The efficacy of steady large-amplitude blowing/suction on instability and transition control for a hypersonic flat plate boundary layer with Mach number 5.86 is investigated systematically. The influence of the blowing/suction flux and amplitude on instability is examined through direct numerical simulation and resolvent analysis. When a relatively small flux is used, the two-dimensional instability critical frequency that distinguishes the promotion/suppression mode effect closely aligns with the synchronisation frequency. For the oblique wave, as the spanwise wavenumber increases, the suppression effects would become weaker and the mode suppression bandwidth diminishes/increases in general in the blowing/suction control. Increasing the blowing/suction flux can effectively broaden the frequency bandwidth of disturbance suppression. The influence of amplitude on disturbance suppression is weak in a scenario of constant flux. To gain a deeper insight into disturbance suppression mechanism, momentum potential theory (MPT) and kinetic energy budget analysis are further employed in analysing disturbance evolution with and without control. When the disturbance is suppressed, the blowing induces the transport of certain acoustic components along the compression wave out of the boundary layer, whereas the suction does not. The velocity fluctuations are derived from the momentum fluctuations of the MPT. Compared with the momentum fluctuations, the evolutions indicated by each component's velocity fluctuations greatly facilitate the investigations of the acoustic nature of the second mode. The rapid variation of disturbance amplitude near the blowing is caused by the oscillations of the acoustic component and phase speed differences between vortical and thermal components. Kinetic energy budget analysis is performed to address the non-parallel effect of the boundary layer introduced by blowing/suction, which tends to suppress disturbances near the blowing. Moreover, viscous effects leading to energy dissipation are identified to be stronger in regions where the boundary layer is rapidly thickening. Finally, it is demonstrated that a flat plate boundary layer transition triggered by a random disturbance can be delayed by a blowing/suction combination control. The resolvent analysis further demonstrates that disturbances with frequencies that dominate the early transition stage are dampened in the controlled base flow.

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.

Paediatric Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) is a major cause of community-acquired pneumonia in China. Data on epidemiology of paediatric MPP from China are little known. This study retrospectively collected data from June 2006 to June 2016 in Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University of North China and aims to explore the epidemiological features of paediatric MPP and severe MPP (SMPP) in North China during the past 10 years. A total of 27 498 paediatric patients with pneumonia were enrolled. Among them, 37.5% of paediatric patients had MPP. In this area, an epidemic took place every 2–3 years at the peak, and the positive rate of MPP increased during these peak years over time. The peak age of MPP was between the ages of 6 and 10 years, accounting for 75.2%, significantly more compared with other age groups (χ2 = 1384.1, P < 0.0001). The epidemics peaked in September, October and November (χ2 = 904.9, P < 0.0001). Additionally, 13.0% of MPP paediatric patients were SMPP, but over time, the rate of SMPP increased, reaching 42.6% in 2016. The mean age of paediatric patients with SMPP (6.7 ± 3.0 years old) was younger than that of patients with non-SMPP (7.4 ± 3.2 years old) (t = 3.60, P = 0.0001). The prevalence of MPP and SMPP is common in China, especially in children from 6 to 10 years old. Paediatric patients with SMPP tend to be younger than those with non-SMPP. MPP outbreaks occur every 2–3 years in North China. September, October and November are the peak months, unlike in South China. Understanding the epidemiological characteristics of paediatric MPP can contribute to timely treatment and diagnosis, and may improve the prognosis of children with SMPP.

Underground Nuclear Astrophysics in China (JUNA) will take the advantage of the ultra-low background in Jinping underground lab. High current accelerator with an ECR source and detectors were commissioned. JUNA plans to study directly a number of nuclear reactions important to hydrostatic stellar evolution at their relevant stellar energies. At the first period, JUNA aims at the direct measurements of 25Mg(p,γ)26 Al, 19F(p,α) 16 O, 13C(α, n) 16O and 12C(α,γ) 16O near the Gamow window. The current progress of JUNA will be given.

This article outlines the evolution of a rescue team in responding to adenovirus prevention with a deployable field hospital. The local governments mobilized a shelter hospital and a rescue team consisting of 59 members to assist with rescue and response efforts after an epidemic outbreak of adenovirus. We describe and evaluate the challenges of preparing for deployment, field hospital maintenance, treatment mode, and primary treatment methods. The field hospital established at the rescue scene consisted of a medical command vehicle, a computed tomography shelter, an X-ray shelter, a special laboratory shelter, an oxygen and electricity supply vehicle, and epidemic prevention and protection equipment. The rescue team comprised paramedics, physicians, X-ray technicians, respiratory therapists, and logistical personnel. In 22 days, more than 3000 patients with suspected adenovirus infection underwent initial examinations. All patients were properly treated, and no deaths occurred. After emergency measures were implemented, the spread of adenovirus was eventually controlled. An emergency involving infectious diseases in less-developed regions demands the rapid development of a field facility with specialized medical personnel when local hospital facilities are either unavailable or unusable. An appropriate and detailed prearranged action plan is important for infectious diseases prevention. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:109–114)

Disaster can strike people in any community at any time anywhere in the world. Disasters occur with high frequency, take on multiple forms, and exert wide influence, typically causing property damage, injuries, and death. As the world’s largest developing country, China incurs great costs when a disaster hits. After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, the Chinese government focused its attention on the construction of an emergency response system, the creation of disaster prevention and mitigation systems, and the development of a disaster medicine program. Here, we describe the current status of disaster medicine in China, focusing on the following four aspects: the Emergency Management System, Education & Training, Rescue Practices, and Research. We also discuss the future of disaster medicine in China. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:157–165)

Experimental X-ray powder diffraction data, unit-cell parameters, and space group for trelagliptin succinate, C18H20FN5O2•C4H6O4, are reported [a = 18.481(6), b = 8.120(4), c = 7.903(4) Å, α = 89.972(0)°, β = 97.722(4)°, γ = 90.120(0)°, unit-cell volume V = 1175.37 Å3, Z = 2, and space-group P1]. All measured lines were indexed and are consistent with the P1 space group. No detectable impurity was observed.

Structure and demographics in many tropical forests is changing, but the causes of these changes remain unclear. We studied 5 y (2005–2010) of species turnover, recruitment, mortality and population change data from a 20-ha subtropical forest plot in Dinghushan, China, to identify trends in forest change, and to test whether tree mortality is associated with intraspecific or interspecific competition. We found the Dinghushan forest to be more dynamic than one temperate and two tropical forests in a comparison of large, long-term forest dynamics plots. Within Dinghushan, size-class distributions were bell-shaped only for the three most dominant species and reverse J-shaped for other species. Bell-shaped population distributions can indicate a population in decline, but our data suggest that these large and long-lived species are not in decline because the pattern is driven by increasing probabilities of transition to larger size class with increasing size and fast growth in saplings. Spatially aggregated tree species distributions were common for surviving and dead individuals. Competitive associations were more frequently intraspecific than interspecific. The competition that induced tree mortality was more associated with intraspecific than interspecific interactions. Intraspecific competitive exclusion and density-dependence appear to play important roles in tree mortality in this subtropical forest.

To verify its antibacterial activity, recombinant human lactoferrin (rhLF) was extracted from the milk of transgenic mice (Mus musculus) (PCL25 and AP) by gel filtration chromatography and analysed by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In addition, its bacteriostatic properties were tested using the agar disc diffusion method. ELISA analysis showed that the concentration of rhLF in the milk of transgenic mice ranged from 7 to 8 mg/ml, and the recombinant protein expressed in the milk had the same molecular weight as the native protein (~78 kDa), indicating that the rhLFs had a strong antibacterial activity on Escherichia coli and Salmonella.

The recombinant PET-N plasmid, which includes the N gene of the Transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), and induced at 37°C with 1.0 mmol/l IPTG (isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside). An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting the TGEV nucleocapsid protein antibody was developed after the reactogenicity of the recombinant protein was demonstrated by Western blot. The operating conditions for the ELISA, an antigen concentration of 15 μg/ml, serum dilution of 1:40, blocking solution of 0.5% fetal bovine serum (FBS), serum sample incubation for 90 min, a concentration of horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-spa of 1:5000, incubated for 60 min, incubation of the substrate at room temperature for 10 min, and a cutoff value for the ELISA OD450⩾0.35, were carried out using a checkerboard titration method. The sensitivity and specificity of this method relative to the Svanova TGEV/PRCV antibody diagnosis kit were 93.5% and 93.8%, respectively.

BalB/C neonate mice and adult BalB/C mice were vaccinated using BCG (Bacille Calmette–Guerin). The pathogenic growth characteristics of BCG in in vitro culture on spleen cells (SPC) were observed and changes in induced expression of IFN (interferon)-γ and IL (interleukin)-4 in SPC were detected using the ELISPOT assay. The results showed that a low dose of BCG (2×103 cfu) exerted 100% immunoprotection on 7-day-old neonate mice and a high dose of BCG (4×104 cfu) exerted 75% immunoprotection. A low dose of BCG (2×103 cfu) exerted 67% immunoprotection on 35-day-old mice. It is also shown that Th1-type cell immunity dominated by IFN-γ was enhanced significantly in the neonate mice injected with a low dose of BCG (2×103 cfu), and Th2-type cell immunity dominated by IL-4 was depressed at the same time. IFN-γ and IL-4 induced by a high dosage of BCG (4×104 cfu) in neonate mice were both increased. IFN-γ and IL-4 induced by a low dose of BCG (2×103 cfu) in 35-day-old mice were also increased. The results indicate that there exists a marked correlation between immunoprotection by BCG in mice and both the immunizing dose and age of the immune animals, which might be relevant to the changes induced by BCG on Th1- and Th2-type cell immunity.

The outcome of Plasmodium yoelii 17XL-infected BALB/c and DBA/2 mice, ranging from death to spontaneous cure, respectively, depends largely on the establishment of effective pro-inflammatory type 1 responses during the early stages of infection and associates with CD4+CD25+Foxp3+regulatory T cells (Tregs). Here, effects of Tregs were analysed on early P. yoelii 17XL infection in BALB/c and DBA/2 mice. In vivo depletion of Tregs significantly reversed the inhibited establishment of effective pro-inflammatory type 1 responses in BALB/c mice, indicating that this cell population contributed to the suppression of T-cell function in malaria. Moreover, the proportion and absolute numbers of IL-10-secreting Tregs in BALB/c mice were significantly higher than that found in DBA/2 mice by intracytoplasmic staining, and IL-10 production was correlated with the Tregs population. In addition, in vivo Tregs depletion decreased the production of IL-10 and the apoptosis of CD4+ T cells. Consistently, IL-10R blockade also had the same effect as that of Tregs depletion in P. yoelii 17XL-infected BALB/c mice. Our data demonstrate that Tregs perhaps have an important role in regulating pro-inflammatory type 1 responses in an IL-10-dependent manner and induce CD4+ T cell apoptosis during the early stage of P. yoelii 17XL infection.