Barnyardgrass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv.] is a noxious grass weed that infests rice fields and causes huge crop yield losses. In this study, we collected 12 E. crus-galli populations from rice fields of Ningxia Province in China and investigated the resistance levels to the acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor penoxsulam and the acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitor cyhalofop-butyl. The results showed that eight populations exhibited resistance to penoxsulam and four populations evolved resistance to cyhalofop-butyl. Moreover, all four cyhalofop-butyl–resistant populations (NX3, NX4, NX6, and NX7) displayed multiple herbicide resistance to both penoxsulam and cyhalofop-butyl. The alternative herbicides bispyribac-sodium, metamifop, and fenoxaprop-p-ethyl cannot effectively control the multiple herbicide–resistant (MHR) plants. To characterize the molecular mechanisms of resistance, we amplified and sequenced the target site–encoding genes in resistant and susceptible populations. Partial sequences of three ALS genes and six ACCase genes were examined. A Trp-574-Leu mutation was detected in EcALS1 and EcALS3 in two high-level (65.84- and 59.30-fold) penoxsulam-resistant populations, NX2 and NX10, respectively. In addition, one copy (EcACC4) of ACCase genes encodes a truncated aberrant protein due to a frameshift mutation in E. crus-galli populations. None of the amino acid substitutions that are known to confer herbicide resistance were detected in ALS and ACCase genes of MHR populations. Our study reveals the wide spread of MHR E. crus-galli populations in Ningxia Province that exhibit resistance to several ALS and ACCase inhibitors. Non–target site based mechanisms are likely to be involved in E. crus-galli resistance to the herbicides, at least in four MHR populations.

We present a derivation that begins with the Navier–Stokes equation and ends with a prediction of multiple statistically stable states identical to those observed in a spanwise rotating plane Couette flow. This derivation is able to explain the presence of multiple states in fully developed turbulence and the selection of one state over another by differently sized computational domains and different initial conditions. According to the present derivation, two and only two statistically stable states are possible in an infinitely large plane Couette flow with spanwise rotation, and that multiple states are not possible at very slow or very rapid rotation speeds. We also show the existence of limit-cycle-like behaviours near statistically stable states.

This study aimed to evaluate to what extent the different interval times between trophectoderm (TE) biopsy and vitrification influence the clinical outcomes in preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) cycles. Patients who underwent frozen embryo transfer (FET) after PGT between 2015 and 2019 were recruited. In total, 297 cycles with single day 5 euploid blastocyst transfer were included. These cycles were divided into three groups according to the interval times: <1 h group, 1–2 h group, and ≥2 h group. Blastocyst survival, clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, and ongoing pregnancy rates were compared. The results showed that, in PGT-SR cycles, survival rate in the ≥2 h group (96.72%) was significantly lower than in the <1 h group (100%, P = 0.047). The clinical pregnancy rate in the ≥2 h group was 55.93%, significantly lower than in the <1 h group (74.26%, P = 0.017). The ongoing pregnancy rates in the 1–2 h group and the ≥2 h group were 48.28% and 47.46%, respectively, significantly lower than that in the <1 h group (67.33%, P < 0.05). The miscarriage rate in the 1–2 h group was 18.42%, significantly higher than that in the <1 h group (5.33%, P = 0.027). In PGT-A cycles, the clinical pregnancy and ongoing pregnancy rates in the <1 h group were 67.44% and 53.49%, respectively, higher than that in the 1–2 h group (52.94%, 47.06%, P > 0.05) and the ≥2 h group (52.63%, 36.84%, P > 0.05). In conclusion, vitrification of blastocysts beyond 1 h after biopsy significantly influences embryo survival and clinical outcomes and is therefore not recommended.

This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the associations between dietary fibre (DF) intake and depressive symptoms in a general adult population in Tianjin, China. A total of 24 306 participants (mean age 41 years; range 18–91 years) were enrolled. DF intake was assessed using a validated self-administered FFQ. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Self-Rating Depression Scale. Associations between DF intake and depressive symptoms were estimated using logistic regression analysis. Socio-demographic, behavioural, health status and dietary factors were adjusted. In men, compared with participants in the lowest quartiles for total, soluble, vegetable and soya DF, OR for depressive symptoms in the highest were 0·83 (95 % CI 0·69, 0·99), 0·74 (95 % CI 0·63, 0·87), 0·79 (95 % CI 0·65, 0·96) and 0·69 (95 % CI 0·60, 0·81), respectively. In women, compared with participants in the lowest quartiles for vegetable and soya DF, the OR for depressive symptoms in the highest were 0·77 (95 % CI 0·64, 0·93) and 0·82 (95 % CI 0·70, 0·95), respectively. No association was found between total or soluble DF intake and depressive symptoms in women. No association was found between insoluble, cereal, fruit or tuber DF intake and depressive symptoms in men and women. Linear associations between DF intake and depressive symptoms were only detected for soya DF (men, β = –0·148, P < 0·0001; women, β = –0·069, P = 0·04). Results suggest that intake of soluble, vegetable and soya DF was inversely associated with depressive symptoms. These results should be confirmed through prospective and interventional studies.

While the majority of worldwide hepatitis E viral (HEV) infections that occur in people are from contaminated water or food sources, there has also been a steadily rising number of reported cases of transfusion-transmitted HEV (TT-HEV) in blood donation recipients. For most, HEV infection is acute, self-limiting and asymptomatic. However, patients that are immunocompromised, especially transplant patients, are at much higher risk for developing chronic infections, which can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure, along with overall increased mortality. Because of the rising trend of HEV serological prevalence among the global population, and the fact that TT-HEV infection can cause serious clinical consequences among those patients most at need for blood donation, the need for screening for TT-HEV has been gaining in prominence as an important public health concern for both developing and developed countries. In the review, we summarise evidence for and notable cases of TT-HEV infections, the various aspects of HEV screening protocols and recent trends in the implementation of TT-HEV broad-based blood screening programmes.

β-Glucan has been reported for its health benefits on blood lipids in hypercholesterolaemic individuals for years. However, people have paid little attention to the effects of β-glucan in populations with mild hypercholesterolaemia as well as the various delivering matrices. Our objective was to perform a meta-analysis to analyse the effects of β-glucan with different delivering matrices in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals. After conducting a comprehensive search in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane Library, a total of twenty-one randomised controlled trials involving 1120 participants were identified to measure the pooled effect. The overall results indicated that consuming a dose of ≥3 g/d of β-glucan for at least 3 weeks could significantly reduce total cholesterol (TC) (−0·27 mmol/l, 95 % CI −0·33, −0·21, P < 0·001) and LDL-cholesterol (−0·26 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·32, −0·20, P < 0·001) compared with the control group in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals, while no significant difference was observed in TAG (−0·03 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·11, 0·06, P = 0·521) and HDL-cholesterol (0·01 mmol/l, 95% CI −0·03, 0·04, P = 0·777). There was evidence for modest unexplained heterogeneity in the meta-analysis. In conclusion, β-glucan can significantly reduce risk factors like TC and LDL-cholesterol for CVD in mildly hypercholesterolaemic individuals; furthermore, it appears that the effects of food matrices with both ‘solid products’ and ‘liquid products’ where β-glucan was incorporated into were ranked as the best way to exert its beneficial properties, while ‘liquid’ and ‘solid’ products were ranked as the second and third positions, respectively.

Design is a complicated and sophisticated process with numerous existing theories trying to describe it. To verify theories and quantitatively describe the design process, design experiment, and data analysis are crucial and inevitable. However, applying data analysis in the design experiment is tricky and design data is not fully utilized in many aspects. To explore the potential of design experiment data, this paper introduces data-driven research based on an interior design experiment, aiming to reveal the category and process of design by conducting data analysis, visualization, and recommendation. We introduce an interactive evolutionary computation (IEC) design experiment that deals with a simplified interior design task and has already been tested on 230 subjects. Using the data gathered during the experiment, we conduct data analysis and visualization involving methods including Holistic color interval and K-means clustering to show categories and processes in design. Additionally, we train a content-based recommendation system with experiment data to capture user preference and make the IEC system more efficient and intelligent. The analysis and visualization show clear design categories and capture an evident trend towards the final design outcome. The application of the recommendation system brings a prominent improvement to the IEC system. This research shows the great potential of the various data-driven methods in design research.

In this research paper we filter and verify miRNAs which may target silent information regulator homolog 2 (SIRT2) gene and then describe the mechanism whereby miRNA-212 might regulate lipogenic genes in mammary epithelial cell lines via targeting SIRT2. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the bovine SIRT2 gene is regulated by three miRNAs: miR-212, miR-375 and miR-655. The three miRNAs were verified and screened by qRT-PCR, western blot, and luciferase multiplex verification techniques and only miR-212 was shown to have a targeting relationship with SIRT2. The results of co-transfecting miR-212 and silencing RNA (siRNA) showed that by targeting SIRT2, miR-212 can regulate the expression of fatty acid synthetase (FASN) and sterol regulatory element binding factor 1 (SREBP1) but not peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). Measurement of triglyceride (TAG) content showed that miR-212 increased the fat content of mammary epithelial cell lines. The study indicates that miR-212 could target and inhibit the expression of the SIRT2 gene to promote lipogenesis in mammary epithelial cell lines.

This study aimed at comparing the factors associated with the natural progression between typical progressors (TPs) and rapid progressors (RPs) in HIV-infected individuals. A retrospective study was conducted on 2095 eligible HIV-infected individuals from 1995 to 2016 in a high-risk area of Henan Province, China. Propensity score matching was used to balance covariates, and the conditional logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the factors of natural disease progression among HIV infectors. A total of 379 pairs of RPs and TPs were matched. The standardised difference values of all covariates were less than 10%. HIV-infected individuals transmitted through sexual transmission (odds ratio (OR) 0.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.36–0.85) were more likely to progress to AIDS compared with those infected through contaminated blood. Older age at diagnosis of HIV-infected individuals (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.58–0.89) exhibited a faster progression to AIDS. HIV-infected individuals identified through a unique survey (OR 7.01, 95% CI 2.99–16.44) were less likely to progress to AIDS compared with those identified through medical institutions. HIV-infected individuals who had higher baseline CD4+T cell counts (OR 3.37, 95% CI 2.59–4.38) had a slower progression to AIDS. These findings provide evidence for natural disease progression from HIV to AIDS between TPs and RPs.

Aiming at the influence of coupling coefficient variation on the output voltage of a high-power LCC-S topology inductively coupled power transfer (ICPT) system, a synchronous three-phase triple-parallel Buck converter is used as the voltage adjustment unit. The control method for the three-phase current sharing of synchronous three-phase triple-parallel Buck converter and the constant voltage output ICPT system under the coupling coefficient variation is studied. Firstly, the hybrid model consisting of the circuit averaging model of the three-phase triple-parallel Buck converter and the generalized state-space average model for the LCC-S type ICPT system is established. Then, the control methods for three-phase current sharing of the synchronous three-phase triple-parallel Buck converter and constant voltage output of ICPT system are studied to achieve the multi-objective integrated control of the system. Finally, a 3.3 kW wireless charging system platform is built, the experimental results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed modeling and control method, and demonstrated the stability of the ICPT system.

Meditation is a type of mental training commonly applied in clinical settings and also practiced for general well-being. Brain functional connectivity (FC) patterns associated with meditation have revealed its brain mechanisms. However, the variety of FC methods applied has made it difficult to identify brain communication patterns associated with meditation. Here we carried out a coordinate-based meta-analysis to get preliminary evidence of meditation effects on changing brain network interactions. Fourteen seed-based, voxel-wise FC studies reported in 13 publications were reviewed; 10 studies with seeds in the default mode network (DMN) were meta-analyzed. Seed coordinates and the effect sizes in statistically significant regions were extracted, based on 170 subjects in meditation groups and 163 subjects in control groups. Seed-based d-mapping was used to analyze meditation versus control FC differences with DMN seeds. Meditation was associated with increased connectivity within DMN and between DMN and somatomotor network and with decreased connectivity between DMN and frontoparietal network (FPN) as well as ventral attention network (VAN). The pattern of decreased within-DMN FC and increased between-network FC (FPN and DAN with DMN) was more robust in highly experienced meditators compared to less experienced individuals. The identified neural network interactions may also promote meditation’s effectiveness in clinical interventions for treating physical and mental disorders.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection was frequent in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients in Yunnan province. We studied the epidemic characteristics of HCV in HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Serum from 894 HIV-1 patients was collected, together with basic information and biochemical features. All samples were infected with HIV through injecting drug users (IDUs) and sexual transmission (ST). The NS5B gene was amplified and sequenced to affirm HCV genotype. In total, 202 HIV patients were co-infected with HCV, and most (81.19%) of co-infected patients were IDUs. Genotype 3b was predominant (37.62%) in these samples, and its frequency was similar in patients with IDU and ST. The frequencies of genotypes 1a, 1b, 3a, 6a, 6n, 2a and 6u were 3.96%, 16.34%, 23.76%, 6.93%, 10.40%, 0.50% and 0.50%, respectively. However, genotype 3a showed significantly different frequency in HCV patients with IDU and ST (P = 0.019). When HCV patients were divided into subgroups, the haemoglobin (HGB) level was significantly higher in patients with genotype 3a than in patients with 3b (P = 0.033), 6a (P = 0.006) and 6n (P = 0.007), respectively. Although no difference existed among HCV subgroups, HIV-viral load was identified to be positively correlated with the HGB level and CD4+ cells when dividing HCV/HIV co-infected persons into male and female groups. In conclusion, genotype 3b was the predominant HCV genotype in Yunnan HIV/HCV co-infected persons. The HGB level was higher in patients with genotype 3a than others. HIV-viral load was positively correlated with the HGB level and CD4+ cells in the male or female HCV-infected group.

In this study, we argue that foreign subsidiaries may benefit from the corporate strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in different ways in terms of knowledge transfer and strategic flexibility. From this viewpoint, we explore the relationship between product diversification and financial performance of their subsidiaries under the condition of MNE geographic diversification. Using panel data on foreign subsidiaries in European countries from 2006 to 2011, we find a U-shaped relationship between product diversification and subsidiary performance and the joint effect of product and geographic diversification. Given the importance of transition economies in international business today, we conducted a subsample test contrasting the results based on the transitional (Central and Eastern European) versus Western European countries. The contrasting results provide important implications for other transition economies like China. We validate the relationship in several ways in our robustness tests.