Arrhythmia is a common disease around the world and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a bacterium infecting 28% to 84% of subjects, depending on the population tested. However, the implication of H. pylori in cardiac arrhythmia is poorly understood. We performed this meta-analysis with an aim to identify the association between arrhythmia and H. pylori. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane library databases to select studies on the association between arrhythmia and H. pylori. In the arrhythmia group, 392 (58.1%) were H. pylori-positive and in the control group 640 (47.8%) were H. pylori-positive. Compared to the controls, the infection rate of H. pylori was higher in patients with arrhythmia than in controls (odds ratio (OR) = 1.797, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.081–2.988, p < 0.05). Subgroup analysis indicated that H. pylori infection was a risk factor for atrial fibrillation in Asia and Africa. Therefore, a correlation between H. pylori infection and arrhythmia may exist and H. pylori eradication may decrease the occurrence of arrhythmia, especially in Asia and Africa. Full article

An L band geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar (GEO SAR) differential interferometry system (D-InSAR) will be obviously impacted by the background ionosphere, which will give rise to relative image shifts and decorrelations of the SAR interferometry (InSAR) pair, and induce the interferometric phase screen errors in interferograms. However, the background ionosphere varies within the long integration time (hundreds to thousands of seconds) and the extensive imaging scene (1000 km levels) of GEO SAR. As a result, the conventional temporal-spatial invariant background ionosphere model (i.e., frozen model) used in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) SAR is no longer valid. To address the issue, we firstly construct a temporal-spatial background ionosphere variation model, and then theoretically analyze its impacts, including relative image shifts and the decorrelation of the GEO InSAR pair, and the interferometric phase screen errors, on the repeat-track GEO D-InSAR processing. The related impacts highly depend on the background ionosphere parameters (constant total electron content (TEC) component, and the temporal first-order and the temporal second-order derivatives of TEC with respect to the azimuth time), signal bandwidth, and integration time. Finally, the background ionosphere data at Isla Guadalupe Island (29.02°N, 118.27°W) on 7–8 October 2013 is employed for validating the aforementioned analysis. Under the selected background ionosphere dataset, the temporal-spatial background ionosphere variation can give rise to a relative azimuth shift of dozens of meters at most, and even the complete decorrelation in the InSAR pair. Moreover, the produced interferometric phase screen error corresponds to a deformation measurement error of more than 0.2 m at most, even in a not severely impacted area. Full article

The Wu-Zhu-Yu decoction is a traditional Chinese medicine formula for the treatment of headache. To reveal its material basis, a rapid and reliable liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry method was established for comprehensive profiling of the chemical ingredients in the Wu-Zhu-Yu decoction. The method was used on a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer along with an advanced data processing procedure consisting of mass accuracy screening, mass defect filtering and fragment filtering. After eliminating interference with a filtering approach, the MS data profiling was made more distinct and accurate. With the optimized conditions of only 35 min LC separation and single sample injection of each positive or negative ion mode, a total of 168 compounds were characterized, including 23 evodiamine and its analogous alkaloids, 12 limonoids, 17 gingerols, 38 ginsenosides, 15 flavonoids, 16 organic acids, 14 alkaloids, 5 saponins, 3 2,2-dimethylchromenes and 25 other compounds. The fragmentation patterns of representative compounds were illustrated as well. Integrative qualitative analysis of the Wu-Zhu-Yu decoction by high resolution mass spectrometry was accomplished and reported for the first time. The study demonstrated that the established method was a powerful and reliable strategy for comprehensive detection and would be widely applicable for identification of complicated components from herbal prescriptions, and may provide a basis for chemical analysis of other complex mixtures. Full article