Genome Composition and Divergence of the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Originating in China.

An in-depth annotation of the newly discovered coronavirus (2019-nCoV) genome has revealed differences between 2019-nCoV and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or SARS-like coronaviruses. A systematic comparison identified 380 amino acid substitutions between these coronaviruses, which may have caused functional and pathogenic divergence of 2019-nCoV

Analysis of the Composition of Fatty Acids and the Effect of Storage Time on the Fatty Fcids in Edible Cassava Flour

The composition and content of fatty acids in edible cassava flour not only affect its shelf life but also serve as important indicators for evaluating the nutritional quality of cassava flour. In this experiment, edible cassava flour was used as the sample. By optimizing the fatty acid methyl esterification method and gas chromatography conditions, a qualitative and quantitative detection method for fatty acids in edible cassava flour was established. The fatty acid composition in edible cassava flour of different varieties (strains) and different storage times was analyzed and detected. The results showed that gas chromatography could accurately analyze and quantify various fatty acids in edible cassava flour. There was a good linear relationship between the concentrations of palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid in the ranges of 20.0~1000.0, 4.0~400.0, 30.0~1500.0, 10.0~500.0 and 2.0~100.0 μg/mL, respectively, with coefficient of determination (R2) ranging from 0.9992 to 0.9999. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) of sample repeatability ranged from 0.5% to 3.2%. The RSDs of concentration changes after 24 hours of storage at room temperature ranged from 0.7% to 1.1%. The average recovery rates of the five fatty acids in the samples ranged from 88.0% to 105.4%, with average recovery rate RSD ranging from 3.4% to 10.4%, indicating good sample stability, method repeatability, and accuracy. The cassava flour prepared from different edible cassava varieties mainly contained palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid. There were significant differences in fatty acid content among different varieties, and the proportions of the five cassava flour fatty acids (SFA/MUFA/PUFA) were 1:(0.91~1.35):(0.12~0.39). Among them, the content of palmitic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid in 'Huanan 9' cassava flour was significantly higher than other varieties (P<0.05). The content reached 0.7818, 1.088, 0.2967 and 0.0398 mg/g, respectively. However, the content of stearic acid in this variety was the lowest, only 0.0868 mg/g. Ambient temperature storage experiments showed a negative correlation between the content of the five fatty acids and storage time, with oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid showing a highly significant negative correlation (P<0.01). The content of five fatty acids reached its lowest level after 12 weeks of storage, and the changes tended to be gradual in the later storage stages. The research results provide a basis for evaluating the composition of fatty acids in edible cassava flour of different varieties (strains) and the changes in fatty acids during the storage process

Tumour genomic and microenvironmental heterogeneity as integrated predictors for prostate cancer recurrence: a retrospective study

Clinical prognostic groupings for localised prostate cancers are imprecise, with 30–50% of patients recurring after image-guided radiotherapy or radical prostatectomy. We aimed to test combined genomic and microenvironmental indices in prostate cancer to improve risk stratification and complement clinical prognostic factors

Antennas and propagation for body area networks at 60 GHZ

The advent of wireless body area networks (WBANs) and their use in a wide range of applications from consumer electronics to military purposes, dictates the need to investigate to the behaviour of antennas and wave propagation on the body in depth. Although this area has been extensively studied in the past decade, some issues are still not satisfactorily solved for communication systems for WBANs at ISM bands and UWB such as compact and high efficiency antenna design, privacy and security, interference mitigation and achieving high data rates. This thesis proposed an alternative wireless solution for body area networks by adopting 60 GHz radio. On-body channels at 60 GHz have been characterised using monopole and horn antennas. Horn antennas achieve significantly improved path gain in the stable channels but are susceptible to shadowing in the mobile channels due to body movements. However, interference mitigation and covertness for 60 GHz WBANs at the physical layer are improved due to high attenuation of 60 GHz signals. Significant increase of carrier-to-interference ratio is observed for 60 GHz WBANs compared to 2.45 GHz. A model of estimating the maximum detection distance at a threshold probability for detecting a WBAN wearing soldier in a battlefield is proposed. Fixed-beam directional antennas and reconfigurable antennas are designed for 60 GHz WBANs and channel measurements using these antennas are conducted. Results show beam-reconfigurability of the antenna improves the link performance compared to fixed-beam antennas at 60 GHz