This study evaluated the association between inflammatory diets as measured by the dietary inflammatory index (DII), and inflammation biomarkers, and the development of preeclampsia among the Chinese population. We followed the reporting guidelines of the STROBE statement for observational studies. A total of 466 preeclampsia cases aged over 18 years were recruited between March 2016 and June 2019, and 466 healthy controls were 1:1 ratio matched by age (± 3 years), week of gestation (± 1 week), and gestational diabetes mellitus. The energy-adjusted DII (E-DII) was computed based on dietary intake assessed using a 79-item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Inflammatory biomarkers were analyzed by ELISA kits. The mean E-DII scores were -0.65 ± 1.58 for cases and -1.19 ± 1.47 for controls (P value <0.001). E-DII scores positively correlated with IFN-γ (rs = 0.194, P value = 0.001) and IL-4 (rs = 0.135, P value = 0.021). After multivariable adjustment, E-DII scores were positively related to preeclampsia risk (P trend <0.001). The highest tertile of E-DII was 2.18 times the lowest tertiles (95% CI = 1.52, 3.13). The odds of preeclampsia increased by 30% (95% CI= 18%, 43%, P value <0.001) for each E-DII score increase. The preeclampsia risk was positively associated with IL-2 (OR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.11), IL-4 (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.03, 1.54) and TGF-β (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.06, 1.29). Therefore, proinflammatory diets, corresponding to higher IL-2, IL-4 and TGF-β levels, were associated with increased preeclampsia risk.

A novel wide 3-dB axial ratio (AR) circularly polarized 2 × 2 array antenna is proposed in this paper. The spindle-shaped coupling cavity with tilted waveguide is capable of generating circular polarization waves from incident linear waves, which improves the AR bandwidth (ARBW) of the antenna. With this structure, a similar amplitude of the two orthogonal transmitted wave components and a stable phase difference of nearly 90° can be generated. The circularly polarized antenna proposed herein has been fabricated. According to the measurement results, the operating bandwidth from 5.32 to 6.13 GHz is <−10 dB. In addition, the measured ARBW, which is below 3 dB, can cover the range of 5.41–6.02 GHz. The maximum gain of the antenna can attain 15.65 dBi, and the efficiency is better than 80%.

Evidence of couples’ BMI and its influence on birth weight is limited and contradictory. Therefore, this study aims to assess the association between couple’s preconception BMI and the risk of small for gestational age (SGA)/large for gestational age (LGA) infant, among over 4·7 million couples in a retrospective cohort study based on the National Free Pre-pregnancy Checkups Project (NFPCP) between December 1, 2013 and November 30, 2016 in China. Among the live births, 256,718 (5·44%) SGA events and 506,495 (10·73%) LGA events were documented, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, underweight men had significantly higher risk [OR 1·17 95%CI (1·15-1·19)] of SGA infants compared with men with normal BMI, while a significant and increased risk of LGA infants was obtained for overweight and obese men [OR 1·08 (95% CI: 1·06-1·09); OR 1·19 (95%CI 1·17-1·20)] respectively. The restricted cubic spline (RCS) result revealed a non-linearly decreasing dose-response relationship of paternal BMI (less than 22·64) with SGA. Meanwhile, a non-linearly increasing dose-response relationship of paternal BMI (more than 22·92) with LGA infants was observed. Moreover, similar results about the association between maternal preconception BMI and SGA/LGA infants were obtained. Abnormal preconception BMIs in either women or men were associated with increased risk of SGA/LGA infants, respectively. Overall, couple’s abnormal weight before pregnancy may be an important preventable risk factor for SGA/LGA infants.

Primitive lamprophyres in orogenic belts can provide crucial insights into the nature of the subcontinental lithosphere and the relevant deep crust–mantle interactions. This paper reports a suite of relatively primitive lamprophyre dykes from the North Qiangtang, central Tibetan Plateau. Zircon U–Pb ages of the lamprophyre dykes range from 214 Ma to 218 Ma, with a weighted mean age of 216 ± 1 Ma. Most of the lamprophyre samples are similar in geochemical compositions to typical primitive magmas (e.g. high MgO contents, Mg no. values and Cr, with low FeOt/MgO ratios), although they might have experienced a slightly low degree of olivine crystallization, and they show arc-like trace-element patterns and enriched Sr–Nd isotopic composition ((87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.70538–0.70540, ϵNd(t) = −2.96 to −1.65). Those geochemical and isotopic variations indicate that the lamprophyre dykes originated from partial melting of a phlogopite- and spinel-bearing peridotite mantle modified by subduction-related aqueous fluids. Combining with the other regional studies, we propose that slab subduction might have occurred during Late Triassic time, and the rollback of the oceanic lithosphere induced the lamprophyre magmatism in the central Tibetan Plateau.

Ebselen is a well-known synthetic compound mimicking glutathione peroxidase (GPx), which catalyses some vital reactions that protect against oxidative damage. Based on a large number of in vivo and in vitro studies, various mechanisms have been proposed to explain its actions on multiple targets. It targets thiol-related compounds, including cysteine, glutathione, and thiol proteins (e.g., thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase). Owing to this, ebselen is a unique multifunctional agent with important effects on inflammation, apoptosis, oxidative stress, cell differentiation, immune regulation and neurodegenerative disease, with anti-microbial, detoxifying and anti-tumour activity. This review summarises the current understanding of the multiple biological processes and molecules targeted by ebselen, and its pharmacological applications.

The effect of vitamin D (VD) on the risk of preeclampsia (PE) is uncertain. Few of previous studies focused on the relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk. Therefore, we conducted this 1:1 matched case–control study to explore the association of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk in Chinese pregnant women. A total of 440 pairs of participants were recruited during March 2016 to June 2019. Dietary information was obtained using a seventy-eight-item semi-quantitative FFQ. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 were measured by liquid chromatography–tandem MS. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to estimate OR and 95 % CI. Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were plotted to evaluate the dose–response relationship of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk. Compared with the lowest quartile, the OR of the highest quartile were 0·45 (95 % CI 0·29, 0·71, Ptrend = 0·001) for VD dietary intake and 0·26 (95 % CI 0·11, 0·60, Ptrend = 0·003) for serum levels after adjusting for confounders. In addition, the RCS analysis suggested a reverse J-shaped relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0·02). A similar association was also found between serum concentrations of total 25(OH)D and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0·02). In conclusion, this study provides evidence that higher dietary intake and serum levels of VD are associated with the lower risk of PE in Chinese pregnant women.

The present study evaluated effects of dietary supplementation with tryptophan (Trp) on muscle growth, protein synthesis and antioxidant capacity in hybrid catfish Pelteobagrus vachelli♀ × Leiocassis longirostris♂. Fish were fed six different diets containing 2·6 (control), 3·1, 3·7, 4·2, 4·7 and 5·6 g Trp/kg diet for 56 d, respectively. Results showed that dietary Trp significantly (1) improved muscle protein content, fibre density and frequency of fibre diameter; (2) up-regulated the mRNA levels of PCNA, myf5, MyoD1, MyoG, MRF4, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF-IR, PIK3Ca, TOR, 4EBP1 and S6K1; (3) increased phosphorylation levels of AKT, TOR and S6K1; (4) decreased contents of MDA and PC, and increased activities of CAT, GST, GR, ASA and AHR; (5) up-regulated mRNA levels of CuZnSOD, CAT, GST, GPx, GCLC and Nrf2, and decreased Keap1 mRNA level; (6) increased nuclear Nrf2 protein level and the intranuclear antioxidant response element-binding ability, and reduced Keap1 protein level. These results indicated that dietary Trp improved muscle growth, protein synthesis as well as antioxidant capacity, which might be partly related to myogenic regulatory factors, IGF/PIK3Ca/AKT/TOR and Keap1/Nrf2 signalling pathways. Finally, based on the quadratic regression analysis of muscle protein and MDA contents, the optimal Trp requirements of hybrid catfish (21·82–39·64 g) were estimated to be 3·94 and 3·93 g Trp/kg diet (9·57 and 9·54 g/kg of dietary protein), respectively.

A mathematical model of variable inclination continuous transverse stub (VICTS) antenna for low sidelobe design is proposed in this paper. VICTS antenna is an antenna with continuous transverse stubs on the parallel-plate waveguide and additional branches attached to the transverse stubs to generate radiation. The antenna using this technique has high aperture efficiency and keeps a significant solution for high-gain antenna. However, the sidelobe level (SLL) of this antenna is relatively high and increases continuously as the pitch angle decreases. This paper presents a fast calculation model for the SLL of VICTS antennas using leaky-wave theory and antenna array theory. The full-wave simulation results and model calculation results are in good agreement, so this model can be used for SLL suppression of VICTS antennas in different frequency bands. By controlling the aperture field distribution to be tapered, the SLL is suppressed to − 23.7 dB using this mathematical model.

Anaemia is a global public health problem affecting women worldwide, and reproductive-age women are at increased risk. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study analysing the prevalence of overall anaemia and anaemia according to severity in Chinese pre-pregnant women to update current knowledge on anaemia epidemiology. Based on the National Free Preconception Check-up Projects supported by the Chinese government, 5 679 782 women participating in this project in 2017 were included in the present study. The cyanmethemoglobin method was applied to assess Hb concentrations. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were applied for associated factors. The prevalence of anaemia among Chinese pre-pregnant women was 21·64 % (mild: 14·10 %, moderate: 7·17 % and severe : 0·37 %). The prevalence of overall and severe anaemia was the highest in Tibet and the lowest in Beijing among thirty-one provinces. Women’s age, region, ethnic origin, educational level, occupation and pregnancy history were all correlated with anaemia. Women with B blood type (adjusted OR (aOR) = 0·89), higher BMI (overweight: aOR = 0·84; obesity: aOR = 0·70) and alcohol consumption (aOR = 0·69) were less likely to have anaemia, while those with rhesus negative blood type (aOR = 1·10), history of anaemia (aOR = 2·60), older age at menarche (aOR = 1·19), heavy menstrual blood loss (aOR = 1·39), longer menstrual period (aOR = 1·09) and shorter menstrual cycle (aOR = 1·08) were more likely to suffer from anaemia. Meat or egg eaters were not significantly associated with severe anaemia. Anaemia is of moderate public health significance among Chinese pre-pregnant women. Interventions should be considered to prevent anaemia to the greatest extent possible to avoid potential harm in this population.

The East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) is one of the most dynamic components of the global climate system. Although poorly understood, knowledge of long-term spatial differences in EAWM variability during the glacial–interglacial cycles is important for understanding the dynamic processes of the EAWM. We reconstructed the spatiotemporal characteristics of the EAWM since the last glacial maximum (LGM) using a comparison of proxy records and long-term transient simulations. A loess grain-size record from northern China (a sensitive EAWM proxy) and the sea surface temperature gradient of an EAWM index in sediments of the southern South China Sea were compared. The data–model comparison indicates pronounced spatial differences in EAWM evolution, with a weakened EAWM since the LGM in northern China but a strengthened EAWM from the LGM to the early Holocene, followed by a weakening trend, in southern China. The model results suggest that variations in the EAWM in northern China were driven mainly by changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, whereas orbital insolation and ice sheets were important drivers in southern China. We propose that the relative importance of insolation, ice sheets, and atmospheric CO2 for EAWM evolution varied spatially within East Asia.

This paper proposes a mobile parallel robot (MPR) and focuses on obstacle avoidance. When analyzing the collision-free trajectories, the coupling constraints caused by the parallel mechanism and the obstacle should be emphatically solved. The solution is to divide the problem into two steps. First, the genetic algorithm is employed to search and optimize the feasible trajectories under the mechanism constraint of the MPR. Then the trajectory tracking controller is designed to make the tracked vehicles move cooperatively and track a trajectory asymptotically. Finally, simulations and experiments are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the solution.

We recruited 1591 patients who presented to our fever clinics from 23 January 2020 to 16 February 2020. The different imaging findings between COVID-19 pneumonia and influenza A viruses, influenza B virus pneumonia were also investigated. Most patients were infected by influenza A and B viruses in the flu-season. A laboratory kit is urgently needed to test different viruses simultaneously. Computed tomography can help early screen suspected patients with COVID-19 and differentiate different virus-related pneumonia.

Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) is an important target for discovering new herbicides that interfere with the synthesis of porphyrin. To discover new PPO inhibitors with improved biological activity, a series of new diphenyl ethers containing tetrahydrophthalimide were designed and synthesized. Among them, J6.1 (IC50 = 4.7 nM) and J6.3 (IC50 = 30.0 nM) show higher maize (Zea mays L.) PPO inhibitory activity than the commercial herbicides oxyfluorfen (IC50 = 117.9 nM) and flumioxazin (IC50 = 157.1 nM). The greenhouse herbicidal activity of J6.3 is comparable to that of oxyfluorfen, and it is greater than that of flumioxazin. Even at a dose of 300 g ai ha−1, cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) show greater tolerance to J6.3, suggesting that J6.3 could be used for further development of new herbicide candidates in those fields. In addition, molecular docking has been used to further study the mechanism of action of J6.3. The results show that the introduction of a nitro group and tetrahydrophthalimide into the diphenyl ether structure is beneficial to biological activity.

A novel coronavirus disease, designated as COVID-19, has become a pandemic worldwide. This study aims to estimate the incubation period and serial interval of COVID-19. We collected contact tracing data in a municipality in Hubei province during a full outbreak period. The date of infection and infector–infectee pairs were inferred from the history of travel in Wuhan or exposed to confirmed cases. The incubation periods and serial intervals were estimated using parametric accelerated failure time models, accounting for interval censoring of the exposures. Our estimated median incubation period of COVID-19 is 5.4 days (bootstrapped 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.8–6.0), and the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles are 1 and 15 days, respectively; while the estimated serial interval of COVID-19 falls within the range of −4 to 13 days with 95% confidence and has a median of 4.6 days (95% CI 3.7–5.5). Ninety-five per cent of symptomatic cases showed symptoms by 13.7 days (95% CI 12.5–14.9). The incubation periods and serial intervals were not significantly different between male and female, and among age groups. Our results suggest a considerable proportion of secondary transmission occurred prior to symptom onset. And the current practice of 14-day quarantine period in many regions is reasonable.

Our present genetic data of Acanthocephala, especially the mitochondrial (mt) genomes, remains very limited. In the present study, the nearly complete mt genome sequences of Sphaerirostris lanceoides (Petrochenko, 1949) was sequenced and determined for the first time based on specimens collected from the Indian pond heron Ardeola grayii (Sykes) (Ciconiiformes: Ardeidae) in Pakistan. The mt genome of S. lanceoides is 13 478 bp in size and contains 36 genes, including 12 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs) and two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs). Moreover, in order to clarify the phylogenetic relationship of the genera Centrorhynchus and Sphaerirostris, and to test the systematic position of S. lanceoides in the Centrorhynchidae, the phylogenetic analyses were performed using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods, based on concatenated nucleotide sequences of 12 PCGs, rRNAs and tRNAs. The phylogenetic results further confirmed the monophyly of the order Polymorphida and the paraphyly of the order Echinorhynchida in the class Palaeacanthocephala. Our results also challenged the validity of the genus Sphaerirostris (Polymorphida: Centrorhynchidae) and showed a sister relationship between S. lanceoides and S. picae (Rudolphi, 1819).