Biochar conversion from corn stover was evaluated under various process conditions, and the absorption capacity of biochar was investigated for the removal of oxytetracycline in wastewater. Biochar was prepared at lower carbonization temperatures (200–500 °C) and was used in three different concentrations of chemical oxygen wastewater. The results showed that the biochar prepared at the temperature range of 200–500 °C had a faster sorption rate and shorter sorption equilibrium time compared to biochar produced at higher temperatures. The longest time to reach sorption equilibrium was 9 h for biochar obtained at 200 °C. However, the biochar prepared at 500 °C required only 0.5 h to reach the sorption equilibrium. The corn stover-biochar had the highest sorption capacity of 246.3 mg/g for oxytetracycline at 30 °C. The adsorption kinetics was consistent with pseudo–second-order kinetics. This study provides a theoretical basis for the conversion of corn stover into biochar as efficient sorbents.

The preparation of three-dimensional honeycomb nitrogen-doped carbon materials (3D-HNCMs) which can be used as electrode materials for supercapacitors is reported. The composites with the 3D honeycomb structure exhibited better electrochemical performance, and the structure and properties were proved by various means, such as SEM, TEM, IR, N2 sorption, XRD and XPS. Used as electrode materials for supercapacitors in the KOH electrolyte, 3D-HNCMs displayed a significantly high specific capacitance (409 F/g at a current of 0.5 A/g). Moreover, the 3D-HNCM electrode exhibited superior electrochemical performance, such as excellent cycling stability (98% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles), a maximum energy density of 15.37 W h/kg, a maximum power density of 40.3 kW/kg, and low equivalent series resistance (2.1 Ω). Particularly, the electrochemical characteristic of 3D-HNCMs could be attributed to the synergistic effect of a high surface area, unique microporous and mesoporous structure, and nitrogen atom doping. These carbon materials with unique structure are promising electrode materials for future supercapacitor application.

Existing data on folate status and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis are scarce. We prospectively examined whether serum folate concentrations at diagnosis were associated with liver cancer-specific survival (LCSS) and overall survival (OS) among 982 patients with newly diagnosed, previously untreated HCC, who were enrolled in the Guangdong Liver Cancer Cohort (GLCC) study between September 2013 and February 2017. Serum folate concentrations were measured using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Cox proportional hazards models were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI by sex-specific quartile of serum folate. Compared with patients in the third quartile of serum folate, patients in the lowest quartile had significantly inferior LCSS (HR = 1·48; 95 % CI 1·05, 2·09) and OS (HR = 1·43; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·99) after adjustment for non-clinical and clinical prognostic factors. The associations were not significantly modified by sex, age at diagnosis, alcohol drinking status and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage. However, there were statistically significant interactions on both multiplicative and additive scale between serum folate and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels or smoking status and the associations of lower serum folate with worse LCSS and OS were only evident among patients with CRP > 3·0 mg/l or current smokers. An inverse association with LCSS were also observed among patients with liver damage score ≥3. These results suggest that lower serum folate concentrations at diagnosis are independently associated with worse HCC survival, most prominently among patients with systemic inflammation and current smokers. A future trial of folate supplementation seems to be promising in HCC patients with lower folate status.

In a rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rotation system, a study was conducted to determine the effects of different fertilization regimens (no fertilization, replacement of a portion of chemical fertilizer with composted pig manure, chemical fertilizer only, and straw return combined with chemical fertilizer) on the weed communities and wheat yields after 4 and 5 yr. The impact of the long-term recurrent fertilization regimen initiated in 2010 on the composition and diversity of weed communities and the impact of the components and total amount of fertilizer on wheat yields were assessed in 2014 and 2015. Totals of 19 and 16 weed species were identified in experimental wheat fields in 2014 and 2015, respectively, but the occurrence of weed species varied according to the fertilization regimen. American sloughgrass [Beckmannia syzigachne (Steud.) Fernald], water starwort [Myosoton aquaticum (L.) Moench], and lyrate hemistepta (Hemistepta lyrata Bunge.) were adapted to all fertilization treatments and were the dominant weed species in the experimental wheat fields. The greatest number of weed species were observed under the no-fertilization treatment, in which 40% of the weed community was composed of broadleaf weeds and the lowest wheat yields were obtained. With fertilizer application, the number of weed species was reduced, the height of weeds increased significantly, the density of broadleaf weeds was significantly reduced, the biodiversity indices of weed communities decreased significantly, and higher wheat yields were obtained. Only the chemical fertilizer plus composted pig manure treatment and the chemical fertilizer–only treatment increased the density of grassy weeds and the total weed community density. The treatment with chemical fertilizer only also resulted in the highest density of B. syzigachne. Rice straw return combined with chemical fertilizer yielded the lowest total weed density, which suggests that it inhibited occurrence of weeds. The different fertilizer regimens not only affected the weed species composition, distribution, and diversity, but also the weed density. Our study provides new information from a rice–wheat rotation system on the relationship between soil amendments and agricultural weed infestation.

Hepatitis B constitutes a severe public health challenge in China. The Community-based Collaborative Innovation hepatitis B (CCI-HBV) project is a national epidemiological study of hepatitis B and has been conducting a comprehensive intervention in southern Zhejiang since 2009.

The comprehensive intervention in CCI-HBV areas includes the dynamic hepatitis B screening in local residents, the normalised treatment for hepatitis B infections and the upcoming full-aged hepatitis B vaccination. After two rounds of screening (each round taking for 4 years), the initial epidemiological baseline of hepatitis B in Qinggang was obtained, a coastal community in east China. By combining key data and system dynamics modelling, the regional hepatitis B epidemic in 20 years was predicted.

There were 1041 HBsAg positive cases out of 12 228 people in Round 1 indicating HBV prevalence of 8.5%. Of the 13 146 people tested in Round 2, 1171 people were HBsAg positive, with a prevalence of 8.9%. By comparing the two rounds of screening, the HBV incidence rate of 0.192 per 100 person-years was observed. By consulting electronic medical records, the HBV onset rate of 0.533 per 100 person-years was obtained. We generated a simulated model to replicate the real-world situation for the next two decades. To evaluate the effect of interventions on regional HBV prevalence, three comparative experiments were conducted.

In this study, the regional hepatitis B epidemic in 20 years was predicted and compared with HBV prevalence under different interventions. Owing to the existing challenges in research methodology, this study combined HBV field research and simulation to provide a system dynamics model with close-to-real key data to improve prediction accuracy. The simulation also provided a prompt guidance for the field implementation.

A kind of novel Ni–P gradient coating/stannate conversion film was deposited on AZ91D magnesium alloy (AZ91D alloy) by an integrative method involved stannate conversion and electroless plating. The results indicated that using sodium hypophosphite concentrations varied as 5, 10, 22, 46, and 60 g/L in the bath, the electroless Ni–P gradient coating with typical cell morphologies was successfully prepared, and the structures transited from crystalline → microcrystalline → amorphous were obtained as increasing P content from 3.31 to 12.58 wt%. Furthermore, the corrosion morphologies, polarization curves, and the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy result indicated that the corrosion resistance of AZ91D alloy substrate was significantly improved and the corrosion resistance of Ni–P gradient coating was superior than that of stannate conversion film, which might be attributed to the gradient structure and rising P content with unique function.

We conducted a 9-d seismic experiment in October 2015 at Laohugou Glacier No. 12. We identified microseismic signals using the short-term/long-term average trigger algorithm at four stations and classified them as long and short-duration events based on waveform, frequency, duration and magnitude characteristics. Both categories show systematical diurnal trends. The long-duration events are low-frequency tremor-like events that mainly occurred during the daytime with only several events per day. These events lasted tens of seconds to tens of minutes and are likely related to resonance of daytime meltwater. The dominant short-duration events mostly occurred during the night time with a peak occurrence frequency of ~360 h−1. Their short-duration (<0.2 s), high frequency (20–100 Hz) and dominance of Rayleigh waves are typical of events for near-surface crack opening. A strong negative correlation between the hourly event number and temperature change rate suggests that the occurrence of night-time events is controlled by the rate of night-time cooling. We estimated the near-surface tensile stress due to thermal contraction at night to be tens of kilopascals, which is enough to induce opening of surface cracks with pre-existing local stress concentrations, although we cannot exclude the effect of refreezing of meltwater produced during the day.

Since the late 1990s, hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has become a common health problem that mostly affects children and infants in Southeast and East Asia. Global climate change is considered to be one of the major risk factors for HFMD. This study aimed to assess the correlation between meteorological factors and HFMD in the Asia-Pacific region. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data and Weipu Database were searched to identify relevant articles published before May 2018. Data were collected and analysed using R software. We searched 2397 articles and identified 51 eligible papers in this study. The present study included eight meteorological factors; mean temperature, mean highest temperature, mean lowest temperature, rainfall, relative humidity and hours of sunshine were positively correlated with HFMD, with correlation coefficients (CORs) of 0.52 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42–0.60), 0.43 (95% CI 0.23–0.59), 0.43 (95% CI 0.23–0.60), 0.27 (95% CI 0.19–0.35), 0.19 (95% CI 0.02–0.35) and 0.19 (95% CI 0.11–0.27), respectively. There were sufficient data to support a negative correlation between mean pressure and HFMD (COR = −0.51, 95% CI −0.63 to −0.36). There was no notable correlation with wind speed (COR = 0.10, 95% CI −0.03 to 0.23). Our findings suggest that meteorological factors affect the incidence of HFMD to a certain extent.

Pine wilt disease, which is caused by the pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, has caused huge damage to pine forests around the world. In this study, we analysed the PWN transcriptome to investigate the expression of genes related to the associated bacterial species Pseudomonas fluorescens and found that the gene adh-1 encoding alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was upregulated. The open reading frame of adh-1, which encoded a protein of 352 amino acid residues, was cloned from B. xylophilus. Recombinant ADH with a relative molecular weight of 39 kDa, was present mainly in inclusion bodies and was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and purified after refolding. The biochemical assay revealed that recombinant ADH could catalyse the dehydrogen reaction of eight tested alcohols including ethanol in the presence of NAD+. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis indicated that ethanol upregulated adh-1 expression in PWN. Results of RNA interference and inhibition of ADH treatment indicated that downregulating expression of adh-1 or inhibition of ADH could reduce ethanol tolerance and the vitality and reproduction ability of B. xylophilus, suggesting that adh-1 is involved in pathogenicity of PWN.

The hydrogen embrittlement of 12Cr2Mo1R(H) steel at different strain rates were investigated after hydrogen precharging for 4 h in a 0.5 M H2SO4 solution with 2 g/L ammonium thiocyanate. Results showed that the embrittlement index increased and gradually reached a relative stable value of about 20% at the strain rate of 5 × 10−5 s−1 with the decrease of strain rates. SEM images depicted small and deep flakes at high strain rates, while flakes grew larger at slow strain rates. Most hydrogen-induced cracks (HICs) were transgranular fracture through lath grain of bainitic ferrite. High strain field surrounds the crack tips, which makes the crack tips of two close and parallel cracks deflect toward each another and even form crack coalescence. The electron backscatter diffraction technique was used to investigate the effects of grain boundaries, recrystallization fraction, kernel average misorientation map, texture component, and coincidence site lattice boundaries on the HIC propagation. High densities of dislocations and strain concentrations were found around the cracks, where grains are highly sensitive to HIC.

We are constructing a collector for capturing Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) and space debris on space shuttle. The unit consists of three pieces of thin polyester film, equally spaced 7 cm apart, and an aerogel disk of 3 cm thickness. For each particle captured in the aerogel disk, we determine its direction of impact and its speed, from which we can trace its trajectory. The purpose of the experiment is to study the compositions of IDPs from different origins.

The development of electrocatalysts with high activity and low cost has attracted growing attentions in recent years. Herein, we reported the Mn-doped CoP nanosheet arrays on flexible activated carbon cloth (Mn–CoP/CC) for the effective oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at low overpotential and high current density. Due to the novel 3D nanostructures of the carbon cloth and doping effect of the Mn element, the Mn doped CoP/CC electrode delivered the best overpotential of 317 mV for water splitting with the current density of 10 mA/cm2, a Tafel slope of ∼65.1 mV/dec, and excellent stability over 16 h in 1.0 mol/L KOH, which is superior or comparable to the most of the reported cobalt-based catalysts. Thus outstanding electrocatalytic performance originates from the Mn doping effect, which resulted in increased surface area and fast charge-transfer. It is believed that these findings would help us to develop high effective and stable electrocatalysts for water splitting.