X-ray powder diffraction data, unit-cell parameters, and space group for 17- hydroxy-16-methyl-9,11-epoxypregna-1,4,6-triene-3,20-dione, C22H26O4, are reported [ a = 18.435(1) Å, b = 12.269(3) Å, c = 8.251(5) Å, α = 90°, β = 90°, γ = 90°, unit-cell volume V = 1866.43 Å3, Z = 4, ρcal = 1.261 g cm−3 and space group P212121]. All measured lines were indexed and are consistent with the P212121 space group. No detectable impurities were observed.

Experiments are presented on the deformation of free surface induced by water exit of axisymmetric bodies, particular at the moment before body detaching from water. A set of experimental apparatus is designed to provide driving force for the bodies. A high-speed camera is adopted to capture the motion and deformation of the free surface. Bodies of various shapes, including a stretched spheroid, a sphere, a circular cone and a combination of cylinder and circular cone, are lifted out of water with different velocities, by using a straight rod attached on the top of models. It is found that free-surface deformation is affected by the moving velocity a lot. Three wake flow or free-surface spike patterns are generated corresponding to different velocities. When the velocity is larger than a critical velocity, cavitation incepts and bubble is entrapped inside the water spike, which changes the flow pattern and shape of the spike. It is aimed to explore the spike phenomenon of free surface and explain the reasons behind it.

In the present work, Mo was added to an Al–Si–Mg foundry alloy to study its influence on the evolution of dispersoids during various heat treatments. The microhardness and the elevated-temperature tensile properties and creep resistance were measured to evaluate the contribution of dispersoids. Results showed that the addition of Mo greatly promoted the formation of α-dispersoids. During solution treatment, the formation of α-dispersoids started after 8 h at 500 °C. At high temperature (540 °C), the coarsening of dispersoids with increasing time became predominant. The optimum condition of dispersoids can be reached by 520 °C/12 h or 500 °C/4 h + 540 °C/2 h, leading to the highest differences in microhardness between the Mo-containing alloy and base alloy. The tensile strengths were improved at both room temperature and elevated temperatures, while the elongation at elevated temperature was greatly increased. The creep resistance at elevated temperature is further enhanced due to the Mo addition.

Global inequity in access to and availability of essential mental health services is well recognized. The mental health treatment gap is approximately 50% in all countries, with up to 90% of people in the lowest-income countries lacking access to required mental health services. Increased investment in global mental health (GMH) has increased innovation in mental health service delivery in LMICs. Situational analyses in areas where mental health services and systems are poorly developed and resourced are essential when planning for research and implementation, however, little guidance is available to inform methodological approaches to conducting these types of studies. This scoping review provides an analysis of methodological approaches to situational analysis in GMH, including an assessment of the extent to which situational analyses include equity in study designs. It is intended as a resource that identifies current gaps and areas for future development in GMH. Formative research, including situational analysis, is an essential first step in conducting robust implementation research, an essential area of study in GMH that will help to promote improved availability of, access to and reach of mental health services for people living with mental illness in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While strong leadership in this field exists, there remain significant opportunities for enhanced research representing different LMICs and regions.

To compare the epidemiologic features (e.g. settings and transmission mode) and patient clinical characteristics associated with outbreaks of different norovirus (Nov) strains, we retrospectively analysed data of Nov outbreaks occurring in Guangzhou, China from 2012 to 2018. The results suggested that outbreaks of Nov GII.2, GII.17 and GII.4 Sydney exhibited different outbreak settings, transmission modes and symptoms. GII.2 outbreaks mainly occurred in kindergartens, elementary and high schools and were transmitted mainly through person-to-person contact. By contrast, GII.4 Sydney outbreaks frequently occurred in colleges and were primarily associated with foodborne transmission. Cases from GII.2 and GII.17 outbreaks reported vomiting more frequently than those from outbreaks associated with GII.4 Sydney.

Incurred but not reported (IBNR) loss reserving is of great importance for Property & Casualty (P&C) insurers. However, the temporal dependence exhibited in the claim arrival process is not reflected in many current loss reserving models, which might affect the accuracy of the IBNR reserve predictions. To overcome this shortcoming, we proposed a marked Cox process and showed its many desirable properties in Badescu et al. (2016).

In this paper, we consider the model estimation and applications. We first present an expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm which guarantees the efficiency of the estimators unlike the moment estimation methods widely used in estimating Cox processes. In addition, the proposed fitting algorithm can be implemented at a reasonable computational cost. We examine the performance of the proposed algorithm through simulation studies. The applicability of the proposed model is tested by fitting it to a real insurance claim data set. Through out-of-sample tests, we find that the proposed model can provide realistic predictive distributions.

A viscous damping model is proposed based on a simplified equation of fluid motion in a moonpool or the narrow gap formed by two fixed boxes. The model takes into account the damping induced by both flow separation and wall friction through two damping coefficients, namely, the local and friction loss coefficients. The local loss coefficient is determined through specifically designed physical model tests in this work, and the friction loss coefficient is estimated through an empirical formula found in the literature. The viscous damping model is implemented in the dynamic free-surface boundary condition in the gap of a modified potential flow model. The modified potential flow model is then applied to simulate the wave-induced fluid responses in a narrow gap formed by two fixed boxes and in a moonpool for which experimental data are available. The modified potential flow model with the proposed viscous damping model works well in capturing both the resonant amplitude and frequency under a wide range of damping conditions.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of supplementing different amounts of daidzein in a diet on the growth performance, blood biochemical parameters and meat quality of finishing beef cattle. Thirty finishing Xianan steers were distributed in three groups equilibrated by weight and fed three different dietary treatments (concentrate ratio = 80%): (1) control; (2) 500 mg/kg daidzein and (3) 1000 mg/kg daidzein, respectively. Steers were slaughtered after an 80-day feeding trial. Results showed that daidzein supplementation had no effect on the final body weight, average daily gain and feed conversion rate of steers. Steers fed with 1000 mg/kg daidzein had greater dry matter intake than those fed with control diets. Compared with the control group, the 1000 mg/kg daidzein group had a higher fat thickness, lower shear force and lightness. The pH, drip loss, cooking loss, redness (a*), yellowness (b*), moisture, ash, crude protein and intramuscular fat of the Longissimus dorsi muscle were unaffected by daidzein supplementation. Compared with the control group, the 1000 mg/kg daidzein group significantly increased the serum concentrations of insulin, free fatty acid and Glutamic-pyruvic transaminase. The 500 mg/kg daidzein group significantly increased the serum concentration of tetraiodothyronine compared with the control group. Supplemental daidzein did not affect the blood antioxidant ability and blood immune parameters in serum. In conclusion, daidzein supplementation above 500 mg/day modifies feed intake and metabolic and hormonal profile, with positive and negative effects on meat quality.

Optimizing the dietary calcium (Ca) level is essential to maximize the eggshell quality, egg production and bone formation in poultry. This study aimed to establish the Ca requirements of egg-type duck breeders from 23 to 57 weeks of age on egg production, eggshell, incubation, tibial, plasma and ovary-related indices, as well as the expression of matrix protein-related genes. Totally, 450 Longyan duck breeders aged 21 weeks of age were allotted randomly into five treatments, each with six replicates of 15 individually caged birds. The data collection started from 23 weeks of age and continued over the following 35 weeks. The five groups corresponded to five dietary treatments containing either 2.8%, 3.2%, 3.6%, 4.0% or 4.4% Ca. The tested dietary Ca levels increased (linear, P <0.01) egg production and egg mass, and linearly improved (P <0.01) the feed conversion ratio (FCR). Increasing the dietary Ca levels from 2.8% to 4.4% increased (P <0.01) the eggshell thickness and eggshell content. The tested Ca levels showed a quadratic effect on eggshell thickness and ovarian weight (P <0.01); the highest values were obtained with the Ca levels 4.0% and 3.6%, respectively. Dietary Ca levels affected the small yellow follicles (SYF) number and SYF weight/ovarian weight, and the linear response (P <0.01) was significant vis-à-vis SYF number. In addition, dietary Ca levels increased (P <0.05) the tibial dry weight, breaking strength, mineral density and ash content. Plasma and tibial phosphorus concentration exhibited a quadratic (P <0.01) response to dietary Ca levels. Plasma calcitonin concentration linearly (P <0.01) increased as dietary Ca levels increased. The relative expression of carbonic anhydrase 2 in the uterus rose (P <0.01) with the increment of dietary Ca levels, and the highest value was obtained with 3.2% Ca. In conclusion, Longyan duck breeders fed a diet with 4.0% Ca had superior eggshell and tibial quality, while those fed a diet with 3.6% Ca had the heaviest ovarian weights. The regression model indicated that the dietary Ca levels 3.86%, 3.48% and 4.00% are optimal levels to obtain maximum eggshell thickness, ovarian weight and tibial mineral density, respectively.

Co-receptor tropism has been identified to correlate with HIV-1 transmission and the disease progression in patients. A molecular epidemiology investigation of co-receptor tropism is important for clinical practice and effective control of HIV-1. In this study, we investigated the co-receptor tropism on HIV-1 variants of 85 antiretroviral-naive patients with Geno2pheno algorithm at a false-positive rate of 10%. Our data showed that a majority of the subjects harboured the CCR5-tropic virus (81.2%, 69/85). No significant differences in gender, age, baseline CD4+ T-cell counts and transmission routes were observed between subjects infected with CXCR4-tropic or CCR5-tropic virus. The co-receptor tropism appeared to be associated with the virus genotype; a significantly more CXCR4-use was predicted in CRF01_AE infections whereas all CRF07_BC and CRF08_BC were predicted to use CCR5 co-receptor. Sequences analysis of V3 revealed a higher median net charge in the CXCR4 viruses over CCR5 viruses (4.0 vs. 3.0, P < 0.05). The predicted N-linked glycosylation site between amino acids 6 and 8 in the V3 region was conserved in CCR5 viruses, but not in CXCR4 viruses. Besides, variable crown motifs were observed in both CCR5 and CXCR4 viruses, of which the most prevalent motif GPGQ existed in both viral tropism and almost all genotypes identified in this study except subtype B. These findings may offer important implications for clinical practice and enhance our understanding of HIV-1 biology.

Machine learning (ML) has been perceived as a promising tool for the design and discovery of novel materials for a broad range of applications. In this prospective paper, we summarize recent progress in the applications of ML to composite materials modeling and design. An overview of how different types of ML algorithms can be applied to accelerate composite research is presented. This framework is envisioned to revolutionize approaches to design and optimize composites for the next generation of materials with unprecedented properties.

This study aims to investigate the prevalence and genotype distribution of anal human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among men with different sexual orientations with or without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in China. A cross-sectional study was conducted during 2016–2017 in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province. Convenient sampling was used to recruit male participants from HIV voluntary counselling and testing clinics and Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A face-to-face questionnaire interview was administered and an anal-canal swab was collected for HPV genotyping. A total of 160 HIV-positive and 113 HIV-negative men participated in the study. The prevalence of any type HPV was 30.6% for heterosexual men, 74.1% for homosexual and 63.6% for bisexual men among HIV-positive participants, while the prevalence was 8.3%, 29.2% and 23.8% respectively among HIV-negatives. The most prevalent genotypes were HPV-58 (16.9%), HPV-6 (15.6%) and HPV-11 (15.0%) among HIV-positive men, and were HPV-16 (4.4%), HPV-52 (4.4%) and HPV-6 (3.5%) among HIV-negative men. Having ever had haemorrhoids and having ever seen blood on tissue after defaecation was associated with HPV infection. One-fourth of the HPV infections in this study population can be covered by the quadrivalent vaccine in market. The highly prevalent anal HPV infection among men especially HIV-infected men calls for close observation and further investigation for anal cancer prevention.

Gender inequality has severe consequences on public health in terms of delay in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). In order to explore gender-related differences in diagnosis delay, a cross-sectional study of 10 686 patients diagnosed with PTB in Yulin from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2014 was conducted. Diagnosis delay was categorised into ‘short delay’ and ‘long delay’ by four commonly used cut-off points of 14, 30, 60 and 90 days. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyse gender differences in diagnostic delay. Stratified analyses by smear results, age, urban/rural were performed to examine whether the effect persisted across the strata. The median delay was 31 days (interquartile range 13–65). Diagnostic delay in females at cut-off points of 14, 30, 60 and 90 days had odds ratios (OR) of 0.99 (95% CI 0.91–1.09), 1.09 (95% CI 1.01–1.18), 1.15 (95% CI 1.05–1.26) and 1.18 (95% CI 1.06–1.31), respectively, compared with males. Stratified analysis showed that females were associated with increased risk of longer delay among those aged 30–60 years, smear positive and living in the rural areas (P < 0.05). The female-to-male OR increased along with increased delay time. Further inquiry into the underlying reasons for gender differences should be urgently addressed to improve the current situation.

This study investigates the stability and transition of Görtler vortices in a hypersonic boundary layer using linear stability theory and direct numerical simulations. In the simulations, Görtler vortices are separately excited by wall blowing and suction with spanwise wavelengths of 3, 6 and 9 mm. In addition to primary streaks with the same wavelength as the blowing and suction, secondary streaks with half the wavelength also emerge in the 6 and 9 mm cases. The streaks develop into mushroom structures before breaking down. The breakdown processes of the three cases are dominated by a sinuous-mode instability, a varicose-mode instability and a combination of the two, respectively. Both fundamental and subharmonic instabilities are relevant in all cases. Multiple modes are identified in the secondary-instability stage, some of which originate from the primary instabilities (first and second Mack modes). We demonstrate that the first Mack mode can be destabilized to either a varicose-mode or sinuous-mode streak instability depending on its frequency and wavelength, whereas the second Mack mode undergoes a stabilizing stage before turning into a varicose mode in the 6 and 9 mm cases. An energy analysis reveals the stabilizing and destabilizing mechanisms of the primary instabilities under the influence of Görtler vortices, highlighting the role played by the spanwise production based on the spanwise gradient of the streamwise velocity in both varicose and sinuous modes. The effects introduced by the secondary streaks are examined by filtering the secondary streaks in two new simulations with nominally identical conditions to those of the 6 and 9 mm cases. Remarkably, the secondary streaks can destabilize the Görtler vortices, therefore advancing the transition. The stability theory results are in good agreement with those from direct numerical simulations.

The second year of life is a period of nutritional vulnerability. We aimed to investigate the dietary patterns and nutrient intakes from 1 to 2 years of age during the 12-month follow-up period of the Growing Up Milk – Lite (GUMLi) trial. The GUMLi trial was a multi-centre, double-blinded, randomised controlled trial of 160 healthy 1-year-old children in Auckland, New Zealand and Brisbane, Australia. Dietary intakes were collected at baseline, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post-randomisation, using a validated FFQ. Dietary patterns were identified using principal component analysis of the frequency of food item consumption per d. The effect of the intervention on dietary patterns and intake of eleven nutrients over the duration of the trial were investigated using random effects mixed models. A total of three dietary patterns were identified at baseline: ‘junk/snack foods’, ‘healthy/guideline foods’ and ‘breast milk/formula’. A significant group difference was observed in ‘breast milk/formula’ dietary pattern z scores at 12 months post-randomisation, where those in the GUMLi group loaded more positively on this pattern, suggesting more frequent consumption of breast milk. No difference was seen in the other two dietary patterns. Significant intervention effects were seen on nutrient intake between the GUMLi (intervention) and cows’ milk (control) groups, with lower protein and vitamin B12, and higher Fe, vitamin D, vitamin C and Zn intake in the GUMLi (intervention) group. The consumption of GUMLi did not affect dietary patterns, however, GUMLi participants had lower protein intake and higher Fe, vitamins D and C and Zn intake at 2 years of age.

Single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP) has been widely used in genomic evaluation due to relatively higher prediction accuracy and simplicity of use. The prediction accuracy from ssGBLUP depends on the amount of information available concerning both genotype and phenotype. This study investigated how information on genotype and phenotype that had been acquired from previous generations influences the prediction accuracy of ssGBLUP, and thus we sought an optimal balance about genotypic and phenotypic information to achieve a cost-effective and computationally efficient genomic evaluation. We generated two genetically correlated traits (h2 = 0.35 for trait A, h2 = 0.10 for trait B and genetic correlation 0.20) as well as two distinct populations mimicking purebred swine. Phenotypic and genotypic information in different numbers of previous generations and different genotyping rates for each litter were set to generate different datasets. Prediction accuracy was evaluated by correlating genomic estimated breeding values with true breeding values for genotyped animals in the last generation. The results revealed a negligible impact of previous generations that lacked genotyped animals on the prediction accuracy. Phenotypic and genotypic data, including the most recent three to four generations with a genotyping rate of 40% or 50% for each litter, could lead to asymptotic maximum prediction accuracy for genotyped animals in the last generation. Single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction yielded an optimal balance about genotypic and phenotypic information to ensure a cost-effective and computationally efficient genomic evaluation of populations of polytocous animals such as purebred pigs.

The genus Megalobatrachonema is a rare group of nematode parasites within Ascaridida. The systematic status of Megalobatrachonema in the superfamily Cosmocercoidea (Ascaridida) has long been controversial. The relationship of Megalobatrachonema and Chabaudgolvania remains unsolved. In the present study, a new species of Megalobatrachonema, M. hainanensis sp. nov., was described based on specimens collected in Amolops hainanensis (Boulenger) and Hylarana spinulosa (Smith) (Amphibia: Anura) from Hainan Island, China. The large ribosomal DNA (28S) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) were also sequenced for molecular identification and phylogenetic study. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood (ML) inference and Bayesian inference (BI) based on 28S and ITS1 sequence data, respectively, supported that Megalobatrachonema is a member of the family Kathlaniidae. In addition, the genetic comparison and phylogenetic results based on ITS1 sequence data also supported that the genus Chabaudgolvania should be considered as a synonym of Megalobatrachonema.

The prevalence of sexually transmitted infection (STI) pathogens in Beijing, China, is rarely reported. In this study, 34 911 symptomatic outpatients with suspected genital infections who attended outpatient clinics in a tertiary care hospital were included to investigate the updated prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2016 in Beijing, China. Results indicated that a decrease trend (UU, CT, NG and HSV) in male and an increase trend (UU, CT and NG) in female were observed during the period. Patients aged 20–39 years old were mostly affected by these pathogens, while the prevalence in patients aged 20–29 years old was the highest, The prevalence of UU in male was significantly lower than in female (31.5% vs. 49.3%, P < 0.05), while the prevalence of NG in male was significantly higher than in female (2.5% vs. 0.8%, P < 0.05). In patients with co-infections, 60.6% of male and 71.4% of female were co-infected by UU + CT. In total, 11.9% and 88.1% of patients with HSV infections were confirmed to be infected by HSV-1 and HSV-2. This study could contribute to a better understanding of the current epidemiological features of UU, NG, CT and HSV among symptomatic patients attending an outpatient clinic in Beijing, China, and thus facilitate to develop more effective intervention, prevention and treatment of STI.

In this paper, we consider the existence of multiple solutions for the quasilinear Schrödinger equation

$$\left\{ {\matrix{ {-\Delta u-\Delta (\vert u \vert ^\alpha )\vert u \vert ^{\alpha -2}u = g(x,u) + \theta h(x,u),\;\;x\in \Omega } \hfill \cr {u = 0,\;\;x\in \partial \Omega ,} \hfill \cr } } \right.$$

Hepatitis E is an important zoonosis that is prevalent in China. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a pathogen that affects humans and animals and endangers public health in China. In this study, the detection of HEV epidemics in swine in Sichuan Province, China, was carried out by nested real-time PCR. A total of 174 stool samples and 160 bile samples from swine in Sichuan Province were examined. In addition, software was used to analyse the biological evolution of HEV. The results showed that within 2 years of swine HEV (SHEV) infection in China, SHEV was first detected in Sichuan Province. HEV was endemic in Sichuan; the positive rate for pig farms was 11.1%, and the total positive sample rate was 10.5%. The age of swine with the highest positive rate (17.9%) was 5–9 weeks. The examined swine species in order of highest to lowest HEV infection rates were Chenghua pig, Large White, Duroc, Pietrain, Landrace and Hampshire. Nucleotide and amino acid sequence analysis showed that the HEV epidemic in swine in Sichuan Province was related to genotype IV, which had the highest homology to HEV in Beijing. Sichuan strains have greater variation than Chinese representative strains, which may indicate the presence of new HEV strains.