To realize potential cost savings in coastal monitoring programs and provide timely advice for marine management, there is an urgent need for efficient evaluation tools based on easily measured variables for the rapid...To realize potential cost savings in coastal monitoring programs and provide timely advice for marine management, there is an urgent need for efficient evaluation tools based on easily measured variables for the rapid and timely assessment of estuarine and offshore eutrophication. In this study, using parallel factor analysis(PARAFAC), principal component analysis(PCA), and discriminant function analysis(DFA) with the trophic index(TRIX) for reference, we developed an approach for rapidly assessing the eutrophication status of coastal waters using easy-to-measure parameters, including chromophoric dissolved organic matter(CDOM), fluorescence excitation–emission matrices, CDOM UV-Vis absorbance, and other water-quality parameters(turbidity, chlorophyll a, and dissolved oxygen). First, we decomposed CDOM excitation-emission matrices(EEMs) by PARAFAC to identify three components. Then, we applied PCA to simplify the complexity of the relationships between the water-quality parameters. Finally, we used the PCA score values as independent variables in DFA to develop a eutrophication assessment model. The developed model yielded classification accuracy rates of 97.1%, 80.5%, 90.3%, and 89.1% for good, moderate, and poor water qualities, and for the overall data sets, respectively. Our results suggest that these easy-to-measure parameters could be used to develop a simple approach for rapid in-situ assessment and monitoring of the eutrophication of estuarine and offshore areas.展开更多
Background: HRP2-based Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for malaria ensure a rational use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). The HRP2 antigen can go through the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Purpose: To...Background: HRP2-based Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for malaria ensure a rational use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). The HRP2 antigen can go through the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Purpose: To assess the HRP2-based RDT in malaria and detect the HRP2 in CSF. Methods: From November 2006 to May 2007, all patients under 15 years showing clinical symptoms of malaria were included. RDT was performed on the CSF and peripheral blood. Results: Out of the 951 patients included, 131 (13.7%) were confirmed through RDT and 130 (13.6%) through thick blood smear. Sensitivity and specificity stood at 96.96% and 99.71% respectively, for uncomplicated cases and at 100% and 99.13% for severe cases. Tests to detect HRP2 in the CSF of 52 cases were negative. Conclusion: Tests to detect HRP2 in the CSF could make it possible to diagnose severe malaria cases when peripheral parasitemia would be below the detection threshold.展开更多
Because laboratory tests are expensive and time-consuming and may not be available to farmers, soil nitrate quick tests are required for optimal nitrogen management strategies in China to increase nitrogen use efficie...Because laboratory tests are expensive and time-consuming and may not be available to farmers, soil nitrate quick tests are required for optimal nitrogen management strategies in China to increase nitrogen use efficiency and to reduce nitrogen losses. A total of 328 soil samples were collected at different soil depths from 225 sites in China, which covered a wide range of climatic and geographic regions, soil types, croplands and soil textures, to evaluate the suitability of a quick reflectometer test method for analysing soil NO3-N in a wide range of soil NO3 concentrations, soil types and cropping systems in China, mainly by comparison of soil NO3-N assessed by a quick-test method (a reflectometer) and a standard laboratory method, i.e., high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The reflectometer showed excellent agreement with the laboratory HPLC method with regard to soil nitrate contents for all analysed soil samples. The linear regression had slopes of 1 ± 0.08 and intercepts of ± 1.38 mg NO(-,3)-N L^(-1) among different soil types and croplands. Compared with the 1:1 lines, the regression analysis for each soil type showed statistically significant but small differences in slope; the relative difference between the values measured using the two analytical systems varied from -8% to 6%, and there were no differences in intercept except for paddy soil. The reflectometer showed adequate, statistically significant precision in determining soil nitrate contents, and it could therefore be directly used instead of the laboratory methods for soil NO(-,3)-N measurement in China.展开更多
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41376106)the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (No. ZR2013DM017)
文摘To realize potential cost savings in coastal monitoring programs and provide timely advice for marine management, there is an urgent need for efficient evaluation tools based on easily measured variables for the rapid and timely assessment of estuarine and offshore eutrophication. In this study, using parallel factor analysis(PARAFAC), principal component analysis(PCA), and discriminant function analysis(DFA) with the trophic index(TRIX) for reference, we developed an approach for rapidly assessing the eutrophication status of coastal waters using easy-to-measure parameters, including chromophoric dissolved organic matter(CDOM), fluorescence excitation–emission matrices, CDOM UV-Vis absorbance, and other water-quality parameters(turbidity, chlorophyll a, and dissolved oxygen). First, we decomposed CDOM excitation-emission matrices(EEMs) by PARAFAC to identify three components. Then, we applied PCA to simplify the complexity of the relationships between the water-quality parameters. Finally, we used the PCA score values as independent variables in DFA to develop a eutrophication assessment model. The developed model yielded classification accuracy rates of 97.1%, 80.5%, 90.3%, and 89.1% for good, moderate, and poor water qualities, and for the overall data sets, respectively. Our results suggest that these easy-to-measure parameters could be used to develop a simple approach for rapid in-situ assessment and monitoring of the eutrophication of estuarine and offshore areas.
文摘Background: HRP2-based Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for malaria ensure a rational use of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). The HRP2 antigen can go through the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Purpose: To assess the HRP2-based RDT in malaria and detect the HRP2 in CSF. Methods: From November 2006 to May 2007, all patients under 15 years showing clinical symptoms of malaria were included. RDT was performed on the CSF and peripheral blood. Results: Out of the 951 patients included, 131 (13.7%) were confirmed through RDT and 130 (13.6%) through thick blood smear. Sensitivity and specificity stood at 96.96% and 99.71% respectively, for uncomplicated cases and at 100% and 99.13% for severe cases. Tests to detect HRP2 in the CSF of 52 cases were negative. Conclusion: Tests to detect HRP2 in the CSF could make it possible to diagnose severe malaria cases when peripheral parasitemia would be below the detection threshold.
基金the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (No.00330800A)
文摘Because laboratory tests are expensive and time-consuming and may not be available to farmers, soil nitrate quick tests are required for optimal nitrogen management strategies in China to increase nitrogen use efficiency and to reduce nitrogen losses. A total of 328 soil samples were collected at different soil depths from 225 sites in China, which covered a wide range of climatic and geographic regions, soil types, croplands and soil textures, to evaluate the suitability of a quick reflectometer test method for analysing soil NO3-N in a wide range of soil NO3 concentrations, soil types and cropping systems in China, mainly by comparison of soil NO3-N assessed by a quick-test method (a reflectometer) and a standard laboratory method, i.e., high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The reflectometer showed excellent agreement with the laboratory HPLC method with regard to soil nitrate contents for all analysed soil samples. The linear regression had slopes of 1 ± 0.08 and intercepts of ± 1.38 mg NO(-,3)-N L^(-1) among different soil types and croplands. Compared with the 1:1 lines, the regression analysis for each soil type showed statistically significant but small differences in slope; the relative difference between the values measured using the two analytical systems varied from -8% to 6%, and there were no differences in intercept except for paddy soil. The reflectometer showed adequate, statistically significant precision in determining soil nitrate contents, and it could therefore be directly used instead of the laboratory methods for soil NO(-,3)-N measurement in China.