Use of the “Veda-Lab Easy Reader+” for the Determination of T3, T4 and TSH Hormones in the Mountainous Population of Benin: Case of Natitingou

The thyroid, an endocrine gland located at the base of the neck, produces thyroid hormones (triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4)). The production of these hormones is possible by iodine and other nutrients such as selenium and certain vitamins. To assess the thyroid disturbances in the mountain population of Benin, a survey was conducted in Natitingou, a mountain town located in the department of Atacora, in the northwest of Benin, on a sample of thirty (30) adults (15 men and 15 women), most of whom are educated. The results of the questionnaire revealed that 43% of the surveyed population acknowledged having knowledge on the mentioned subject and have dietary habits based on the consumption of seafood, and also legumes (20%). The examination of the serum results of the dosage of T3, T4 and TSH hormones revealed cases of thyroid disturbances in the region (36.32% in men and 44.98% in women). The analysis of a comparative table including the “VEDALAB Easy Reader+” and five (05) other readers, presents the performance, reading techniques, principles, advantages and disadvantages of each device. Pending further studies, some recommendations were made at the end of this study to the academic authorities regarding probable cases of dysthyroidism for which additional examinations are required and an awareness for the improvement of dietary habits.

Septic shock due to cytomegalovirus colitis associated with rituximab use:A case report

BACKGROUND Cytomegalovirus(CMV)infections can cause significant morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals.CMV targets dysfunctional lymphocytes.Chronic rituximab(RTX)therapy can cause B-lymphocyte dysfunction,increasing CMV risk.Rarely,CMV infections present with critical illness such as septic shock.CASE SUMMARY A 64-year-old African American woman presented with generalized weakness and non-bloody watery diarrhea of 4-6 weeks duration.She did not have nausea,vomiting or,abdominal pain.She had been on monthly RTX infusions for neuromyelitis optica.She was admitted for septic shock due to pancolitis.Blood investigations suggested pancytopenia and serology detected significantly elevated CMV DNA.Valganciclovir treatment led to disease resolution.CONCLUSION This case illustrates an extremely rare case of CMV colitis associated with RTX use presenting with septic shock.High suspicion for rare opportunistic infections is imperative in individuals with long-term RTX use.

Optimizing integrative cultivation management improves grain quality while increasing yield and nitrogen use efficiency in rice

A major challenge in rice(Oryza sativa L.)production is to cope with increasing grain yield and fertilizer use efficiency without compromising grain quality.This study was designed to determine if optimizing integrative cultivation management in rice could improve grain quality while increase yield and nitrogen use efficiency(NUE).An indica-japonica hybrid rice cultivar and a japonica rice cultivar were grown in the field,with five cultivation managements including no N application(0 N),local farmer's practice(LFP),and three optimizi ng in teg rati ve cultivati on managements,reducing N rate and increasi ng plant density(ND),ND+alternate wetting and moderate soil drying irrigation(NDW),and NDW+applying rapeseed cake fertilizer(NDWR).The results showed that the optimizi ng integrative cultivati on man ageme nts could not only in crease grain yield,but also enhance NUE compared to LFP.Compared to LFP,NDWR sign ifica ntly in creased brow n,milled,head milled rice rate,ratio of the kern el le ngth to breadth and breakdown value of starch,whereas decreased amylose content,gel consiste ncy,prolamin con tent,setback value,perce ntage of chalky kern els,and chalki ness.The three optimizing in tegrative cultivation managements increased con tents of total protei ns,albumin and glutelin,activities of the key enzymes involved in the sucrose-starch con version in grains,root oxidati on activity,and malic and succinic acid concentrations in root exudates during the grain-filling period.The results suggested that optimizing integrative cultivation managements could improve grain quality meanwhile increase grain yield and NUE by enhancing physiological activities of rice plants.

Improving water-use efficiency by decreasing stomatal conductance and transpiration rate to maintain higher ear photosynthetic rate in drought-resistant wheat

In wheat, the ear is one of the main photosynthetic contributors to grain filling under drought stress conditions. In order to determine the relationship between stomatal characteristics and plant drought resistance, photosynthetic and stomatal characteristics and water use efficiency(WUE) were studied in two wheat cultivars: the drought-resistant cultivar ‘Changhan 58' and the drought-sensitive cultivar ‘Xinong 9871'. Plants of both cultivars were grown in pot conditions under well-watered(WW) and water-stressed(WS) conditions. In both water regimes,‘Changhan 58' showed a significantly higher ear photosynthetic rate with a lower rate of variation and a significantly higher percentage variation of transpiration compared to control plants at the heading stage under WS conditions than did ‘Xinong 9871' plants. Moreover,‘Changhan 58' showed lower stomatal density(SD) and higher stomatal area per unit organ area(A) under both water conditions. Water stress decreased SD, A, and stomatal width(SW), and increased stomatal length in flag leaves(upper and lower surfaces) and ear organs(awn, glume,lemma, and palea), with the changes more pronounced in ear organs than in flag leaves.Instantaneous WUE increased slightly, while integral WUE improved significantly in both cultivars. Integral WUE was higher in ‘Changhan 58', and increased by a greater amount, than in‘Xinong 9871'. These results suggest that drought resistance in ‘Changhan 58' is regulated by stomatal characteristics through a decrease in transpiration rate in order to improve integral WUE and photosynthetic performance, and through sustaining a higher ear photosynthetic rate, therefore enhancing overall drought-resistance.

Effects of increasing panicle-stage N on yield and N use efficiency of indica rice and its relationship with soil fertility

Because of the higher nitrogen(N)recovery efficiency(NRE)of panicle-stage fertilization compared with basal and tillering fertilization,increasing the proportion of N topdressing at the booting stage(panicleN)is recommended and commonly practiced in parts of China.To investigate the effects of increasing panicle-N on grain yield and N use efficiency(NUE)and the relationships of the increase and the rice cultivar and soil fertility status,we increased the percentage of panicle-N from 20%to 40%by correspondingly reducing the N amount applied only at the tillering stage in both high-and low-fertility blue clayey paddy fields in 2018 and 2019.Four indica cultivars with diverse panicle types were used,and their grain yield,dry matter accumulation,and NUE were compared.In high-fertility soil,increasing topdressing panicle-N from 20%to 40%reduced tillering ability and reduced the effective panicle numbers of the multi-and medium-panicle cultivars Huanghuazhan(HHZ),C Liangyouhuazhan(CHZ),and Tianyouhuazhan(THZ).These cultivars gave the greatest yield when 30%of N was supplied as panicle fertilizer,whereas the yield,NRE,N agronomic efficiency(NAE),and nitrogen physiological efficiency(NPE)of the heavy-panicle inbred cultivar Yangdao 6(YD6)continued to increase,resulting in improved dry matter accumulation and grain filling in the late growth stage.The yield,NAE,NRE,and NPE of YD6 peaked when the panicle-N constituted 40%.While in low-fertility soil,the multipanicle cultivar HHZ showed the greatest yield when 30%of fertilizer-N was applied once at the panicle initiation(PI)stage,while the medium-panicle cultivar CHZ showed the greatest yield when the panicle-N percentage was 40%.Our results suggest that the percentage of panicle-N fertilizer should not exceed 30%for multipanicle cultivars,while can be appropriately increased to 40%for heavy-panicle indica cultivars.The effect of increasing topdressing panicle-N on the yield of medium-panicle cultivars was related to soil fertility.The optimum panicle-N percentage was 30%in the high-fertility soil and 40%in the low-fertility soil.

Are vulnerable farmers more easily influenced?Heterogeneous effects of Internet use on the adoption of integrated pest management

The Internet is believed to bring more technological dividends to vulnerable farmers during the green agriculture transformation.However,this is different from the theory of skill-biased technological change,which emphasizes that individuals with higher levels of human capital and more technological endowments benefit more.This study investigates the effects of Internet use on farmers'adoption of integrated pest management(IPM),theoretically and empirically,based on a dataset containing 1015 farmers in China's Shandong Province.By exploring the perspective of rational inattention,the reasons for the heterogeneity of the effects across farmers with different endowments,i.e.,education and land size,are analyzed.The potential endogeneity issues are addressed using the endogenous switching probit model.The results reveal that:(1)although Internet use significantly positively affects farmers'adoption of IPM,vulnerable farmers do not benefit more from it.Considerable selection bias leads to an overestimation of technological dividends for vulnerable farmers;(2)different sources of technology information lead to the difference in the degree of farmers'rational inattention toward Internet information,which plays a crucial role in the heterogeneous effect of Internet use;and(3)excessive dependence on strong-tie social network information sources entraps vulnerable farmers in information cocoons,hindering their ability to reap the benefits of Internet use fully.Therefore,it is essential to promote services geared towards elderly-oriented Internet agricultural technology information and encourage farmers with strong Internet utilization skills to share technology information with other farmers actively.

Influence of melt-treatment on material constants of aluminum sheet used for easy-open can during hot deformation

The isothermal compression test at elevated temperature was carried out for aluminum sheets prepared by different melt-treatment methods with aid of dynamic hot/mechanical simulation experimental technology. The material constants of hot deformation have been solved by multivariate regression directly. Influence of metallurgy factors on the constants was analyzed. The results show that at some strain, the relationship of sheets’ flow stress with deformation temperature and strain rate can be expressed more suitably with Arrhenius equation modified by hyperbolic sine function. Structure factor A1, stress-level coefficient α, strain rate sensibility exponent m and deformation activation energy Q all increase with increment of strain, while stress exponent n decreases gradually. The bigger α value or the smaller n value is, the more obvious the dynamic softening is, but the α value will increase for the metallurgy defects existing in the sheets. Influence of melt-treatment on Q depends upon the synthesis effect of all kinds of metallurgy defects. The Q and n values of the sheet prepared by high-efficient melt-treatment are the least, while the m value is the biggest, and the sheet can deform easily and evenly.

Inconsistent increasing of climate potential productivity resulting from global warming and land use transitions in the Dongting Lake Basin,from 2000 to 2020

In the face of global warming and increasing impervious surfaces,quantifying the change of climate potential productivity(CPP)is of great significance for the food production planning.Targeting the Dongting Lake Basin,which is a key area for food production in China,this paper uses meteorological data,as well as Climate Change Initiative Land Cover,and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission digital elevation model to investigate the CPP and its changes from 2000 to 2020.The suitability of land for cultivation(SLC),and the land use/land cover change(LUCC)are also considered.The results showed that the CPP varied from 9,825 to 20,895 kg ha^(-1).Even though the newly added impervious surfaces indirectly resulted in the decrease of CPP by of 9.81×10~8 kg,overall,the CPP increased at an average rate of 83.7 kg ha^(-1)a^(-1).Global warming is the strongest driver behind CPP increase,and CPP has played an important role in the conversions between cultivated land and other land types.The structure of land types tends to be optimized against this challenge.

Uphill or downhill?Cropland use change and its drivers from the perspective of slope spectrum

The continuous decrease of low-slope cropland resources caused by construction land crowding poses huge threat to regional sustainable development and food security.Slope spectrum analysis of topographic and geomorphic features is considered as a digital terrain analysis method which reflects the macro-topographic features by using micro-topographic factors.However,pieces of studies have extended the concept of slope spectrum in the field of geoscience to construction land to explore its expansion law,while research on the slope trend of cropland from that perspective remains rare.To address the gap,in virtue of spatial analysis and geographically weighted regression(GWR)model,the cropland use change in the Yangtze River Basin(YRB)from 2000 to 2020 was analyzed and the driving factors were explored from the perspective of slope spectrum.Results showed that the slope spectrum curves of cropland area-frequency in the YRB showed a first upward then a downward trend.The change curve of the slope spectrum of cropland in each province(municipality)exhibited various distribution patterns.Quantitative analysis of morphological parameters of cropland slope spectrum revealed that the further down the YRB,the stronger the flattening characteristics,the more obvious the concentration.The province experienced the greatest downhill cropland climbing(CLC)was Shannxi,while province experienced the highest uphill CLC was Zhejiang.The most common cropland use change type in the YRB was horizontal expansion type.The factors affecting average cropland climbing index(ACCI)were quite stable in different periods,while population density(POP)changed from negative to positive during the study period.This research is of practical significance for the rational utilization of cropland at the watershed scale.

Accurate and efficient remaining useful life prediction of batteries enabled by physics-informed machine learning

The safe and reliable operation of lithium-ion batteries necessitates the accurate prediction of remaining useful life(RUL).However,this task is challenging due to the diverse ageing mechanisms,various operating conditions,and limited measured signals.Although data-driven methods are perceived as a promising solution,they ignore intrinsic battery physics,leading to compromised accuracy,low efficiency,and low interpretability.In response,this study integrates domain knowledge into deep learning to enhance the RUL prediction performance.We demonstrate accurate RUL prediction using only a single charging curve.First,a generalisable physics-based model is developed to extract ageing-correlated parameters that can describe and explain battery degradation from battery charging data.The parameters inform a deep neural network(DNN)to predict RUL with high accuracy and efficiency.The trained model is validated under 3 types of batteries working under 7 conditions,considering fully charged and partially charged cases.Using data from one cycle only,the proposed method achieves a root mean squared error(RMSE)of 11.42 cycles and a mean absolute relative error(MARE)of 3.19%on average,which are over45%and 44%lower compared to the two state-of-the-art data-driven methods,respectively.Besides its accuracy,the proposed method also outperforms existing methods in terms of efficiency,input burden,and robustness.The inherent relationship between the model parameters and the battery degradation mechanism is further revealed,substantiating the intrinsic superiority of the proposed method.

Remaining Useful Life Prediction Method for Multi-Component System Considering Maintenance:Subsea Christmas Tree System as A Case Study

Maintenance is an important technical measure to maintain and restore the performance status of equipment and ensure the safety of the production process in industrial production,and is an indispensable part of prediction and health management.However,most of the existing remaining useful life(RUL)prediction methods assume that there is no maintenance or only perfect maintenance during the whole life cycle;thus,the predicted RUL value of the system is obviously lower than its actual operating value.The complex environment of the system further increases the difficulty of maintenance,and its maintenance nodes and maintenance degree are limited by the construction period and working conditions,which increases the difficulty of RUL prediction.An RUL prediction method for a multi-omponent system based on the Wiener process considering maintenance is proposed.The performance degradation model of components is established by a dynamic Bayesian network as the initial model,which solves the uncertainty of insufficient data problems.Based on the experience of experts,the degree of degradation is divided according to Poisson process simulation random failure,and different maintenance strategies are used to estimate a variety of condition maintenance factors.An example of a subsea tree system is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Yields,growth and water use under chemical topping in relations to row configuration and plant density in drip-irrigated cotton

Background Water deficit is an important problem in agricultural production in arid regions.With the advent of wholly mechanized technology for cotton planting in Xinjiang,it is important to determine which planting mode could achieve high yield,fiber quality and water use efficiency(WUE).This study aimed to explore if chemical topping affected cotton yield,quality and water use in relation to row configuration and plant densities.Results Experiments were carried out in Xinjiang China,in 2020 and 2021 with two topping method,manual topping and chemical topping,two plant densities,low and high,and two row configurations,i.e.,76 cm equal rows and 10+66 cm narrow-wide rows,which were commonly applied in matching harvest machine.Chemical topping increased seed cotton yield,but did not affect cotton fiber quality comparing to traditional manual topping.Under equal row spacing,the WUE in higher density was 62.4%higher than in the lower one.However,under narrow-wide row spacing,the WUE in lower density was 53.3%higher than in higher one(farmers’practice).For machine-harvest cotton in Xinjiang,the optimal row configuration and plant density for chemical topping was narrow-wide rows with 15 plants m-2 or equal rows with 18 plants m-2.Conclusion The plant density recommended in narrow-wide rows was less than farmers’practice and the density in equal rows was moderate with local practice.Our results provide new knowledge on optimizing agronomic managements of machine-harvested cotton for both high yield and water efficient.

Controlled drainage in the Nile River delta of Egypt:a promising approach for decreasing drainage off-site effects and enhancing yield and water use efficiency of wheat

North Africa is one of the most regions impacted by water shortage.The implementation of controlled drainage(CD)in the northern Nile River delta of Egypt is one strategy to decrease irrigation,thus alleviating the negative impact of water shortage.This study investigated the impacts of CD at different levels on drainage outflow,water table level,nitrate loss,grain yield,and water use efficiency(WUE)of various wheat cultivars.Two levels of CD,i.e.,0.4 m below the soil surface(CD-0.4)and 0.8 m below the soil surface(CD-0.8),were compared with subsurface free drainage(SFD)at 1.2 m below the soil surface(SFD-1.2).Under each drainage treatment,four wheat cultivars were grown for two growing seasons(November 2018–April 2019 and November 2019–April 2020).Compared with SFD-1.2,CD-0.4 and CD-0.8 decreased irrigation water by 42.0%and 19.9%,drainage outflow by 40.3%and 27.3%,and nitrate loss by 35.3%and 20.8%,respectively.Under CD treatments,plants absorbed a significant portion of their evapotranspiration from shallow groundwater(22.0%and 8.0%for CD-0.4 and CD-0.8,respectively).All wheat cultivars positively responded to CD treatments,and the highest grain yield and straw yield were obtained under CD-0.4 treatment.Using the initial soil salinity as a reference,the soil salinity under CD-0.4 treatment increased two-fold by the end of the second growing season without negative impacts on wheat yield.Modifying the drainage system by raising the outlet elevation and considering shallow groundwater contribution to crop evapotranspiration promoted water-saving and WUE.Different responses could be obtained based on the different plant tolerance to salinity and water stress,crop characteristics,and growth stage.Site-specific soil salinity management practices will be required to avoid soil salinization due to the adoption of long-term shallow groundwater in Egypt and other similar agroecosystems.

基于EasyDL平台的甘肃陇南核桃主要病害诊断模型的构建及应用

旨在解决甘肃陇南地区核桃产业中病虫害准确鉴定的问题,以提高种植户核桃园管理的水平和能力。基于自动化深度学习技术(Automated deep learning technology,AutoDL),利用机器学习模型搜索(Model Search)实现自动化人工智能(Automated artificial intelligence,AutoML)算法框架,基于飞桨开源深度学习平台Easy DL构建甘肃陇南核桃主要病害的诊断模型,并进行诊断精度的模型训练。结果显示,共246张训练集进入模型,鉴定为9种常见核桃病害,模型部署在API公用云上,通过微信小程序或浏览器运行。经训练,其诊断准确率达95%以上。说明通过EasyDL构建的陇南地区核桃上常见病害模型运行可靠,能够为核桃种植户提供准确的病害诊断,从而很好地指导种植户提高管理核桃园的水平和应付突发植保问题的能力,以便及时、迅速采取综合防治措施,最大程度地减少因病害造成的经济损失。同时也是相关从业人员和基层研究人员解决核桃植保问题的得力辅助工具。

基于EASI模型的海外营地安防系统脆弱性评估

海外中资企业作为中国企业在“一带一路”沿线国家的投资者和运营者,面临着各种安全威胁。为确保企业的安全,营地安防系统发挥着关键作用。定量分析“一带一路”海外营地安防系统的薄弱路径,可以帮助企业建立强大的安全防护体系,保护资产和员工安全,促进项目顺利进行。该文基于EASI模型对某海外中资企业营地安防系统进行脆弱性评估,利用模拟场景建立敌手入侵序列图,对所有入侵路径进行计算,分析最薄弱路径的关键影响因素,针对最薄弱路径提出改进措施,提高海外中资企业营地安防系统的有效性。

Historical Changes and Multi-scenario Prediction of Land Use and Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Storage in China

Terrestrial carbon storage(CS)plays a crucial role in achieving carbon balance and mitigating global climate change.This study employs the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and Representative Concentration Pathways(SSPs-RCPs)published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)and incorporates the Policy Control Scenario(PCS)regulated by China’s land management policies.The Future Land Use Simulation(FLUS)model is employed to generate a 1 km resolution land use/cover change(LUCC)dataset for China in 2030 and 2060.Based on the carbon density dataset of China’s terrestrial ecosystems,the study analyses CS changes and their relationship with land use changes spanning from 1990 to 2060.The findings indicate that the quantitative changes in land use in China from 1990 to 2020 are characterised by a reduction in the area proportion of cropland and grassland,along with an increase in the impervious surface and forest area.This changing trend is projected to continue under the PCS from 2020 to 2060.Under the SSPs-RCPs scenario,the proportion of cropland and impervious surface predominantly increases,while the proportions of forest and grassland continuously decrease.Carbon loss in China’s carbon storage from 1990 to 2020 amounted to 0.53×10^(12)kg,primarily due to the reduced area of cropland and grassland.In the SSPs-RCPs scenario,more significant carbon loss occurs,reaching a peak of8.07×10^(12)kg in the SSP4-RCP3.4 scenario.Carbon loss is mainly concentrated in the southeastern coastal area and the Beijing-TianjinHebei(BTH)region of China,with urbanisation and deforestation identified as the primary drivers.In the future,it is advisable to enhance the protection of forests and grassland while stabilising cropland areas and improving the intensity of urban land.These research findings offer valuable data support for China’s land management policy,land space optimisation,and the achievement of dual-carbon targets.

Fairness in Olympic sports:How can we control the increasing complexity of doping use in high performance sports?

With the Rio Olympics just a few months past,we remember the excitement,the incredible performances,and the controversies.As happens so often,the Olympic Games focus attention not only on athletic achievements but also on how athletes may reach ever-increasing levels of performance.Doping,medical

Spatiotemporal characteristics of cultivated land use eco-efficiency and its influencing factors in China from 2000 to 2020

Improving cultivated land use eco-efficiency(CLUE)can effectively promote agricultural sustainability,particularly in developing countries where CLUE is generally low.This study used provincial-level data from China to evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of CLUE from 2000 to 2020 and identified the influencing factors of CLUE by using a panel Tobit model.In addition,given the undesirable outputs of agricultural production,we incorporated carbon emissions and nonpoint source pollution into the global benchmark-undesirable output-super efficiency-slacks-based measure(GB-US-SBM)model,which combines global benchmark technology,undesirable output,super efficiency,and slacks-based measure.The results indicated that there was an upward trend in CLUE in China from 2000 to 2020,with an increase rate of 2.62%.The temporal evolution of CLUE in China could be classified into three distinct stages:a period of fluctuating decrease(2000-2007),a phase of gradual increase(2008-2014),and a period of rapid growth(2015-2020).The major grain-producing areas(MPAs)had a lower CLUE than their counterparts,namely,non-major grain-production areas(non-MPAs).The spatial agglomeration effect followed a northeast-southwest strip distribution;and the movement path of barycentre revealed a"P"shape,with Luoyang City,Henan Province,as the centre.In terms of influencing factors of CLUE,investment in science and technology played the most vital role in improving CLUE,while irrigation index had the most negative effect.It should be noted that these two influencing factors had different impacts on MPAs and non-MPAs.Therefore,relevant departments should formulate policies to enhance the level of science and technology,improve irrigation condition,and promote sustainable utilization of cultivated land.

Urban Land Use Efficiency and Contributing Factors in the Yangtze River Delta Under Increasing Environmental Restrictions in China

Evaluating urban land use efficiency(ULUE) provides insights into the interactions between land use systems and their external environment. Specifically, changes in ULUE are important for monitoring urban transformation in developing countries. In this study, using a traditional input-output index model, we incorporated slack-based measurements and undesirable outputs into a SBM-UN(slack-based measure-undesirable) model to investigate ULUE within the context of increasing environmental restrictions in China. The model was used to estimate the ULUE of 26 cities in the highly developed urban agglomeration of the Yangtze River Delta from 2000 to2018. The average ULUE in the Yangtze River Delta was relatively low compared to that of developed city regions in the European Union(EU) and North America and exhibited a U-shaped curve over the study period. Incorporating undesirable outputs, such as environmental pollution, into the model reduced ULUE by 19.06%. ULUE varied spatially, with the kernel density estimation exhibiting a bimodal distribution. Efficiency decomposition analysis showed that scale efficiency made a greater contribution to ULUE than pure technical efficiency. Based on our findings, recommended approaches to improve ULUE include optimizing factor allocation, reducing undesirable outputs, and increasing the effective output per land unit. The study suggests that ULUE and the SBM-UN model are useful planning tools for sustainable urban development.

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