Seasonal dynamics of suspended solids in a giant subtropical reservoir (China) in relation to internal processes and hydrological features

To explore the factors regulating seasonal variation of total suspended solids (TSS) and its two fractions in a giant dendritic reservoir (the Three-Gorges Reservoir of China, TGR) in the subtropical monsoon region, suspended solids, chlorophyll a (a surrogate for lake internal processes) and water residence time (an index of hydrologic flushing) were examined monthly from August 2005 to July 2006. TSS ranged from 0.6 to 200.3 mg/L and from 0.6 to 78 mg/L respectively in the mainstream and in a typical reservoir-bay (the Xiangxi Bay) of the TGR,. TSS exhibited a typical seasonal pattern in the mainstream rather than in the Xiangxi Bay of the TGR. The fraction of non-volatile suspended solids (NVSS) was often more dominant in the mainstream than in the Xiangxi Bay, especially during the flood season. Regressions analysis showed that 87.6% and 89.8% of seasonal variation in TSS and NVSS of the mainstream, respectively, are explained by water residence time. In contrast, suspended solids (particularly volatile suspended solids, VSS) of the Xiangxi Bay displayed significant correlation with algal biomass, and no correlation with hydrological parameters. It implies that the Xiangxi Bay was a more autochthonous system than the mainstream of the TGR where exogenous influences were the more determinant factors. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved

Gastric Lavage in Acute Organophosphorus Pesticide poisoning (GLAOP) – a randomised controlled trial of multiple vs. single gastric lavage in unselected acute organophosphorus pesticide poisoning

BACKGROUND: Organophosphorus (OP) pesticide poisoning is the most common form of pesticide poisoning in many Asian countries. Guidelines in western countries for management of poisoning indicate that gastric lavage should be performed only if two criteria are met: within one hour of poison ingestion and substantial ingested amount. But the evidence on which these guidelines are based is from medicine overdoses in developed countries and may be irrelevant to OP poisoning in Asia. Chinese clinical experience suggests that OP remains in the stomach for several hours or even days after ingestion. Thus, there may be reasons for doing single or multiple gastric lavages for OP poisoning. There have been no randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to assess this practice of multiple lavages. Since it is currently standard therapy in China, we cannot perform a RCT of no lavage vs. a single lavage vs. multiple lavages. We will compare a single gastric lavage with three gastric lavages as the first stage to assess the role of gastric lavage in OP poisoning. METHODS/DESIGN: We have designed an RCT assessing the effectiveness of multiple gastric lavages in adult OP self-poisoning patients admitted to three Chinese hospitals within 12 hrs of ingestion. Patients will be randomised to standard treatment plus either a single gastric lavage on admission or three gastric lavages at four hour intervals. The primary outcome is in-hospital mortality. Analysis will be on an intention-to-treat basis. On the basis of the historical incidence of OP at the study sites, we expect to enroll 908 patients over three years. This projected sample size provides sufficient power to evaluate the death rate; and a variety of other exposure and outcome variables, including particular OPs and ingestion time. Changes of OP level will be analyzed in order to provide some toxic kinetic data. DISCUSSION: the GLAOP study is a novel, prospective cohort study that will explore to the toxic kinetics of OP and effects of gastric lavage on it. Given the poor information about the impact of gastric lavage on clinical outcomes for OP patients, this study can provide important information to inform clinical practice

Wind-thermal power system dispatch using MLSAD model and GSOICLW algorithm

The decision support model of mean-lower semi-absolute deviation (MLSAD) and the optimization algorithm of group search optimizer with intraspecific competition and lévy walk (GSOICLW) are presented to solve wind-thermal power system dispatch. MLSAD model takes the profit and downside risk into account simultaneously brought by uncertain wind power. Using a risk tolerance parameter, the model can be converted to a single-optimization problem, which is solved by an improved optimization algorithm, GSOICLW. Afterwards, both the model and the algorithm are tested on a modified IEEE 30-bus power system. Simulation results demonstrate that the MLSAD model can well solve wind-thermal power system dispatch. The study also verifies GSOICLW obtains better convergent dispatching solutions, in comparison with other evolutionary algorithms, such as group search optimizer and particle swarm optimizer.NRF (Natl Research Foundation, S’pore)EDB (Economic Devt. Board, S’pore)Accepted versio

Mild to moderate influenza A(H7N9) infections detected through China’s national influenza-like Illness sentinel surveillance system

Poster Session: News and Views from the H7N9 OutbreakBackground: The “clinical iceberg” phenomenon, where there are usually many more infected cases than is apparent symptomatically and even less so registered in the clinical setting, is a common feature of influenza disease. While this is certainly true for interpandemic influenza and the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic, this appeared to be less substantial for the Dutch A(H7N7) outbreak, and with A(H5N1) being an acknowledged exception. It remains unknown whether the “iceberg” applies to the influenza A(H7N9) virus that emerged in early 2013 in China. While the majority of laboratory-confirmed A(H7N9) cases presented with a severe clinical picture to a hospital, a small number of laboratory-confirmed cases have been identified through the sentinel influenza-like illness (ILI) surveillance system nationwide. The objective of our study was to describe the clinical characteristics of the complete case series of A(H7N9) cases as of May 15, 2013, that were identified through routine testing by the ILI sentinel surveillance system. Materials and Methods: ILI sentinel surveillance in China is conducted through a network of 554 hospitals across the country, with the total number of outpatient and/or emergency department visits and the number of patients fitting the WHO standard ILI case definition reported weekly online to the China CDC, and 10-15 nasopharyngeal swabs collected from ILI patients each week for routine laboratory testing and subtyping. All A(H7N9) cases detected through the ILI surveillance system by May 15, 2013, were identified by cross-referencing the laboratory-confirmed A(H7N9) line list with the routine sentinel ILI surveillance system. Demographic and epidemiologic data were extracted from field investigation records, and clinical and laboratory data were obtained from medical chart review. Results: Five (3.8%) of a total of 130 laboratory-confirmed influenza A(H7N9) cases reported as of May 28, 2013, were detected through the routine ILI surveillance system. Four (80%) of them were male. Mean age was 13 (range = 2-26) years and none had any underlying medical condition. Exposure history, geographic location and timing of symptom onset were otherwise similar to the general cohort of all laboratory-confirmed cases to date. All patients experienced only mild or moderate disease with an uneventful course of recovery. Among them three (60%) were managed only as outpatients and all quickly recovered after 3-5 days, with nasopharyngeal swabs tested positive for A(H7N9) only after their full recovery. Two patients (40%) were hospitalized for treatment. One was a 4-year-old child from Shanghai who presented initially as an outpatient with fever and mild rhinorrhea to a routine sentinel clinic, and was admitted on the next day for oseltamivir treatment after his nasopharyngeal swab was tested positive for A(H7N9). The other was a 26-year-old man from Jiangsu who presented initially with fever and productive cough to a sentinel clinic, being given ceftazidime without improvement. He was admitted 4 days later with radiologic evidence of left-sided pneumonia, and started on oseltamivir and moxifloxacin. Both remained clinically stable with quick resolution of symptoms within 10 days. Conclusions: Our complete case series of A(H7N9) cases detected through the routine ILI surveillance system provide contrasting clinical presentations to the generally much more severe clinical picture of the majority of laboratory-confirmed A(H7N9) cases detected otherwise. Our findings provide indirect evidence of a substantial proportion of mild disease and support the existence of a “clinical iceberg” phenomenon in influenza A(H7N9) infections. For the clinician, our findings reinforce vigilance to the diverse presentation that can be associated with influenza A(H7N9) virus infections. Our results also suggest that large-scale community surveillance networks can be useful as a population-based sampling tool to enhance understanding of the full spectrum of disease, especially in the early phase of an evolving epidemic.published_or_final_versio

Detection of mild to moderate influenza A/H7N9 infection by China's national sentinel surveillance system for influenza-like illness: case series

published_or_final_versio

Results from PAMELA, ATIC and FERMI : Pulsars or Dark Matter ?

It is well known that the dark matter dominates the dynamics of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Its constituents remain a mystery despite an assiduous search for them over the past three decades. Recent results from the satellite-based PAMELA experiment detect an excess in the positron fraction at energies between 10-100 GeV in the secondary cosmic ray spectrum. Other experiments namely ATIC, HESS and FERMI show an excess in the total electron (\ps + \el) spectrum for energies greater 100 GeV. These excesses in the positron fraction as well as the electron spectrum could arise in local astrophysical processes like pulsars, or can be attributed to the annihilation of the dark matter particles. The second possibility gives clues to the possible candidates for the dark matter in galaxies and other astrophysical systems. In this article, we give a report of these exciting developments.Comment: 27 Pages, extensively revised and significantly extended, to appear in Pramana as topical revie

Temperature induced crossing in the optical bandgap of mono and bilayer MoS2 on SiO2

Photoluminescence measurements in mono- and bilayer-MoS2 on SiO2 were undertaken to determine the thermal effect of the MoS2/SiO2 interface on the optical bandgap. The energy and intensity of the photoluminescence from monolayer MoS2 were lower and weaker than those from bilayer MoS2 at low temperatures, whilst the opposite was true at high temperatures above 200 K. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the observed optical bandgap crossover is caused by a weaker substrate coupling to the bilayer than to the monolayer

Multi-Directional Growth of Aligned Carbon Nanotubes Over Catalyst Film Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition

The structure of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) severely depends on the properties of pre-prepared catalyst films. Aiming for the preparation of precisely controlled catalyst film, atomic layer deposition (ALD) was employed to deposit uniform Fe2O3 film for the growth of CNT arrays on planar substrate surfaces as well as the curved ones. Iron acetylacetonate and ozone were introduced into the reactor alternately as precursors to realize the formation of catalyst films. By varying the deposition cycles, uniform and smooth Fe2O3 catalyst films with different thicknesses were obtained on Si/SiO2 substrate, which supported the growth of highly oriented few-walled CNT arrays. Utilizing the advantage of ALD process in coating non-planar surfaces, uniform catalyst films can also be successfully deposited onto quartz fibers. Aligned few-walled CNTs can be grafted on the quartz fibers, and they self-organized into a leaf-shaped structure due to the curved surface morphology. The growth of aligned CNTs on non-planar surfaces holds promise in constructing hierarchical CNT architectures in future