We aimed to examine whether baseline neutrophil counts affected the risk of new-onset proteinuria in hypertensive patients, and, if so, whether folic acid treatment is particularly effective in proteinuria prevention in such a setting. A total of 8208 eligible participants without proteinuria at baseline were analysed from the renal substudy of the China Stroke Primary Prevention Trial. Participants were randomised to receive a double-blind daily treatment of 10 mg of enalapril and 0·8 mg of folic acid (n 4101) or 10 mg of enalapril only (n 4107). The primary outcome was new-onset proteinuria, defined as a urine dipstick reading of ≥1+ at the exit visit. The mean age of the participants was 59·5 (sd, 7·4) years, 3088 (37·6 %) of the participants were male. The median treatment duration was 4·4 years. In the enalapril-only group, a significantly higher risk of new-onset proteinuria was found among participants with higher neutrophil counts (quintile 5; ≥4·8 × 109/l, OR 1·44; 95 % CI 1·00, 2·06), compared with those in quintiles 1–4. For those with enalapril and folic acid treatment, compared with the enalapril-only group, the new-onset proteinuria risk was reduced from 5·2 to 2·8 % (OR 0·49; 95 % CI 0·29, 0·82) among participants with higher neutrophil counts (≥4·8 × 109/l), whereas there was no significant effect among those with neutrophil counts <4·8 × 109/l. In summary, among hypertensive patients, those with higher neutrophil counts had increased risk of new-onset proteinuria, and this risk was reduced by 51 % with folic acid treatment.

Block-structured Markov chains model a large variety of queueing problems and have many important applications in various areas. Stability properties have been well investigated for these Markov chains. In this paper we will present transient properties for two specific types of block-structured Markov chains, including M/G/1 type and GI/M/1 type. Necessary and sufficient conditions in terms of system parameters are obtained for geometric transience and algebraic transience. Possible extensions of the results to continuous-time Markov chains are also included.

In mainland China, the clinical, epidemiological and genetic features of non-O1/non-O139 Vibrio cholerae (NOVC) bacteraemia have been scarcely investigated. Herein, we describe a patient with NOVC bacteraemia diagnosed in our hospital and present a retrospective analysis of literature reports of 32 other cases in China, detailing the clinical epidemiology, antibiotic resistance and molecular characteristics of isolates. Most patients were male (84.8%; median age, 53 years) and had predisposing factors, such as cirrhosis, malignant tumours, blood diseases and diabetes. In addition to fever, gastroenteritis was the most frequent presenting symptom. The mortality rate during hospitalisation was 12.1%. NOVC bacteraemia cases were more common in June–August, with the majority in coastal provinces and the Yangtze River basin. Only 42.4% of cases were attributed to consumption of marine (aquatic) products. Tetracycline, third-generation cephalosporins, and fluoroquinolones were the most effective antimicrobial agents, and the highest frequencies of resistance were recorded for ampicillin/sulbactam (37.5%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (33.3%), ampicillin (29.2%) and sulfamethoxazole (20%). Multi-drug resistant isolates were not detected. Limited data indicate that ctxAB and tcpA genes were absent in all NOVC isolates but other putative virulence genes (hlyA, toxR, hap and rtxA) were common. Ten multilocus sequence types were identified with marked genetic heterogeneity between different isolates. As clinical manifestations of NOVC bacteraemia may vary widely, and isolates exhibit genetic diversity, clinicians and public health experts should be alerted to the possibility of infection with this pathogen because of the high prevalence of liver disease in China.

We aimed to evaluate the relationship of plasma Mg with the risk of new-onset hyperuricaemia and examine any possible effect modifiers in hypertensive patients. This is a post hoc analysis of the Uric acid (UA) Sub-study of the China Stroke Primary Prevention Trial (CSPPT). A total of 1685 participants were included in the present study. The main outcome was new-onset hyperuricaemia defined as a UA concentration ≥417 μmol/l in men or ≥357 μmol/l in women. The secondary outcome was a change in UA concentration defined as UA at the exit visit minus that at baseline. During a median follow-up duration of 4·3 years, new-onset hyperuricaemia occurred in 290 (17·2 %) participants. There was a significantly inverse relation of plasma Mg with the risk of new-onset hyperuricaemia (per sd increment; OR 0·85; 95 % CI 0·74, 0·99) and change in UA levels (per sd increment; β −3·96 μmol/l; 95 % CI −7·14, −0·79). Consistently, when plasma Mg was analysed as tertiles, a significantly lower risk of new-onset hyperuricaemia (OR 0·67; 95 % CI 0·48, 0·95) and less increase in UA levels (β −8·35 μmol/l; 95 % CI −16·12, −0·58) were found among participants in tertile 3 (≥885·5 μmol/l) compared with those in tertile 1 (<818·9 μmol/l). Similar trends were found in males and females. Higher plasma Mg levels were associated with a decreased risk of new-onset hyperuricaemia in hypertensive adults.

With growing city density and mass gatherings held all over the world in urban spaces, crowd disasters have been happening each year. In considering the avoidance of crowd disasters and the reduction of fatalities, it is important to analyze the efficient spatial layout of the public space in situations of high crowd density. Compared with traditional empirical design methods, computational approaches have better abilities for quantitative analysis and are gradually being adopted in the planning and management of the urban public space. In this paper, we investigated the official documents, publicly available videos, and materials of the Shanghai waterfront crowd disaster which happened on December 31, 2014. Based on the investigation, a detailed site survey was conducted and pedestrian flow data were acquired. To test the influence of different spatial layouts, an agent-based simulator is built, following the ASPFver4.0 (Agent Simulator of Pedestrian Flow) pedestrian walking rules. With the surveyed pedestrian flow data, the original spatial layout of the Shanghai Bund waterfront together with five other comparison scenarios are tested, including both space design and crowd management improvements. In the simulation results, the efficiencies of different space design and crowd management solutions are compared. The results show that even simple crowd control measures such as capacity reserve and more proper route planning will allow for a positive improvement in crowd safety. The results also compare the efficiency of different spatial operations and give general suggestions to the problems urban public space designers should consider in high-density environments.

Evidence on the association between maternal Hb concentration and preterm birth (PTB) risk is inconclusive. This paper aimed to explore whether women with anaemia or high Hb level before pregnancy would be at higher risk of PTB. We conducted a population-based cohort study with 2 722 274 women aged 20–49 years, who participated in National Free Pre-Pregnancy Checkups Project between 2013 and 2015 and delivered a singleton before 2016 in rural China. Logistic models were used to estimate OR and 95 % CI after adjusting for confounding variables. Restricted cubic spline models were applied to evaluate the dose–response relationships. A total of 192 819 (7·08 %) women had preterm deliveries. Compared with women with Hb of 110–149 g/l, the multivariable-adjusted OR for PTB was 1·19 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·44) for women with Hb<70 g/l, 1·01 (95 % CI 0·97, 1·03) for 70–99 g/l, 0·96 (95 % CI 0·95, 0·98) for 100–109 g/l, 1·04 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·06) for 150–159 g/l, 1·11 (95 % CI 1·05, 1·17) for 160–169 g/l and 1·19 (95 % CI 1·11, 1·27) for ≥170 g/l, respectively. The multivariable-adjusted OR for very PTB (VPTB) was 1·07 (95 % CI 1·03, 1·12) and 1·06 (95 % CI 1·01, 1·12) for women with Hb <110 and ≥150 g/l, compared with those with Hb of 110–149 g/l, respectively. Our study identified a U-shaped relationship between maternal preconception Hb concentration and PTB risk. Both preconception anaemia and high Hb level can significantly increase VPTB risk. Appropriate intervention for women with abnormal Hb levels before pregnancy is very necessary.

Let P be the transition matrix of a positive recurrent Markov chain on the integers with invariant probability vector πT, and let (n)P̃ be a stochastic matrix, formed by augmenting the entries of the (n + 1) x (n + 1) northwest corner truncation of P arbitrarily, with invariant probability vector (n)πT. We derive computable V-norm bounds on the error between πT and (n)πT in terms of the perturbation method from three different aspects: the Poisson equation, the residual matrix, and the norm ergodicity coefficient, which we prove to be effective by showing that they converge to 0 as n tends to ∞ under suitable conditions. We illustrate our results through several examples. Comparing our error bounds with the ones of Tweedie (1998), we see that our bounds are more applicable and accurate. Moreover, we also consider possible extensions of our results to continuous-time Markov chains.

Using multi-level analysis, the present study proposes that psychological empowerment and perceived organizational support serve as mediators of the effects of human resource management (HRM) bundle on individual innovative behavior. We tested the model using data from 705 employees of 162 firms in China. The results revealed that both psychological empowerment and perceived organizational support partially mediate the relationship between HRM bundle and individual innovative behavior. This study contributes to the understanding of how HRM bundle impact on individual innovative behavior.

Temporal variations in the taxonomic relatedness of periphytic ciliate microfauna during colonization periods were studied in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China, from May to June 2010. Samples were collected at two depths of 1 and 3 m, using glass slides as artificial substrates. The colonization dynamics of ciliate microfauna on the slides revealed similar patterns in species composition at both depths. In the immature communities (1–7 days), the taxonomic patterns showed high variability compared to those in the mature ones (10 days and more). However, taxonomic relatedness parameters at the two depths differed during early stages of colonization (e.g. 1–3 days). Taxonomic diversity (Δ) was subject to high variability (coefficients of variation >10%) in both immature and mature communities, whereas taxonomic distinctness (Δ*), average taxonomic distinctness (Δ+) and variation in taxonomic distinctness (Λ+) showed high stability (coefficients of variation <10%) during the colonization times of 3–21 days. These findings suggest that 3–21-day exposure times are sufficient to detect the taxonomic distinctness of periphytic ciliate microfauna at water depths of 1–3 m for the purposes of ecological research and monitoring of marine ecosystems.

To selectively detect Cu2+ ions is very important for controlling daily intake of Cu2+ ions and monitoring numerous biological processes. Fluorescence spectroscopic technique is a useful one for detection of copper ions. Previous methods always involve the use of metal Cd-based quantum dots (QDs), which suffer to the photobleaching and subsequent release of toxic metal ions. Herein, a simple method has been developed to detect Cu2+ ions by using pristine graphene QDs. Graphene QDs are synthesized by chemical oxidation of pitch graphite fibers. Our results indicate the photoluminescence (PL) of as-synthesized graphene QDs could be quenched by a group of metal ions while adding biothiol cysteine can only cause the significant recovery of the PL of graphene QDs quenched by Cu2+ ions. Our approach provides an easy and environmental friendly method for detection of Cu2+ ions and has the potential for future practical applications.

Community parameters of diatoms have been used as useful bioindicators for bioassessment of both lentic and lotic systems. The influence of enumeration time periods on detecting community parameters of periphytic diatom assemblages within different exposure times was studied using an artificial substratum in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China, during the period May–June 2010. Samples were collected at a depth of 1 m, and were examined with different enumeration time periods. Enumeration time periods represented a significant influence on detecting the community features of periphytic diatoms, although no significant changes occurred in periphytic diatom community structure between two enumeration schemes (within 24 h and 24–48 h). The delayed enumeration (within 24–48 h) may result in the similarity of the communities being reduced 10–29%, and in species numbers decreasing and in abundance increasing with exposure duration, respectively. The diversity (richness, evenness and diversity of species) indices were significantly decreased in almost all samples with >10% standard errors at some exposure times by the delayed enumeration scheme. These results suggest that the delayed enumeration may have resulted in the species richness and individual abundance of periphytic diatoms significantly decreasing and increasing, respectively, and thus significantly affected the analyses of species diversity for assessing water quality in marine ecosystems.

To obtain highly dispersed and highly active catalysts by impregnating of active species onto the monolith directly, cordierite honeycomb ceramics were modified by nitric acid solution of 68wt%. Effects of acid treatment temperature and time on the performance of cordierite were investigated. Specific surface area, pore size distribution, morphology and structure of cordierite were characterized by N2-physical adsorption, SEM, XRD, respectively. Concentrations of ions in the acid solution were measured by AAS. It is shown that the corrosion content of cordierite increases and more micropores are generated with increasing time of acid treatment, leading to an upward trend of specific surface area. The coefficient of thermal expansion and compression strength decrease obviously at a higher temperature, which is mainly attributed to the removal of Al and Mg ions from the silicate structure and delayed formation of free amorphous silica on the surface of the cordierite. The optimal modification process of cordierite matrix acid erosion is at 110°C for 6 h.

In this paper we are interested in bounding or calculating the additive functionals of the first return time on a set for discrete-time Markov chains on a countable state space, which is motivated by investigating ergodic theory and central limit theorems. To do so, we introduce the theory of the minimal nonnegative solution. This theory combined with some other techniques is proved useful for investigating the additive functionals. This method is used to study the functionals for discrete-time birth-death processes, and the polynomial convergence and a central limit theorem are derived.

In this paper, we investigate computable lower bounds for the best strongly ergodic rate of convergence of the transient probability distribution to the stationary distribution for stochastically monotone continuous-time Markov chains and reversible continuous-time Markov chains, using a drift function and the expectation of the first hitting time on some state. We apply these results to birth–death processes, branching processes and population processes.

A fluorescence switch by the photoisomerization of a photochromic compound in CH3CN and in a polymer film using a bistable photochromic (1,2-bis(2-methylbenzo[b]thiophen-3-yl) hexafluorocyclopentene) (BTF6) and a fluorescent 3-(2-benzothiazolyl)-7-(diethylamino) coumarin (coumarin6) was demonstrated. Because only the closed form of BTF6 serves as a fluorescence quencher of coumarin6, and the read (406 nm), write (254 nm), and erase (>500 nm) wavelengths are well-separated, a reversible modulation of the fluorescence of coumarin6 with high contrast and high sensitivity is expected to be realized. This system may represent an alternative to the fluorescence switches that are based on covalent systems in the potentially long-term optical data or image storage schemes utilizing luminescence intensity readout.

In this paper we study polynomial and geometric (exponential) ergodicity for M/G/1-type Markov chains and Markov processes. First, practical criteria for M/G/1-type Markov chains are obtained by analyzing the generating function of the first return probability to level 0. Then the corresponding criteria for M/G/1-type Markov processes are given, using their h-approximation chains. Our method yields the radius of convergence of the generating function of the first return probability, which is very important in obtaining explicit bounds on geometric (exponential) convergence rates. Our results are illustrated, in the final section, in some examples.