Abstract：Sophora tonkinensis (shandougen) is a woody leguminous plant widely known for its medicinal values in China. The genome of various legumes utilized as reference genetic maps for pseudomolecule assembly have been published. However, the genome of Sophora has not been mapped. In this study, we reported a chromosomal scale draft genome of S. tonkinensis assembled using PacBio single-molecule real-time sequencing reads and Hi-C technique. A high-quality draft S. tonkinensis genome of 899Mb in size was obtained, which was larger than those of some other leguminous genome, and the BUSCO analysis reviewed 95.9% completeness of the genome. We annotated 78.3% of the genome as repeat elements and transposable elements occupied 73%. A total of 36,410 protein-coding genes were identified in the S. tonkinensis genome. The comparative analysis on genome size and repetitive sequences of S. tonkinensis and four other legumes (Lupinus albus, Lupinus angustifolius, Glycyrrhiza uralensis and Medicago truncatula) revealed that the transposable elements (TEs) in S. tonkinensis were inserted after the whole genome duplication and after differentiation with other legumes. It can be speculated that the size of the S. tonkinensis genome may be related to the repetitive sequence insertion. We also analyzed matrine and flavonoids which are important compounds in S. tonkinensis. We further analyzed lignin and Nitrogen-fixing gene which plays an important role in the adaptation of S. tonkinensis to the environment. In conclusion, the high-quality genome of S. tonkinensis obtained in this study laid the foundation for genetic and molecular biology studies of legumes.

OBJECTIVE Asymptomatic carriage of COVID-19 in pregnant women has been reported. We sought to ascertain the impact of high quality rapid PCR testing for COVID-19 in an unselected cohort of pregnant women attending our maternity unit. DESIGN Retrospective cohort analysis SETTING Cambridge, East of England POPULATION All pregnant women who were admitted to Rosie maternity unit over a 4-week period (May to June 2020) METHODS Pregnant women were screened for COVID-19 using nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs on admission. Samples were analysed using the SAMBA-II RT-PCR machine. Symptoms were defined as cough and/or fever that could not be attributed to an obstetric cause. RESULTS NP and OP swabs were obtained from 457/465 women during the study period (98%). The median turnaround time for results was 5.3 hours (IQR 2.6-8.9). 92% of results were returned within 24 hours. In our cohort, only one woman tested positive, giving a screen positive rate of 0.2% (1/457). One woman who tested negative developed a fever postnatally following discharge but was lost to follow-up. There was no correlation between asymptomatic carriage and regional prevalence of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Testing using the SAMBA-II machine was acceptable to the vast majority of pregnant women requiring admission and had a low turnaround time. Asymptomatic carriage is low, but not correlated to community prevalence rates. Screening pregnant women on admission will remain an important component in order to minimise nosocomial infection and spread within healthcare workers as COVID-19 rates increase in the UK.

Objective To define a trimester-specific reference interval for C-reactive protein (CRP) in healthy pregnant women, and to evaluate its accuracy for diagnosing infection. Design Retrospective cross-sectional and diagnostic accuracy study. Setting Tertiary hospital in Oxford, UK. Population Development cohort: 315 pregnant women from the Oxford Pregnancy Biobank with uncomplicated pregnancies, with longitudinal sampling in each trimester. Evaluation cohort: 50 pregnant women with suspected chorioamnionitis. Methods and main outcome measures We calculated a 95% reference interval for CRP in each trimester and evaluated its diagnostic accuracy for infection compared to that from current guidance (≤7 mg/L). Results Of the 315 healthy pregnant women in our study, concentrations of CRP were substantially higher than those in most non-pregnant populations. The reference intervals in each trimester were similar, with an upper reference limit of 18 mg/L. CRP increased log-linearly with body mass index in all trimesters (p<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of CRP for diagnosing chorioamnionitis were 80% and 86%, respectively. The overall diagnostic accuracy using the pregnancy-specific reference interval was significantly greater than that of the existing standard (p=0.002). Conclusions A pregnancy-specific reference interval for CRP should be used to optimise diagnostic accuracy for infection in pregnant women. Chorioamnionitis was used as example of a localised infection with well-defined outcomes, but pregnancy-specific upper reference limits for CRP should be considered in any clinical setting including pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether increased fetal adiposity diagnosed ultrasonographically is associated with labor dystocia, increased risk of operative delivery, and shoulder dystocia. DESIGN: Prospective case-control study. SETTING: Education and research hospital. POPULATION: 400 pregnant women between 37 and 41 weeks of gestation. METHODS: Correlation analyses, logistic regression analyses, and ROC analyses to evaluate soft tissue thickness in relation to labor dystocia, shoulder dystocia, and operative delivery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In addition to standard ultrasonographic measurements, we evaluated fetal soft tissue thickness in pregnant women who started labor. RESULTS: While the vaginal delivery rate was 77.3%, a cesarean was performed in 22.7% of pregnant women. We found positively correlated with the duration of the active phase and second stage of labor, birth weight of baby, and biometrical parameters. In addition, we examined and determined that the cesarean section, shoulder dystocia, and labor dystocia increased as the baby adipose tissue thickness increased. We investigated the effect of parameters on the results of the study with logistic regression analysis and possible threshold values with ROC analysis. CONCLUSION: In our study, evaluation of the fetal adipose tissue complex during delivery was significant in terms of labor dystocia and operative delivery. We think it may be a guide for future studies in the literature. Funding: This study was funded by AUTHORS Keywords: Labor, Labor dystocia, Fetal adipose tissue, Antepartum ultrasonography Tweetable Abstract: Fetal adipose tissue ultrasonographic measurement to be checked just before delivery may give clues about the progress of labor.

Objective: To investigate the change in C-section rate in 1998-2017 in Indonesia and explore the socioeconomic, geographic, and health system factors associated with the use of C-sections. Design: Analysis from demographic health survey (DHS) data in 2002-3, 2007, 2012, and 2017. Setting: Nationwide. Population: 40743 women who reported giving birth within five years of each round of the survey. Methods: Cross-tabulation was used to examine change of C-section rate by year. We conducted bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions to study the determinants of C-section use. Main outcome measures: C-section rate at the population level. Results: In Indonesia, C-section rate increased from 4.0% in 1998 to 18.5% in 2017. In 2017, C-section rate in urban areas (22.9%) was almost two times that in rural areas (11.8%). It was almost three times among the richest wealth quintile (36.5%), compared to the poorest wealth quintile (12.9%). Between 2008 and 2017, the difference in C-section rate by public services enlarged between the poorest and the richest groups. The absolute increase of C-section by private services was more than public services over time. In 2013-2017, the C-section rates by public and private services were 22.5% and 23.1%, respectively. After adjusting for all variables, higher education, higher household wealth, primiparity, and use of public childbirth services were positively associated with C-section. Conclusions: The C-section rate increased steadily in the past two decades in Indonesia. Women’s socioeconomic status and health system factors were associated with the increased use of C-section.

In this paper, we define semi-ss−discrete and quasi-ss−discrete modules as a strongly notion of semi-discrete and quasi-discrete modules with the help of ss−supplement in [3]. We examined the basic properties of these modules and included characterization of strongly ss−discrete modules over semi-perfect rings.

In this work we the study of the asymptotic behavior in the whole line of a thermoelastic structure with interfacial slip and second sound. We prove several polynomial decay estimates depending on the smoothness of initial data. The proof is based on the semigroup approach, the energy method by introducing a Lyapunov functional and Fourier transform.

Introduction Accurate coding is essential to ensure remuneration for clinical procedures. However, coders are non-clinical and use operative and discharge notes to infer what they think to be appropriate codes. As plastic surgery encompasses a huge variety of procedures the codes used may not reflect the procedures performed. Method Electronic records from July/August 2019 were consulted to identify commonly performed procedures on elective lists which were then reviewed retrospectively by a coding auditor and a clinician. Procedures chosen to reflect a range of plastic surgery: 1) hands, 2) breast, 3) general plastics. The changes to the clinical codes (Procedural and Diagnostic) and HRG tariff implications were analysed. The audit loop was completed in July 2020 after the introduction of clinical coding improvement strategies. Results 65 relevant cases were included. Changes were made in 31 cases (24 OPCS-4 code changes and 7 ICD-10 code changes). Significant remunerative implications for the department were noted (average £209 per patient). Conclusion This study demonstrated a clear need for collaboration between clinicians and coders. Increased surgeon awareness of clinical coding and clear documentation is essential. We have presented strategies of improving coding that is part of as part of a continued quality improvement programme.

Patients with pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect (PA/VSD) demonstrate a wide variety of pulmonary and coronary arteries; additionally, coronary pulmonary artery fistula (CPAF) is a rare manifestation of PA/VSD and is seldom detected during pregnancy. In this report, we present a case of prenatal diagnosis of CPAF in PA/VSD with showing the present impactful images of CPAF in a neonate, which were obtained by using fetal echocardiography and postnatal electrocardiography-gated 320-row computed tomography. Prenatal diagnosis of CPAF can facilitate the provision of better therapeutic strategies after birth.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with chemotherapy/antiangiogenic therapy for heavily treated advanced lung cancer patients with EGFR mutation: a retrospective analysis

A 4-year old female with acute myeloid leukemia complicated with right calcaneal osteomyelitis due to Mycobacterium abscessus with subcutaneous abscesses extending to popliteal and groin regions after 2 courses of induction chemotherapy according to NOPHO-AML 2012 protocol. She required multiple operations and prolonged anti-mycobacterial therapy. High index of suspicion for mycobacterial infection is required for immunocompromised patients with prolonged fever or unusual presentation. Mycobacterial osteomyelitis is rare, difficult to diagnose and treat, and may necessitate prolonged interruption of anti-leukemic therapy. Multidisciplinary collaboration in patient management is crucial. Long term toxicity of antimicrobials with uncertain efficacy should not be overlooked.

Objective: We investigated the influence of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T/A1298C polymorphisms on the survival of pediatric non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) cases in south China treated with the modified Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster 95 protocol. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 374 patients newly diagnosed at our center between 2014 and 2020. A subgroup of 158 patients was genotyped based on polymorphisms C677T and A1298C. Results: Overall, there were 283 male (75.7%) and 91 female patients (24.3%); the median age was 9 years (range, 1–18 years). The tumor types included Burkitt lymphoma (BL; n = 180), lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL; n = 95), anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL; n = 64), and diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL; n = 35). At diagnosis, 327 patients (87.4%) had advanced-stage disease; 159 (42.5%) and 152 patients (40.6%) were stratified into the intermediate- and high-risk group, respectively. Seventy (18.7%) and 36 cases (9.6%) had bone marrow and central nervous system (CNS) involvement, respectively. The median follow-up time was 28.5 months (range, 1–76 months); complete remission rate, estimated 5-year event-free survival, and 5-year overall survival rate was 86.1%, 74.2%, and 85.7%, respectively. The C677T variant allele was correlated with favorable survival in BL/DLBCL, while ALCL, CNS involvement, advanced stage, and intermediate/high risk were associated with poor survival in NHL. Conclusion: Analysis of the C677T polymorphism could be used for survival prediction and potential risk stratification for further treatment protocols for Chinese pediatric NHL. Further larger studies are needed to verify the clinical value of the C677T polymorphism.

Normal Mode Analysis is a fast and inexpensive approach that is largely used to gain insight into functional protein motions, and more recently to create conformations for further computational studies. However, when the protein structure is unknown, the use of computational models is necessary. Here, we analyze the capacity of normal mode analysis in internal coordinate space to predict protein motion, its intrinsic flexibility and atomic displacements, using protein models instead of native structures, and the possibility to use it for model refinement. Our results show that normal mode analysis is quite insensitive to modelling errors, but that calculations are strictly reliable only for very accurate models. Our study also suggests that internal normal mode analysis is a more suitable tool for the improvement of structural models, and for integrating them with experimental data or in other computational techniques, such as protein docking or more refined molecular dynamics simulations.

A document by Kaitlyn Merrill. Click on the document to view its contents.

Would STAT1 GOF prevent severe forms of COVID-19?To the Editor:As the world faces the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the scientific community struggles to answer questions about the disease that have not been fully clarified yet. It is well known that individuals with certain chronic diseases are at higher risk of having worse prognosis when infected with this virus. Although the risk of a severe disease is still a matter of conjecture in subjects with Inborn errors of Immunity (IEI), these patients may present more COVID-19 complications than the general population, either by community acquired or nosocomial infection1.In our immunology referral clinic at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), so far, 16 IEI patients have been diagnosed with COVID-19, with a large spectrum of presentation, ranging from mild disease to severe acute respiratory syndrome and death. One of them, however, had a favorable outcome, with no complications, after being infected with the SARS-CoV-2, despite his several serious comorbidities.We report the case of an 11- year -old boy, diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus at the age of 3 years. At that time, he presented persistent watery diarrhea, 3 to 4 episodes a day. One year later, productive cough, persistent fever, conjunctival hyperemia and generalized lymph node enlargement emerged. Histoplasma sp. was isolated in ocular secretion. Acute Disseminated Histoplasmosis (pulmonary, ocular and ganglionic) was diagnosed and he received Itraconazole for one year.In 2018, at the age of 9 years, we started to follow him at our immunology clinic. He received all vaccines for his age with no adverse events. The family reported recurrent skin infections, repeated pneumonia, mucocutaneous and esophageal candidiasis, and arthralgia. He presented hepatomegaly and failure to thrive. The main diagnostic hypothesis was a disease of immune dysregulation. Screening for inborn errors of immunity and inflammatory lab tests were performed. White blood cell count, immunophenotyping and lymphocyte proliferation, serum immunoglobulins and dihydrorodamine (DHR) assay were in normal range. HIV serologies were negative. Whole exome sequencing was performed and the variant c.1675G> C (de novo variant) appeared in the STAT1 gene (Figure 1)3, in heterozygosis. To date, no data on this genetic variant has been published. This new finding is probably considered pathogenic and, due to the patient’s clinical characteristics, STAT1-GOF is very likely to be the diagnosis of our boy.

Objective:Hearing loss is a prevalent disease with free field voice test (FFVT) being a common hearing test performed.FFVT has its own disadvantage as a screening tool as there is no standardization of speech among examiners.We aim to invent mobile-app based hearing screening using Flutter-Dart programming language that mimics findings of FFVT.The app is termed as Free field click test (FFCT).Our aim is to compare sensitivity&specificity of FFCT and FFVT with Pure Tone audiogram (PTA). Methods:This is an open-labelled randomized controlled trial. This study was conducted at the (removed for blind peer review) from December-March 2020. 50 patients from 18-80 years old with complaint of hearing loss were recruited.These patients were randomly assigned into two groups; FFVT&FFCT which were compared with PTA.Categorical data were analyzed with Chi-square test,non-categorical data were calculated with Student t-test for statistical significance. Results:Results were calculated based on degree of hearing loss against PTA.FFCT‘s rate of detection of hearing loss was significant for all degrees of hearing loss with p-values of <0.05. FFVT’s detection rate was only significant to normal hearing, moderate & severe hearing loss. FFCT had higher sensitivity of 94.1% for normal hearing compared to 52% for FFVT.FFVT had higher specificity but with a marginal difference only.A higher rate of accuracy (94%) and strength of the correlation (0.97) were obtained for FFCT than FFVT. Conclusion:FFCT is a more sensitive&accurate tool than FFVT in detecting hearing thresholds. It proves to be an ideal tool to screen hearing loss and is convenient in times of social distancing during COVID-19 pandemic now.

Graves' disease is the most common reason for hyperthyroidism which manifest as multi-system changes.Among these clinical manifestations acute myocarditis and thyrotoxic periodic paralysis are very rare and patients who are combined with both two haven't been reported yet.The etiology may attribute to autoimmunity.

Objectives The objectives of this study are to describe the incidence and age range of presentation of lateral neck cysts, to evaluate a management algorithm for adults presenting with lateral neck cystic lesions and to report the age incidence at which malignant cystic lesions in the neck have clinically presented as lateral neck cysts. Design A retrospective review of histologically diagnosed branchial cysts between 1995 and 2014 at a single centre. Setting Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Participants A single senior head and neck pathologist and the ENT head and neck team. Main outcome measures Does a dedicated pathway help to identify malignancy in lateral neck cysts earlier in the diagnostic pathway? Results When using a random investigative pathway the sensitivity in distinguishing malignant from non-malignant was 93%, specificity 12% with a PPV of 83% and NPV 28%. When using a defined investigative protocol, the sensitivity was 94%, specificity 67%, PPV of 85% and NPV 86%. Conclusions This study conveys that using a structed pathway when working up patients with a lateral neck cyst results in a greater sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV in distinguishing malignancy compared to an unstructured workup. Key points 1) Establishing a lateral neck cyst as a benign structure is a diagnosis of exclusion 2) There is no established protocol for this pathway. 3) The need for a diagnostic pathway is important given the impact of COVID-19 4) The diagnostic challenge is differentiating benign from malignant 5) For lateral neck cysts a cut off age of 35 may not be appropriate

ABSTRACTMany articles clearly state that the birth rate is expected to drop under the covid-19 pandemic. Based on the past study, after the Spanish flu pandemic there was a surge called, Spanish flu baby boom. The strength of economy after the pandemic determined the size of the surge.Meredith Wadman wrote a short article on the birth rate of the covid-19 pandemic1. Döring described a commentary article on how the covid-19 pandemic affecting our sexualities2. Miriam also mentioned how the covid-19 pandemic is affecting birthrates worldwide3. Brookings institution predicts the followings4:the covid-19 episode will likely lead to a large, lasting baby bust,the pandemic has thrust the country into an economic recession,economic reasoning and past evidence suggest that this will lead people to have fewer children,the decline in births could be on the order of 300,000 to 500,000 fewer births next year.All articles1,2,3,4clearly state that the birth rate is expected to drop under the covid-19 pandemic.We can sometimes learn from the past study. According to CDC on the Spanish flu pandemic (H1N1 virus), lasting from February 1918 to April 1920, it infected 500 million people–about a third of the world’s population at the time5. Over three waves of infections, the Spanish flu killed at least 50 million worldwide5. Based on the past study of the Spanish influenza pandemic, the birth rate was dropped during the pandemic6,7,8. After the pandemic there was a surge called, Spanish flu baby boom6,7,8. However, we don’t know when the covid-19 pandemic will be ended. The world population in 1918 was less than 2 billion while it is now nearly 7.8 billion. By the summer of 1919, the flu pandemic in US came to an end, as those that were infected either died or developed immunity9. We know the fact that the U.S. fertility rate is proportional to the strength of economy which can be generalized worldwide10. Based on the fact, the birth rate may be strongly influenced by the strength of economy after the pandemic. In other words, it will surge after the pandemic where the birth rate spike may be depending on the state of economy.This research did not receive any specific funding. The authors declare no conflict of interest.References:Meredith Wadman, COVID-19 unlikely to cause birth defects, but doctors await fall births, Science 07 Aug 2020: Vol. 369, Issue 6504, pp. 607Döring, N. How Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Affecting Our Sexualities? An Overview of the Current Media Narratives and Research Hypotheses.Arch Sex Behav (2020).https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01790-zMiriam Berger, Coronavirus baby boom or bust? How the pandemic is affecting birthrates worldwide, the Washington Post, July 15, 2020.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/07/15/coronavirus-baby-boom-or-bust-how-pandemic-is-affecting-birthrates-worldwide/4. Melissa S. Kearney and Phillip B. Levine, “Half a million fewer children? The coming COVID baby bust”, June 15 2020.https://www.brookings.edu/research/half-a-million-fewer-children-the-coming-covid-baby-bust/5.https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html6. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/trendsinbirthsanddeathsoverthelastcentury/2015-07-157. Mamelund, Svenn-Erik. “Can the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 Explain the Baby Boom of 1920 in Neutral Norway?” Population (English Edition, 2002-) , vol. 59, no. 2, 2004, pp. 229–260.JSTOR ,www.jstor.org/stable/3654904.8. Siddharth Chandra et al., The 1918 influenza pandemic and subsequent birth deficit in Japan, DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH, vol.33, 11, pp. 313−326, 6 AUGUST 2015.9. Spanish flu, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic10. Mark Mather, The Decline in U.S. Fertility, July 18, 2012. https://www.prb.org/us-fertility/

Introduction: Fractures of the zygomatic-maxillary complex (ZMC) are common facial fractures. Annually 5.8 million people die from trauma worldwide. According to WHO data, head and face injuries can account for half of traumatic deaths. Objective: To analyze the success rates of fracture stability of the ZMC, incidences of complications and aesthetic satisfaction after 1-point fixation. Methods: This study followed the rules of PRISMA, with publications from 2010 to 2020. The Chi-Square Test and the Poisson's Probability Test were performed in relation to the occurrence of complications Low = 1, Moderate = 2 and NO = 0, adopting the α-level less than 0.05 with a statistical difference for 95% CI. The R-sq (R2) value was also analyzed among the complications variables. Results: The results of these studies showed in a general way that the use of 1-point fixation presented good results in the short, medium and long term, showing fracture stability, with or without open reduction. Complication rates were low and patients' satisfaction with aesthetics was considerable. Conclusion: The success rate of the 1-point fixation procedure for the zygomatic-maxillary complex is high, with minimal complications. Keywords: Zygomatic-maxillary complex. 1-point fixation. Fracture stability. Complications. Aesthetics.

We present an unusual case of a 67-year-old woman with an incidental finding of a cardiac mass on a chest-computed tomography. Coronary angiotomography confirmed the diagnosis of a right coronary artery aneurysm, with 5.7x5.7 cm. Patient underwent aneurysm resection and coronary artery bypass graft surgery, with subsequent histologic study suggestive of arteritis sequela. Patients with giant coronary artery aneurysms are at high risk of complications and must benefit from aneurysm exclusion. This is a rare condition that can also be part of a systemic inflammatory disease.

Background: Discrimination of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and other gastrointestinal diseases in pediatric patients is highly important and the definitive diagnosis of IBD is established by endoscopic examination. the use of noninvasive methods (clinical symptoms and laboratory tests) allows an early and accurate referral of patients from first step health centers to advanced health centers. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of fecal calprotectin (FC) in the discrimination of IBD and other gastrointestinal diseases in children. Methods: The retrospective study included the patients that underwent FC testing and colonoscopy. Demographic characteristics, Alarm symptoms (AS), and abnormal laboratory findings (ALF) were recorded for each patient. A negative calprotectin result was considered to be less than 50 μg/g, and a second cutoff value for FC was accepted as 150 µg/g. Definitive diagnosis was established by colonoscopy in each patient. Results: The study included 88 consecutive patients (mean age, 10.2 ± 6.1 years; 51.1% female). Of these, 20 (22.7%) patients were diagnosed with IBD. No significant difference was found between IBD and non-IBD patients with regard to AS except for involuntary weight loss (p=<0.001). The incidence of increased CRP and hypoalbuminemia was significantly higher in IBD patients (p=0.002 and p=0.026, respectively). AS combined with ALF and FC >150 µg/g had the highest specificity (95.12%). Conclusions: Although primary care clinicians often use AS and laboratory parameters in the discrimination of IBD and non-IBD diseases, FC was found to have a relatively higher diagnostic value.

Studying soil water dynamics and water balance on coral islands is important to utilize and manage the limited freshwater resources of these islands. In this study, we investigated the soil water dynamics of Zhaoshu Island, Xisha Archipelago, using observed data and the Richards equation and analyzed the water balance of this island from October 2018 to September 2019. We found a dry soil layer at depths between 40 cm and 160 cm of the soil profile from November 2018 to April 2019 (dry season) which prevented the exchange of water between upper soil layers and groundwater. Therefore, the vegetation developed deep roots to take up water from the groundwater. Precipitation is the only source of the freshwater, while approximately 38% of the precipitation infiltrated into the groundwater, 22% of the precipitation was taken up by vegetation, and 39% of the precipitation evaporated from the land surface during the entire observed year. In the dry season, evapotranspiration (ETa) was only 44 mm/month, which was 94% greater than the amount of precipitation, and approximately 14 mm/month of water was taken up from the groundwater by plants. However, in wet season, infiltration dominated the processes of soil water movement. Approximately 56% of the precipitation infiltrated into the groundwater and 37% of the precipitation was consumed by ETa. This study can help us to better understand the process of water movement on coral islands and provide references for further management to protect coral island ecology.

Since the Eastern Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWD-ERP) officially began operation, it was found that the concentrations of sulfate rapidly increased after water transfer from Jiangsu Province to Shandong Province, especially in Nansi Lake (NSL). The direct and original sources of sulfate in NSL and its surrounding inflowing rivers were investigated by analyzing the hydrochemical properties of the water bodies and sulfur and oxygen isotope compositions of dissolved sulfate during nondiversion and diversion water periods. During the diversion water period, the largest direct source of high SO42- concentrations in NSL was evaporite dissolution, accounting for 52.18% of the total contribution. In contrast, during the nondiversion water period, the maximum contribution of SO42- came from inflowing river inputs. To ensure the safety of the water supply of the SNWD-ERP, some measures must be taken to decrease the sulfate inputs from inflowing rivers, such as formulating strict discharge standards to reduce the direct discharge of sewage into the inflowing rivers around NSL.