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Deformation and Bubble Entrapment of Free Surface Before Axisymmetric Bodies Detaching From Water Fully
X. Song, Q. G. Wu, B. Y. Ni, H. L. Chen
Journal: Journal of Mechanics , First View
Experiments are presented on the deformation of free surface induced by water exit of axisymmetric bodies, particular at the moment before body detaching from water. A set of experimental apparatus is designed to provide driving force for the bodies. A high-speed camera is adopted to capture the motion and deformation of the free surface. Bodies of various shapes, including a stretched spheroid, a sphere, a circular cone and a combination of cylinder and circular cone, are lifted out of water with different velocities, by using a straight rod attached on the top of models. It is found that free-surface deformation is affected by the moving velocity a lot. Three wake flow or free-surface spike patterns are generated corresponding to different velocities. When the velocity is larger than a critical velocity, cavitation incepts and bubble is entrapped inside the water spike, which changes the flow pattern and shape of the spike. It is aimed to explore the spike phenomenon of free surface and explain the reasons behind it.
Length of stay and odds of MRSA acquisition: a dose–response relationship?
H. Y. Loke, W. M. Kyaw, M. I. C. Chen, J. W. Lim, B. Ang, A. Chow
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 June 2019, e223
The association between methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation and/or infection with increased morbidity and mortality among hospital patients has long been recognised. We sought to build on previous studies to identify modifiable risk factors associated with the acquisition of MRSA colonisation and infection by conducting a retrospective cohort study on patients admitted through the Emergency Department of an acute tertiary-care general hospital in Singapore which implemented universal on-admission MRSA screening. Patients were assigned to the acquisition or non-acquisition group depending on whether they acquired MRSA during their admission. We used logistic regression models with a patient being in the acquisition group as the binary outcome to identify factors associated with MRSA acquisition. A total of 1302 acquisition and 37 949 non-acquisition group patients were analysed. Fifteen variables were included in the multivariate model. A dose–response relationship between length of stay and odds of MRSA acquisition was observed, with a length of stay 3 weeks or more (Adj OR 11.78–57.36, all P < 0.001) being the single biggest predictor of MRSA acquisition. Other variables significantly associated with MRSA acquisition were: male gender, age 65 or greater, previous MRSA colonisation or infection, exposure to certain antibiotics and surgery, and history of diabetes.
The potential application of plant wax markers from alfalfa for estimating the total feed intake of sheep
H. Zhang, Y. P. Guo, W. Q. Chen, N. Liu, S. L. Shi, Y. J. Zhang, L. Ma, J. Q. Zhou
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 June 2019, pp. 1-10
Estimating the feed intake of grazing herbivores is critical for determining their nutrition, overall productivity and utilization of grassland resources. A 17-day indoor feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential use of Medicago sativa as a natural supplement for estimating the total feed intake of sheep. A total of 16 sheep were randomly assigned to four diets (four sheep per diet) containing a known amount of M. sativa together with up to seven forages common to typical steppes. The diets were: diet 1, M. sativa + Leymus chinensis + Puccinellia distans; diet 2, species in diet 1 + Phragmites australis; diet 3, species in diet 2 + Chenopodium album + Elymus sibiricus; and diet 4, species in diet 3 + Artemisia scoparia + Artemisia tanacetifolia. After faecal marker concentrations were corrected by individual sheep recovery, treatment mean recovery or overall recovery, the proportions of M. sativa and other dietary forages were estimated from a combination of alkanes and long-chain alcohols using a least-square procedure. Total intake was the ratio of the known intake of M. sativa to its estimated dietary proportion. Each dietary component intake was obtained using total intake and the corresponding dietary proportions. The estimated values were compared with actual values to assess the estimation accuracy. The results showed that M. sativa exhibited a distinguishable marker pattern in comparison to the other dietary forage species. The accuracy of the dietary composition estimates was significantly (P < 0.001) affected by both diet diversity and the faecal recovery method. The proportion of M. sativa and total intake across all diets could be accurately estimated using the individual sheep or the treatment mean recovery methods. The largest differences between the estimated and observed total intake were 2.6 g and 19.2 g, respectively, representing only 0.4% and 2.6% of the total intake. However, they were significantly (P < 0.05) biased for most diets when using the overall recovery method. Due to the difficulty in obtaining individual sheep recovery under field conditions, treatment mean recovery is recommended. This study suggests that M. sativa, a natural roughage instead of a labelled concentrate, can be utilized as a dietary supplement to accurately estimate the total feed intake of sheep indoors and further indicates that it has potential to be used in steppe grassland of northern China, where the marker patterns of M. sativa differ markedly from commonly occurring plant species.
Methodological approaches to situational analysis in global mental health: a scoping review
J. K. Murphy, E. E. Michalak, H. Colquhoun, C. Woo, C. H. Ng, S. V. Parikh, L. Culpepper, C. S. Dewa, A. J. Greenshaw, Y. He, S. H. Kennedy, X.-M. Li, T. Liu, C. N. Soares, Z. Wang, Y. Xu, J. Chen, R. W. Lam
Journal: Global Mental Health / Volume 6 / 2019
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 June 2019, e11
Global inequity in access to and availability of essential mental health services is well recognized. The mental health treatment gap is approximately 50% in all countries, with up to 90% of people in the lowest-income countries lacking access to required mental health services. Increased investment in global mental health (GMH) has increased innovation in mental health service delivery in LMICs. Situational analyses in areas where mental health services and systems are poorly developed and resourced are essential when planning for research and implementation, however, little guidance is available to inform methodological approaches to conducting these types of studies. This scoping review provides an analysis of methodological approaches to situational analysis in GMH, including an assessment of the extent to which situational analyses include equity in study designs. It is intended as a resource that identifies current gaps and areas for future development in GMH. Formative research, including situational analysis, is an essential first step in conducting robust implementation research, an essential area of study in GMH that will help to promote improved availability of, access to and reach of mental health services for people living with mental illness in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While strong leadership in this field exists, there remain significant opportunities for enhanced research representing different LMICs and regions.
Transverse instability of gravity–capillary solitary waves on deep water in the presence of constant vorticity
M. Abid, C. Kharif, H.-C. Hsu, Y.-Y. Chen
The bifurcation of two-dimensional gravity–capillary waves into solitary waves when the phase velocity and group velocity are nearly equal is investigated in the presence of constant vorticity. We found that gravity–capillary solitary waves with decaying oscillatory tails exist in deep water in the presence of vorticity. Furthermore we found that the presence of vorticity influences strongly (i) the solitary wave properties and (ii) the growth rate of unstable transverse perturbations. The growth rate and bandwidth instability are given numerically and analytically as a function of the vorticity.
Epidemiologic characteristics of outbreaks of three norovirus genotypes (GII.2, GII.17 and GII.4 Sydney) in Guangzhou, China, from 2012 to 2018
H. Wang, D. H. Wang, C. Chen, Y. Lu, M. X. Li, T. G. Li, Z. B. Zhang, Z. C. Yang
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 May 2019, e207
To compare the epidemiologic features (e.g. settings and transmission mode) and patient clinical characteristics associated with outbreaks of different norovirus (Nov) strains, we retrospectively analysed data of Nov outbreaks occurring in Guangzhou, China from 2012 to 2018. The results suggested that outbreaks of Nov GII.2, GII.17 and GII.4 Sydney exhibited different outbreak settings, transmission modes and symptoms. GII.2 outbreaks mainly occurred in kindergartens, elementary and high schools and were transmitted mainly through person-to-person contact. By contrast, GII.4 Sydney outbreaks frequently occurred in colleges and were primarily associated with foodborne transmission. Cases from GII.2 and GII.17 outbreaks reported vomiting more frequently than those from outbreaks associated with GII.4 Sydney.
Survival physiology and sex ratio of the Chinese white pine beetle Dendroctonus armandi (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) during host colonization and overwintering
L. Dai, J. Zheng, Y. Wang, Y. Sun, H. Chen
Journal: Bulletin of Entomological Research , First View
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 May 2019, pp. 1-8
The Chinese white pine beetle Dendroctonus armandi (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) typically displays bivoltinism at altitudes below 1700 m in the Qinling Mountains, China. The periods of host colonization and larval overwintering are two important phases in the life cycle of bark beetles, as it is during these periods that they have to contend with host plant defences and periods of intense cold, respectively. Although during different seasons, the females and males of Chinese white pine beetles show varying tolerances to host plant terpenoids, the sex ratio and survival physiology condition of the two beetle generations are unknown. We investigated the sex ratio of individuals, and also examined the body mass, energy stores, and detoxication enzymes of males and females in each of the two generations in order to determine the overall population stability of each generation. We identified a female-biased sex ratio among adults in both generations. Furthermore, patterns of body mass, energy stores, and detoxication enzymes were found to differ between the two sexes and two seasons. Compared with the males, the females have a larger body mass and higher amounts of stored lipids, which are assumed to be adaptations designed to overcome host resistance and facilitate subsequent oviposition.
Application of a long short-term memory neural network: a burgeoning method of deep learning in forecasting HIV incidence in Guangxi, China
G. Wang, W. Wei, J. Jiang, C. Ning, H. Chen, J. Huang, B. Liang, N. Zang, Y. Liao, R. Chen, J. Lai, O. Zhou, J. Han, H. Liang, L. Ye
Guangxi, a province in southwestern China, has the second highest reported number of HIV/AIDS cases in China. This study aimed to develop an accurate and effective model to describe the tendency of HIV and to predict its incidence in Guangxi. HIV incidence data of Guangxi from 2005 to 2016 were obtained from the database of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network models, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models, generalised regression neural network (GRNN) models and exponential smoothing (ES) were used to fit the incidence data. Data from 2015 and 2016 were used to validate the most suitable models. The model performances were evaluated by evaluating metrics, including mean square error (MSE), root mean square error, mean absolute error and mean absolute percentage error. The LSTM model had the lowest MSE when the N value (time step) was 12. The most appropriate ARIMA models for incidence in 2015 and 2016 were ARIMA (1, 1, 2) (0, 1, 2)12 and ARIMA (2, 1, 0) (1, 1, 2)12, respectively. The accuracy of GRNN and ES models in forecasting HIV incidence in Guangxi was relatively poor. Four performance metrics of the LSTM model were all lower than the ARIMA, GRNN and ES models. The LSTM model was more effective than other time-series models and is important for the monitoring and control of local HIV epidemics.
Co-receptor tropism and genetic characteristics of the V3 regions in variants of antiretroviral-naive HIV-1 infected subjects
J. L. Guo, Y. Yan, J. F. Zhang, J. M. Ji, Z. J. Ge, R. Ge, X. F. Zhang, H. H. Wang, Z. W. Chen, J. Y. Luo
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 April 2019, e181
Co-receptor tropism has been identified to correlate with HIV-1 transmission and the disease progression in patients. A molecular epidemiology investigation of co-receptor tropism is important for clinical practice and effective control of HIV-1. In this study, we investigated the co-receptor tropism on HIV-1 variants of 85 antiretroviral-naive patients with Geno2pheno algorithm at a false-positive rate of 10%. Our data showed that a majority of the subjects harboured the CCR5-tropic virus (81.2%, 69/85). No significant differences in gender, age, baseline CD4+ T-cell counts and transmission routes were observed between subjects infected with CXCR4-tropic or CCR5-tropic virus. The co-receptor tropism appeared to be associated with the virus genotype; a significantly more CXCR4-use was predicted in CRF01_AE infections whereas all CRF07_BC and CRF08_BC were predicted to use CCR5 co-receptor. Sequences analysis of V3 revealed a higher median net charge in the CXCR4 viruses over CCR5 viruses (4.0 vs. 3.0, P < 0.05). The predicted N-linked glycosylation site between amino acids 6 and 8 in the V3 region was conserved in CCR5 viruses, but not in CXCR4 viruses. Besides, variable crown motifs were observed in both CCR5 and CXCR4 viruses, of which the most prevalent motif GPGQ existed in both viral tropism and almost all genotypes identified in this study except subtype B. These findings may offer important implications for clinical practice and enhance our understanding of HIV-1 biology.
Prevalence and genotypes of anal human papillomavirus infection among HIV-positive vs. HIV-negative men in Taizhou, China
X. Liu, H. Lin, X. Chen, W. Shen, X. Ye, Y. Lin, Z. Lin, S. Zhou, M. Gao, Y. Ding, N. He
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 March 2019, e117
This study aims to investigate the prevalence and genotype distribution of anal human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among men with different sexual orientations with or without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in China. A cross-sectional study was conducted during 2016–2017 in Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province. Convenient sampling was used to recruit male participants from HIV voluntary counselling and testing clinics and Center for Disease Control and Prevention. A face-to-face questionnaire interview was administered and an anal-canal swab was collected for HPV genotyping. A total of 160 HIV-positive and 113 HIV-negative men participated in the study. The prevalence of any type HPV was 30.6% for heterosexual men, 74.1% for homosexual and 63.6% for bisexual men among HIV-positive participants, while the prevalence was 8.3%, 29.2% and 23.8% respectively among HIV-negatives. The most prevalent genotypes were HPV-58 (16.9%), HPV-6 (15.6%) and HPV-11 (15.0%) among HIV-positive men, and were HPV-16 (4.4%), HPV-52 (4.4%) and HPV-6 (3.5%) among HIV-negative men. Having ever had haemorrhoids and having ever seen blood on tissue after defaecation was associated with HPV infection. One-fourth of the HPV infections in this study population can be covered by the quadrivalent vaccine in market. The highly prevalent anal HPV infection among men especially HIV-infected men calls for close observation and further investigation for anal cancer prevention.
Reusable blood collection tube holders are implicated in nosocomial hepatitis C virus transmission
Vincent C. C. Cheng, Shuk-Ching Wong, Sally C. Y. Wong, Siddharth Sridhar, Cyril C. Y. Yip, Jonathan H. K. Chen, James Fung, Kelvin H. Y. Chiu, Pak-Leung Ho, Sirong Chen, Ben W. C. Cheng, Chi-Lai Ho, Chung-Mau Lo, Kwok-Yung Yuen
Journal: Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology / Volume 40 / Issue 2 / February 2019
Prevalence and risk factors of anaemia in hospitalised HIV-infected patients in southeast China: a retrospective study
J. L. Lai, Y. H. Chen, Y. M. Liu, J. J. Yuan, J. Lin, A. Q. Huang, H. H. Ye
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 January 2019, e81
The association between opportunistic infection (OI) and anaemia among HIV-infected patients remains to be studied. We investigated the prevalence and risk factors of anaemia in hospitalised HIV-infected patients to reveal the association between OI and anaemia. We conducted a retrospective study of HIV-positive hospitalised patients from June 2016 to December 2017 in Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University. Patients' information on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were carefully collected. The comparison of anaemia prevalence between groups was conducted with χ2 test. A logistic regression model was carried out to analyse the predictors of anaemia. The total prevalence of anaemia in hospitalised HIV-infected patients was 55.15%. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anaemia was 41.42%, 11.08% and 2.64%, respectively. Predictors independently associated with anaemia were: CD4 counts <50 cells/μl (odds ratio (OR): 6.376, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.916–21.215, P = 0.003), CD4 counts 50–199 cells/μl (OR: 6.303, 95% CI = 1.874–21.203, P = 0.003), co-infection with tuberculosis (TB) (OR: 2.703, 95% CI = 1.349–5.414, P = 0.005) or Penicillium marneffei (PM) (OR: 7.162, 95% CI = 3.147–15.299, P < 0.001). In Fujian, China, more than half inpatients with HIV were anaemic, but severe anaemia is infrequent. Lower CD4 counts, co-infection with TB or PM were independent risk factors for anaemia. Chinese HIV patients especially with TB, PM infection and low CD4 level should be routinely detected for anaemia to improve therapy.
Prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and herpes simplex virus in Beijing, China
Y. Y. Liang, H. Y. Zhai, Z. J. Li, X. Jin, Y. Chen, S. P. Chen
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2018, e59
The prevalence of sexually transmitted infection (STI) pathogens in Beijing, China, is rarely reported. In this study, 34 911 symptomatic outpatients with suspected genital infections who attended outpatient clinics in a tertiary care hospital were included to investigate the updated prevalence of Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU), Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and herpes simplex virus (HSV) from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2016 in Beijing, China. Results indicated that a decrease trend (UU, CT, NG and HSV) in male and an increase trend (UU, CT and NG) in female were observed during the period. Patients aged 20–39 years old were mostly affected by these pathogens, while the prevalence in patients aged 20–29 years old was the highest, The prevalence of UU in male was significantly lower than in female (31.5% vs. 49.3%, P < 0.05), while the prevalence of NG in male was significantly higher than in female (2.5% vs. 0.8%, P < 0.05). In patients with co-infections, 60.6% of male and 71.4% of female were co-infected by UU + CT. In total, 11.9% and 88.1% of patients with HSV infections were confirmed to be infected by HSV-1 and HSV-2. This study could contribute to a better understanding of the current epidemiological features of UU, NG, CT and HSV among symptomatic patients attending an outpatient clinic in Beijing, China, and thus facilitate to develop more effective intervention, prevention and treatment of STI.
8 - The Constitutional Orders of 'One Country, Two Systems'
from Part II - The View from Asia Pacific and the Middle East
By Albert H. Y. Chen, P. Y. Lo
Edited by Rosalind Dixon, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Adrienne Stone, University of Melbourne
Book: The Invisible Constitution in Comparative Perspective
Effect of l-theanine on the growth performance, immune function, and jejunum morphology and antioxidant status of ducks
C. Zhang, K. K. Chen, X. H. Zhao, C. Wang, Z. Y. Geng
Journal: animal / Volume 13 / Issue 6 / June 2019
l-theanine is a unique nonproteinogenic amino acid found in tea, and has recently received considerable attention because of its various biological activities. However, there is no available research report on the use of l-theanine as a feed additive in ducks. This study was conducted to investigate the potential benefits and appropriate dosages of l-theanine on the growth performance, immune function, serum biochemical parameters, and jejunum morphology and antioxidant capacity of ducks. A total of 600 1-day-old Chaohu ducks were randomly allocated into five dietary treatment groups supplemented with 0 (control group), 300, 600, 900 and 1500 mg/kg of l-theanine. Each group included five replicates of 24 birds each. Body weight at day 28 was increased (P<0.05) by l-theanine. From days 15 to 28, l-theanine elevated cumulative BW gain (BWG) and cumulative feed intake (FI), and decreased feed to gain ratio. From days 1 to 28, l-theanine elevated (P<0.05) cumulative BWG and cumulative FI. l-theanine elevated (P<0.05) the relative weight of bursa of Fabricus (day 14), thymus (day 14), spleen (day 28) and liver (day 28). On day 28, l-theanine decreased (P<0.05) serum glucose, uric acid, triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin, interleukin-2 (IL-2) and IL-6 contents, and elevated (P<0.05) serum total protein, globulin (GLB), immune globulin A (IgA) and IgG contents, but only serum insulin, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α and IL-6 contents was decreased (P<0.05) and serum GLB and IgM content was elevated (P<0.05) by l-theanine on day 14. On day 14, l-theanine decreased (P<0.05) jejunum crypt depth, and elevated (P<0.05) jejunum villus height, villus height to crypt depth ratio (V/C), goblet cell number and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) activity. On day 28, l-theanine decreased (P<0.05) jejunum malondialdehyde content, and elevated (P<0.05) jejunum villus height, V/C, goblet cell number, and T-SOD, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities. l-theanine levels caused quadratic effect on the growth performance, relative organ weight, serum parameters, jejunum morphology and antioxidant capacity. In conclusion, l-theanine can be used as a promising feed additive for ducks, and its optimal supplementation level was 600 to 900 mg/kg based on the current experimental condition.
Multilocus sequencing-based evolutionary analysis of 52 strains of Burkholderia pseudomallei in Hainan, China
Y. Fang, Z. Hu, H. Chen, J. Gu, H. Hu, L. Qu, X. Mao
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 October 2018, e22
Previously, we reported a phylogenetic study of 98 Burkholderia pseudomallei clinical isolates from Hainan, China. Here, we update the B. pseudomallei strain library with 52 strains from newly identified cases dating from 2014 to 2017, analysed by multilocus sequence typing. Twenty-two sequence types (STs) were identified from the 52 cases, illustrating high genetic diversity; five of them (ST1480, ST1481, ST1482, ST1483 and ST1484) were novel. ST46, ST50 and ST58 predominated (34.6%) as was the case in the previous study (35.7%). An e-BURST map of the ST profiles of the two collections of isolates showed their genetic foundation to be largely unchanged. Neighbour-joining tree analysis was suggestive of a close phylogenetic relationship between the novel STs from this series and those first reported from Hainan (ST1105, ST1099, ST55 and ST1095). Moreover, the two novel STs (1481 and 1483) showed close similarity to ST58 which originated in Thailand indicating a close relationship between B. pseudomallei strains from both countries. The previously described allele profiles gmhD-36 and lepA-68 were found for the first time in our strain collections. Our study emphasises the importance of monitoring the epidemiological status and evolutionary trends of B. pseudomallei in China.
Edited by Albert H. Y. Chen, The University of Hong Kong, Andrew Harding, National University of Singapore
Book: Constitutional Courts in Asia
Print publication: 20 September 2018, pp ix-ix
Print publication: 20 September 2018, pp vii-viii
Print publication: 20 September 2018, pp x-x
1 - Constitutional Courts in Asia
By Albert H. Y. Chen
Print publication: 20 September 2018, pp 1-31