We report the unified constitutive law of vibroconvective turbulence in microgravity, i.e. $Nu \sim a^{-1} Re_{os}^\beta$ where the Nusselt number $Nu$ measures the global heat transport, $a$ is the dimensionless vibration amplitude, $Re_{os}$ is the oscillational Reynolds number and $\beta$ is the universal exponent. We find that the dynamics of boundary layers plays an essential role in vibroconvective heat transport and the $Nu$-scaling exponent $\beta$ is determined by the competition between the thermal boundary layer (TBL) and vibration-induced oscillating boundary layer (OBL). Then a physical model is proposed to explain the change of scaling exponent from $\beta =2$ in the TBL-dominant regime to $\beta = 4/3$ in the OBL-dominant regime. Our finding elucidates the emergence of universal constitutive laws in vibroconvective turbulence, and opens up a new avenue for generating a controllable effective heat transport under microgravity or even microfluidic environment in which the gravity effect is nearly absent.

An indirect Fourier transformation applied to small-angle X-ray scattering data has been used to determine the thickness and surface properties of two common clay minerals. For an illite system, the particle density distribution function (PDDF) generated by the analysis gave a correct description of particle geometry, and the calculated electron density profile was in accordance with the theoretical electron density distribution for this mineral. This approach provides the opportunity to determine the thickness of fundamental particles of illite while avoiding the difficulties encountered in other methods. Both the PDDF and the electron density profile accurately predict the thickness of Na-montmorillonite layers, and the results suggest that an electron inhomogeneity exists at the interface of this mineral.

It has been suggested that interstratified illite-smectite (I-S) minerals are composed of aggregates of fundamental particles. Many attempts have been made to measure the thickness of such fundamental particles, but each of the methods used suffers from its own limitations and uncertainties. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) can be used to measure the thickness of particles that scatter X-rays coherently. We used SAXS to study suspensions of Na-rectorite and other illites with varying proportions of smectite. The scattering intensity (I) was recorded as a function of the scattering vector, q = (4 π/λ) sin(θ/2), where λ is the X-ray wavelength and θ is the scattering angle. The experimental data were treated with a direct Fourier transform to obtain the pair distance distribution function (PDDF) that was then used to determine the thickness of illite particles. The Guinier and Porod extrapolations were used to obtain the scattering intensity beyond the experimental q, and the effects of such extrapolations on the PDDF were examined. The thickness of independent rectorite particles (used as a reference mineral) is 18.3 Å. The SAXS results are compared with those obtained by X-ray diffraction peak broadening methods. It was found that the power-law exponent (α) obtained by fitting the data in the region of q = 0.1–0.6 nm−1 to the power law (I = I0q−α) is a linear function of illite particle thickness. Therefore, illite particle thickness could be predicted by the linear relationship as long as the thickness is within the limit where α <4.0.

Longitudinal studies on the variations of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of K. pneumoniae across two decades are rare. We aimed to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility and virulence factors for K. pneumoniae isolated from patients with bacteraemia or urinary tract infection (UTI) from 1999 to 2022. A total of 699 and 1,267 K. pneumoniae isolates were isolated from bacteraemia and UTI patients, respectively, and their susceptibility to twenty antibiotics was determined; PCR was used to identify capsular serotypes and virulence-associated genes. K64 and K1 serotypes were most frequently observed in UTI and bacteraemia, respectively, with an increasing frequency of K20, K47, and K64 observed in recent years. entB and wabG predominated across all isolates and serotypes; the least frequent virulence gene was htrA. Most isolates were susceptible to carbapenems, amikacin, tigecycline, and colistin, with the exception of K20, K47, and K64 where resistance was widespread. The highest average number of virulence genes was observed in K1, followed by K2, K20, and K5 isolates, which suggest their contribution to the high virulence of K1. In conclusion, we found that the distribution of antimicrobial susceptibility, virulence gene profiles, and capsular types of K. pneumoniae over two decades were associated with their clinical source.

In 2016, an outbreak of paratyphoid fever occurred in 40 cases at Qingyang town, in China. A case-control study was carried out to determine the source of this outbreak. Case-control study was conducted to identify the risk factors of this outbreak. The cases were identified as patients with isolation of S. Paratyphi, controls were confirmed cases’ healthy classmates, colleagues or neighbors and matched by age (±5 y) and gender. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was performed to source tracking. Totally, 40 cases were reported: 24 cases were students, and 20 (20/24) of them were Qingyang High School students. For the case-control study, consuming Chinese egg pancakes was detected as a risk factor (OR1:1 = 5.000; 95% CI: 1.710-14.640), and hand-washing before meals was protective behavior compared with seldom hand-washing (OR1:1 = 23.256; 95% CI: 2.451-200.000). S. Paratyphi was cultured from a well water sample used for washing contents of the pancakes. Isolates from well water and paratyphoid cases showed the same PFGE patterns. Contaminated well water and Chinese egg pancakes were likely source and vehicle of this outbreak. Health education, especially handwashing, and food safety supervision should be promoted particularly in schools.

Listeriosis is a rare but serious foodborne disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes. This matched case–control study (1:1 ratio) aimed to identify the risk factors associated with food consumption and food-handling habits for the occurrence of sporadic listeriosis in Beijing, China. Cases were defined as patients from whom Listeria was isolated, in addition to the presence of symptoms, including fever, bacteraemia, sepsis and other clinical manifestations corresponding to listeriosis, which were reported via the Beijing Foodborne Disease Surveillance System. Basic patient information and possible risk factors associated with food consumption and food-handling habits were collected through face-to-face interviews. One hundred and six cases were enrolled from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2020, including 52 perinatal cases and 54 non-perinatal cases. In the non-perinatal group, the consumption of Chinese cold dishes increased the risk of infection by 3.43-fold (95% confidence interval 1.27–9.25, χ2 = 5.92, P = 0.02). In the perinatal group, the risk of infection reduced by 95.2% when raw and cooked foods were well-separated (χ2 = 5.11, P = 0.02). These findings provide important scientific evidence for preventing infection by L. monocytogenes and improving the dissemination of advice regarding food safety for vulnerable populations.

Existing studies of ethnic voting mainly focus on democratic elections. In electoral autocracies, politically subordinate ethnicity can help citizens coordinate against the incumbent. However, we argue that collective action will be constrained when the group grows large, as it becomes costly for its members to form common behavioural norms and carry out effective sanctions through shared ethnic ties under authoritarian repression. Drawing on unique historical surveys in Taiwan, we study how Taiwanese ethnicity and local ethnic demography jointly induced voters' defection against the hegemonic KMT regime. We find that the pro-defection or anti-incumbent effect of Taiwanese ethnicity fell as the share of Taiwanese citizens in a township increased. However, the relative size of the Taiwanese group no longer undermined pro-defection ethnic voting after the KMT lifted the ban on opposition parties. Our results illustrate that formal organizations play a critical role in sustaining the informational salience of ethnicity in the elections.

Engineered biomaterials provide unique functions to overcome the bottlenecks seen in biomedicine. Hence, a technique for rapid and routine tests of collagen is required, in which the test items commonly include molecular weight, crosslinking degree, purity, and sterilization induced structural change. Among them, the crosslinking degree mainly influences collagen properties. In this study, second harmonic generation (SHG) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy are used in combination to explore the collagen structure at molecular and macromolecular scales. These measured parameters are applied for the classification and quantification among the different collagen scaffolds, which were verified by other conventional methods. It is demonstrated that the crosslinking status can be analyzed from SHG images and presented as the coherency of collagen organization that is correlated with the mechanical properties. Also, the comparative analyses of SHG signal and relative CARS signal of amide III band at 1,240 cm−1 to δCH2 band at 1,450 cm−1 of these samples provide information regarding the variation of the molecular structure during a crosslinking process, thus serving as nonlinear optical signatures to indicate a successful crosslinking.

The relationship between exposure to famine in early life and the risk of ascending aorta dilatation (AAD) in adulthood is still unclear; therefore, we aimed to examine the association in the Chinese population. We investigated the data of 2598 adults who were born between 1952 and 1964 in Guangdong, China. All enrolled subjects were categorised into five groups: not exposed to famine, exposed during fetal period, and exposed during early, mid or late childhood. AAD was assessed by cardiac ultrasound. Multivariate logistic regression and interaction tests were performed to estimate the OR and CI on the association between famine exposure and AAD. There were 2598 (943 male, mean age 58·3 ± 3·68 years) participants were enrolled, and 270 (10·4 %) subjects with AAD. We found that famine exposure (OR = 2·266, 95 % CI 1·477, 3·477, P = 0·013) was associated with elevated AAD after adjusting for multiple confounders. In addition, compared with the non-exposed group, the adjusted OR for famine exposure during fetal period, early, mid or late childhood were 1·374 (95 % CI 0·794, 2·364, P = 0·251), 1·976 (95 % CI 1·243, 3·181, P = 0·004), 1·929 (95 % CI 1·237, 3·058, P = 0·004) and 2·227 (95 % CI 1·433, 3·524, P < 0·001), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that the effect of famine exposure on the association with AAD was more pronounced in female, current smokers, people with BMI ≥ 24 kg/m2 and hypertensive patients. We observed that exposure to famine during early life was linked to AAD in adulthood.

Food insecurity has been shown to be associated with fast-food consumption. However, to date, studies on this specific topic are scarce. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the association between food insecurity and fast-food consumption in adolescents aged 12–15 years from sixty-eight countries (seven low-income, twenty-seven lower middle-income, twenty upper middle-income, fourteen high-income countries). Cross-sectional, school-based data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey were analysed. Data on past 30-d food insecurity (hunger) and fast-food consumption in the past 7 d were collected. Multivariable logistic regression and meta-analysis were conducted to assess associations. Models were adjusted for age, sex and BMI. There were 180 164 adolescents aged 12–15 years (mean age 13·8 (sd 1·0) years; 50·8 % boys) included in the analysis. Overall, severe food insecurity (i.e. hungry because there was not enough food in home most of the time or always) was associated with 1·17 (95 % CI 1·08, 1·26) times higher odds for fast-food consumption. The estimates pooled by country-income levels were significant in low-income countries (adjusted OR (aOR) = 1·30; 95 % CI 1·05, 1·60), lower middle-income countries (aOR = 1·15; 95 % CI 1·02, 1·29) and upper middle-income countries (aOR = 1·26; 95 % CI 1·07, 1·49), but not in high-income countries (aOR = 1·04; 95 % CI 0·88, 1·23). The mere co-occurrence of food insecurity and fast-food consumption is of public health importance. To tackle this issue, a strong governmental and societal approach is required to utilise effective methods as demonstrated in some high-income countries such as the implementation of food banks and the adoption of free school meals.

The prognostic factor for in-hospital mortality in tuberculosis (TB) patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) care remains unclear. Therefore, a retrospective study was conducted aiming to estimate the in-hospital mortality rate and the risk factors for mortality in a high-burden setting. All patients with culture-confirmed TB that were admitted to the ICU of the hospital between March 2012 and April 2019 were identified retrospectively. Data, such as demographic characteristics, comorbidities, laboratory measures and mortality, were obtained from medical records. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify prognostic factors that influence in-hospital mortality. A total of 82 ICU patients with confirmed TB were included in the analysis, and 22 deaths were observed during the hospital stay, 21 patients died in the ICU. In the multivariable model adjusted for sex and age, the levels of serum albumin and white blood cell (WBC) count were significantly associated with mortality in TB patients requiring ICU care (all P < 0.01), the hazard ratios were 0.8 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.7–0.9) per 1 g/l and 1.1 (95% CI: 1.0–1.2) per 1 × 109/l, respectively. In conclusion, in-hospital mortality remains high in TB patients requiring ICU care. Low serum albumin level and high WBC count significantly impact the risk of mortality in these TB patients in China.

In this article, we discuss the backgrounds and technical details about several smart manufacturing projects in a tier-one electronics manufacturing facility. We devise a process to manage logistic forecast and inventory preparation for electronic parts using historical data and a recurrent neural network to achieve significant improvement over current methods. We present a system for automatically qualifying laptop software for mass production through computer vision and automation technology. The result is a reliable system that can save hundreds of man-years in the qualification process. Finally, we create a deep learning-based algorithm for visual inspection of product appearances, which requires significantly less defect training data compared to traditional approaches. For production needs, we design an automatic optical inspection machine suitable for our algorithm and process. We also discuss the issues for data collection and enabling smart manufacturing projects in a factory setting, where the projects operate on a delicate balance between process innovations and cost-saving measures.

Although the progression of invasive aspergillosis (IA) shares some risk factors in the development of active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), however, the prevalence of IA in suspected PTB remains unclear. During a period of 1 year (from January 2016 to December 2016), consecutive patients with suspected PTB were included in a referral TB hospital. Data, including demographic information and underlying diseases, were collected from medical records. PTB were all confirmed by mycobacterial culture (Lowenstein–Jensen medium). IA were diagnosed as proven or probable according to the criteria of the 2008 EORTC/MSG definitions. A descriptive analysis was performed to estimate the corresponding prevalence. During the study year, 1507 patients have a positive mycobacterial culture, with a mean age of 45.6 (s.d. 19.9) years old and a female:male ratio of 1:4. Among the 82 patients with non-tuberculous mycobacterial diseases, two patients (2.44%, 95% CI 0.67–8.46%) were diagnosed as IA (one proven and one probable); two probable IA patients (0.15%, 95% CI 0.04–0.55%) were diagnosed in PTB patients (n = 1315), and all were retreatment cases. In addition, all four IA patients (100%) exhibited cavities in both lobes on radiograph. In China, the prevalence of IA is low in active PTB patients. However, when high-risk factors for IA are encountered in PTB patients, further investigations are required and empirically treatment for IA might be warranted.

Direct numerical simulations have been applied to simulate flows with polymer additives. FENE-P (finite-extensible-nonlinear-elastic-Peterlin) dumbbell model solving for the conformation tensor is adopted to investigate the influence of the polymer on the flowfield. Boundary treatments of the conformation tensor on the flowfield are examined first, where boundary condition based on the linear extrapolation scheme provides more accurate results with second-order accurate error norms. Further simulations of the turbulent channel flow at different Weissenberg numbers are also conducted to investigate the influence on drag reduction. Drag reduction increases in tandem with the increase of Weissenberg number and the increase saturates at Weτ~200, where the drag reduction is close to the maximum drag reduction (MDR) limit. At the regime of y+ > 5, the viscous layer thickens with the increase of the Weissenberg number showing a departure from the traditional log-law profile, and the velocity profiles approach the MDR line at high Weissenberg number. The Reynolds stress decreases in tandem with the increase of Weτ, whereas the levels of laminar stress and polymer stress act adversely. However, as the Weissenberg number increases, the proportion of the laminar stress in the total stress increases, and this contributes to the drag reduction of the polymer flow.