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Human settlement numbers have significantly changed before and after ~4000 cal. y BP in the upper and middle Qin River reaches, but the external and internal factors driving this change remain unclear. In this study, we examine changing spatial and temporal patterns of the Longshan and Erlitou settlements in relation to extreme flooding at ~4000 cal. y BP and a variety of subsistence strategies during the Longshan and Erlitou periods. The results indicate that settlement number, settlement distribution, and subsistence strategies exhibited obvious shifts between the Longshan and Erlitou periods, and the episode at ~4000 cal. y BP was an extreme-flood-rich interval within and around the Qin River Basin. During the Longshan and Erlitou periods, millet-based agriculture dominated local subsistence strategy, and ancient people would prefer to reside in the areas suitable for farming, causing the valley plains in the upper and middle Qin River reaches to contain most Longshan and Erlitou settlements. However, the frequent occurrence of extreme floods at ~4000 cal. y BP, in conjunction with intergroup conflicts due to a large amount of population immigration during the late Longshan period, is likely to have jointly decreased the settlement number and shrunk the spatial range of human settlement distribution. Subsequently, with the end of the extreme-flood-rich episode and the increasing proportion of higher-water-requirement foxtail millet in cropping structures of human subsistence strategy, more Erlitou settlements were distributed in the wetter valley plains of the middle Qin River reaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many coastal cities reclaim land from the sea to meet the rapidly growing demand for land caused by population growth and economic development. Settlement in reclaimed land may delay construction and even damage infrastructures, so accurately predicting the settlement over reclaimed areas is important. However, the limited settlement observation and ambiguous final settlement estimation affect accurate settlement prediction in traditional methods. This study proposes a new strategy to solve these problems by using the Multitemporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MT-InSAR) method and takes the Xiamen Xiang'an International Airport, built on reclaimed land, as an example. The MT-InSAR is adopted to process the Sentinel-1 images to obtain the settlement history of the study area. The results show that settlement mainly occurs in the reclaimed areas, with the maximum average settlement rate exceeding 40 mm/y. We use the statistical properties of curve fitting to choose the best curve model from several candidate curve models to predict the settlement time series. The Asaoka method is used to identify the critical state between settlement and stability. We predict the consolidation time of the whole study area and reveal that the deformation rate is positively correlated with the consolidation time. The maximum remaining settlement time is over ten years since 24 December 2019. Therefore, manual compaction operations can be carried out to speed up settlement in the areas that need a long time to consolidate. The proposed method can be used to predict the settlement of similar reclaimed areas, and the predicted results can provide a reference for engineering construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aimed to investigate the characteristics of casein phosphopeptides in Chinese human milk, and their potential relationship to infant growth. Using the liquid chromatography-Orbitrap-mass spectrometry technique, a total of 15 casein phosphopeptides were identified from 200 human milk samples. Also, our results indicate that casein phosphopeptides were phosphorylated with only one phosphate. The relative concentrations of casein phosphopeptides at 6 months postpartum were increased compared with milk at 2 months (FDR < 0.05). Significantly positive correlations were observed between casein phosphopeptides and infant growth, as shown by four casein phosphopeptides were positively correlated with the infants' weight-for-age Z-scores (r s range from 0.20 to 0.29), and three casein phosphopeptides were positively correlated with the infants' length-for-age Z-scores (r s range from 0.19 to 0.27). This study is the first to reveal the phosphorylated level and composition of casein phosphopeptides in Chinese human milk, and their potential relationship with infant growth., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This scoping review aims to investigate longitudinal changes in minerals and vitamins concentrations in human milk among the Chinese population. Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a comprehensive and systematic literature search was conducted using both English and Chinese databases. Data were extracted and categorized into six defined lactation stages. We found that the concentration of most minerals decreased throughout the lactation period, although calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) fluctuated slightly across lactation periods. Fat-soluble vitamins also showed a decline throughout the lactation period, while water-soluble vitamins exhibited an increasing trend. However, folic acid, biotin, and pantothenic acid demonstrated a downward trend. Overall, this review has identified the longitudinal changes in minerals and vitamins concentrations in human milk among the Chinese population. In order to conduct a more in-depth examination of maternal characteristics and nutritional factors of the composition of human milk, it is recommended to utilize standardized protocols for the collection and analysis of human milk samples.

There is limited evidence regarding the effects of dietary pattern and dietary quality on the risk of unhealthy weight status and related body composition in Chinese adolescence. In particular, studies using bioelectrical impedance analyzer (BIA) in these subjects are rare. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of diet in body composition, to find a healthy dietary pattern for Chinese youth, and to promote the application of BIA among this population. A total of 498 participants aged from 18 to 22 years old were included. Dietary patterns were identified by principal components analysis. Energy-adjusted dietary inflammatory index (DII) and diet balance index (DBI) were calculated based on semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Multivariate linear regression and logistic regression analysis were used to examine the relationship of dietary patterns, dietary quality with body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI), and the effect of dietary factors on BMI levels. The majority of participants with overweight and obesity had abdominal obesity, and there was 3.7% abdominal obesity in normal BMI individuals. Four dietary patterns were detected in the subjects. The pattern with the higher energy intake, which was close to the Western diet, was positively correlated with BMI (β = 0.326, p = 0.018) and FMI (β = 0.201, p = 0.043), while being negatively correlated with FFMI (β = −0.183, p = 0.021). Individuals who followed the pattern similar to the Mediterranean diet had a higher basal metabolic rate (BMR), and the highest fat free mass, soft lean mass, and skeletal muscle mass (p < 0.05) but the lowest FMI, visceral fat area (VFA), waist−hip ratio, and FMI/FFMI ratio (p < 0.05). Higher energy-adjusted DII was associated with high BMI. Higher bound score (HBS) (β = −0.018, p = 0.010) and diet quality distance (DQD) (β = −0.012, p = 0.015) were both negatively correlated with FFMI. In conclusion, fat or muscle indexes, such as BMR, FMI, and FFMI, had an important role in predicting overweight and obesity, which suggested the importance of applying BIA among Chinese college students. Students who followed healthful dietary patterns or the high-quality diet that is similar to the Mediterranean diet but not close to the Western diet were more likely to have a healthy BMI and normal body composition.

The metabolomic profiles of Chinese human milk have been poorly documented. The objective of the study was to explore associations between human milk metabotypes, maternal adiposity, infant growth patterns, and risk of allergies. Two hundred mother−infant dyads from seven cities were randomly selected from the Chinese Human Milk Project (CHMP). Untargeted human milk metabolomic profiles were determined using HPLC-MS/MS. Two human milk metabotypes were identified using principal component analysis. Principal component (PC) 1 was characterized by high linoleic acid metabolites with low purine nucleosides and metabolites of glutamate and glutathione metabolism. PC 2 was characterized by high glycerophospholipids and sphingomyelins content. Higher PC1 scores were associated with slower infant growth rate and higher ambient temperature (p < 0.05). Higher PC 2 scores were related to higher maternal BMI and increased risk of infant allergies (p < 0.05). Future work is needed to understand the biologic mechanisms of these human milk metabotypes.