A structured-light projection system was designed for microscale objects with surface heights that ranged from tens to hundreds of microns. The system was composed of a universal projector and microscope system that supported editing the attributes of structured-light patterns in real-time and was capable of projecting microscale patterns. On this basis, reconstructing the metal surfaces of microscale objects based on grid patterns of structured light was investigated, the internal and external parameters of microscope vision and projection systems were calibrated, and an image algorithm for grid-node detection was designed. The results indicated that the proposed method successfully reconstructed the three-dimensional (3D) surface of microscale objects, and the reconstruction results were consistent with the original surfaces. With 95% confidence, the reconstruction precision in the X- and Y-directions was approximately ±4.0 μm and in the Z-direction was approximately ±7.5 μm. The designed system and the proposed method were suitable for 3D-shape measurement of microstructures in microscopic fields and can be adapted to meet a broader range of applications, as compared to current methods.

Excessive iodine can lead to goiters. However, the relationship between the water iodine concentration (WIC) and goiter rate (GR) is unclear. This study aims to explore the factors that influence children’s GR in areas with high WIC and analyse the threshold value of the GR increase associated with the WIC. According to the monitoring of the areas with high WIC in China in 2018–2020, a total of 54 050 children in eight high water iodine provinces were chosen. Drinking water, urine and edible salt samples of children were collected. The thyroid volume (Tvol) was measured. A generalised additive model (GAM) was used to analyse the relationship between the WIC and GR in children. Among the 54 050 children in areas with high WIC, the overall GR was 3·34 %, the median of water iodine concentration was 127·0 µg/l, the median of urinary iodine concentration was 318 µg/l and the non-iodised salt coverage rate (NISCR) was 63·51 %. According to the GAM analysis results, water iodine and urinary iodine are factors that influence the Tvol and GR, while the NISCR affects only the GR. When the WIC was more than 420 µg/l or the urinary iodine concentration was more than 800 µg/l, the GR increased rapidly. When the NISCR reached more than 85 %, the GR was the lowest. Thus, in areas with high WIC, WIC more than 420 µg/l may increase the risk of goiter, and the NISCR should be increased to over 85 % to avoid goiters in children.

Bloodstream fungal infections have a high mortality rate. There is little data about the long-term mortality rate of fungaemia.This study aimed to explore the mortality of fungaemia and the influencing factors associated with death. In total, 204 intensive care unit (ICU) patients with fungaemia from Multi-parameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care-III (MIMIC-III) Database were studied. Age, gender, major underlying diseases, data about vital signs and blood test results were analysed to identify the predictors of the mortality and prognosis of fungaemia in ICU patients. Cox regression models were constructed, together with Kaplan−Meier survival curves. The 30-day, 1-year, 2-year, 3-year and 4-year mortality rates were 41.2%, 62.3%, 68.1%, 72.5% and 75%, respectively. Age (P ＜ 0.001, OR = 1.530; P ＜ 0.001, OR = 1.485)，serum bilirubin (P = 0.016, OR = 2.125；P = 0.001, OR = 1.748) and international normalised ratio (INR) (P = 0.001, OR = 2.642; P ＜ 0.001 OR = 2.065) were predictors of both the 30-day and 4-year mortality rates. Renal failure (P = 0.009, OR = 1.643) performed good in prediction of the 4-year mortality. The mortality of fungaemia is high. Age，the serum bilirubin and INR are good predictors of the 30-day and 4-year mortality rates of fungaemia. Renal failure has good performance in predicting the long-term mortality.

Necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating gastrointestinal disease of prematurity that typically develops after the administration of infant formula, suggesting a link between nutritional components and disease development. One of the most significant complications that develops in patients with NEC is severe lung injury. We have previously shown that the administration of a nutritional formula that is enriched in pre-digested Triacylglyceride that do not require lipase action can significantly reduce the severity of NEC in a mouse model. We now hypothesise that this ‘pre-digested fat (PDF) system’ may reduce NEC-associated lung injury. In support of this hypothesis, we now show that rearing newborn mice on a nutritional formula based on the ‘PDF system’ promotes lung development, as evidenced by increased tight junctions and surfactant protein expression. Mice that were administered this ‘PDF system’ were significantly less vulnerable to the development of NEC-induced lung inflammation, and the administration of the ‘PDF system’ conferred lung protection. In seeking to define the mechanisms involved, the administration of the ‘PDF system’ significantly enhanced lung maturation and reduced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These findings suggest that the PDF system protects the development of NEC-induced lung injury through effects on lung maturation and reduced ROS in the lung and also increases lung maturation in non-NEC mice.

The stability of the two-layer film flow driven by an oscillatory plate under long-wave disturbances is studied. The influence of key factors, such as thickness ratio ($n$), viscosity ratio ($m$), density ratio ($r$), oscillatory frequency ($\beta$) and insoluble surfactants on the stability behaviours is studied systematically. Four special Floquet patterns are identified, and the corresponding growth rates are obtained by solving the eigenvalue problem of the fourth-order matrix. A small viscosity ratio ($m\le 1$) may stabilize the flow but it depends on the thickness ratio. If the viscosity ratio is not very small ($m>0.1$), in the $(\beta ,n)$-plane, stable and unstable curved stripes appear alternately. In other words, under the circumstances, if the two-layer film flow is unstable, slightly adjusting the thickness of the upper film may make it stable. In particular, if the upper film is thin enough, even under high-frequency oscillation, the flow is always stable. The influence of density ratio is similar, i.e. there are curved stable and unstable stripes in the $(\beta ,r)$-planes. Surface surfactants generally stabilize the flow of the two-layer oscillatory membrane, while interfacial surfactants may stabilize or destabilize the flow but the effect is mild. It is also found that gravity can generally stabilize the flow because it narrows the bandwidth of unstable frequencies.

The newly discovered Bibole banded iron formations are located within the Nyong Group at the northwest of the Congo Craton in Cameroon. The Bibole banded iron formations comprise oxide (quartz-magnetite) and mixed oxide-silicate (chlorite-magnetite) facies banded iron formations, which are interbedded with felsic gneiss, phyllite and quartz-chlorite schist. Geochemical studies of the quartz-magnetite banded iron formations and chlorite-magnetite banded iron formations reveal that they are composed of >95 wt % Fe2O3 plus SiO2 and have low concentrations of Al2O3, TiO2 and high field strength elements. This indicates that the Bibole banded iron formations were not significantly contaminated by detrital materials. Post-Archaean Australian Shale–normalized rare earth element and yttrium patterns are characterized by positive La and Y anomalies, a relative depletion of light rare earth elements compared to heavy rare earth elements and positive Eu anomalies (average of 1.86 and 1.15 for the quartz-magnetite banded iron formations and chlorite-magnetite banded iron formations, respectively), suggesting the influence of low-temperature hydrothermal fluids and seawater. The quartz-magnetite banded iron formations display true negative Ce anomalies, while the chlorite-magnetite banded iron formations lack Ce anomalies. Combined with their distinct Eu anomalies consistent with Algoma- and Superior-type banded iron formations, we suggest that the Bibole banded iron formations were deposited under oxic to suboxic conditions in an extensional basin. SIMS U–Pb data indicate that the Bibole banded iron formations were deposited at 2466 Ma and experienced metamorphism and metasomatism at 2078 Ma during the Eburnean/Trans-Amazonian orogeny. Overall, these findings suggest that the studied banded iron formations probably marked the onset of the rise of atmospheric oxygen, also known as the Great Oxidation Event in the Congo Craton.

The findings regarding the associations between red meat, fish and poultry consumption, and the metabolic syndrome (Mets) have been inconclusive, and evidence from Chinese populations is scarce. A cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the associations between red meat, fish and poultry consumption, and the prevalence of the Mets and its components among the residents of Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, China. A total of 4424 participants were eligible for the analysis. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the OR and 95 % CI for the prevalence of the Mets and its components according to red meat, fish and poultry consumption. In addition, the data of our cross-sectional study were meta-analysed under a random effects model along with those of published observational studies to generate the summary relative risks (RR) of the associations between the highest v. lowest categories of red meat, fish and poultry consumption and the Mets and its components. In the cross-sectional study, the multivariable-adjusted OR for the highest v. lowest quartiles of consumption was 1·23 (95 % CI 1·02, 1·48) for red meat, 0·83 (95 % CI 0·72, 0·97) for fish and 0·93 (95 % CI 0·74, 1·18) for poultry. In the meta-analysis, the pooled RR for the highest v. lowest categories of consumption was 1·20 (95 % CI 1·06, 1·35) for red meat, 0·88 (95 % CI 0·81, 0·96) for fish and 0·97 (95 % CI 0·85, 1·10) for poultry. The findings of both cross-sectional studies and meta-analyses indicated that the association between fish consumption and the Mets may be partly driven by the inverse association of fish consumption with elevated TAG and reduced HDL-cholesterol and, to a lesser extent, fasting plasma glucose. No clear pattern of associations was observed between red meat or poultry consumption and the components of the Mets. The current findings add weight to the evidence that the Mets may be positively associated with red meat consumption, inversely associated with fish consumption and neutrally associated with poultry consumption.

Nutritional Risk Screening index is a standard tool to assess nutritional risk, but epidemiological data are scarce on controlling nutritional status (CONUT) as a prognostic marker in acute haemorrhagic stroke (AHS). We aimed to explore whether the CONUT may predict a 3-month functional outcome in AHS. In total, 349 Chinese patients with incident AHS were consecutively recruited, and their malnutrition risks were determined using a high CONUT score of ≥ 2. The cohort patients were divided into high-CONUT (≥ 2) and low-CONUT (< 2) groups, and primary outcomes were a poor functional prognosis defined as the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of ≥ 3 at post-discharge for 3 months. Odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the poor functional prognosis at post-discharge were estimated by using a logistic analysis with additional adjustments for unbalanced variables between the high-CONUT and low-CONUT groups. A total of 328 patients (60·38 ± 12·83 years; 66·77 % male) completed the mRS assessment at post-discharge for 3 months, with 172 patients at malnutrition risk at admission and 104 patients with a poor prognosis. The levels of total cholesterol and total lymphocyte counts were significantly lower in high-CONUT patients than low-CONUT patients (P = 0·012 and < 0·001, respectively). At 3-month post discharge, there was a greater risk for the poor outcome in the high-CONUT compared with the low-CONUT patients at admission (OR: 2·32, 95 % CI: 1·28, 4·17). High-CONUT scores independently predict a 3-month poor prognosis in AHS, which helps to identify those who need additional nutritional managements.