Failure of replicating the association between hippocampal volume and 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified from the European genome-wide association study in Asian populations

Hippocampal volume is a key brain structure for learning ability and memory process, and hippocampal atrophy is a recognized biological marker of Alzheimer's disease. However, the genetic bases of hippocampal volume are still unclear although it is a heritable trait. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) on hippocampal volume have implicated several significantly associated genetic variants in Europeans. Here, to test the contributions of these GWASs identified genetic variants to hippocampal volume in different ethnic populations, we screened the GWAS-identified candidate single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 3 independent healthy Asian brain imaging samples (a total of 990 subjects). The results showed that none of these single-nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with hippocampal volume in either individual or combined Asian samples. The replication results suggested a complexity of genetic architecture for hippocampal volume and potential genetic heterogeneity between different ethnic populations

Copula-Based Joint Probability Analysis of Compound Floods from Rainstorm and Typhoon Surge: A Case Study of Jiangsu Coastal Areas, China

Coastal areas are vulnerable to floods caused by rainstorms and typhoons. It is necessary to ascertain the risk of floods caused by both of these extreme weather events. A conceptual risk model is proposed to evaluate the rainstorm risk, typhoon surge risk, and the compound risk in the coastal areas of Jiangsu Province during the period of 1960–2012. The results of the model show that the typhoon surge risk in the study region is greater than the rainstorm risk. Three Archimedean copulas were used to fit the joint probability distributions of the compound events. The Frank copula and the Gumbel copula proved to be the best-fitting joint distribution function for the Huaibei plain district and the Lixiahe district, respectively. The probability of the extreme compound events not happening is less than 90% in the study region. This means that the flood risk is mainly subject to the encounter of a low-level rainstorm and a low-level typhoon surge. The study shows that the northern region of Jiangsu Province is more vulnerable to the compound risk, and that we should pay more attention to the floods caused by the compound events of rainstorm and typhoon surge

Efficacy and safety analysis of dexamethasone-lipiodol emulsion in prevention of post-embolization syndrome after TACE: a retrospective analysis

Abstract Background To investigate the efficacy and safety of dexamethasone-lipiodol emulsion in the prevention of post-embolization syndrome after TACE. Method The data of 255 patients who underwent TACE in the interventional department from June 2017 to June 2020 were collected. This is a retrospective assessment of patients who were non-randomly treated with dexamethasone in TACE. The patients were divided into two groups: TACE using lipiodol + chemotherapeutic emulsion group (TACE group, N = 133); TACE using lipiodol + dexamethasone + chemotherapeutic emulsion group (TACE + dexamethasone group, N = 122). Primary study endpoint: incidence of abdominal pain, fever, nausea and vomiting 0–72 h after TACE in both groups. Secondary study endpoints: incidence of infection after TACE in both groups. Results Incidence of post-embolization syndrome after TACE (TACE group vs TACE + dexamethasone group): abdominal pain, 55.6% versus 36.1% (P value 0.002); fever, 37.6% versus 13.1% (P value 0.000); nausea, 60.9% versus 41.0% (P value 0.001); vomiting, 48.1% versus 21.3% (P value 0.000). Incidence of infection after TACE (TACE group vs TACE + dexamethasone group): 1.5% versus 2.5% (P value 0.583). Conclusion The lipiodol + dexamethasone emulsion can significantly reduce the incidence rate of post-embolization syndrome after TACE, with exact effect and high safety

An Optimal Allocation Model for Large Complex Water Resources System Considering Water supply and Ecological Needs

Water resources are very important to support the socio-economic development and maintain environmental health, which is a typical issue in water resources management. In this study, we developed an optimal allocation model for a large complex system of water resources by considering both water supply and river ecological benefits. The water supply benefit is defined as the minimum water deficit for different water users, while the ecological benefit involves making the reservoir release as close as possible to the natural streamflow. To solve this problem, the combination of decomposition-coordination (DC) and discrete differential dynamic programming (DDDP) methods were proposed. The proposed methods first decomposed a large system with multi-objective programming into subsystems, and the optimal solution of each subsystem was accomplished by the DDDP method to solve the system efficiently. Then the subsystems’ solutions were coordinated to figure out the near global optimal solution. The proposed models were tested in the Lingui and Yongfu County, Guilin City in China. Results show that the optimal reservoir release is close to the natural flow regime and there is a slight water deficit ratio in both level years. The water supply objective is more sensitive to the system model compared with the ecological objective, and the result of water allocation is optimized when the reservoir release is as close as possible to the natural flow based on the minimum water deficit. The proposed system model could facilitate sustainable water use and provide technical support for water resources management in economic development

Effect of hoop restraint on the degradation behavior of cement paste exposed to sodium sulfate solution

Concrete filled steel tube (CFST) is an effective method to alleviate sulfate attack in saline soil environments. In this study, the effect of hoop restraint on the degradation behavior due to sulfate attack in ordinary Portland cement (OPC) paste and sulfate-resistance Portland cement (SRPC) pastes is studied. The cracking behavior and mass variation are determined to investigate deterioration process of the pastes. EPMA-WDS, nanoindentation and SEM-EDS are performed to analyse the deterioration mechanism of the cement paste under hoop restraint condition. As the results shown: The deterioration behaviors of cement pastes is strongly affected by hoop restraint. Specifically, the hoop restraint inhibited crack formation of the specimens and formation of sulfate products. The average effective sulfate diffusion coefficient is reduced by 30.26% and 5.81% for OPC and SRPC paste during 365 days of exposure, respectively, compared with the reference group. Moreover, the mechanism of deterioration of cement paste under hoop restraint condition is proposed based on change in chemical component of C–S–H phase. The hoop restraint from steel tube can effectively inhibit the sulfate attack on cement composite with important engineering significance

Service Life Prediction of Reinforced Concrete in a Sea-Crossing Railway Bridge in Jiaozhou Bay: A Case Study

Reinforced bar corrosion induced by chloride ingression is one of the most significant threats to the durability of concrete structures in marine environments. The concrete cover thickness, compressive strength, chloride diffusion coefficient, and surface defects of reinforced concrete in the Jiaozhou Bay sea-crossing railway bridge were measured. The temperature and relative humidity in the concrete and the loading applied onto the reinforced concrete were monitored. Based on the DuraCrete model, a revised model for the service life prediction of concrete structures was established, considering the effects of temperature and loading on the chloride diffusion coefficient. Further, the reliability indexes of the reinforced concrete box girder, pier, and platform, located in the marine and land sections, in relation to service lives lasting various numbers of years, were calculated. The measured and calculated results show that the mean cover thicknesses of concrete piers in the marine and land sections are 52 mm and 36 mm, respectively, and the corresponding standard deviations are 5.21 mm and 3.18 mm, respectively. The mean compressive strengths of concrete in the marine and land sections are 56 MPa and 46 MPa, respectively. The corresponding standard deviations are 2.45 MPa and 2.67 MPa, respectively. The reliability indexes of the reinforced concrete box girder and platform in the marine section, under the condition of a service life of 100 years, are 1.81 and 1.76, respectively. When the corrosion-resistant reinforced bar was used in the pier structure in the marine section, its reliability index increased to 2.01. Furthermore, the reliability index of the reinforced concrete damaged by salt fog in the land section was 1.71