups defined by age, sex and BMI. In conclusion, higher mushroom intake was significantly associated with lower prevalence of NAFLD among Chinese adults. Future research is required to understand the causal association between mushroom intake and NAFLD.

Iron sulfides have attracted much interests for their potential as anode materials in energy storage devices in view of their low costs, and environmentally benign and high theoretical capacities. Among them, Fe1−xS is relatively rarely investigated. In this work, Fe1−xS@rGO has been synthesized using a facile in situ hydrothermal method. After wrapped by rGO, the morphology of Fe1−xS particles changes from hexagonal flakes to irregular particles with much smaller sizes. As the anode material for lithium ion batteries, Fe1−xS@rGO exhibits excellent lithium storage ability. It can deliver an initial discharge capacity of 1575.5 mA h/g in the potential window of 0.005–3 V, and a reversible capacity of 907.8 mA h/g can be maintained after 200 cycles at 100 mA/g. Its improved electrochemical performance can be attributed to the effect of enhanced contact area and shortened Li+ ion transport distance because of rGO’s contribution.