A multicentre study on the clinical characteristics of newborns infected with coronavirus disease 2019 during the omicron wave

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of newborns infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the Omicron wave.MethodsFrom December 1, 2022, to January 4, 2023, clinical data were collected from neonates with COVID-19 who were admitted to 10 hospitals in Foshan City, China. Their epidemiological histories, clinical manifestations and outcomes were analysed. The neonates were divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. The t test or χ2 test was used for comparisons between groups.ResultsA total of 286 children were diagnosed, including 166 males, 120 females, 273 full-term infants and 13 premature infants. They were 5.5 (0–30) days old on average when they were admitted to the hospital. These children had contact with patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and were infected through horizontal transmission. This study included 33 asymptomatic and 253 symptomatic patients, among whom 143 were diagnosed with upper respiratory tract infections and 110 were diagnosed with pneumonia. There were no severe or critical patients. Fever (220 patients) was the most common clinical manifestation, with a duration of 1.1 (1–6) days. The next most common clinical manifestations were cough with nasal congestion or runny nose (4 patients), cough (34 patients), poor appetite (7 patients), shortness of breath (15 patients), and poor general status (1 patient). There were no significant abnormalities in routine blood tests among the neonates infected with COVID-19 except for mononucleosis. However, compared with the asymptomatic group, in the symptomatic group, the leukocyte and neutrophil granulocyte counts were significantly decreased, and the monocyte count was significantly increased. C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly increased (≥10 mg/L) in 9 patients. Myocardial enzyme, liver function, kidney function and other tests showed no obvious abnormalities.ConclusionsIn this study, neonates infected with the Omicron variant were asymptomatic or had mild disease. Symptomatic patients had lower leucocyte and neutrophil levels than asymptomatic patients

Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) – a community perspective

This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through on-line media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focussed on process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049

Analysis of Carbon Storage and Its Contributing Factors—A Case Study in the Loess Plateau (China)

The Chinese Loess Plateau is an ecologically fragile and sensitive area. The carbon storage dynamics in this region and the contributions from land use/land cover change (LUCC) and carbon density from 2000 to 2010 were analyzed in this paper. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), biomass and soil carbon data in 2000 were used for regression analysis of biomass and soil carbon, and an inversion analysis was used to estimate biomass and soil carbon in 2005 and 2010. Quadrat data, including aboveground biomass and soil organic carbon, were used to calibrate the model output. Carbon storage and sequestration were calculated by the InVEST toolset with four carbon pools, including aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, dead wood and soil carbon. The results showed that carbon storage increased steadily from 2000 to 2010, increasing by 0.260 billion tons, and that woodland area increased and arable land decreased; the overall trend in land cover improved, but the improvement was not pronounced. Carbon storage in the Loess Plateau was correlated with geographical factors. We found that when assuming a constant carbon density, carbon storage decreased, accounting for &minus;1% of the carbon storage dynamics. When assuming no land conversion, carbon storage increased, accounting for 101% of the carbon storage dynamics

Fault Diagnosis of Rolling Element Bearings Based on Adaptive Mode Extraction

Generally speaking, vibration signals collected by sensors always contain complex frequency components, which will bring great trouble to bearing condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. A reliable fault signal component extraction method is significant to detect the fault-induced weak repetitive transients. Therefore, many signal decomposition or extraction methods have been developed and are widely employed in fault diagnosis. Based on the recently proposed variational mode extraction (VME) method, an adaptive optimal mode extraction method was designed with a new strategy to extract the mode center frequency and a novel indicator to optimize the balance parameter. The spectrum is first divided into several modes by enveloping curve fitting (ECF), and the center frequencies of each mode are extracted, respectively. All potential fault modes are then extracted sequentially utilizing the extracted center frequency and fixed balance parameter. For the extracted modes, the kurtosis index is applied to select the target mode. Finally, the relative amplitude ratio (RAR) index is used to adaptively adjust the balance parameter. The comparison results reveal that the adaptive mode extraction method can extract the weak fault feature under strong interference

Studies on the Spatiotemporal Variability of River Water Quality and Its Relationships with Soil and Precipitation: A Case Study of the Mun River Basin in Thailand

Human activities can affect soil nutrients, thereby influencing river water quality. The spatial pattern of precipitation also impacts distributions of water quality. In this paper, we employed a method that combines point survey, soil, and water quality data to analyze the spatial relationships between precipitation, soil nutrient and water quality in the basin on the basis of field surveys and laboratory analysis. The ordinary kriging method was applied to interpolate the precipitation and soil data, and the spatial pattern was analyzed. The water samples on the main stream and soil samples in the field were collected during both the dry and rainy seasons to analyze the water quality and soil nutrients. The results indicate: (1) The water quality in the dry season is better than that in the rainy season, the water quality in the upper reaches is better than that in the lower reaches, and agricultural activity is the direct source of water pollution. (2) The precipitation in the rainy and dry seasons is differente and the dilution effect of precipitation on pollutant concentrations and transport of water flow affect the spatial distribution of water quality. (3) There is a significant difference in the spatial pattern of soil nutrients between the dry and rainy seasons, and the soil nutrient content and the surface runoff directly affect the water quality. Soil nutrients are affected by human activities, and they potentially act as nonpoint source (NPS) pollution in this river basin. To improve the water quality, suitable agriculture measures need to be implemented

Effects of Expansive Additives on the Shrinkage Behavior of Coal Gangue Based Alkali Activated Materials

The suitability of applying shrinkage reducing additives in alkali activated coal gangue-slag composites is discussed in this study. The effect of sulphoaluminate cement (SAC), high performance concrete expansion agent (HCSA) and U-type expansion agent (UEA) on the reaction process, shrinkage behavior, phase composition, microstructure and mechanical properties are evaluated. The results show that the addition of SAC slightly mitigates the early stage reaction process, while HCSA and UEA can either accelerate or inhibit the reaction depending on their dosage. The addition of SAC presents an ideal balance between drying shrinkage reduction and strength increment. As for HCSA and UEA, the shrinkage and mechanical properties are sensitive to their replacement level; excessive dosage would result in remarkable strength reduction and expansion. The specific surface area and average pore size of the hardened matrix are found to be closely related with shrinkage behavior. SAC addition introduces additional hydrotalcite phases within the reaction products, while HCSA and UEA mainly result in the formation of CaCO3 and Ca(OH)2. It is concluded that applying expansive additives can be an effective approach in reducing the drying shrinkage of alkali activated coal gangue-slag mixtures, while their type and dosage must be carefully handled