This study is performed to figure out how the presence of diabetes affects the infection, progression and prognosis of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the effective therapy that can treat the diabetes-complicated patients with COVID-19. A multicentre study was performed in four hospitals. COVID-19 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) or hyperglycaemia were compared with those without these conditions and matched by propensity score matching for their clinical progress and outcome. Totally, 2444 confirmed COVID-19 patients were recruited, from whom 336 had DM. Compared to 1344 non-DM patients with age and sex matched, DM-COVID-19 patients had significantly higher rates of intensive care unit entrance (12.43% vs. 6.58%, P = 0.014), kidney failure (9.20% vs. 4.05%, P = 0.027) and mortality (25.00% vs. 18.15%, P < 0.001). Age and sex-stratified comparison revealed increased susceptibility to COVID-19 only from females with DM. For either non-DM or DM group, hyperglycaemia was associated with adverse outcomes, featured by higher rates of severe pneumonia and mortality, in comparison with non-hyperglycaemia. This was accompanied by significantly altered laboratory indicators including lymphocyte and neutrophil percentage, C-reactive protein and urea nitrogen level, all with correlation coefficients >0.35. Both diabetes and hyperglycaemia were independently associated with adverse prognosis of COVID-19, with hazard ratios of 10.41 and 3.58, respectively.

We have proposed and experimentally demonstrated a novel scheme for efficient mid-infrared difference-frequency generation based on passively synchronized fiber lasers. The adoption of coincident seeding pulses in the nonlinear conversion process could substantially lower the pumping threshold for mid-infrared parametric emission. Consequently, a picosecond mid-infrared source at 3.1 μm was prepared with watt-level average power, and a maximum power conversion efficiency of 77% was realized from pump to down-converted light. Additionally, the long-term stability of generated power was manifested with a relative fluctuation as low as 0.17% over one hour. Thanks to the all-optical passive synchronization and all-polarization-maintaining fiber architecture, the implemented laser system was also featured with simplicity, compactness and robustness, which would favor subsequent applications beyond laboratory operation.

We present a 3D reconstruction method using brightness and camera motion estimation for registering local colon structure in colonoscopy. The proposed method is based on reverse projection from 2D fold contours to 3D space, motion estimation from 3D reconstructed points between neighboring frames, and model registration to reconstruct the fold structure. On the synthetic colon, the average percentages of the reconstructed depth error and circumference error are about 14.2% and 15.2%, respectively. The accuracy is enough for the navigation and control in capsule robot. This work demonstrates that the proposed method is superior to the methods using single-frame-based brightness intensity.

Panonychus citri (McGregor) is the most common pest in citrus-producing regions. Special low-toxicity acaricides, such as spirocyclic tetronic acids and mite growth inhibitors, have been used for a long time in China. However, pesticide resistance in mites is a growing problem due to the lack of new acaricide development. Wide-spectrum insecticides, such as amitraz have gained acceptance among fruit growers. An amitraz-resistant strain of P. citri was obtained by indoor screening to examine field resistance monitoring of mites to acaricides and to explore the resistant mechanism of mites against amitraz. The amitraz-resistant strain of P. citri had an LC50 value of 2361.45 mg l−1. The resistance ratio was 81.35 times higher in the resistant strain of P. citri compared with the sensitive strain. Crossing experiments between the sensitive and resistant strains of P. citri were conducted, resulting in a D value of 0.11 for F1 SS♀×RS♂ and 0.06 for F1 RS♀×SS♂. Reciprocal cross experiments showed that the dose–mortality curves for the F1 generations coincided, indicating that the resistance trait was not affected by cytoplasmic inheritance. The dose–expected response relationship was evaluated in the backcross generation and a significant difference was observed compared with the actual value. The above results indicate that the inheritance of resistance trait was incompletely dominant, governed by polygenes on the chromosome. Synergism studies demonstrated that cytochrome P450s and esterase may play important roles in the detoxification of amitraz. Based on differential gene analysis, 23 metabolism-related genes of P. citri were identified, consistent with the results of synergism studies. Real-time PCR verification implied that P450s, ABC transporters, and acetylcholinesterase might influence the detoxification of amitraz by P. citri. These results provide the genetic and molecular foundation for the management of pest mite resistance.

The poultry red mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, is currently the most common ectoparasite affecting egg-laying hens. Since continuous culture of D. gallinae on birds is a biologically and economically costly endeavour, storage techniques for mites are urgently needed. Effects of temperature on adult and nymph survival were first studied to optimize storage conditions. Then, fecundity of D. gallinae was studied after mites were stored at optimal storage conditions. Results showed the survival rates of protonymphs (42.11%), deutonymphs (8.19%) and females (19.78%) at 5°C after 84 days were higher than those at 0, 25 and 30°C. Thereafter the fecundity and the capability of re-establishing colonies of D. gallinae were evaluated after they were stored for 40 and 80 days at 5°C. After storage, the mean number of eggs showed no statistical difference between treated (5°C for 40 or 80 days) and control groups (25°C for 7 days), while the hatching rates of eggs were in all cases above 97%. The dynamic changes of mite populations and egg numbers showed similar trends to the control group after the stored adult or nymph mites were fed on chicks. Dermanyssus gallinae can be successfully stored at 5°C for 80 days with no interference with the fecundity of mites, and the stored mites could re-establish colonies successfully. Adults and nymphs were two main stages with capability for low temperature storage. These results suggest that low temperature storage is a viable option for colony maintenance of D. gallinae under laboratory conditions.

The production of abstract engravings is considered an indicator of modern human cognition and a means for the long-term recording and transmission of information. This article reports the discovery of two engraved bones from the Lingjing site in Henan Province, China, dated to 105–125 kya. The carefully engraved nature of the incisions, made on weathered rib fragments, precludes the possibility of unintentional or utilitarian origins. Residue analysis demonstrates the presence of ochre within the incised lines on one specimen. This research provides the first evidence for the deliberate use of ochred engravings for symbolic purposes by East Asian Late Pleistocene hominins.

We report on environmentally stable long-cavity ultrashort erbium-doped fiber lasers, which self-start mode-locking at quite low thresholds by using spectrally filtered and phase-biased nonlinear amplifying long-loop mirrors. By employing 100-m polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF) in the nonlinear loop, the fundamental repetition rate reaches 1.84 MHz and no practical limitation is found to further decrease the repetition rate. The filter used in the long loop not only suppresses Kelly sidebands of the solitons, but also eliminates the amplified spontaneous emission which exists widely in low-repetition-rate ultrafast fiber lasers. The bandwidth of the filter is optimized by using a numerical model. The laser emits approximately 3-ps pulses with an energy of 17.4 pJ, which is further boosted to $1.5~\unicode[STIX]{x03BC}\text{J}$ by using a fiber amplifier.

We find that firms headquartered in U.S. counties with higher levels of social capital incur lower bank loan spreads. This finding is robust to using organ donation as an alternative social capital measure and incremental to the effects of religiosity, corporate social responsibility, and tax avoidance. We identify the causal relation using companies with a social-capital-changing headquarters relocation. We also find that high-social-capital firms face loosened nonprice loan terms, incur lower at-issue bond spreads, and prefer public bonds over bank loans. We conclude that debt holders perceive social capital as providing environmental pressure that constrains opportunistic firm behaviors in debt contracting.

With extremely disordered atomic structures, a glass possesses a thermal conductivity k that approaches the theoretical minimum of its composition, known as the Einstein’s limit.1 Depending on the material composition and the extent of disorder, the thermal conductivity of some glasses can be down to 0.1-0.3 W/m∙K at room temperature,2,3 representing some of the lowest k values among existing solids. Such a low k can be further reduced by the interfacial phonon scattering within a nanocomposite that can be used for thermal insulation applications. In this work, nanocomposites hot pressed from the mixture of glass nanopowder (GeSe4 or Ge20Te70Se10) and commercial SiO2 nanoparticles, or pure glass nanopowder, are investigated for the potential k reduction. It is found that adding SiO2 nanoparticles will instead increase k if the measured k values for usually porous nanocomposites are converted into those for the corresponding solid (kSolid) with Eucken’s formula. In contrast, pure glass nano-samples always show kSolid data significantly reduced from that for the starting glass. For a pure GeSe4 nano-sample, kSolid would beat the Einstein’s limit for its composition.

In this study, crystal orientation and polymorphism formation in electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) blend fibers after melt-recrystallization were studied. To achieve uniform alignment of electrospun fibers, mechanical stretching was applied to the as-spun nonwoven fibers at 110 °C. Pure ferroelectric β-PVDF crystals in the PAN matrix were achieved, and both polar β-PVDF and polar PAN crystals oriented with their chain axes parallel to the fiber axes. After melt-recrystallization of PVDF, a significant amount of ferroelectric β crystals was retained in addition to the formation of nonpolar α crystals. A polarized Fourier transform infrared study showed that the degree of orientation of ferroelectric β-PVDF crystals was higher than that of nonpolar α crystals, suggesting that the β-PVDF crystals should form at the PVDF/PAN interfaces because of strong dipolar and hydrogen bonding interactions between vinylidene fluoride and acrylonitrile units. The nonpolar α-PVDF crystals should form in the center of PVDF domains.

In vitro development of goat embryos obtained by fertilizing oocytes using intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was investigated. The results showed that the blastocyst rate was significantly higher (P<0.05) when the embryos were co-cultured with granular cells (GCs) in media CR1aa supplemented with 10% bovine follicular fluid (BFF) (22.2%) than with 5% (13.1%) and 15% BFF (2.7%). When embryos were co-cultured with GCs in SOFaa media, the highest blastocyst rate was obtained from supplementation with 10% BFF (25.1%), which was significantly different from 5% (12.9%) and 15% BFF (3.0%) groups. When 10% BFF and fetus bovine serum (FBS) were added into CR1aa or SOFaa media, the goat ICSI blastocyst rates were 22.6 and 26.9% or 5.8 and 6.1% respectively. These results suggest that both CR1aa and SOFaa could be used as culture media for goat ICSI embryos, 10% BFF could significantly increase the blastocyst rate and BFF was more efficient than FBS for the early in vitro development of goat ICSI embryos.

Phenolic resin and tetraethoxysilane were used to prepare a binary carbonaceous silicon xerogel, the precursor of silicon carbide (SiC). By employing different additives in the sol-gel process, a series of xerogel precursors with differently chemical composition were obtained. Heating these xerogels to 1250°C, nanostructured β-SiC with various morphologies including nanowires, nanofibers, nanoparticles and mesoporous SiC were produced via carbothermal reduction. The preparation method of the xerogels was presented and the influences of different additives on the sol-gel process and the SiC formation were discussed in this paper.