The COVID-19 pandemic led to an initial increase in the incidence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) from clinical cultures in South-East Asia hospitals, which was unsustained as the pandemic progressed. Conversely, there was a decrease in CRE incidence from surveillance cultures and overall combined incidence. Further studies are needed for future pandemic preparedness.

In Beijing, the capital of China, routine measles mass vaccination has been in place for decades with high coverage; and since the 2000s, catch-up vaccination programmes have been implemented for migrant workers coming to the city. However, measles epidemics in Beijing persisted. Here, we explored the contributing factors of persistent measles transmission in Beijing using an epidemic model in conjunction with a particle filter. Model inputs included data on birth, death, migration, and vaccination. We formulated a series of hypotheses covering the impact of migrant influx, early waning of maternal immunity, and increased mixing among infants; we compared the plausibility of the hypotheses based on model fit to age-grouped, weekly measles incidence data from January 2005 to December 2014, and out-of-fit prediction during 2015–2019. Our best models showed close agreement with the data, and the out-of-fit prediction generally captured the trend of measles incidence from 2015 to 2019. We found that large influx of migrants with considerably higher susceptibility likely contributed to the persistent measles transmission in Beijing. Our findings suggest that stronger catch-up vaccination programmes for migrants may help eliminate measles transmission in Beijing.

This paper studies the synchronization control of the blanket remote maintenance robot (BRMR) of the China fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR). First, the general state space mathematical model of BRMR was established by using a physical-based method. Second, based on the receding horizon optimization of model predictive control (MPC) and cross-coupling error reduction in cross-coupling control (CCC), the innovative MPC-CCC controller was proposed to realize the single-system and multisystem error convergence and high accuracy transportation of blanket through the high accuracy synchronization control of BRMR. Third, to verify the control effectiveness of the MPC-CCC controller, two types of simulations and experiments were implied compared with the original proportional-integral (PI) controller in Mover. Results showed that simulation and experiments were highly consistent. It is found that the use of an MPC-CCC controller can result in up to a 70% reduction in displacement error and up to a 59% reduction in synchronization error compared to the PI controller. And the accuracy of the MPC-CCC controller satisfies the real requirement of the maintenance process of the blanket. This work provides the theoretical basis and practical experience for the highly stable, safe, and efficient maintenance of blankets in the future.

A model-free adaptive robust control based on time delay estimation (TDE) is proposed for robot in the presence of disturbance and input saturation. TDE is utilized to estimate the complicated nonlinear terms of the robot including unknown dynamics and disturbance, and a TDE error observer is developed to estimate the inevitable TDE error. When the input torque of the robot exceeds the upper or lower limit of the input saturation, an auxiliary system and a saturation deviation boundary adaptive law are employed to mitigate the negative impact of input saturation on the position tracking. Finally, the robust control law is obtained by backstepping. The stability of the closed-loop system is proved by Lyapunov functions, and the validity of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparative simulations and experiments. Compared with the model-based controllers and other model-free controllers, the proposed method does not necessitate the accurate dynamic model of the complicated system and with lower computation. Moreover, it can guarantee the desired position tracking performance of the robot even subject to disturbance and input saturation simultaneously.

Placental trophoblastic cells play important roles in placental development and fetal health. However, the mechanism of trophoblastic cell fusion is still not entirely clear. The level of Tspan5 in the embryo culture medium was detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Fusion of BeWo cells was observed by immunofluorescence. Cell fusion-related factors and EMT-related factors were identified by qRT-PCR and western blotting. Notch protein repressor DAPT was used to verify the role of Tspan5 in BeWo cells. The expression of Tspan5 was significantly increased in embryo culture medium. The fusion of BeWo cells was observed after treatment with forskolin (FSK). Cell fusion-related factors (i.e. β-hCG and syncytin 1/2) and Tspan5 were significantly increased after FSK treatment. In addition, FSK treatment promoted EMT-related protein expression in BeWo cells. Knockdown of Tspan5 inhibited cell fusion and EMT-related protein levels. Notch-1 and Jagged-1 protein levels were significantly upregulated, and the EMT process was activated by overexpression of Tspan5 in FSK-treated BeWo cells. Interestingly, blocking the Notch pathway by the repressor DAPT had the opposite results. These results indicated that Tspan5 could promote the EMT process by activating the Notch pathway, thereby causing cell fusion. These findings contribute to a better understanding of trophoblast cell syncytialization and embryonic development. Tspan5 may be used as a therapeutic target for normal placental development.

Design is a highly nonlinear chaotic dynamic process with many possible solutions, which requires enormous knowledge for designers. This paper investigates how environment-based design (EBD) methodology can help designers use only necessary knowledge for their creativity based on three methods: information search, knowledge acquisition and knowledge application. The methods are applied in an aircraft pylon design, which is evaluated by two aerospace design specialists. The paper discussed the different roles of EBD for novice and expert designers in regard to overcoming emotion and knowledge barriers to achieving designer creativity.

The association between time-restricted eating (TRE) and the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is less studied. Moreover, whether the association is independent of physical exercise or diet quality or quantity is uncertain. In this nationwide cross-sectional study of 3813 participants, the timing of food intakes was recorded by 24-h recalls; NAFLD was defined through vibration-controlled transient elastography in the absence of other causes of chronic liver disease. OR and 95 % CI were estimated using logistic regression. Participants with daily eating window of ≤ 8 h had lower odds of NAFLD (OR = 0·70, 95 % CI: 0·52, 0·93), compared with those with ≥ 10 h window. Early (05.00–15.00) and late TRE (11.00–21.00) showed inverse associations with NAFLD prevalence without statistical heterogeneity (Pheterogeneity = 0·649) with OR of 0·73 (95 % CI: 0·36, 1·47) and 0·61 (95 % CI: 0·44, 0·84), respectively. Such inverse association seemed stronger in participants with lower energy intake (OR = 0·58, 95 % CI: 0·38, 0·89, Pinteraction = 0·020). There are no statistical differences in the TRE-NAFLD associations according to physical activity (Pinteraction = 0·390) or diet quality (Pinteraction = 0·110). TRE might be associated with lower likelihood of NAFLD. Such inverse association is independent of physical activity and diet quality and appears stronger in individuals consuming lower energy. Given the potential misclassification of TRE based on one- or two-day recall in the analysis, epidemiological studies with validated methods for measuring the habitual timing of dietary intake are warranted.

Let G be a finite group and $\mathrm {Irr}(G)$ the set of all irreducible complex characters of G. Define the codegree of $\chi \in \mathrm {Irr}(G)$ as $\mathrm {cod}(\chi ):={|G:\mathrm {ker}(\chi ) |}/{\chi (1)}$ and denote by $\mathrm {cod}(G):=\{\mathrm {cod}(\chi ) \mid \chi \in \mathrm {Irr}(G)\}$ the codegree set of G. Let H be one of the $26$ sporadic simple groups. We show that H is determined up to isomorphism by cod $(H)$ .

Objectives: Influenza vaccination is encouraged for all healthcare workers (HCWs) to reduce the risk of acquiring the infection and onward transmission to colleagues and patients during the influenza season. Thus, vaccination was introduced at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in 2007 and has been offered to all HCWs at no cost. The HCW influenza vaccination program is conducted annually in October and biannually during years with vaccine mismatch. However, influenza vaccine uptake remained low among HCWs. We sought to determine the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on influenza vaccine uptake among HCWs. Methods: At SGH, 2 methods of vaccine delivery are offered: centralized (1-month drop-in system during office hours) and decentralized (administered by vaccination teams in offices or ward staff in inpatient locations). In the 4-year study period between 2018 and 2021, 6 influenza vaccination exercise campaigns were conducted during 8 influenza seasons. During each exercise, ~9,000 HCWs were eligible for vaccination. Results: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine uptake in the Southern Hemisphere was 77.6% (6,964 of 8,977) in 2018 and 84.2% (7,296 of 8,670) in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, vaccine uptake in the Southern Hemisphere increased by 10% to 94.1% (8,361 of 8,889). In the Northern Hemisphere, vaccine uptake was 79.2% (7,114 of 8,977) in 2018, and this increased by 17.9% to 97.1% (8,926 of 9,194) during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During the 2021 Southern Hemisphere influenza season, no vaccination program was conducted because the risk of influenza was considered low due to the closure of international borders and the implementation of public health measures. In addition, priority was given to COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Conclusions: Increased uptake of the influenza vaccination was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anxiety created by the respiratory disease pandemic and debate surrounding vaccines likely contributed to increased awareness and uptake in influenza vaccine among HCWs.

Computer-aided design (CAD) plays an essential role in creative idea generation on 2D screens during the design process. In most CAD scenarios, virtual object translation is an essential operation, and it is commonly used when designers simulate their innovative solutions. The degrees of freedom (DoF) of virtual object translation modes have been found to directly impact users’ task performance and psychological aspects in simulated environments. Little is known in the existing literature about the sense of agency (SoA), which is a critical psychological aspect emphasizing the feeling of control, in translation modes on 2D screens during the design process. Hence, this study aims to assess users’ SoA in virtual object translation modes on mouse-based, touch-based, and handheld augmented reality (AR) interfaces through subjective and objective measures, such as self-report, task performance, and electroencephalogram (EEG) data. Based on our findings in this study, users perceived a greater feeling of control in 1DoF translation mode, which may help them come up with more creative ideas, than in 3DoF translation mode in the design process; additionally, the handheld AR interface offers less control feel, which may have a negative impact on design quality and creativity, as compared with mouse- and touch-based interfaces. This research contributes to the current literature by analyzing the association between virtual object translation modes and SoA, as well as the relationship between different 2D interfaces and SoA in CAD. As a result of these findings, we propose several design considerations for virtual object translation on 2D screens, which may enable designers to perceive a desirable feeling of control during the design process.

We prove that if a solvable group A acts coprimely on a solvable group G, then A has a relatively ‘large’ orbit in its corresponding action on the set of ordinary complex irreducible characters of G. This improves an earlier result of Keller and Yang [‘Orbits of finite solvable groups on characters’, Israel J. Math. 199 (2014), 933–940].

The associations of red/processed meat consumption and cancer-related health outcomes have been well discussed. The umbrella review aimed to summarise the associations of red/processed meat consumption and various non-cancer-related outcomes in humans. We systematically searched the systematic reviews and meta-analyses of associations between red/processed meat intake and health outcomes from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases. The umbrella review has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD 42021218568). A total of 40 meta-analyses were included. High consumption of red meat, particularly processed meat, was associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality, CVD and metabolic outcomes. Dose–response analysis revealed that an additional 100 g/d red meat intake was positively associated with a 17 % increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), 15 % increased risk of CHD, 14 % of hypertension and 12 % of stroke. The highest dose–response/50 g increase in processed meat consumption at 95 % confident levels was 1·37, 95 % CI (1·22, 1·55) for T2DM, 1·27, 95 % CI (1·09, 1·49) for CHD, 1·17, 95 % CI (1·02, 1·34) for stroke, 1·15, 95 % CI (1·11, 1·19) for all-cause mortality and 1·08, 95 % CI (1·02, 1·14) for heart failure. In addition, red/processed meat intake was associated with several other health-related outcomes. Red and processed meat consumption seems to be more harmful than beneficial to human health in this umbrella review. It is necessary to take the impacts of red/processed meat consumption on non-cancer-related outcomes into consideration when developing new dietary guidelines, which will be of great public health importance. However, more additional randomised controlled trials are warranted to clarify the causality.

Many protected areas worldwide have been established to protect the last natural refuges of flagship animal species. However, long-established protected areas do not always match the current distributions of target species under changing environmental conditions. Here we present a case study of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus in Xishuangbanna, south-west China, to evaluate whether the established protected areas match the species’ current distribution and to identify key habitat patches for Asian elephant conservation. Our results show that currently only 24.5% of the predicted Asian elephant distribution in Xishuangbanna is located within Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, which was established for elephant conservation. Based on the predicted Asian elephant distribution, we identified the most important habitat patches for elephant conservation in Xishuangbanna. The three most important patches were outside Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve and together they contained 43.3% of the estimated food resources for Asian elephants in all patches in Xishuangbanna. Thus, we identified a spatial mismatch between immobile protected areas and mobile animals. We recommend the inclusion of the three identified key habitat patches in a new national park currently being planned by the Chinese authorities for the conservation of the Asian elephant.

Whether starchy and non-starchy vegetables have distinct impacts on health remains unknown. We prospectively investigated the intake of starchy and non-starchy vegetables in relation to mortality risk in a nationwide cohort. Diet was assessed using 24-h dietary recalls. Deaths were identified via the record linkage to the National Death Index. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI were calculated using Cox regression. During a median follow-up of 7·8 years, 4904 deaths were documented among 40 074 participants aged 18 years or older. Compared to those with no consumption, participants with daily consumption of ≥ 1 serving of non-starchy vegetables had a lower risk of mortality (HR = 0·76, 95 % CI 0·66, 0·88, Ptrend = 0·001). Dark-green and deep-yellow vegetables (HR = 0·79, 95 % CI 0·63, 0·99, Ptrend = 0·023) and other non-starchy vegetables (HR = 0·80, 95 % CI 0·70, 0·92, Ptrend = 0·004) showed similar results. Total starchy vegetable intake exhibited a marginally weak inverse association with mortality risk (HR = 0·89, 95 % CI 0·80, 1·00, Ptrend = 0·048), while potatoes showed a null association (HR = 0·93, 95 % CI 0·82, 1·06, Ptrend = 0·186). Restricted cubic spline analysis suggested a linear dose–response relationship between vegetable intake and death risk, with a plateau at over 300 and 200 g/d for total and non-starchy vegetables, respectively. Compared with starchy vegetables, non-starchy vegetables might be more beneficial to health, although both showed a protective association with mortality risk. The risk reduction in mortality plateaued at approximately 200 g/d for non-starchy vegetables and 300 g/d for total vegetables.

Previous studies have reported inconsistent associations between low-carbohydrate diets (LCD) and plasma lipid profile. Also, there is little evidence on the role of the quality and food sources of macronutrients in LCD in cardiometabolic health. We investigated the cross-sectional associations between LCD and plasma cardiometabolic risk markers in a nationwide representative sample of the US population. Diet was measured through two 24-h recalls. Overall, healthy (emphasising unsaturated fat, plant protein and less low-quality carbohydrates) and unhealthy (emphasising saturated fat, animal protein and less high-quality carbohydrate) LCD scores were developed according to the percentage of energy as total and subtypes of carbohydrate, protein and fat. Linear regression was used to estimate the percentage difference of plasma marker concentrations by LCD scores. A total of 34 785 participants aged 18–85 years were included. After adjusting for covariates including BMI, healthy LCD was associated with lower levels of insulin, homoeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and TAG, and higher levels of HDL-cholesterol, with the percentage differences (comparing extreme quartile of LCD score) of −5·91, −6·16, −9·13, −9·71 and 7·60 (all P trend < 0·001), respectively. Conversely, unhealthy LCD was associated with higher levels of insulin, HOMA-IR, CRP and LDL-cholesterol (all P trend < 0·001). Our results suggest that healthy LCD may have positive, whereas unhealthy LCD may have negative impacts on CRP and metabolic and lipid profiles. These findings underscore the need to carefully consider the quality and subtypes of macronutrients in future LCD studies.

The codegree of an irreducible character $\chi $ of a finite group G is $|G : \ker \chi |/\chi (1)$. We show that the Ree group ${}^2G_2(q)$, where $q = 3^{2f+1}$, is determined up to isomorphism by its set of codegrees.

The role of dietary factors in osteoporotic fractures (OFs) in women is not fully elucidated. We investigated the associations between incidence of OF and dietary calcium, magnesium and soy isoflavone intake in a longitudinal study of 48 584 postmenopausal women. Multivariable Cox regression was applied to derive hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) to evaluate associations between dietary intake, based on the averages of two assessments that took place with a median interval of 2⋅4 years, and fracture risk. The average age of study participants is 61⋅4 years (range 43⋅3–76⋅7 years) at study entry. During a median follow-up of 10⋅1 years, 4⋅3 % participants experienced OF. Compared with daily calcium intake ≤400 mg/d, higher calcium intake (>400 mg/d) was significantly associated with about a 40–50 % reduction of OF risk among women with a calcium/magnesium (Ca/Mg) intake ratio ≥1⋅7. Among women with prior fracture history, high soy isoflavone intake was associated with reduced OF risk; the HR was 0⋅72 (95 % CI 0⋅55, 0⋅93) for the highest (>42⋅0 mg/d) v. lowest (<18⋅7 mg/d) quartile intake. This inverse association was more evident among recently menopausal women (<10 years). No significant association between magnesium intake and OF risk was observed. Our findings provide novel information suggesting that the association of OF risk with dietary calcium intake was modified by Ca/Mg ratio, and soy isoflavone intake was modified by history of fractures and time since menopause. Our findings, if confirmed, can help to guide further dietary intervention strategies for OF prevention.