Environmental exposures are known to be associated with pathogen transmission and immune impairment, but the association of exposures with aetiology and severity of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are unclear. A retrospective observational study was conducted at nine hospitals in eight provinces in China from 2014 to 2019. CAP patients were recruited according to inclusion criteria, and respiratory samples were screened for 33 respiratory pathogens using molecular test methods. Sociodemographic, environmental and clinical factors were used to analyze the association with pathogen detection and disease severity by logistic regression models combined with distributed lag nonlinear models. A total of 3323 CAP patients were included, with 709 (21.3%) having severe illness. 2064 (62.1%) patients were positive for at least one pathogen. More severe patients were found in positive group. After adjusting for confounders, particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and 8-h ozone (O3-8h) were significant association at specific lag periods with detection of influenza viruses and Klebsiella pneumoniae respectively. PM10 and carbon monoxide (CO) showed cumulative effect with severe CAP. Pollutants exposures, especially PM, O3-8h, and CO should be considered in pathogen detection and severity of CAP to improve the clinical aetiological and disease severity diagnosis.

Hepatitis E virus infection is a major cause of acute hepatitis, typically self-limiting but occasionally leading to liver failure. Understanding disease progression factors could inform prevention strategies. This study aimed to analyse the characteristics of a large cohort of hospitalised hepatitis E patients in Tianjin, China, and explore factors influencing their progression to liver failure. A total of 1279 hospitalised patients with hepatitis E were included in this cross-sectional study in Tianjin, China. Student's t-test and the Mann–Whitney U-test were used for comparisons. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association. Among these 1279 patients, 107 (8.4%) developed liver failure. Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.150–2.887, p = 0.011), liver cirrhosis (95% [CI] 2.229–7.224, p < 0.001), and hepatitis B (95% [CI] 1.159–4.512, p = 0.017) were more likely to progress to liver failure. Hepatitis E patients with comorbid DM, liver cirrhosis, or hepatitis B virus co-infection have higher risks of developing liver failure. Hepatitis E vaccination may be recommended for these vulnerable patients to curb disease severity.

We propose a hierarchical cognitive navigation model (HCNM) to improve the self-learning and self-adaptive ability of mobile robots in unknown and complex environments. The HCNM model adopts the divide and conquers approach by dividing the path planning task into different levels of sub-tasks in complex environments and solves each sub-task in a smaller state subspace to decrease the state space dimensions. The HCNM model imitates animal asymptotic properties through the study of thermodynamic processes and designs a cognitive learning algorithm to achieve online optimum search strategies. We prove that the learning algorithm designed ensures that the cognitive model can converge to the optimal behavior path with probability one. Robot navigation is studied on the basis of the cognitive process. The experimental results show that the HCNM model has strong adaptability in unknown and environment, and the navigation path is clearer and the convergence time is better. Among them, the convergence time of HCNM model is 25 s, which is 86.5% lower than that of HRLM model. The HCNM model studied in this paper adopts a hierarchical structure, which reduces the learning difficulty and accelerates the learning speed in the unknown environment.

ABSTRACT IMPACT: Novel adipokines like tetranectin help explain why some people progress from obesity to diseases like diabetes, atherosclerosis, and dislipidemia OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Obesity has an established association with diabetes, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerosis. Preventing progression from obesity to insulin resistance requires understanding of the regulatory mechanisms involved in the loss of insulin sensitivity. Adipose tissue is well known to function as an endocrine organ that produces many kinds of adipokines. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Blood sample analysis from human patients and mice was used to determine associations between tetranectin and obesity. Samples were tested with a monoclonal anti-tetranectin antibody for detection with western blot. A tetranectin mutant knock out mouse line was compared to wild type littermates on high fat diet for 4 months. Insulin tolerance tests and glucose tolerance were used to determine progression to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Histological analysis of metabolic tissue was used to demonstrate adipocyte hypertrophy and liver steatosis. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In the current study, we report the identification and initial characterization of a novel adipokine tetranectin. Tetranectin, which is coded by the C-type lectin domain family 3 member B (CLEC3B) gene, is ubiquitously expressed in various mouse tissues, whereas it is highly enriched in white adipose tissue. We found that the serum level of tetranectin was much higher in both obese and diabetic patients. Knocking out the tetranectin gene in mice protected against glucose intolerance in males but reduced insulin and glucose tolerance in females, without effects on food intake and body weight for either sex. Mechanistically, tetranectin targets liver tissues and its deficiency increases lipid accumulation in hepatocytes in females. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: We have identified a novel adipokine which mediates a different metabolic crosstalk among tissues to maintain systemic glucose and lipid metabolism in different genders. Further investigation of tetranectin’s function could yield a new target for precise therapeutic treatment for obesity and its associated metabolic diseases in different genders

Novel three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical macro- to nano-porous titanium (Ti) and TiMo alloys with sufficient compressive strength (CS) were prepared using NaCl spacer and dealloying methods. The dealloying process was implemented by the heat treatment of TiCu and TiMoCu master alloys in Mg powders. The 3D-hierarchical porous structures were composed of large pores having a mean size of 400 μm with interconnected micro-pores in the size of 10–30 μm, where the pore walls possessed numerous nano-pores with a size range of 10–50 nm. The CS and elastic modulus values were 72.4 MPa and 2.67 GPa as well as 92.62 MPa and 3.36 GPa for Ti and TiMo, respectively. The hierarchical porous structure is beneficial for the fast nucleation of bone-like apatite after immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF). In addition, TiMo samples after NaOH and heat treatments provide better apatite formation after soaking in SBF for a week, in comparison with the samples without treatment.

Hydrothermal carbon microsphere (HTC) is a carbon-based fluorescent material, which can be synthesized by hydrothermal carbonization of glucose. In this article, a series of 4ZnO·B2O3·H2O:Ln3+/HTC (where Ln = Eu or Tb) composites were prepared under hydrothermal conditions. The effects of the glucose concentration on the morphology, photoluminescence (PL) intensity and emission color of Zn3.64:Eu0.24[B2O7]·H2O/HTCx and Zn3.55:Tb0.3[B2O7]·H2O/HTCy were investigated. The relationship between morphology and PL intensity of composites was discussed. The results revealed that the presence of HTC did not change the original emission color of 4ZnO·B2O3·H2O:Ln3+ (where Ln = Eu or Tb) materials, but greatly increased their PL intensity, the sphere-like morphology composites have the strongest PL intensity. The Zn3.64:Eu0.24[B2O7]·H2O/HTCx and Zn3.55:Tb0.3[B2O7]·H2O/HTCy emit bright red light and green light, respectively, under respective excitation wavelengths. The present research suggests that the 4ZnO·B2O3·H2O:Ln3+/HTC (where Ln = Eu or Tb) composites may be candidates of red and green phosphors for display and lighting applications.

This paper presents a notched band ultra-wideband bandpass filter using a single perturbed quint-mode half-mode substrate-integrated waveguide cavity. The cavity is perturbed by loading four stubs at two corners of the magnetic walls of the single cavity. The variable parameters of stubs are selected to move down the first five resonant modes to the predetermined passband during the design process. Meanwhile, microstrip lines with a transition structure located on two loaded stubs are employed to feed the resonator. Moreover, the filter also firstly designs a notched band by introducing a complementary split-ring resonator inside the cavity to mitigate potential interference signals at 8 GHz (satellite communication). Finally, a prototype filter was implemented and measured to verify.

To reduce the seed length while maintaining the advantages of the cuboid KDP-type crystal, a long-seed KDP crystal with size $471~\text{mm}\times 480~\text{mm}\times 400~\text{mm}$ is rapidly grown. With almost the same high cutting efficiency to obtain third harmonic generation oriented samples, this long-seed KDP-type crystal can be grown with a shorter seed than that of the cuboid KDP-type crystal. The full width at half maximum of the high-resolution X-ray diffraction of the (200) crystalline face is 28.8 arc seconds, indicating that the long-seed KDP crystal has good crystalline quality. In the wavelength range of 377–1022 nm, the transmittance of the long-seed KDP crystal is higher than 90%. The fluence for the 50% probability of laser-induced damage (LID) is $18.5~\text{J}/\text{cm}^{2}$ (3 ns, 355 nm). Several test points survive when the laser fluence exceeds $30~\text{J}/\text{cm}^{2}$ (3 ns, 355 nm), indicating the good LID performance of the long-seed KDP crystal. At present, the growth of a long-seed DKDP crystal is under way.

Epidemiological data for Toxoplasma gondii regarding malignancy have gained increasing attention; however, the information about T. gondii infection among children with malignant lymphoma (ML) in China is unclear. Therefore, 314 children with lymphoma and 314 healthy children, age- and gender-matched, were recruited to estimate the seroprevalence of T. gondii in the participants and identify the risk factors of infection. Blood samples from all participants were collected and examined for T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using ELISA. The results showed that the overall seroprevalence of T. gondii antibodies (including IgG and/or IgM) in ML patients and healthy controls was 19.8% and 9.9%, respectively. Contact with the cats, consumption of oysters and history of chemotherapy were estimated to be the risk factors for T. gondii infection in children with lymphoma by multivariable logistic regression analysis, whereas in healthy children, contact with cats and consumption of oysters were the risk factors. Moreover, among various histological types of lymphoma, individuals with NK/T-cell lymphoma, B-small lymphocytic lymphoma, marginal zone B-lymphoma and Hodgkin's lymphoma had a higher seroprevalence than healthy controls (P < 0.05). These findings indicated the high prevalence of T. gondii infection in children with lymphoma, and hence, efforts should be performed to evaluate the effect of the infection further in lymphoma patients.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of curcumin on insulin resistance (IR) and hepatic lipid accumulation in intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR). Rats with a normal birth weight (NBW) or IUGR were fed basic diets (NBW and IUGR groups) or basic diets supplemented with curcumin (NBW-C and IUGR-C groups) from 6 to 12 weeks. Rats in the IUGR group showed higher levels of glucose and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) (P < 0·05) than in the NBW group. The livers of IUGR rats exhibited higher (P < 0·05) concentration of TAG and lower (P < 0·05) activities of lipolysis enzymes compared with the normal rats. In response to dietary curcumin supplementation, concentrations of serum insulin, glucose and HOMA-IR, pyruvate, TAG, total cholesterol and NEFA in the liver were decreased (P < 0·05). The concentrations of glycogen and activities of lipolysis enzymes in the liver were increased (P < 0·05) in the IUGR-C group compared with the IUGR group. These results were associated with lower (P < 0·05) phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate 1, protein kinase B or Akt, glycogen synthase kinase 3β and expressions of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 and fatty acid synthase (FASN); decreased expressions for Cd36, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (Srebf1) and Fasn; increased (P < 0·05) expression of PPARα; and expressions for Ppara and hormone-sensitive lipase in the liver of IUGR-C rats than the IUGR rats. Maternal malnutrition caused IR and lipid accumulation in the liver. Curcumin supplementation prevented IR by regulating insulin signalling pathways and attenuated hepatic lipid accumulation.

The excessive use of plastic, especially polystyrene (PS), has caused serious environmental pollution. The efficient utilization of plastics and the conversion of plastics into value-added carbon materials are the concerns of researchers. Herein, we propose novel “pyrolysis–deposition” method to convert one popular plastic substance, PS, into ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs). During the synthesis process, PS is pyrolyzed into small organic gases under high temperature, which is then adsorbed through capillary adsorption into the mesoporous of SBA-15 in the presence of catalyst. The obtained OMCs have high specific surface area, uniform pore size, and ordered pore structure. The OMCs exhibit specific capacitance of 118 F/g at a current density of 0.2 A/g and electrochemical stability of 87.2% at a current density of 2 A/g after 5000 cycles. The pyrolysis–deposition strategy provides a new idea to convert waste plastics into high-performance carbon materials for electrochemical applications.

Neospora caninum is the causative agent of bovine neosporosis. A N. caninum cytoplasmic dynein LC8 light chain (NcDYNLL) protein was characterized in this study. Cytoplasmic dyneins, including DYNLLs, belong to the microtubule minus-end-directed motor proteins and are involved in many cellular processes. Previous microarray studies revealed that NcDYNLL was downregulated in the non-pathogenic clone, Ncts-8, when compared with the wild-type NC1 isolate. The present study showed that DYNLLs from different species are highly conserved (>85% identity), and the NcDYNLL belongs to the DYNLL2 family. NcDYNLL2 and Toxoplasma gondii DYNLL2 have identical amino acid sequences, although they are slightly divergent at the genetic level (89% identity). NcDYNLL2 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. NcDYNLL2 was identified in soluble and insoluble fractions of tachyzoite lysate. As expected, soluble NcDYNLL2 was lower in the Ncts-8 lysate when compared with that of NC1 isolate. NcDYNLL2 release by the tachyzoites was low; however, it was increased when tachyzoites were treated with either calcium ionophore or ethanol. The data indicate that NcDYNLL2 may be actively secreted at low levels, but the secretion was upregulated by agents that also augment microneme protein secretions. Immunostaining of NcDYNLL2 in isolated and intracellular Neospora tachyzoites showed a diffuse distribution pattern. Furthermore, rNcDYNLL2 was internalized by the host immune cells and stimulated tumour necrosis factor-α) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) production by murine dendritic cells. Taken together, these results suggest that NcDYNLL2 is a secretory protein that cross-regulates host immunity.

Rats with a normal birth weight (NBW) or intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR) were fed basic diets (NBW and IUGR groups) or basic diets supplemented with curcumin (NC and IC groups) from 6 to 12 weeks. The body weight of IUGR rats was lower (P<0·05) than that of the controls. Rats with IUGR showed higher (P<0·05) concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6; higher (P<0·05) activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in their serum; and increased (P<0·05) concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl (PC) and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHDG) in the liver compared with the NBW rats. The livers of IUGR rats exhibited a lower (P<0·05) superoxide dismutase activity and decreased (P<0·05) metabolic efficiency of the hepatic glutathione redox cycle compared with those of the NBW rats. In response to dietary curcumin supplementation, concentrations of inflammatory cytokines and activities of AST and ALT in the serum and MDA, PC and 8-OHDG in the liver were lower (P<0·05), and the hepatic glutathione redox cycle in the liver was improved (P<0·05) in the IC group than in the IUGR group. These results were associated with lower (P<0·05) phosphorylated levels of the NF-κB pathway and Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) and higher (P<0·05) mRNA expression of genes involved in the nuclear factor, erythroid 2-like 2 (Nfe2l2)/antioxidant response element (ARE) pathway in the liver of the IC rats than that of the IUGR rats. Maternal undernutrition decreased birth weight and led to inflammation, oxidative damage and injury in rats. Curcumin appeared to be beneficial in preventing IUGR-induced inflammation, oxidative damage and injury by activating the expression of the NF-κB, JAK/STAT and Nfe2l2/ARE pathways in the liver.

A novel luminogen-functionalized SBA-15, denoted as SNT, was developed by incorporating tris(4-bromophenyl)amine (TBPA) into SBA-15 via a “fixation-induced emission” strategy. The emission of TBPA on the matrix of SBA-15 was greatly enhanced, making the SNT possible as a fluorescence sensor. Cefalexin, a typical antibiotic, was chosen as the model analyte to be assayed and sensitive detection performance was achieved. This is the first time for cefalexin to be detected by a fluorescent method. Moreover, the SNT can be recycled by simply washing with proper solvents then used for next detection. This work provides a strategy to greatly improve the emission characteristics of fluorophores, even if a mediocre small fluorophore. It can be extended to design practical fluorescent sensors with high performance and recyclability by this strategy.

There is an urgent need to understand lived experiences of climate change in the context of African cities, where even small climate shocks can have significant implications for the livelihoods of the urban poor. This article examines narratives of climate and livelihood changes within Jinja Municipality, Uganda, emphasizing how Jinja's residents make sense of climate change through their own narrative frames rather than through the lens of global climate change discourses. We demonstrate how the onset of climate change in Jinja is widely attributed to perceived moral and environmental failings on the part of a present generation that is viewed as both more destructive than previous generations and unable to preserve land, trees and other resources for future generations. A focus on local ontologies of climate change highlights how the multiple, intersecting vulnerabilities of contemporary urban life in Jinja serve to obfuscate not only the conditions of possibility of an immediate future, but the longer-term horizons for future generations, as changing weather patterns exacerbate existing challenges people face in adapting to wider socio-economic changes and rising livelihood vulnerability. This form of analysis situates changing climate and environments within the context of everyday urban struggles and emphasizes the need for civic participation in developing climate change strategies that avoid the pitfalls of climate reductionism. The article draws on more than 150 qualitative interviews, generational dialogue groups, and creative methods based on research-led community theatre.

A type of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}/4$–$\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}/4$ ultra-broadband antireflective coating has been developed using modified low refractive silica and high refractive silica layers by a sol–gel dip coating method for amplifier blast shields of the Shen Guang II high power laser facility (SG-II facility). Deposition of the first layer (high refractive index silica) involves baking at $200\,^{\circ }\text{C}$ in the post-treatment step. The second layer (low refractive index, $n=1.20$) uses low refractive index silica sol modified by acid catalysis. Thermal baking at temperatures no less than $500\,^{\circ }\text{C}$ for 60 min offers chemical stability, ethanol scratch resistance, and resistance to washing with water. The average residual reflection of dual-side-coated fused silica glass was less than 1% in the spectral range from 450 to 950 nm. Transmission gain has been evaluated by taking into account angular light, and the results show that the transmission gain increases with increasing light incidence. Even at $60^{\circ }$, the transmission spectrum of the broadband antireflective coating effectively covered the main absorption peak of Nd:glass.

The intercept of the binary response model is not regularly identified (i.e., $\sqrt n$ consistently estimable) when the support of both the special regressor V and the error term ε are the whole real line. The estimator of the intercept potentially has a slower than $\sqrt n$ convergence rate, which can result in a large estimation error in practice. This paper imposes additional tail restrictions which guarantee the regular identification of the intercept and thus the $\sqrt n$-consistency of its estimator. We then propose an estimator that achieves the $\sqrt n$ rate. Last, we extend our tail restrictions to a full-blown model with endogenous regressors.

Nutritional status of 380 hospitalised children aged from 1 month to 5 years with liver disease was evaluated in a single paediatric centre. The total prevalence of stunting (height-for-age Z (HAZ) < −2), underweight (weight-for-age Z (WAZ) < −2) and wasting (weight-for-height Z < −2) was 9·8, 9·0 and 7·9 %, respectively. The overall nutritional risk (−2 ≤ Z < −1) of stunting, underweight and wasting was 11·8, 12·9 and 12·6 %. The prevalence of undernutrition was significantly higher in children with cholestasis than children without cholestasis (stunting, 17·5 %/4·4 %, P < 0·001, and underweight, 14·9 %/4·9 %, P < 0·001). HAZ and WAZ scores were significantly higher in children without cholestasis than children with cholestasis (0·58 (sd 1·59)/−0·68 (sd 1·99), P < 0·001, and 0·37 (sd 1·35)/−0·47 (sd 1·75), P < 0·001). Further multivariate logistic regression analysis strengthened the evidence that cholestasis was significantly associated with undernutrition of stunting (OR = 4·18, P = 0·002) and underweight (OR = 3·26, P = 0·008), and suggested that the prevalence of stunting caused by infection was lower than other aetiologies in hospitalised children with liver disease (OR = 0·10, P = 0·002). We concluded that a high prevalence of malnutrition and risk of undernutrition presents in hospitalised young children with liver disease, especially in children with cholestasis. Nutrition assessment is recommended for hospitalised children with liver disease.