USCID fourth international conference

Presented at the Role of irrigation and drainage in a sustainable future: USCID fourth international conference on irrigation and drainage on October 3-6, 2007 in Sacramento, California.Includes bibliographical references.Studying the impact of microtopography on irrigation performance is important for improving the management of basin irrigation systems. However, the limitation of field experiments will restrict the studies on the impact of microtopography spatial variability on basin irrigation performance. Thus, firstly this paper analyzed the spatial variability characteristics of field-measured Surface Relative Elevations (SRE). The correlations between the field geometry parameters and the spatial variability characteristics of SRE were evaluated, and the estimation methods for parameters of the semi-variogram of SRE were determined. Secondly, a microtopography stochastic generating model was built up based on the Monte-Carlo and the Kriging interpolation techniques. Lastly, the effect of spatial variability of microtopography on the performance of basin irrigation was evaluated by using of the numerical simulation model. Results showed that the microtopography undulation degree and the spatial distribution difference of undulation location had obvious effect on the basin irrigation performance. The average irrigation depth (Z'avg), corresponding to the water just cover the whole basin surface is increased while the irrigation application efficiency (Ea) and the irrigation uniformity (CU) is decreased when the field elevation non-uniformity, measured by the standard deviation of SRE (Sd) is increased. The effect of spatial distribution of undulation location on the irrigation performance was dependent upon the microtopography undulation degree, when Sd is less than 2cm the impacts can be neglected, while Sd is greater than 2cm, the influence should be considered

Implicit Neural Deformation for Sparse-View Face Reconstruction

In this work, we present a new method for 3D face reconstruction from sparse-view RGB images. Unlike previous methods which are built upon 3D morphable models (3DMMs) with limited details, we leverage an implicit representation to encode rich geometric features. Our overall pipeline consists of two major components, including a geometry network, which learns a deformable neural signed distance function (SDF) as the 3D face representation, and a rendering network, which learns to render on-surface points of the neural SDF to match the input images via self-supervised optimization. To handle in-the-wild sparse-view input of the same target with different expressions at test time, we propose residual latent code to effectively expand the shape space of the learned implicit face representation as well as a novel view-switch loss to enforce consistency among different views. Our experimental results on several benchmark datasets demonstrate that our approach outperforms alternative baselines and achieves superior face reconstruction results compared to state-of-the-art methods.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, The 30th Pacific Conference on Computer Graphics and Applications. Pacific Graphics(PG) 202

Measuring health-related quality of life in children with cancer living in mainland China: feasibility, reliability and validity of the Chinese mandarin version of PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales and 3.0 Cancer Module

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) is widely used instrument to measure pediatric health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for children aged 2 to 18 years. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the feasibility, reliability and validity of the Chinese mandarin version of the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales and 3.0 Cancer Module in a group of Chinese children with cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The PedsQL 4.0 Genetic Core Scales and the PedsQL 3.0 Cancer Module were administered to children with cancer (aged 5-18 years) and parents of such children (aged 2-18 years). For comparison, a survey on a demographically group-matched sample of the general population with children (aged 5-18) and parents of children (aged 2-18 years) was conducted with the PedsQL 4.0 Genetic Core Scales.</p> <p>Result</p> <p>The minimal mean percentage of missing item responses (except the School Functioning scale) supported the feasibility of the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales and 3.0 Cancer Module for Chinese children with cancer. Most of the scales showed satisfactory reliability with Cronbach's α of exceeding 0.70, and all scales demonstrated sufficient test-retest reliability. Assessing the clinical validity of the questionnaires, statistically significant difference was found between healthy children and children with cancer, and between children on-treatment versus off-treatment ≥12 months. Positive significant correlations were observed between the scores of the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scale and the PedsQL 3.0 Cancer Module. Exploratory factor analysis demonstrated sufficient factorial validity. Moderate to good agreement was found between child self- and parent proxy-reports.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings support the feasibility, reliability and validity of the Chinese Mandarin version of PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales and 3.0 Cancer Module in children with cancer living in mainland China.</p

Molluscicidal efficacies of different formulations of niclosamide: result of meta-analysis of Chinese literature

The control efforts on Oncomelania hupensis, the intermediate snail host of Schistosoma japonicum, cannot be easily excluded from the integrated approach of schistosomiasis control in China. Application of chemical compounds, molluscicides, in snail habitats is a common method for snail control in addition to environmental modification. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the molluscicidal effects of the currently recommended 50% niclosamide ethanolamine salt wettable powder and a new 4% niclosamide ethanolamine salt powder developed by Chinese researchers. Literature was searched from three Chinese databases, i.e. Chinese Biomedical Database, VIP Database and Wanfang Database, on field mollusciciding trials of niclosamide in China (from January 1, 1990 to April 1, 2010). Molluscicidal effects on reduction of snail population of the 50% or 4% niclosamide formulations in field trial were evaluated 3 days, 7 days or 15 days post-application. Out of 90 publications, 20 papers were eventually selected for analysis. Publication bias and heterogeneity tests indicated that no publication bias existed but heterogeneity between studies was present. Meta-analysis in a random effect model showed that the snail mortality of 3, 7 and 15 days after spraying the 50% niclosamide ethanolamine salt wettable powder were 77% [95%CI: 0.68-0.86], 83% [95%CI: 0.77-0.89], and 88% [95%CI: 0.82-0.92], respectively. For the 4% niclosamide ethanolamine salt powder, the snail mortality after 3, 7 and 15 days were 81% [95%CI: 0.65-0.93], 90% [95%CI: 0.83-0.95] and 94% [95%CI: 0.91-0.97], respectively. Both are good enough to be used as molluscicides integrated with a schistosomiasis control programme. The 4% niclosamide ethanolamine salt powder can be applied in the field without water supply as the surrogate of the current widely used 50% niclosamide ethanolamine salt wettable powder. However, to consolidate the schistosomiasis control achievement gained, it is necessary to continuously perform mollusciciding more than twice annually in the field

Emerging Angiostrongyliasis in Mainland China

Our review of angiostrongyliasis in China found that the disease is emerging as a result of changes in food consumption habits and long-distance transportation of food. Enhanced understanding of angiostrongyliasis epidemiology, increased public awareness about the risks associated with eating raw food, and enhanced food safety measures are needed

Efficacy and Safety of Tribendimidine Against Clonorchis sinensis

In this randomized open-label trial, tribendimidine was shown to have an efficacy comparable to praziquantel for the treatment of Clonorchis sinensis infection. Patients treated with praziquantel experienced significantly more adverse events than tribendimidine recipient

Peroxiredoxin 3 Inhibits Cardiac Fibrosis in Mice via NOX4-P38 Signalling

Objective: Peroxiredoxin-3 (Prx-3) is widely acknowledged as an antioxidant that protects against mitochondrialreactive oxygen species. Nonetheless, its role in cardiac fibrosis has not been elucidated. We aim to explore the roleand mechanism of Prx-3 in cardiac fibrosis.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, mice received subcutaneous injections of isoproterenol (ISO) for 14consecutive days (10 mg/kg/d for three days, followed by 5 mg/kg/d for 11 days) to establish a cardiac fibrosis model. Themice were subsequently injected with adenovirus-Prx-3 (ad-Prx-3) to enable Prx-3 overexpression. Echocardiographywas used to evaluate cardiac function. Mice heart fibroblasts were isolated and stimulated with transforming growthfactor β1 (TGFβ1) to induce fibrosis in vitro. Cells were also transfected with ad-Prx-3 for overexpression of Prx-3.Results: Echocardiographic diameters and fibrosis markers indicated that Prx-3 could inhibit ISO-induced cardiacdysfunction and fibrosis. Fibroblasts with Prx-3 overexpression exhibited reduced activation, proliferation, and collagentranscription. We found that Prx-3 reduced the expression of NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) and reduced P38 levels. Aftertreatment with a P38 inhibitor, the Prx-3 overexpression-induced anti-fibrosis effect was mitigated.Conclusion: Prx-3 could protect against ISO-induced cardiac fibrosis by inhibiting the NOX4-P38 pathway

Epidemiological investigation of coccidiosis in piglets in southwest of China

Faecal specimens (300) of piglets (7–21 days of age) from different regions of southwest of China were checked for the coccidial oocyst for investigating the infection rates of coccidiosis in piglets in southwest of China and guidance for prevention of coccidiosis. The results showed that, the infection rates of coccidiosis in piglets in Chengdu, Leshan, Nanning, Hezhou, Chongzuo and Haikou were 44, 34, 52, 40, 30 and 34% respectively. The coccidiosis positive rate of the farms was 100% (12/12). The study provides a basis for prevention the coccidiosis in piglets in China

Arabidopsis NMD3 Is Required for Nuclear Export of 60S Ribosomal Subunits and Affects Secondary Cell Wall Thickening

NMD3 is required for nuclear export of the 60S ribosomal subunit in yeast and vertebrate cells, but no corresponding function of NMD3 has been reported in plants. Here we report that Arabidopsis thaliana NMD3 (AtNMD3) showed a similar function in the nuclear export of the 60S ribosomal subunit. Interference with AtNMD3 function by overexpressing a truncated dominant negative form of the protein lacking the nuclear export signal sequence caused retainment of the 60S ribosomal subunits in the nuclei. More interestingly, the transgenic Arabidopsis with dominant negative interference of AtNMD3 function showed a striking failure of secondary cell wall thickening, consistent with the altered expression of related genes and composition of cell wall components. Observation of a significant decrease of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) in the differentiating interfascicular fiber cells of the transgenic plant stems suggested a link between the defective nuclear export of 60S ribosomal subunits and the abnormal formation of the secondary cell wall. These findings not only clarified the evolutionary conservation of NMD3 functions in the nuclear export of 60S ribosomal subunits in yeast, animals and plants, but also revealed a new facet of the regulatory mechanism underlying secondary cell wall thickening in Arabidopsis. This new facet is that the nuclear export of 60S ribosomal subunits and the formation of RER may play regulatory roles in coordinating protein synthesis in cytoplasm and transcription in nuclei