This paper discusses the Maxwell system of electrodynamics in the context of distributions. It is used to establish boundary conditions for fields at the interface when the charge and current densities are concentrated measures on the interface. The paper derives the generalized Snell's law from this analysis.

This study analyzed the temporal variation of scour hole dimensions caused by a plain wall jet, which is one of the most hazardous issues faced by hydraulic structures. The study employed two recently developed artificial intelligence-based models, Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) and Multi-Gen Genetic Programming (MGGP), to predict scour hole dimensions and identify effective parameters. Both models accurately predicted the scour hole dimensions, with MGGP outperforming ELM for both training and testing data. MGGP presented four equations that can be used by designers to predict the temporal variations of scour hole dimensions with high accuracy. The non-dimensional form of the scouring time was found to be the most effective parameter, while the channel width ratio and standard deviation of sediments had negligible effects on the accuracy of the models. The study found that the effectiveness of the densimetric Froude number should be considered for predicting the temporal variation of scour hole dimensions due to plain wall jets. The proposed equations from both models had higher accuracy than previous empirical models. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into predicting and mitigating jet scour problems in hydraulic structures.

The study examined human performance and related neural mechanisms in a pop-out search with different probabilities of target location and the relation between the target location and feature. In a search array, we introduced the binding relation between two target features and two kinds of location probability. Moreover, in the second half of the experiment, such a probability pattern for location/feature binding was reversed. Behavioral results revealed successful statistical learning of probability for both absolute target location and target’s location-feature binding indicated by faster RTs in the high-probability conditions for both location and location-feature binding. Moreover, the learning benefit for the probability of location-feature binding acquired during 1st (training) phase was still expressed in the 2nd (reversal) phase despite the actual binding probability was reversed. ERP results suggested that both the attentional selection and response selection process were affected by such learning revealed in the difference in N2pc and LRP amplitudes between the two conditions with different binding probability in the reversal phase. An expectation to the high probability for location-feature binding was also suggested from time-frequency analysis and Multi-Variate Pattern Classification (MVPC) indicated by larger alpha ERD magnitude and lower decoding accuracy, respectively, when the target appeared at the high-binding location in the training phase instead of the reversal phase. Overall, we have demonstrated behavioral evidence and 4 EEG markers for the associative learning of the probability of relation between location and feature of target in a pop-out search.

In the environmental security monitoring of smart cities, the infrared and visible image fusion method deployed on intelligent systems based on cloud and fog computing plays an vital role in providing enhanced images for target detection systems. However, the fusion quality can be significantly influenced by the illumination of the monitoring scenario in visible images. Therefore, conventional methods typically suffer a severe performance drop under the condition of insufficient illumination. To tackle this issue, we propose an illumination enhancement and target-aware fusion method (IETAFusion) based on artificial intelligence, which breaks the boundaries between the task of illumination enhancement and image fusion and provide a fusion result with better visual perception in nighttime scene. Specifically, we use a light-weight contrast enhancement module (CEM) restore the brightness of the visble image. Moreover, a Swin Transformer-based backbone network (STBNet) is utilized to facilitate information exchangement between the source images and enhance the capabilities of target awareness. Finally, the fused images are reconstructed by the contrast-texture retention module (CTRM) and reconstructor. The extensive experiments indicates that the proposed approach achieves improved performance both in human perception and quantitative analysis compared with the state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods.

ABSTRACTA 24-year-old man was being followed for dilated cardiomyopathy. He presented with bipolar aphthosis and a painless pulsatile abdominal mass. A CT scan showed abdominal aortic and superior mesenteric artery aneurysms and pulmonary embolism. The diagnosis of Behçet’s disease was accepted. The initial course was favorable under corticosteroid therapy.

Subtropical moss peatlands have important ecological functions, and their protection and restoration are urgent. In this study, typical subtropical moss peatlands and the Cryptomeria swamp forest (CSF) formed by long-term (more than 20 years) drainage and afforestation in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau of China were selected as the research sites. 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing technology was used to study the differences in soil bacterial community diversity and composition among a natural Sphagnum fen (SF), Polytrichum bog (PB) and CSF to explore the effects of drainage and afforestation on different types of moss peatlands and its mechanism combined with soil physicochemical properties. Results showed that (1) drainage and afforestation significantly reduced the α diversity of soil bacterial communities in SF, while significantly increased the α diversity of soil bacterial communities in PB. Soil bacterial communities of SF had the highest α diversity and had many unique species or groups at different taxonomic levels. (2) The impact of drainage and afforestation on the soil bacterial community composition in SF was significantly higher than that in PB. Drainage and afforestation caused significant changes in the composition and relative abundance of dominant groups of soil bacteria in SF at different taxonomic levels, such as significantly reducing the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, significantly increasing the relative abundance of Acidobacteria, and significantly reducing the ratio of Proteobacteria to Acidobacteria, but did not have a significant impact on the corresponding indicators of PB. The changes in the ratio of Proteobacteria to Acidobacteria may reflect changes in the trophic conditions of peatlands. (3) Soil moisture content, available phosphorus content, and pH were key driving factors for changes in soil bacterial community composition and diversity, which should be paid attention to in the restoration of moss peatlands.

We conducted a multicentre hospital-based test-negative case–control study to measure vaccine effectiveness (VE) against PCR-confirmed influenza in adult patients with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) during the 2022/23 influenza season in Europe. Among 5547 SARI patients ≥18 years, 2963 (53%) were vaccinated against influenza. Overall VE against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was 11% (95%CI: -23–36); 20% (95%CI: -4–39) against A(H3N2) and 56% (95%CI: 22–75) against B. During the 2022/23 season, while VE against hospitalisation with influenza B was >55%, it was ≤20% for influenza A subtypes. While influenza vaccination should be a priority for the upcoming season, improved vaccines against influenza are needed.

Influenza A(H3N2) viruses dominated early in the 2022–23 influenza season in Europe, followed by higher circulation of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B viruses. The VEBIS primary care network estimated the influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) using a multicentre test-negative study. Primary care practitioners collected information and specimens from patients consulting with acute respiratory infection. We measured VE against any influenza, influenza (sub)type and clade, by age group, by influenza vaccine target group and by time since vaccination, using logistic regression. We included 38,058 patients, of which 3,786 were influenza A(H3N2), 1,548 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and 3,275 influenza B cases. Against influenza A(H3N2), VE was 36% (95%CI: 25–45) among all ages, ranged between 30% and 52% by age group and target group. VE against influenza A(H3N2) clade 2b was 38% (95% CI: 25–49). Overall, VE against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was 46% (95%CI: 35–56) and ranged between 29% and 59% by age group and target group. VE against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 clade 5a.2a was 56% (95% CI: 46–65) and 79% (95% CI: 64–88) against clade 5a.2a.1. VE against influenza B was 76% (95%CI: 70–81), overall; 84%, 72% and 71% among 0–14-year-olds 15–64-year-olds and those in the influenza vaccination target group, respectively. VE against influenza B with a position 197-mutation of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene was 79% (95% CI: 73–85) and 90% (95% CI: 85–94) without this mutation. The 2022–23 end-of-season results from the VEBIS network at primary care level showed high VE among children and against influenza B, with lower VE against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2).

Antibody mimetics is a novel antibody engineering approach after the development of polyclonal, monoclonal antibodies, and genetically engineered antibody fragments. Inspired by the structure and function of natural antibodies, antibody mimetics offer many advantages over conventional antibodies and can be constructed by protein-directed evolution, peptide design and synthesis, or fusion of complementarity-determining regions through intervening framework regions. A series of parent protein/peptide structures and technical roadmaps have been established to induce better recognising properties, superior affinity, stability, penetrability, and cost-effectiveness of the designed mimetics. This article aims to summarise the evolution of antibody mimetics engineering, illustrate the highlights and hotpots in this research field using scientometric analysis, and give an anticipatory analysis on this increasing research topic.

Transcription presents challenges to genome stability both directly, by altering genome topology and exposing single-stranded DNA to chemical insults and nucleases, and indirectly by introducing potential obstacles to the DNA replication machinery. Such obstacles include the RNA polymerase holoenzyme itself, DNA bound regulatory factors, G-quadruplexes and RNA::DNA hybrid structures known as R-loops. Here we review the detrimental impacts of transcription on genome stability in budding yeast, as well as the mitigating effects of transcription-coupled DNA repair and of systems that maintain DNA replication fork processivity and integrity. We conclude that the impacts of transcription on DNA replication by the replisome must be very mild with little direct mutagenic outcome under normal conditions. However, transcription can significantly impair the fidelity of replication fork rescue mechanisms, particularly Break Induced Replication (BIR), which is used to restart collapsed replication forks when other means fail. This leads to de novo mutations, structural variation and extrachromosomal circular DNA formation that contribute to genetic heterogeneity. By re-analysing published datasets, we show that different classes of genes have different interactions with the replisome, and that highly transcribed environment dependant genes in S. cerevisiae tend to be located close to replication origins. We have previously implicated interactions between replication origins and BIR forks in adaptive transcription-induced copy number variation events, which indicates that environment dependent genes are preferentially located in genomic environments more prone to instability, particularly under replication stress.

Affective Touch plays a pivotal role in regulating emotions, fostering social bonds and nurturing affiliations with others. The emotional and arousing dimensions associated to Affective Touch are linked to the activation of the CT- fibres system, an afferent pathway attuned to those specific features of tactile stimulations which characterize gentle human caresses, such as touch velocity and the nature of the stroking source. While previous research has examined the physiological responses in relation to these individual features of Affective Touch, no study has explored how they interact to shape autonomic activity. In this study, we investigated whether and how touch velocity (CT-optimal vs. CT-suboptimal) and the nature of the touching effector (Human hand vs. Artificial hand) influenced the participants’ pupil dilation and their subjective experience during tactile stimulation. We observed a higher pupil dilation when touch was delivered simultaneously at CT-optimal speed and by a human hand. This kind of touch invoked a supralinear enhancement of pupil dilation indicating that the combination of these two features induced a significantly stronger autonomic activation than the summed effects of each delivered separately. Moreover, this specific type of touch was perceived as the most pleasant compared to all other tactile stimulations. Therefore, pupil dilation appears to map the positive and pleasant experience of human-to-human tactile interactions. Collectively, our results support the notion that the autonomic nervous system encodes the emotional and hedonic aspects associated with Affective Touch as a complex and holistic social experience, rather than solely responding to its low-level sensory properties.

Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) is a life-threatening condition caused by the rapid destruction of malignant cells, leading to imbalances in electrolytes and posing risks such as acute kidney injury, arrhythmia, and seizures. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the incidence of TLS in a cohort of 94 patients with advanced-stage aggressive B-cell malignancies treated with fractionated rituximab, along with usual TLS preemptive measures such as hyperhydration and urate-lowering treatments. The study found that TLS occurred in seven patients, with one case classified as clinical TLS (cTLS) and six as laboratory TLS (lTLS). The incidence of TLS was higher in patients with Burkitt lymphoma compared to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. TLS occurrence did not significantly influence survival outcomes in this cohort. Comparison with other datasets showed similar TLS rates in patients with high-grade B-cell lymphoma. These findings contribute to the understanding of TLS in B-cell malignancies, highlighting the potential of fractionated rituximab as a debulking approach to manage TLS risk that warrants further investigation in prospective trials.

Title: Thyroid lesion with thrombus in great veins points towards particular pathology-A case report and review in literature

The study aims to find the optimal fin length distribution for improved heat transfer during melting and solidification in a tubular PCM heat exchanger designed for heat storage. Three types of horizontal PCM tabular heat exchangers, all with five longitudinal fins, were studied numerically. While maintaining a constant heat transfer area, each model depicts a unique fin length distribution design. The first model, which serves as the reference design, has a homogeneous fin length distribution and each fin is 30 mm long. The second model has shorter upper and side fins and longer lower fins (20 mm for the upper fin, 25 mm for the side fins, and 40 mm for the lower fins). The third model has long lower fins but shorter than that of second model, short side fins and no change in upper fin length with reference design (30 mm for upper fin, 25 mm for side fins and 35 mm for lower fins). The findings indicate that the second model exhibits the best heat transfer performance for the melting process, while the first model is most effective for solidification. Interestingly, the third design emerges as the optimum choice for both melting and solidification processes.

Background: There are few randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in paediatric surgery, and the risk of bias of these studies is unknown. There is also little known about the methodological or reporting quality of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in paediatric surgery. We aimed to determine the risk of bias and reporting quality of recent RCTs, systematic reviews and meta-analyses in paediatric surgery, and the associations with study characteristics. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, JBI EBP Database, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, Web of Science and high-impact journals for all RCTs, systematic reviews and meta-analyses in paediatric surgery published in 2021. We assessed the risk of bias and reporting quality of RCTs using the RoB 2 and CONSORT tools, respectively. We assessed the same parameters for systematic reviews and meta-analyses using the ROBIS and PRISMA tools. Findings: We identified 82 RCTs and 289 systematic reviews or meta-analyses in paediatric surgery published in 2021. More than half (n=46, 56%) of RCTs and almost all (n=278, 96%) systematic reviews and meta-analyses were at high risk of bias. Only one (1%) RCT and 4 (1%) systematic reviews and meta-analyses were adequately reported. We found that lower risk of bias and higher reporting quality in RCTs, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses were associated with the presence of a published protocol. For systematic reviews and meta-analyses, a higher PRISMA score was associated with being a Cochrane review. Surprisingly, we found that more than half of systematic reviews and meta-analyses (n=162, 56.1%) had no risk of bias assessments. Conclusions: Recently published RCTs, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses in paediatric surgery are at high risk of bias and have poor reporting quality. We suggest strategies for how trialists, systematic reviewers and other stakeholders across the research lifecycle can design, conduct and report higher quality research in paediatric surgery.

The Chinese mountain cat (Felis bieti) is among the most elusive and endangered felid species worldwide and is endemic to the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, China. Currently, the cat is assessed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List based on its ‘likely small population’, ‘high likelihood of fragmentation’, and “probably declining” trend. Specifically, two human activities were identified by the previous studies as the major threats that this unique lineage is faced with, as the large-scale pika poisoning program and illegal hunting prevailing in the area. However, during our monitoring of a breeding family discovered in the Sanjiangyuan Region, two cats of the family were found dead and were most likely killed by free-ranging dogs. Moreover, following genetic analysis indicated that both cats were genetically contaminated by local domestic cats. Consequently, based on the examination of the carcasses, associate genetic analysis, and survey on free-ranging dogs, in this study we identified two so far overlooked threats for the Chinese mountain cats, as the killing by free-ranging dogs and genetic contamination from domestic cats. These threats mark the tricky balance among humans, domestic animals and wildlife in both historical and recently burgeoning human activities, which requires further investigation, research and conservation efforts.

Objectives: To describe the influenza vaccination coverage and identify its influencing factors, and understand the reasons for not receiving influenza vaccination among the elderly in Minhang District, Shanghai. Methods: The influenza vaccination coverage among the elderly in Minhang District of Shanghai was described by collating the data of influenza vaccination from August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2019 for elderly people aged ≥60 years provided by Minhang District Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).And a telephone survey was conducted among vaccinated and unvaccinated older adults during the 2018-2019 influenza season using a self-designed questionnaire in August-December 2020. Results: Influenza vaccination coverage rate among the elderly was 0.68%, 0.62%, 0.67%, 0.92% and 1.36% in the influenza season from 2014/2015 to 2018/2019 respectively. Higher influenza vaccination was associated with females (odds ratio (OR):1.937), independent living (OR:8.700), self-perceived poor health status (OR:4.445), having recommendations from physicians (OR:5.052) or family members (OR:3.449), former smokers (OR:4.509), past pneumococcal vaccination (OR:52.172) and past influenza infection (OR:15.184). In addition, the elderly with chronic bronchitis (OR:1.808), COPD (OR:3.161), bronchiectasis (OR:5.146) and diabetes mellitus (OR:2.030) were positively associated with vaccination. The main reason for not receiving influenza vaccination were believing they were healthy and did not need to get vaccinated (40.0%). Conclusions: The influenza vaccination coverage rate was relatively low among the elderly in Minhang District, Shanghai. The awareness and willing about vaccinations in elderly people should be increased.

The aqueous metal-H2O2 batteries have been paying rapidly increasing attention due to their large theoretical energy densities, high power density, and multiple applications (air, land, and sea), especially in low-content oxygen or nonoxygen conditions in which metal-air cells are out of work. However, the requirements of metal-H2O2 batteries are different due to the order of metal activities (Mg>Al>Zn) as well as metal-air cells. Aqueous metal-H2O2 batteries mainly include Al-H2O2, Mg-H2O2, and Zn-H2O2 batteries with respective scientific problems, including battery structures, single/dual-electrolyte systems, electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction/evolution reactions and H2O2 reduction/production/decomposition, and the designability of anode to inhibit self-corrosion. In this review, we summarized battery architectures, possible mechanisms, and recent progress in metal-H2O2 batteries including Al-H2O2, Mg-H2O2, and Zn-H2O2 batteries. Several perspectives are also provided for these research fields, which may be focused on in the future.