infection of the lumbar vertebrae: A case report.

Background: () is a clinically rare and aggressive fungus mainly found in contaminated water, wetlands, decaying plants, stagnant water, and potted plants in hospitals. The lung, bone, joint, eye, brain, skin, and other sites are easily infected, and there is a marked risk of misdiagnosis. There have been few case reports of infection by of the lumbar vertebrae; most reports have focused on infection of the lung.

Lumbar disc sequestration mimicking a tumor: Report of four cases and a literature review.

Background: Disc herniation refers to the displacement of disc material beyond its anatomical space. Disc sequestration is defined as migration of the herniated disc fragment into the epidural space, completely separating it from the parent disc. The fragment can move in upward, inferior, and lateral directions, which often causes low back pain and discomfort, abnormal sensation, and movement of lower limbs.

Waterproof Phase Change Material with a Facilely Incorporated Cellulose Nanocrystal/Poly(-isopropylacrylamide) Network for All-Weather Outdoor Thermal Energy Storage.

The incorporation of porous supporting materials to prepare shape-stable phase change materials (PCMs) is of great interest in recent years. However, extensive reported composite PCMs are shape-stable in the air atmosphere but neglected in the water environment. To develop shape-stable and waterproof PCMs is important for their outdoor applications but challenging.

[Change of extreme chilling and its impact on winter planting in Guangdong Province, China].

Based on daily temperature data of 86 weather stations during winter producing season from 1961 to 2017 in Guangdong Province, the temporal and spatial distribution of extreme chilling was analyzed. The return periods of extreme chilling at county level were calculated with the theory of generalized extreme value distribution to provide technical support for extreme chilling risk assessment and early warning together with real-time meteorological disaster prevention and mitigation in winter planting areas. Results showed that there was a general downward trend of the extreme values of chilling accumulation in main winter planting zones.

Flexible Anti-Biofouling MXene/Cellulose Fibrous Membrane for Sustainable Solar-Driven Water Purification.

Solar-driven interfacial water evaporation is regarded as an effective, renewable, and environment-friendly technology for clean water production. However, biofouling caused by the nonspecific interaction between the steam generator and biofoulants generally hinders the efficient application of wastewater treatment. Herein, this work reports a facile strategy to fabricate flexible anti-biofouling fibrous photothermal membrane consisting of a MXene-coated cellulose membrane for highly efficient solar-driven water steam evaporation toward water purification applications.

Human Skin-Inspired Electronic Sensor Skin with Electromagnetic Interference Shielding for the Sensation and Protection of Wearable Electronics.

Increasingly serious electromagnetic radiation pollution puts higher demands on wearable devices. Electronic sensor skin capable of shielding electromagnetic radiation can provide extra protection in emerging fields such as electronic skins, robotics, and artificial intelligence, but combining the sensation and electromagnetic shielding performance together remains a great challenge. Here, inspired by the structure and functions of the human skin, a multifunctional electronic skin (M-E-skin) with both tactile sensing and electromagnetic radiation shielding functions is proposed.

Tannic acid functionalized graphene hydrogel for organic dye adsorption.

Water purification provides a feasible way to relieve the pressure of water shortage and water pollution which we are facing and adsorption is one of the most effective ways to turn polluted water into clean water. Here, we prepared graphene-tannic acid hydrogel using graphene oxide and tannic acid, a natural green reducer and adsorbent, through one-step hydrothermal method. The composition, structure, and morphology of the compounds were systematically examined.

[Application of extreme value distribution theory in the forecast of chilling return periods of Guangdong Province, China.].

Chilling is the third weather disaster following flood and typhoon in Guangdong Province. Prediction of chilling return period is of practical significance for scientific reduction and protection of disaster. Four models, including Gumbel distribution, Weibull distribution, log-normal distribution and Peasron-III distribution, were applied, based on the chilling index, to fit the probability distribution of chilling extreme calculated by chilling accumulation for 86 weather stations of Guangdong Province from 1961 to 2015 (December to the following February).

[Temporal and spatial change of climate resources and meteorological disasters under climate change during winter crop growing season in Guangdong Province, China.].

Trend analysis method was applied to analyze the general variation characteristics of the climate resources and meteorological disasters of growing season of the winter planting in Guangdong before (1961-1996) and after climate warming (1997-2015). Percentile method was employed to determine thresholds for extreme cold and drought in major planting regions, and the characteristics of extreme disasters since climate warming were analyzed. The results showed that, by comparing 1997-2015 with 1961-1996, the heat value in winter growing season increased significantly.

Hierarchically interconnected porous scaffolds for phase change materials with improved thermal conductivity and efficient solar-to-electric energy conversion.

An ice-templating self-assembly strategy and a vacuum impregnation method were used to fabricate polyethylene glycol (PEG)/hierarchical porous scaffold composite phase change materials (PCMs). Hierarchically interconnected porous scaffolds of boron nitride (BN), with the aid of a small amount of graphene oxide (GO), endow the composite PCMs with high thermal conductivity, excellent shape-stability and efficient solar-to-electric energy conversion. The formation of a three-dimensional (3D) thermally conductive pathway in the composites contributes to improving the thermal conductivity up to 2.