Emm type distribution of group A Streptococcus in China during 1990 and 2020: a systematic review and implications for vaccine coverage

BackgroundThe recent increase of group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections in Europe has aroused global concern. We aim to provide molecular biological data for GAS prevention and control in China by analyzing the temporal shift of emm type.MethodsWe collected studies reporting GAS emm types in China from 1990 to 2020 by PRISMA statement and established a summary database including emm types and literature quality assessment. Based on the database we analyzed the geographic distribution of emm types from 1990 to 2020 and assessed the coverage of the known GAS 30-valent vaccine. Outbreak-associated emm types that had been reported over the past 30 years were also included.Results47 high quality studies were included for a systematic analysis of emm type distribution. This generated a database including totally 12,347 GAS isolates and 85 emm types. Shift of dominant emm type was witnessed during the past 30 years in China. In mainland China, dominant types changed from emm3, emm1, emm4, emm12 in 1990s to emm12 and emm1 in 2000s and 2010s. Hong Kong and Taiwan were dominated by emm12, emm4 and emm1, of which emm4 reduced but emm12 increased in 2010s significantly. From 1990 to 2020, newly found emm types were increasingly reported in various regions of China. The reported 30-valent M protein vaccine covered 26 M types prevalent in China, including all dominant types

Pix2HDR -- A pixel-wise acquisition and deep learning-based synthesis approach for high-speed HDR videos

Accurately capturing dynamic scenes with wide-ranging motion and light intensity is crucial for many vision applications. However, acquiring high-speed high dynamic range (HDR) video is challenging because the camera's frame rate restricts its dynamic range. Existing methods sacrifice speed to acquire multi-exposure frames. Yet, misaligned motion in these frames can still pose complications for HDR fusion algorithms, resulting in artifacts. Instead of frame-based exposures, we sample the videos using individual pixels at varying exposures and phase offsets. Implemented on a pixel-wise programmable image sensor, our sampling pattern simultaneously captures fast motion at a high dynamic range. We then transform pixel-wise outputs into an HDR video using end-to-end learned weights from deep neural networks, achieving high spatiotemporal resolution with minimized motion blurring. We demonstrate aliasing-free HDR video acquisition at 1000 FPS, resolving fast motion under low-light conditions and against bright backgrounds - both challenging conditions for conventional cameras. By combining the versatility of pixel-wise sampling patterns with the strength of deep neural networks at decoding complex scenes, our method greatly enhances the vision system's adaptability and performance in dynamic conditions.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure

Case report: Squamous cell carcinoma of the prostate-a clinicopathological and genomic sequencing-based investigation

Squamous differentiation of prostate cancer, which accounts for less than 1% of all cases, is typically associated with androgen deprivation treatment (ADT) or radiotherapy. This entity is aggressive and exhibits poor prognosis due to limited response to traditional treatment. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms and etiology are not fully understood. Previous findings suggest that squamous cell differentiation may potentially arise from prostate adenocarcinoma (AC), but further validation is required to confirm this hypothesis. This paper presents a case of advanced prostate cancer with a combined histologic pattern, including keratinizing SCC and AC. The study utilized whole-exome sequencing (WES) data to analyze both subtypes and identified a significant overlap in driver gene mutations between them. This suggests that the two components shared a common origin of clones. These findings emphasize the importance of personalized clinical management for prostate SCC, and specific molecular findings can help optimize treatment strategies

Investigation of Electrode Electrochemical Reactions in CH3 NH3 PbBr3 Perovskite Single-Crystal Field-Effect Transistors.

Optoelectronic devices based on metal halide perovskites, including solar cells and light-emitting diodes, have attracted tremendous research attention globally in the last decade. Due to their potential to achieve high carrier mobilities, organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite materials can enable high-performance, solution-processed field-effect transistors (FETs) for next-generation, low-cost, flexible electronic circuits and displays. However, the performance of perovskite FETs is hampered predominantly by device instabilities, whose origin remains poorly understood. Here, perovskite single-crystal FETs based on methylammonium lead bromide are studied and device instabilities due to electrochemical reactions at the interface between the perovskite and gold source-drain top contacts are investigated. Despite forming the contacts by a gentle, soft lamination method, evidence is found that even at such "ideal" interfaces, a defective, intermixed layer is formed at the interface upon biasing of the device. Using a bottom-contact, bottom-gate architecture, it is shown that it is possible to minimize such a reaction through a chemical modification of the electrodes, and this enables fabrication of perovskite single-crystal FETs with high mobility of up to ≈15 cm2 V-1 s-1 at 80 K. This work addresses one of the key challenges toward the realization of high-performance solution-processed perovskite FETs

Function of Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension through miR-191 via Regulation of BMPR2

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a serious condition. However, prevailing therapeutic strategies are not effective enough to treat PAH. Therefore, finding an effective therapy is clearly warranted. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) and ASCs-derived exosomes (ASCs-Exos) exert protective effects in PAH, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Using a coculture of ASCs and monocrotaline pyrrole (MCTP)-treated human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (HPAECs), we demonstrated that ASCs increased cell proliferation in MCTP-treated HPAECs. Results showed that ASCs-Exos improved proliferation of both control HPAECs and MCTP-treated HPAECs. In addition, by transfecting ASCs with antagomir we observed that low exosomal miR-191 expression inhibited HPAECs proliferation whereas the agomir improved. Similar results were observed in vivo using a monocrotaline (MCT)-induced PAH rat model following ASCs transplantation. And ASCs transplantation attenuated MCT-induced PAH albeit less than the antagomir treated group. Finally, we found that miR-191 repressed the expression of bone morphogenetic protein receptor 2 (BMPR2) in HPAECs and PAH rats. Thus, we conjectured that miR-191, in ASCs and ASCs-Exos, plays an important role in PAH via regulation of BMPR2. These findings are expected to contribute to promising therapeutic strategies for treating PAH in the future

Model for Predicting DC Flashover Voltage of Pre-Contaminated and Ice-Covered Long Insulator Strings under Low Air Pressure

In the current study, a multi-arc predicting model for DC critical flashover voltage of iced and pre-contaminated long insulator strings under low atmospheric pressure is developed. The model is composed of a series of different polarity surface arcs, icicle-icicle air gap arcs, and residual layer resistance. The calculation method of the residual resistance of the ice layer under DC multi-arc condition is established. To validate the model, 7-unit and 15-unit insulator strings were tested in a multi-function artificial climate chamber under the coexistent conditions of low air pressure, pollution, and icing. The test results showed that the values calculated by the model satisfactorily agreed with those experimentally measured, with the errors within the range of 10%, validating the rationality of the model

Experimental Study on Early Strength and Hydration Heat of Spodumene Tailings Cemented Backfill Materials

Spodumene tailing is the associated solid waste of extracting lithium from spodumene. With the increase in the global demand for lithium resources, its emissions increase yearly, which will become a key factor restricting the economic development of the mining area. Mechanical and hydration reactions, as well as the microstructure of early CSTB, are studied under different tailings–cement ratios (TCR) and solid mass concentration (SC) conditions. The results show that the uniaxial compressive strength of early CSTB has a negative exponential correlation with the decrease in TCR and a positive correlation with the increase in SC: when the age of CSTB increases to 7 days, the strength increases with the rise in SC in an exponential function, and the sensitivity of strength to TCR is higher than that of SC. Compared to other tailings cemented backfill materials, the addition of spodumene tailings reduces the sulfate ion concentration and leads to a new exothermic peak (i.e., the third exothermic peak) for the hydration exotherm of CSTB. Additionally, with the increase in TCR or decrease in SC, the height of the third exothermic peak decreases and the occurrence time is advanced. At the same time, the duration of induction phase was prolonged, the period of acceleration phase was shortened, and the total amount of heat released was significantly increased. The decrease in TCR or the increase in SC led to the rise in the number of hydration products which can effectively fill the internal pores of CSTB, enhance its structural compactness, and increase its compressive strength. The above study reveals the influence of TCR and SC on the early strength, hydration characteristics, and microstructure of CSTB and provides an essential reference for the mix design of underground backfill spodumene tailings

DC Flashover Performance of Various Types of Ice-Covered Insulator Strings under Low Air Pressure

In this study, icing flashover performance tests of typical DC porcelain, glass, and composite insulators are systematically carried out in a multifunction artificial climate chamber. The DC icing flashover voltages of seven typical insulators under various conditions of icing thickness, pollution severity before icing, string length, and atmospheric pressure are obtained. The relationships between icing thickness, salt deposit density as well as atmospheric pressure and the 50% icing flashover voltage are analyzed, and the formulas are obtained by regression method. In addition, the DC icing flashover voltage correction method of typical porcelain, glass, and composite insulator in the coexisting condition of high altitude, contamination, and icing is proposed

Influence of Mechanical Grinding on Particle Characteristics of Coal Gasification Slag

Based on the test results of laser particle size analyzer, specific surface area analyzer and infrared spectrometer, the grinding kinetics of coal gasification slag (CGS) was systematically described by using Divas–Aliavden grinding kinetics, Rosin–Rammler–Bennet (RRB) distribution model and particle size fractal theory. The influence of grinding time and particle group of CGS on the strength activity index of mortar was studied by using the strength activity index of mortar and grey correlation analysis. The results show that the particles are gradually refined before mechanical grinding of CGS for 75 min. When the mechanical grinding time is greater than 75 min, the “agglomeration phenomenon” of fine CGS particles led to the decrease in various properties. Divas–Aliavden grinding kinetics, the RRB model and fractal dimension can characterize the change of CGS particle size in the grinding process quantitatively. The strength activity index of CGS at different curing ages is positively correlated with grinding time, and the influence on the later strength activity index is the most obvious. The relationship between CGS particle size distribution and strength activity index were probed using grey correlation analysis. The CGS particle groups with the particle size of 20~30 μm and 10~20 μm have the greatest impact on the early and late strength activity index, respectively. Therefore, the optimal grinding time of CGS as auxiliary cementing material is 75 min, considering factors, such as economy and performance, and the specific surface area (SSA) is 4.4874 m2·g−1