Syphilis remains a serious public health problem in mainland China that requires attention, modelling to describe and predict its prevalence patterns can help the government to develop more scientific interventions. The seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model, long short-term memory network (LSTM) model, hybrid SARIMA-LSTM model, and hybrid SARIMA-nonlinear auto-regressive models with exogenous inputs (SARIMA-NARX) model were used to simulate the time series data of the syphilis incidence from January 2004 to November 2023 respectively. Compared to the SARIMA, LSTM, and SARIMA-LSTM models, the median absolute deviation (MAD) value of the SARIMA-NARX model decreases by 352.69%, 4.98%, and 3.73%, respectively. The mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) value decreases by 73.7%, 23.46%, and 13.06%, respectively. The root mean square error (RMSE) value decreases by 68.02%, 26.68%, and 23.78%, respectively. The mean absolute error (MAE) value decreases by 70.90%, 23.00%, and 21.80%, respectively. The hybrid SARIMA-NARX and SARIMA-LSTM methods predict syphilis cases more accurately than the basic SARIMA and LSTM methods, so that can be used for governments to develop long-term syphilis prevention and control programs. In addition, the predicted cases still maintain a fairly high level of incidence, so there is an urgent need to develop more comprehensive prevention strategies.

Background: Surgical delays are in common in Canada. Wait times in elective spine surgery and their impact on outcomes remain uncharacterized. Methods: This was a single-center analysis of elective spine surgery data between 2009-2020. Wait times between referral and consultation (T1), consultation and surgical booking (Ti), and booking and surgery (T2) were assessed. Results: 2041 patients were included. Longitudinal analyses were adjusted for age, sex, diagnosis, surgical volume, while outcomes analyses were age and sex-adjusted. Total T1+Ti+T2 increased 8.1% annually (p<0.001). T1 decreased 4.3% annually (p=0.032). It was not associated with adverse events (AEs) or disposition. Every 100 days of T1 was associated with 1.0% longer hospitalization (p=0.001). Ti increased 21.0% annually (p<0.001). Every 100 days of Ti was associated with 2.9% increased odds of an adverse event (p=0.002), 1.8% longer hospitalization (p<0.001), and 15.9% increased likelihood of discharge home (p<0.001). T2 increased 7.0% annually (p<0.001) and was not associated with AEs. Every 100 days of T2 was associated with 11.6% longer hospitalization (p<0.001) and 76.5% increased likelihood of discharge home (p<0.001). Conclusions: Total wait times for elective spine surgery have increased between 2009-2020. Notably, Ti increased ninefold and was associated with AEs. This study highlights areas of delay and targets for healthcare optimization.

Background: Subdural and subgaleal drains are equally effective after burrhole craniostomy for chronic subdural haematoma, however the optimal location of drains after minicraniotomy is not clear. As such we present the first study to assess this. Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing minicraniotomy for cSDH between 2019 and 2023 at a single institution were included. Subgaleal drains were placed exclusively by a single surgeon with the rest of the department utilising standard subdural drains. Cases were stratified by drain location. Primary outcomes included changes in functional status (Modified Rankin Score, mRS) at 3 months from preoperative baseline. Results: A total of 137 patients were included, of which 24.6% received subgaleal drains. Discharge home was higher in the subgaleal group compared to subdural group (79.4% vs 57.3%, p=0.02). Subgaleal drain location (p<0.0001) and better preoperative GCS (p=0.01) were predictors of improved 3 month mRS. Worse premorbid mRS (p=0.002), subdural drain (p=0.004), and decreased consciousness at presentation (p<0.002) were predictors of not being discharged home. Surgical recurrence was lower in the subgaleal group than the subdural group (2.9% vs 13.6%, p=0.12), but not statistically significant. Conclusions: Subgaleal drains are associated with shorter hospitalisation, greater chance of discharge home, and better functional outcomes than subdural drains.

Background: Surgical resection of vestibular schwannoma (VS) is often curative if gross total resection is achieved, however, it is a delicate procedure with high risk to the facial nerve. With retrosigmoid approach for resection, the head is positioned to maximize lateral head rotation and neck flexion in order to optimize the surgical field. However, this may inadvertently occlude cerebral venous drainage, elevating intracranial pressure (ICP) and increasing intraoperative bleeding. Methods: Here, we review relevant literature regarding the effects of head rotation and neck flexion on internal jugular vein (IJV) occlusion and ICP, and highlight the notion that head rotation and flexion may occlude the ipsilateral IJV, increasing ICP. Subsequently, we propose a novel technique using continuous, real-time monitoring of jugular bulb pressure (JBP) to detect obstructions in jugular venous flow and guide optimal head positioning prior to VS resection. Results: As proof of concept, we present a case in which JBP monitoring was employed to optimize head positioning prior to a VS resection, which shows a significant reduction in JBP compared to traditional positioning. Conclusions: This innovative approach offers promise in enhancing the safety and efficacy of intracranial surgery for VS and potentially other neurosurgical procedures.

The Permian–Triassic climate crisis can provide key insights into the potential impact of horizon threats to modern-day biodiversity. This crisis coincides with the same extensive environmental changes that threaten modern marine ecosystems (i.e., thermal stress, deoxygenation and ocean acidification), but the primary drivers of extinction are currently unknown. To understand which factors caused extinctions, we conducted a data analysis to quantify the relationship (anomalies, state-shifts and trends) between geochemical proxies and the fossil record at the most intensively studied locality for this event, the Meishan section, China. We found that δ18Oapatite (paleotemperature proxy) and δ114/110Cd (primary productivity proxy) best explain changes in species diversity and species composition in Meishan’s paleoequatorial setting. These findings suggest that the physiological stresses induced by ocean warming and nutrient availability played a predominant role in driving equatorial marine extinctions during the Permian–Triassic event. This research enhances our understanding of the interplay between environmental changes and extinction dynamics during a past climate crisis, presenting an outlook for extinction threats in the worst-case “Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP5–8.5)” scenario.

Bentonites are readily available clays used in the livestock industry as feed additives to reduce aflatoxin (AF) exposure; their potential interaction with nutrients is the main concern limiting their use, however. The objective of the present study was to determine the safety of a dietary sodium-bentonite (Na-bentonite) supplement as a potential AF adsorbent, using juvenile Sprague Dawley (SD) rats as a research model. Animals were fed either a control diet or a diet containing Na-bentonite at 0.25% and 2% (w/w) inclusion rate. Growth, serum, and blood biochemical parameters, including selected serum vitamins (A and E) and elements such as calcium (Ca), potassium (K), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) were measured. The mineral characteristics and the aflatoxin B1 sorption capacity of Na-bentonite were also determined. By the end of the study, males gained more weight than females in control and Na-bentonite groups (p ≤ 0.0001); the interaction between treatment and sex was not significant (p = 0.6780), however. Some significant differences between the control group and bentonite treatments were observed in serum biochemistry and vitamin and minerals measurements; however, parameters fell within reference clinical values reported for SD rats and no evidence of dose-dependency was found. Serum Na and Na/K ratios were increased, while K levels were decreased in males and females from Na-bentonite groups. Serum Zn levels were decreased only in males from Na-bentonite treatments. Overall, results showed that inclusion of Na-bentonite at 0.25% and 2% did not cause any observable toxicity in a 3-month rodent study.

The poor environmental stability of natural anthocyanin hinders its usefulness in various functional applications. The objectives of the present study were to enhance the environmental stability of anthocyanin extracted from Lycium ruthenicum by mixing it with montmorillonite to form an organic/inorganic hybrid pigment, and then to synthesize allochroic biodegradable composite films by incorporating the hybrid pigment into sodium alginate and test them for potential applications in food testing and packaging. The results of X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and use of the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method and zeta potential demonstrated that anthocyanin was both adsorbed on the surface and intercalated into the interlayer of montmorillonite via host–guest interaction, and the hybrid pigments obtained allowed good, reversible, acid/base behavior after exposure to HCl and NH3 atmospheres. The composite films containing hybrid pigments had good mechanical properties due to the uniform dispersion of the pigments in a sodium alginate substrate and the formation of hydrogen bonds between them. Interestingly, the composite films also exhibited reversible acidichromism. The as-prepared hybrid pigments in composite films could, therefore, serve simultaneously as a reinforced material and as a smart coloring agent for a polymer substrate.

In recent years, there has been significant momentum in applying deep learning (DL) to machine health monitoring (MHM). It has been widely claimed that DL methodologies are superior to more traditional techniques in this area. This paper aims to investigate this claim by analysing a real-world dataset of helicopter sensor faults provided by Airbus. Specifically, we will address the problem of machine sensor health unsupervised classification. In a 2019 worldwide competition hosted by Airbus, Fujitsu Systems Europe (FSE) won first prize by achieving an F1-score of 93% using a DL model based on generative adversarial networks (GAN). In another comprehensive study, various modified and existing image encoding methods were compared for the convolutional auto-encoder (CAE) model. The best classification result was achieved using the scalogram as the image encoding method, with an F1-score of 91%. In this paper, we use these two studies as benchmarks to compare with basic statistical analysis methods and the one-class supporting vector machine (SVM). Our comparative study demonstrates that while DL-based techniques have great potential, they are not always superior to traditional methods. We therefore recommend that all future published studies of applying DL methods to MHM include appropriately selected traditional reference methods, wherever possible.

The target backsheath field acceleration mechanism is one of the main mechanisms of laser-driven proton acceleration (LDPA) and strongly depends on the comprehensive performance of the ultrashort ultra-intense lasers used as the driving sources. The successful use of the SG-II Peta-watt (SG-II PW) laser facility for LDPA and its applications in radiographic diagnoses have been manifested by the good performance of the SG-II PW facility. Recently, the SG-II PW laser facility has undergone extensive maintenance and a comprehensive technical upgrade in terms of the seed source, laser contrast and terminal focus. LDPA experiments were performed using the maintained SG-II PW laser beam, and the highest cutoff energy of the proton beam was obviously increased. Accordingly, a double-film target structure was used, and the maximum cutoff energy of the proton beam was up to 70 MeV. These results demonstrate that the comprehensive performance of the SG-II PW laser facility was improved significantly.

We investigate the diversity in the sizes and average surface densities of the neutral atomic hydrogen (H i) gas discs in $\sim$280 nearby galaxies detected by the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY). We combine the uniformly observed, interferometric H i data from pilot observations of the Hydra cluster and NGC 4636 group fields with photometry measured from ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared imaging surveys to investigate the interplay between stellar structure, star formation, and H i structural parameters. We quantify the H i structure by the size of the H i relative to the optical disc and the average H i surface density measured using effective and isodensity radii. For galaxies resolved by $>$$1.3$ beams, we find that galaxies with higher stellar masses and stellar surface densities tend to have less extended H i discs and lower H i surface densities: the isodensity H i structural parameters show a weak negative dependence on stellar mass and stellar mass surface density. These trends strengthen when we limit our sample to galaxies resolved by $>$2 beams. We find that galaxies with higher H i surface densities and more extended H i discs tend to be more star forming: the isodensity H i structural parameters have stronger correlations with star formation. Normalising the H i disc size by the optical effective radius (instead of the isophotal radius) produces positive correlations with stellar masses and stellar surface densities and removes the correlations with star formation. This is due to the effective and isodensity H i radii increasing with mass at similar rates while, in the optical, the effective radius increases slower than the isophotal radius. Our results are in qualitative agreement with previous studies and demonstrate that with WALLABY we can begin to bridge the gap between small galaxy samples with high spatial resolution H i data and large, statistical studies using spatially unresolved, single-dish data.

As a typical plasma-based optical element that can sustain ultra-high light intensity, plasma density gratings driven by intense laser pulses have been extensively studied for wide applications. Here, we show that the plasma density grating driven by two intersecting driver laser pulses is not only nonuniform in space but also varies over time. Consequently, the probe laser pulse that passes through such a dynamic plasma density grating will be depolarized, that is, its polarization becomes spatially and temporally variable. More importantly, the laser depolarization may spontaneously take place for crossed laser beams if their polarization angles are arranged properly. The laser depolarization by a dynamic plasma density grating may find application in mitigating parametric instabilities in laser-driven inertial confinement fusion.

We present the Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY) Pilot Phase I Hi kinematic models. This first data release consists of Hi observations of three fields in the direction of the Hydra and Norma clusters, and the NGC 4636 galaxy group. In this paper, we describe how we generate and publicly release flat-disk tilted-ring kinematic models for 109/592 unique Hi detections in these fields. The modelling method adopted here—which we call the WALLABY Kinematic Analysis Proto-Pipeline (WKAPP) and for which the corresponding scripts are also publicly available—consists of combining results from the homogeneous application of the FAT and 3DBarolo algorithms to the subset of 209 detections with sufficient resolution and $S/N$ in order to generate optimised model parameters and uncertainties. The 109 models presented here tend to be gas rich detections resolved by at least 3–4 synthesised beams across their major axes, but there is no obvious environmental bias in the modelling. The data release described here is the first step towards the derivation of similar products for thousands of spatially resolved WALLABY detections via a dedicated kinematic pipeline. Such a large publicly available and homogeneously analysed dataset will be a powerful legacy product that that will enable a wide range of scientific studies.

We present WALLABY pilot data release 1, the first public release of H i pilot survey data from the Wide-field ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind Survey (WALLABY) on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. Phase 1 of the WALLABY pilot survey targeted three $60\,\mathrm{deg}^{2}$ regions on the sky in the direction of the Hydra and Norma galaxy clusters and the NGC 4636 galaxy group, covering the redshift range of $z \lesssim 0.08$ . The source catalogue, images and spectra of nearly 600 extragalactic H i detections and kinematic models for 109 spatially resolved galaxies are available. As the pilot survey targeted regions containing nearby group and cluster environments, the median redshift of the sample of $z \approx 0.014$ is relatively low compared to the full WALLABY survey. The median galaxy H i mass is $2.3 \times 10^{9}\,{\rm M}_{{\odot}}$ . The target noise level of $1.6\,\mathrm{mJy}$ per 30′′ beam and $18.5\,\mathrm{kHz}$ channel translates into a $5 \sigma$ H i mass sensitivity for point sources of about $5.2 \times 10^{8} \, (D_{\rm L} / \mathrm{100\,Mpc})^{2} \, {\rm M}_{{\odot}}$ across 50 spectral channels ( ${\approx} 200\,\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}$ ) and a $5 \sigma$ H i column density sensitivity of about $8.6 \times 10^{19} \, (1 + z)^{4}\,\mathrm{cm}^{-2}$ across 5 channels ( ${\approx} 20\,\mathrm{km \, s}^{-1}$ ) for emission filling the 30′′ beam. As expected for a pilot survey, several technical issues and artefacts are still affecting the data quality. Most notably, there are systematic flux errors of up to several 10% caused by uncertainties about the exact size and shape of each of the primary beams as well as the presence of sidelobes due to the finite deconvolution threshold. In addition, artefacts such as residual continuum emission and bandpass ripples have affected some of the data. The pilot survey has been highly successful in uncovering such technical problems, most of which are expected to be addressed and rectified before the start of the full WALLABY survey.

Loss functions with a large number of saddle points are one of the major obstacles for training modern machine learning (ML) models efficiently. First-order methods such as gradient descent (GD) are usually the methods of choice for training ML models. However, these methods converge to saddle points for certain choices of initial guesses. In this paper, we propose a modification of the recently proposed Laplacian smoothing gradient descent (LSGD) [Osher et al., arXiv:1806.06317], called modified LSGD (mLSGD), and demonstrate its potential to avoid saddle points without sacrificing the convergence rate. Our analysis is based on the attraction region, formed by all starting points for which the considered numerical scheme converges to a saddle point. We investigate the attraction region’s dimension both analytically and numerically. For a canonical class of quadratic functions, we show that the dimension of the attraction region for mLSGD is $\lfloor (n-1)/2\rfloor$, and hence it is significantly smaller than that of GD whose dimension is $n-1$.

The great demographic pressure brings tremendous volume of beef demand. The key to solve this problem is the growth and development of Chinese cattle. In order to find molecular markers conducive to the growth and development of Chinese cattle, sequencing was used to determine the position of copy number variations (CNVs), bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the function of ZNF146 gene, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for CNV genotyping and one-way analysis of variance was used for association analysis. The results showed that there exists CNV in Chr 18: 47225201-47229600 (5.0.1 version) of ZNF146 gene through the early sequencing results in the laboratory and predicted ZNF146 gene was expressed in liver, skeletal muscle and breast cells, and was amplified or overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, which promoted the development of tumour through bioinformatics. Therefore, it is predicted that ZNF146 gene affects the proliferation of muscle cells, and then affects the growth and development of cattle. Furthermore, CNV genotyping of ZNF146 gene was three types (deletion type, normal type and duplication type) by Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The association analysis results showed that ZNF146-CNV was significantly correlated with rump length of Qinchuan cattle, hucklebone width of Jiaxian red cattle and heart girth of Yunling cattle. From the above results, ZNF146-CNV had a significant effect on growth traits, which provided an important candidate molecular marker for growth and development of Chinese cattle.