•The metrics of space syntax are used to quantify pedestrian movement patterns.•Evaluate the accessibility, visibility, and intelligibility of green-blue spaces.•Intelligibility related to spatial ...cognition should receive higher attention.•Heterogeneous spatial accessibility, visibility, and intelligibility among districts.•Determine the priority districts for improving the green-blue spaces across the city.
The planning of green-blue spaces (GBSs) requires considering the pedestrian needs in their walking routes for improving the walking experience. Incorporating the quantitative spatial characteristics of pedestrian movement is essential for pedestrian-friendly urban planning, which however received insufficient attention. Based on the space syntax theory, this study provided three indicators – accessibility, visibility, and intelligibility – to demonstrate the needs of physical access, visual access, and spatial cognition, respectively, in pedestrian movement. Measuring these three indicators, this study exemplified the planning of pedestrian-friendly GBSs using Guangzhou, China as a case study. Spatial design network analysis was used to quantify heterogeneous values of accessibility, visibility, and intelligibility of each GBS throughout the city. Moreover, we used principal component analysis to identify the leading indicators based on their weightings and then to calculate the scores to compare these three aspects of GBSs. The measurements of accessibility, visibility, and intelligibility of each GBS were then averaged across urban administrative districts for evaluating city-scale GBSs. The findings showed that GBSs in central districts were most accessible and visible but least intelligible. In contrast, the overall intelligibility of GBSs throughout the city was the greatest but the visibility was the least. Furthermore, intelligibility, as a more important factor than accessibility and visibility, should be particularly emphasized in future planning of pedestrian-friendly GBSs. Pedestrians from the central districts of Guangzhou city were most satisfied with the walking experience, in terms of accessing to, viewing, and cognizing the GBSs. ‘Yuexiu’, ‘Huadu’, and ‘Nansha’ districts were found as the key places where improved accessibility, visibility, and intelligibility were particularly needed to improve the GBS pedestrian-friendliness throughout the city. In summary, this study not only demonstrated a human-scale GBS evaluation framework for improving the human walking experience but also provided empirical evidence for building pedestrian-friendly green-blue spaces at the city scale.
Isotopic fractionation is the basis of tracing the water cycle using hydrogen and oxygen isotopes. Isotopic fractionation factors in water evaporating from free water bodies are mainly affected by ...temperature and relative humidity, and vary significantly with these atmospheric factors over the course of a day. The evaporation rate (E) can reveal the effects of atmospheric factors. Therefore, there should be a certain functional relationship between isotopic fractionation factors and E. An average isotopic fractionation factor (α*) was defined to describe isotopic differences between vapor and liquid phases in evaporation with time intervals of days. The relationship between α* and E based on the isotopic mass balance was investigated through an evaporation pan experiment with no inflow. The experimental results showed that the isotopic compositions of residual water were more enriched with time; α* was affected by air temperature, relative humidity, and other atmospheric factors, and had a strong functional relation with E. The values of α* can be easily calculated with the known values of E, the initial volume of water in the pan, and isotopic compositions of residual water.
Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) play an important role in the treatment of various peritoneal surface malignancies, but its efficacy in peritoneal ...sarcomatosis (PS) remains unknown. Hence, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate outcomes of CRS-HIPEC in PS, in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. 16 studies with a total of 320 patients were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled mean length of hospital stay after CRS-HIPEC was 16.0 days (95% CI: 12.2–19.8) and rate of serious complications was 17.4% (95% CI: 9.8–26.3). The median DFS was 12.0 months (95% CI: 8.0–16.0) and the 5-year DFS was 21.8% (95% CI: 13.2–31.7). Overall pooled median OS was 29.3 months (95% CI: 23.8–34.8), with a 5-year OS of 35.3% (95% CI: 26.3–44.8). Subgroup analysis showed that patients with CC-0 cytoreduction had a higher median OS of 34.6 months (95% CI: 23.2–45.9). Median OS for patients with a primary tumour histology of leiomyosarcoma and liposarcoma was 33.5 months (95% CI: 15.9–51.1) and 39.1 months (95% CI: 20.8–57.5) respectively. The site of recurrence was locoregional in 57.3% (95% CI: 38.9–74.8), distant in 17.3% (95% CI: 3.9–35.6), and both in 17.4% (95% CI: 5.8–32.2). In conclusion, our results suggest that CRS-HIPEC may improve outcomes in a select group of PS patients.
Grain weight is one of the key components of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield. Genetic manipulation of grain weight is an efficient approach to improve yield potential in breeding program. A ...recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from a cross between W7268 and Chuanyu 12 (CY12) was employed to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) for thousand grain weight (TGW), grain length (GL), grain width (GW), and the ratio of grain length to width (GLW) in six environments. Seven major QTL, QGl. cib-2D, QGw. cib-2D, QGw. cib-3B, QGw. cib-4B. 1, QGlw. cib-2D. 1, QTgw. cib-2D. 1 and QTgw. cib-3B. 1, were consistently identified in at least four environments and the best linear unbiased estimation (BLUE) datasets, and explained 2.61 to 34.85% of the phenotypic variance. Significant interactions were detected between the two major TGW QTL and three major GW loci. In addition, QTgw. cib-3B. 1 and QGw. cib-3B were co-located, and the improved TGW at this locus was contributed by GW. Unlike other loci, QTgw. cib-3B. 1/QGw. cib-3B had no effect on grain number per spike (GNS). They were further validated in advanced lines using Kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASP) markers. Comparison analysis indicated that QTgw. cib-3B. 1/QGw. cib-3B is likely a novel locus. Six haplotypes were identified in the region of this QTL and their distribution frequency varied between landraces and cultivars. According to gene annotation, spatial expression patterns, orthologs analysis and sequence variation, the candidate gene of QTgw. cib-3B. 1/QGw. cib-3B was predicted. Collectively, the major QTL and KASP markers reported here provided valuable information for elucidating the genetic architecture of grain weight and for molecular marker-assisted breeding in grain yield improvement.
is an edible commercial sequestrate genus that is globally distributed. From the five described taxa of this genus,
is the most common species in Asia. Our recent attempts to locate
outside its ...current distribution area in China documented its first records in areas of poplar trees with the lowest known temperature and precipitation averages ever recorded for this species. This peculiar ecology was not reflected on the species-morphological features nor on its phylogenetic position in the genus. The first attempt to apply the phylogenetic network approach to
revealed its geographic origin in the Asian-Pacific areas prior to frequent long-distance migration events. Based on data from recent study areas, we found that the collections from Inner Mongolia and the Shanxi province were similar to European collections. Asian haplotypes were less distant from the outgroup comparing to collections from Europe, supporting the hypothesis that
was originated from this Chinese area and was subsequently transported to Europe. Exploring
ecology and its mycorrhiza potential to grow in association with poplars would be of great importance for planning cultivation projects of this valuable desert truffle species in Central and Eastern China, a currently underexploited economic sector that deserves further ecological and
mycorrhizal synthesis investigations.
AIM: To tattoo gastric mucosa with a novel medical device which could be used to monitor and follow-up gastric mucosal lesions.METHODS: Combining endoscopic biopsy with sclerotherapy injection, we ...designed a new device that could perform biopsy and injection simultaneously. Wep erformed endoscopies on a pig by using a novel endoscope tattoo biopsy forceps for 15 mo. At the same time, we used two-step method combining sclerotherapy injection needle with endoscopic biopsy. The acuity, inflammation and duration of endoscopy were compared between two methods. RESULTS: Compared with the old two-step method, although the inflammation induced by our new device was similar, the duration of procedure was markedly decreased and the acuity of tattooing was better than the old two-step method. All characteristics of the novel device complied with national safety guidelines. Follow-up gastroscopy after 15 mo showed the stained site with injection of 1:100 0.5 mL of India ink was still markedly visible with little inflammatory reaction. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic tattooing biopsy forceps can be widely used in monitoring precancerous lesions. Its safety and effectiveness has been established in animals.
This study used the zebrafish model to explore the hepatotoxicity of Rhododendri Mollis Flos(RMF). The mortality was calculated according to the number of the survival of zebrafish larvae 4 days ...after fertilization under different concentration of RMF, and the dose-toxicity curve was fitted to preliminarily evaluate the toxicity of RMF. The liver phenotypes under the sublethal concentration of RMF in the treatment group and the blank control group were observed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining and acridine orange(AO) staining. Meanwhile, the activities of alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) were determined to confirm the hepatotoxicity of RMF. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction(real-time PCR) and Western blot were used to determine the expressions of genes and proteins in zebrafish larvae. Gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry(GC-TOF-MS) was used to conduct untargeted metabolomics testing to explore the mechanism. The results showed that the toxicity
Purpose
We sought to identify the method that could obtain the best survival rate for AJCC stage IV bladder cancer (BCa) patients.
Methods
Patients with AJCC stage IV BCa diagnosed between 2004 and ...2015 were identified using the Surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER) database. Kaplan–Meier curves and log-rank test were used for overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Multivariable Cox regression was used to determine factors associated with all-cause mortality (ACM) and cancer-specific mortality (CSM).
Results
We found that among the 11824 patients, the number of patients who received chemotherapy (CT), radiotherapy (RT) and radical cystectomy (RC) was 6243 (52.8%), 2005 (17.0%) and 4987 (42.2%), respectively. Patients who received CT or RC had improved OS (26.4% vs. 11.7%,
p
< 0.001 and 27.3% vs. 13.7%,
p
< 0.001, respectively), but patients who underwent RT alone had lower OS (14.4% vs. 20.5%,
p
< 0.001). Furthermore, CT combined with RC was associated with the lowest ACM (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.26, 95% CI 0.24–0.28,
p
< 0.001) and the lowest CSM (HR = 0.24, 95% CI 0.22–0.26,
p
< 0.001). Patients who only received RT had the highest ACM (HR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.77–0.92,
p
< 0.001) and the highest CSM (HR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.77–0.94,
p
= 0.002).
Conclusions
We concluded that CT combined with RC was the best method with the highest survival rate for patients with AJCC stage IV BCa and that CT combined with RC had more benefits in improving OS and CSS than did RT alone.
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