Improved EEMD-based standardization method for developing long tree-ring chronologies

Long tree-ring chronologies can be developed by overlapping data from living trees with data from fossil trees through cross-dating.However,low-frequency climate signals are lost when standardizing tree-ring series due to the"segment length curse".To alleviate the segment length curse and thus improve the standardization method for developing long tree-ring chronologies,here we first calculated a mean value for all the tree ring series by overlapping all of the tree ring series.The growth trend of the mean tree ring width(i.e.,cumulated average growth trend of all the series)was determined using ensemble empirical mode decomposition.Then the chronology was developed by dividing the mean value by the growth trend of the mean value.Our improved method alleviated the problem of trend distortion.Long-term signals were better preserved using the improved method than in previous detrending methods.The chronologies developed using the improved method were better correlated with climate than those developed using conservative methods.The improved standardization method alleviates trend distortion and retains more of the low-frequency climate signals.

骶尾部脊索瘤肢体多发性转移治疗一例报道(英文)

Chordoma is rare,locally aggressive malignant neoplasm originated from notochord remnants.Distant extrapulmonary metastases are rare and mostly occur in patient with local recurrence.In this case report,2 years after the radical resection of sacral chordoma,two times successive metastases to the upper limb were diagnosed by immunohistochemistry,without local recurrence.The metastatic tumors were radical excised,and the patient gained radiotherapy postoperatively.More than 2 years after the wide resection of the metastatic focuses,no sign of recurrence and metastasis was detected.

China is initiating the Aquatic 10-100-1,000 Genomics Program

On June 17 of 2016,a group of scientists from Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences(CAFS)and Shenzhen BGI Fisheries Sci&Tech Co.Ltd.(BGI Fisheries)met together in Shenzhen,China to launch a novel project,the China Aquatic 10-100-1,000 Genomics Program,to conduct molecular breeding of^10 aquaculture species and sequence genomes of^100 and transcriptomes of^1,000 aquatic species.The main objective of this project is to build

Efficacy and safety of external tissue expansion technique in the treatment of soft tissue defects:a systematic review and meta-analysis of outcomes and complication rates

Background:Currently,various external tissue expansion devices are becoming widely used.Considering the scarcity of relevant application standards,this systematic review was performed to explore the effectiveness and safety of external tissue expansion techniques for the reconstruction of soft tissue defects.Method:A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of external tissue expansion technique was conducted.A comprehensive search was performed in the following electronic databases:PubMed/Medline,Embase,Cochrane Library(Wiley Online Library),andWeb of Science.Studies reporting patients with soft tissue defects under the treatment of external tissue expansion technique were included.Results:A total of 66 studies with 22 different types of external tissue expansion devices met the inclusion criteria.We performed a descriptive analysis of different kinds of devices.A single-arm meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the external tissue expansion technique for different aetiologies.The pooled mean wound healing time among patients with defects after fasciotomy was 10.548 days[95%confidence interval(CI)=5.796-15.299].The pooled median wound healing times of patients with defects after excisional surgery,trauma,chronic ulcers and abdominal defects were 11.218 days(95%CI=6.183-16.253),11.561 days(95%CI=7.062-16.060),15.956 days(95%CI=11.916-19.996)and 12.853 days(95%CI=9.444-16.227),respectively.The pooled wound healing rates of patients with defects after fasciotomy,excisional surgery,trauma,chronic ulcers and abdominal defects were 93.8%(95%CI=87.1-98.2%),97.2%(95%CI=92.2-99.7%),97.0%(95%CI=91.2-99.8%),99.5%(95%CI=97.6-100%),and 96.8%(95%CI=79.2-100%),respectively.We performed a subgroup analysis in patients with diabetic ulcers and open abdominal wounds.The pooled median wound healing time of patients with diabetic ulcers was 11.730 days(95%CI=10.334-13.125).The pooled median wound healing time of patients with open abdomen defects was 48.810 days(95%CI=35.557-62.063)and the pooled successful healing rate was 68.8%(95%CI=45.9-88.1%).A total of 1686 patients were included,265(15.7%)of whom experienced complications.The most common complication was dehiscence(n=53,3.14%).Conclusions:Our systematic review is the first to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of external tissue expansion in the management of soft tissue defects.However,we must interpret the meta-analysis results with caution considering the limitations of this review.Large-scale randomized controlled trials and long-term follow-up studies are still needed to confirm the effectiveness and evaluate the quality of healing.

Patterns of presence-absence variants in Upland cotton

Dear Editor,Sources of genetic variations in genomes include small-scale sources(such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs),insertions/deletions(InDels),and simple sequence repeats and larger-scale structural variations(mainly presence-absence variants(PAVs))and copy number variants).PAVs are sequences that are either inserted or missing in genomes in comparison with a reference sequence or genome.PAVs can have a much longer sequence than SNPs and InDels,as illustrated in the human genome(Conrad et al.,2010).PAVs are important genomic structural variations that can directly affect genomic structure and key functional genes in the genome(Kumar et al.,2007).Moreover,the use of PAVs for studying quantitative traits has been valuable(Lam et al.,2010).