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Background: Cliffs are recognized as one of the most challenging environments for plants, characterized by harsh conditions such as drought, infertile soil, and steep terrain. However, they surprisingly host ancient and diverse plant communities and play a crucial role in protecting biodiversity. The Taihang Mountains, which act as a natural boundary in eastern China, support a rich variety of plant species, including many unique to cliff habitats. However, it is little known how cliff plants adapt to harsh habitats and the demographic history in this region. Results: To better understand the demographic history and adaptation of cliff plants in this area, we analyzed the chromosome-level genome of a representative cliff plant, T. rupestris var. ciliata, which has a genome size of 769.5 Mb, with a scaffold N50 of 104.92 Mb. The rapid expansion of transposable elements may have contributed to the increasing genome and its ability to adapt to unique and challenging cliff habitats. Comparative analysis of the genome evolution between Taihangia and non-cliff plants in Rosaceae revealed a significant expansion of gene families associated with oxidative phosphorylation, which is likely a response to the abiotic stresses faced by cliff plants. This expansion may explain the long-term adaptation of Taihangia to harsh cliff environments. The effective population size of the two varieties has continuously decreased due to climatic fluctuations during the Quaternary period. Furthermore, significant differences in gene expression between the two varieties may explain the varied leaf phenotypes and adaptations to harsh conditions in different natural distributions. Conclusion: Our study highlights the extraordinary adaptation of T. rupestris var. ciliata, shedding light on the evolution of cliff plants worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assessed the safety, immunogenicity and antibody persistence of two- and three-dose schedules of the novel bivalent HPV16/18 vaccine (HPV-2, Walrinvax) in the per-protocol target population of initially seronegative 9–14 year-old girls, including a non-inferiority comparison with the three-dose schedule in 18–26 year-old women. This randomized phase 3b trial in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, involved healthy Chinese females in two age cohorts; 600 girls aged 9–14 years and 300 women aged 18–26 years. Girls were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either two (Months 0,6) or three (Months 0,2,6) intramuscular doses of HPV-2. All participants were monitored for immunogenicity as neutralizing antibodies up to 36 months. Primary objectives were non-inferiority analyses of immunogenicity between two- and three-dose girl groups and adult women at Month 7; safety assessments were based on participant-completed diary cards. All groups demonstrated marked increases in neutralizing antibodies against HPV 16 and 18 that persisted above baseline to 36 months. Month 7 responses in both girl groups were non-inferior to those in the women and were statistically higher after two-doses than girls or women who received three doses. GMTs waned after month 7, but then maintained a plateau level until month 36. Vaccination was well tolerated in all groups with no serious adverse events reported. Immune responses to two doses of HPV-2 vaccine in adolescent girls were non-inferior to those after three doses in young women, an age cohort in which clinical efficacy of HPV-2 against cervical cancer has been demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a high-performance receiver for underwater acoustic communications based on time reversal processing for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The receiver employs the vector approximate message passing (VAMP) algorithm as a soft equalizer in turbo equalization. By performing self-iteration between the inner soft slicer and the inner soft equalizer, the VAMP algorithm achieves near-optimal performance. Furthermore, an iterative channel-estimation-based soft successive interference cancellation method is incorporated to suppress co-channel interference in the MIMO system. Additionally, the introduction of passive time reversal technology can combine multiple channels into a single channel, which greatly reduces the computational complexity of the MIMO system, especially for large MIMO systems. The effectiveness of the proposed receiver is verified using experimental data collected in Songhua Lake, China in 2019. The results demonstrate that the proposed receiver significantly reduces the complexity of the traditional parallel-VAMP receiver without sacrificing performance and outperforms other receivers of the same type. Moreover, our experimental results also verify that the VAMP-turbo outperforms the generalized approximate message passing (GAMP)-turbo in terms of bit error rate and convergence performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low energy x-ray telescope (LE) is one of the main instruments of the insight-hard x-ray modulation telescope, the first x-ray astronomical satellite of China. The scientific objectives of the LE focus on the scanning and pointed observations of the x-ray sources in the soft x-ray band (1–13 keV). In order to complete the observation tasks and accurately analyze the background information of the LE, it is essential to obtain the background data of the detectors. Therefore, we designed an LE background experiment. The experiment began with an underground background experiment in the China Jinping Underground Laboratory with a rock of a thickness of 2400 m, followed by a ground background experiment. These two experiments lasted for a long time, and through comparison and analysis of the background data, it was found that underground laboratories significantly shielded cosmic rays. In addition, the background of detectors in the underground experiment was more than one order of magnitude lower than that in the ground experiment. The experiments also revealed multiple x-ray fluorescence peaks of various elements in the background, including silicon from the detector itself, erbium in the ceramic substrate, and copper in the mounting plate. The anti-coincidence design of detectors was observed to reduce the x-ray fluorescence peaks of silicon. By comparing the background flux obtained with the background flux in the orbit, it was found that the background generated by radioactive substances inside the LE detector is very low. Within the energy range of less than 7.5 keV, the flux in the orbit is about 0.012 counts/s/keV, the ground flux is ∼3 × 10−3 counts/s/keV, and the underground flux is about 1.5 × 10−4 counts/s/keV. However, the flux in the orbit significantly increases above 7.5 keV, which does not occur in both the ground and underground background experiments. These results provide reference and guidance for scientific teams and instrument teams to analyze the data of the low energy x-ray telescope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of the technical cooperation mode in the field of hydrogen energy is of great importance in guiding technological innovation. Based on the social network analysis (SNA) and spatial network method, this paper constructs the technical cooperation graph of China's industry-university-research (IUR) tripartites in the field of hydrogen technology. Based on the performed graphs, it shows the game and evolution of hydrogen technology innovation in three stages, respectively 2000–2010, 2011–2015 and 2016–2019. Meanwhile, this paper calculates the changes of network indicators and found that: (1) the network density showed a downward trend, from the initial 0.062 to 0.003. (2) The degree centrality of the network decreased from 14.7% to 5.7%. (3) The average path length and clustering coefficient indicate that the internal connections within the network were relatively close from 2000 to 2010, and had small-world characteristics. From 2016 to 2019, although the clustering coefficient increased, the average path length also increased significantly, indicating that the internal connections of the network did not become closer. From the network characteristics, the collaborative innovation network of China's hydrogen energy industry continues to expand in scale and scope, and the cooperation relationship is stable. However, it shows the characteristics of low network density and loose cooperation relationship, gradually developing into a scale-free network. Developed provinces and cities in North and East China occupy core positions in the industry-university-research network, while other regions are gradually expanding their cooperation efficiency; however, the overall cooperation frequency is relatively low in Northeast China, and most provinces and cities in South and Northwest China are in edge positions with poor collaboration capabilities. • Network analysis sheds light on China's hydrogen energy tech cooperation via patent. • Collaborative innovation in hydrogen technology evolves through three stages. • Tight internal connections with small-world properties seen in network (2000–2010). • Network's internal connections didn't become closer (2016–2019). • Network transforms from a stable and expanding structure into a scale-free network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hymenochaetales, belonging to Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota, comprises most polypores and corticioid fungi and, also, a few agarics. The latest taxonomic framework accepts 14 families in this order. When further exploring species diversity of Hymenochaetales, two corticioid specimens collected from China producing cystidia with large umbrella-shaped crystalline heads attracted our attention. This kind of cystidia was reported only in three unsequenced species, viz. Tubulicrinis corneri, T. hamatus and T. umbraculus, which were accepted in Tubulicrinaceae, Hymenochaetales. The current multilocus-based phylogeny supports that the two Chinese specimens formed an independent lineage from Tubulicrinaceae as well as the additional 13 families and all sampled genera in Hymenochaetales. Therefore, a monotypic family, Umbellaceae, is newly described with the new genus Umbellus as the type genus to represent this lineage. The two Chinese specimens are newly described as U. sinensis, which differs from T. corneri, T. hamatus, and T. umbraculus in a combination of a smooth to grandinioid hymenophoral surface, not flattened, broadly ellipsoid basidiospores with a tiny apiculus, and growth on angiosperm wood. Due to the presence of the unique cystidia, the three species of Tubulicrinis, even though they lack available molecular sequences, are transferred to Umbellus as U. corneri, U. hamatus, and U. umbraculus. Hereafter, all known species with large umbrella-shaped crystalline-headed cystidia are in a single genus. In summary, the current study provides a supplement to the latest taxonomic framework of Hymenochaetales and will help to further explore species diversity and the evolution of this fungal order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To address the prevalence of diabetes distress (DD) and its correlators in adults with type 2 diabetes.Patients and Methods: During 2021 and 2022, we conducted a cross-sectional study in three Class A tertiary comprehensive hospitals in China, and received 947 participants who completed a printed survey covering DD, demographic, diabetic, physiological, and psychosocial factors. We used Jonckheere-Terpstra, chi-square, and Fisher's exact tests to assess intergroup differences between different levels of DD. We used ordinal logistic regression analysis to analyze correlators of DD further.Results: The prevalence of DD was 34.64%. In univariate analysis, those with lower satisfaction with financial status, longer durations of diabetes, more complications, higher glycemia, more severe insomnia, treatment by medications only, poorer lifestyle interventions, fewer self-care activities, more types and frequencies of insulin injections, and spending more money and time on treatment were susceptible to DD. Type D personality, negative illness perceptions, negative coping styles, and psychological effects of major life events were related to higher DD. Hope, self-efficacy, positive coping styles, and social support can reduce DD. In ordinal logistic regression analysis, hypoglycemic episode (β=− 1.118, p=0.019, "have hypoglycemic" as reference) and Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (β=0.090, p< 0.001) were significant positive correlators for DD, while diet intervention (β=0.803, p=0.022, "have diet intervention" as reference), money spent on diabetes treatment (β<-0.001,>p=0.035), and SES (β=− 0.257, p< 0.001) were significant negative correlators.Conclusion: More than one-third of Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes experience moderate or high levels of DD. DD was associated with financial, diabetic, physiological, and psychosocial status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are essential in insect's daily behaviors mediated by olfactory perception. Megachile saussurei Radoszkowski (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae) is a principal insect pollinating alfalfa (Medicago sativa) in Northwestern China. The olfactory function have been less conducted, which provides a lot of possibilities for our research. Results: Our results showed that 20 OBPs were identified in total. Multiple sequence alignment analysis indicated MsauOBPs were highly conserved with a 6-cysteine motif pattern and all belonged to the classic subfamily, coding 113-196 amino acids and sharing 41.32%-99.12% amino acid identity with known OBPs of other bees. Phylogenetic analysis indicated there were certain homologies existed among MsauOBPs and most sequences were clustered with that of Osmia cornuta (Hymenoptera, Megachilidae). Expression analysis showed the identified OBPs were mostly enriched in antennae instead of other four body parts, especially the MsauOBP2, MsauOBP3, MsauOBP4, MsauOBP8, MsauOBP11 and MsauOBP17, in which the MsauOBP2, MsauOBP4 and MsauOBP8 presented obvious tissue-biased expression pattern. Molecular docking results indicated MsauOBP4 might be the most significant protein in recognizing alfalfa flower volatile 3-Octanone, while MsauOBP13 might be the most crucial protein identifying (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate. It was also found the lysine was a momentous hydrophilic amino acid in docking simulations. Conclusion: In this study, we identified and analyzed 20 OBPs of M. saussurei. The certain homology existed among these OBPs, while some degree of divergence could also be noticed, indicating the complex functions that different MsauOBPs performed. Besides, the M. saussurei and Osmia cornuta were very likely to share similar physiological functions as most of their OBPs were clustered together. MsauOBP4 might be the key protein in recognizing 3-Octanone, while MsauOBP13 might be the key protein in binding (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate. These two proteins might contribute to the alfalfa-locating during the pollination process. The relevant results may help determine the highly specific and effective attractants for M. saussurei in alfalfa pollination and reveal the molecular mechanism of odor-evoked pollinating behavior between these two species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affective empathy is generally considered an important inhibitor of aggression. However, the meta-analysis studies on the relationship between affective empathy and aggression have challenged this common-sense view and found no substantial correlation between the two variables. We proposed a double-edged sword model to explain this counterintuitive phenomenon and tested this model by establishing an inconsistent mediation model. A total of 663 college students in China (59.1% female; Mage = 20.69 years) completed questionnaires measuring affective empathy, sympathy, personal distress, anger proneness, and physical aggression. The results showed that on the one hand, affective empathy can indirectly inhibit physical aggression by increasing sympathy; on the other hand, affective empathy can indirectly promote physical aggression through the serial mediation of personal distress and anger proneness. Such two pathways offset each other, leading to an insignificant relation observation between affective empathy and physical aggression. The findings revealed the complexity of the relationship between affective empathy and aggression, which suggested that more efforts to reduce aggression should be made to develop individuals' sympathy, while affective empathy training should be moderate to avoid excessive empathic emotional arousal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CMIP6 simulations suggest that the probability of the compound hot and dry event occurring in summer 2022 in the Yangtze River basin in China is enhanced by anthropogenic effect by 7 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To calibrate airborne gravity gradiometers currently in development in China, it is urgent to build an airborne gravity gradiometer test site. The site's selection depends on the preknowledge of high-resolution gravity and gradient structures. The residual terrain modelling (RTM) technique is generally applied to recover the short-scale gravity field signals. However, due to limitations in the quality and resolution of density models, RTM terrain generally assumes a constant density. This assumption can introduce significant errors in areas with substantial density anomalies and of reggued terrain, such as volcano areas. In this study, we promote a method to determine a high-resolution gravity field by integrating long-wavelength signals generated by EGM2008 with short-wavelength signals from terrain relief and shallow density anomalies. These short wavelength signals are recovered using the RTM technique with both constant density and density anomalies obtained through the equivalent source layer (ESL) method, utilizing sparse terrestrial gravity measurements. Compared to the recovery rate of 54.62 % using the classical RTM method, the recovery rate increases to 86.22 % after involving density anomalies. With this method, we investigate the gravity field signals over the Wudalianchi Volcano Field (WVF) both on the Earth's surface and at a flight height of 100 m above the terrain. The contribution of each part and their attenuation characters are studied. In particular, the 5 km × 5 km area surrounding Bijiashan (BJS) and Wohushan (WHS) volcanos shows a strong gravity signature, making it a good candidate for the test site location. This study gives the location of the airborne gravity gradiometer test site which is an essential step in the instruments' development. Furthermore, the method presented in this study offers a foundational framework for future data processing within the test site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca exhibits are popular attractions for zoos and wildlife parks. However, it remains to be investigated whether such exhibits enhance visitor knowledge about pandas and broader conservation issues. We conducted questionnaire surveys at giant panda exhibits at three city zoos and five wildlife parks in China. Although visitors were generally interested in the giant panda, this was not reflected in their post-exhibit knowledge of giant panda biology. Socio-demographically, men were more knowledgeable of giant panda biology than women. Knowledge correlated positively with respondent level of education. Younger respondents (< 45 years) knew most about giant pandas and expressed an interest in learning more about them using social media. The most informed respondents had visited other giant panda exhibits previously. Respondents were generally satisfied with the giant panda exhibits (mean score 4.44/5). Wildlife parks delivered a better educational outcome than city zoos. We recommend approaches to improve the visitor experience further and to leverage public interest in broader conservation engagement and action in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International student mobility, taking place within the framework of globalisation, internationalisation and transnationalism, has attained much attention. This paper adopts the Intellectual Migration framework to further our understanding of mobility regarding international higher education. It simultaneously studies China-born students in both China and North America to empirically examine the propensity for student mobility across national borders and the determining factors behind the realisation of such mobility under the same set of geopolitical and international circumstances. The analysis is based on a set of cross-sectional surveys conducted in the 2017–2019 period that yields over 1600 data points. We compare the 'who', 'why' and 'where' aspects of migration between domestic students in China and Chinese international students in North America to delineate the factors underlying international student mobility. By highlighting aspirations and capabilities on mobility outcomes, this paper contributes to differentiating mobility between undergraduate and graduate students and the implications for social inequality. Our analysis also reveals the unequal spatial distributions of educational resources between intellectual gateways and peripheries, and by extension between the Global North and the Global South. The findings of this paper have policy implications on improving the quality, accessibility, and equity of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secukinumab is effective in treating patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis. However, most studies assessing its effectiveness in routine clinical settings in China are mostly single‐center studies with a limited sample size. The objective of this study was to assess secukinumab's efficacy, treatment patterns, and characteristics in patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis. This 24‐week, multicenter (n = 5) retrospective study analyzed the data of Chinese adult patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis who initiated secukinumab treatment between May 2019 and March 2020. The Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), body surface area (BSA), Investigator's Global Assessment Modified 2011 (IGA mod 2011), and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) were assessed. Dermatologists documented the treatment dosage and modification reasons. Of the 244 secukinumab‐naïve patients, most were men (73.4%, 179/244) and weighed 60–90 kg (72.8%, 177/243). The mean (SD) age at secukinumab initiation was 38.1 (11.6) years, and the disease duration was 13.5 (7.9) years. Most patients (97.1%, 237/244) received secukinumab 300 mg. At weeks 4, 12, 16, and 24, the proportion of patients achieving PASI 75 (≥75% reduction from baseline) was 40.0%, 92.1%, 88.4%, and 88.9%, respectively; PASI 90 was 15.0%, 73.7%, 81.4%, and 68.3%, respectively; and PASI 100 was 8.7%, 40.8%, 58.1%, and 41.3%, respectively. During the same periods, BSA and IGA mod 2011 showed similar improvement trends. An increasing proportion of patients achieved DLQI of 0–1 (21.6%, 65.7%, 75.0%, and 80.3%, respectively). Treatment modification was highest at week 12. The average interval between two administrations after week 4 was 62.95 days. Secukinumab was highly effective in improving the PASI, IGA, BSA, and DLQI in Chinese patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis throughout the first 24 weeks. The treatment pattern for Chinese patients differs from that in the clinical guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intertidal zones comprise diverse habitats and directly suffer from the influences of human activities. Nevertheless, the seasonal fluctuations in fungal diversity and community structure in these areas are not well comprehended. To address this gap, samples of seawater and sediment were collected seasonally from the estuary and swimming beaches of Qingdao's intertidal areas in China and were analyzed using a metabarcoding approach targeting ITS2 rDNA regions. Compared to the seawater community dominated by Ciliophora and Agaricomycetes, the sediment community was rather dominated by Dothideomycetes and Eurotiomycetes. Furthermore, the seawater community shifted with the seasons but not with the locations, while the sediment community shifted seasonally and spatially, with a specific trend showing that Cladosporium, Alternaria, and Aureobasidium occurred predominantly in the estuarine habitats during winter and in the beach habitats during spring. These spatiotemporal shifts in fungal communities' composition were supported by the PERMANOVA test and could be explained partially by the environmental variables checked, including temperature, salinity, and total organic carbon. Unexpectedly, the lowest fungal richness was observed in the summer sediments from two swimming beaches which were attracting a high influx of tourists during summer, leading to a significant anthropogenic influence. Predicted trophic modes of fungal taxa exhibited a seasonal pattern with an abundance of saprotrophic fungi in the summer sediments, positively correlating to the temperature, while the taxa affiliated with symbiotroph and pathotroph-saprotroph occurred abundantly in the winter and spring sediments, respectively. Our results demonstrate the space–time shifts in terms of the fungal community, as well as the trophic modes in the intertidal region, providing in-depth insights into the potential influence of environmental factors and human activity on intertidal mycobiomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subaqueous eruptions alter the chemical conditions of the lake by intensifying the interaction between hot volcanic rocks and water, resulting in the exchange of alkalis. The lower part of the Fengcheng Formation in the Mahu Sag, NW China, has abundant rhyolitic welded tuff and related pyroclastic deposits, which were deposited under ancient alkaline lacustrine deposits of the Fengcheng Formation. Despite this, the effect of the eruption process on the formation of the alkali lake remains unclear. To gain a better understanding of the eruptive behaviour and emplacement processes, detailed drilling core descriptions, microscopic observations, and interpretations of textural characteristics of rhyolitic welded tuff units and adjacent volcano‐sedimentary associations have been conducted. The rhyolitic welded tuff can be categorized into seven lithofacies units based on the degree of welding, devitrification characteristics, pore development, and filling characteristics. The age of eruption was determined through zircon U–Pb dating of the rhyolitic welded tuff, revealing it to be approximately 300 Ma, thereby providing constraints on the deposition time of alkaline lacustrine deposits. Mudstones that encase the welded tuff unit and quenched structures such as perlitic fractures, quench cracks of spherulite and lithophysae, and chalcedony spherules indicate that the welded tuff unit was formed through subaqueous eruption. Alkali fractionation (sodium and potassium) occurs in the spherulite and lithophysae zone and at the top condensation boundary, demonstrating that the subaqueous eruption process significantly enhanced devitrification and hydration, causing sodium to escape from the welded tuff and released into the lake water as sodium ions. The rhyolitic welded tuff provides evidence of the evolution of a subaqueous felsic eruption where the water‐rock reaction played a fundamental role in alkalizing the lake by providing the lake with sodium ions in Mahu Sag. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Socially shared regulation is a vital factor that affects students' collaborative programming performance. However, students' weak group metacognitive skills or inability to adopt shared regulation mechanisms lead to unsatisfactory collaborative programming learning. Objectives: This study proposes an approach to support socially shared regulation in collaborative programming learning in order to enhance students' programming achievements and group metacognition. Methods: A quasi‐experimental study was conducted in a junior high school over a 10‐week period to investigate the impact of the proposed approach on programming achievements, group metacognition, and cognitive load. Forty eighth‐grade students participated in the study, with the experimental group learning via the proposed approach, while the control group used the conventional collaborative programming learning approach. Results and Conclusions: The analysis included data from 38 participants. The experimental results showed that the programming achievements and group metacognition of the experimental group were significantly better than those of the control group. Additionally, the proposed approach did not increase the cognitive load of the students. Implications: This study has important implications for teachers, learners, and researchers in collaborative programming and social regulation. Our proposed collaborative programming learning approach enhances learners' social regulation and performance, providing teachers with an effective tool for improving collaborative programming learning. This study also extends the field of socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL), demonstrating its potential to improve the effectiveness of collaborative programming learning and highlighting the need for future research to explore the mechanisms of SSRL in this context. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Programming learning is difficult for most learners.Collaborative programming is an effective method of programming learning.Students' weak group metacognitive skills or inability to adopt shared regulation mechanisms lead to unsatisfactory collaborative programming learning. What this paper adds?: This study proposes a method to enhance collaborative programming learning by supporting socially shared regulation among students.The study utilized a quasi‐experimental to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach in improving students' programming learning performance.The shared regulation approach was found to significantly improve students' programming achievements and group metacognition when compared to conventional collaborative programming approaches.Importantly, the shared regulation approach did not increase the cognitive load of the students, indicating its potential for practical implementation in programming education. The implications of study findings for practitioners: This study has shown that an approach that supports social shared regulation can improve student performance in collaborative programming learning, and that teachers can use this approach to help students learn programming better collaboratively.This study also contributes to the field of social shared regulated learning by demonstrating how it can support collaborative programming and improve its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pingbei area is the main accumulation area of oil and gas in the Xihu Sag. The phase characteristics of oil and gas in this area are complex, and the understanding of their genesis is still unclear. In this paper, based upon discussions of crude oil and natural gas geochemical data, integrated with local geological features, we discuss the sources, migration, and phase state characteristics of oil and gas in the Pingbei area of the Xihu Sag. The study results show that the crude oil and natural gas in the Pingbei area are coal-derived and the oil and gas produced by the humic organic matter during the mature stage. The oil and gas source correlation showed that crude oil and natural gas have good affinity with the Eocene Pinghu Formation (PH) coal-bearing source rocks. Crude oil has the characteristics of near-source accumulation and short-distance migration while natural gas is supplied from a dual source: the coal-derived hydrocarbon rocks of PH in the deep part of the study area, supplemented by the coal-derived hydrocarbon rocks of PH on the bottom of the slope, and adjacent hydrocarbon-bearing sub sag. The distribution characteristics and geochemical migration indices of hydrocarbon show that the oil generated from the hydrocarbon source rocks of PH in the deep Pingbei area mainly migrates vertically along the fault connecting the reservoir and the source rocks to the trap, where it accumulates, while the natural gas exhibits deep and large faults that mainly migrate vertically, supplemented by its lateral migration along the composite transport system composed of faults and sandstone layers in the slope zone. The whole area presents the phase characteristics of "upper oil and lower gas, west oil and east gas". The mechanisms of produced-exhausted and geochromatographic effects (PGE), as well as evaporative fractionation (EF) and phase-controlled migration fractionation (PMF), result in the obvious discrepancy of hydrocarbon's properties on the vertical profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: A likely new locus QSns.sau-MC-3D.1 associated with SNS showing no negative effect on yield-related traits compared to WAPO1 was identified and validated in various genetic populations under multiple environments. The number of spikelets per spike (SNS) is one of the crucial factors determining wheat yield. Thus, improving our understanding of the genes that regulate SNS could help develop wheat varieties with higher yield. In this study, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population (MC) containing 198 lines derived from a cross between msf and Chuannong 16 (CN16) was used to construct a genetic linkage map using the GenoBaits Wheat 16 K Panel. The genetic map contained 5,991 polymorphic SNP markers spanning 2,813.25 cM. A total of twelve QTL for SNS were detected, and two of them, i.e., QSns.sau-MC-3D.1 and QSns.sau-MC-7A, were stably expressed. QSns.sau-MC-3D.1 had high LOD values ranging from 4.99 to 11.06 and explained 9.71–16.75% of the phenotypic variation. Comparison of QSns.sau-MC-3D.1 with previously reported SNS QTL suggested that it is likely a novel one, and two kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers were further developed. The positive effect of QSns.sau-MC-3D.1 was also validated in three biparental populations and a diverse panel containing 388 Chinese wheat accessions. Genetic analysis indicated that WHEAT ORTHOLOG OFAPO1 (WAPO1) was a candidate gene for QSns.sau-MC-7A. Pyramiding of QSns.sau-MC-3D.1 and WAP01 had a great additive effect increasing SNS by 7.10%. Correlation analysis suggested that QSns.sau-MC-3D.1 was likely independent of effective tiller number, plant height, spike length, anthesis date, and thousand kernel weight. However, the H2 haplotype of WAPO1 may affect effective tiller number and plant height. These results indicated that utilization of QSns.sau-MC-3D.1 should be given priority for wheat breeding. Geographical distribution analysis showed that the positive allele of QSns.nsau-MC-3D.1 was dominant in most wheat-producing regions of China, and it has been positively selected among modern cultivars released in China since the 1940s. Gene prediction, qRT-PCR analysis, and sequence alignment suggested that TraesCS3D03G0216800 may be the candidate gene of QSns.nsau-MC-3D.1. Taken together, these results enrich our understanding of the genetic basis of wheat SNS and will be useful for fine mapping and cloning of the gene underlying QSns.sau-MC-3D.1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the combined effects of sowing patterns and nitrogen (N) management strategies on crop productivity, environmental costs, and economic benefits is important to ensuring the sustainable development of dryland agriculture. Thus, we conducted a three-year field experiment to explore two spring maize sowing patterns (FS, flat sowing; RFPM, ridge and furrow plastic film mulching) and four N management strategies (N0, no N fertilizer; N1, normal urea as base fertilizer; N2, split application of normal urea at sowing and a large flare period at a ratio of 3:2; N3, all controlled-release urea as base fertilizer) on growth, the grain yield, the N uptake and utilization efficiency, N2O emissions, and economic benefits in the Loess Plateau region of China. Our results showed that compared to FS, RFPM promoted growth of the spring maize canopy and increased the grain yield, cumulative N uptake, and N use efficiency. RFPM promoted N2O emissions by improving the soil's hydrothermal environment, but it reduced the environmental cost (yield-scaled N2O emission). RFPM increased the production cost, but it increased the net income by improving the total output. Compared to traditional N management strategies (N1), N2 and N3 treatments improved the spring maize productivity and net income, and they reduced the environmental costs by improving the synchronization of the nitrogen supply. However, due to the decreasing rural labor force available in China, N3 is more beneficial in terms of reducing labor inputs. Therefore, we suggest that RFPM and N3 can be combined to form an efficient management strategy for spring maize production in the Loess Plateau that balances crop productivity, N2O emissions, and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and China's pursuit of the "double circulation" strategy, scholars are increasingly focusing on ensuring high-quality economic development in China. In this regard, digital inclusive finance and consumer consumption are of utmost significance. This study employs panel data from 30 provinces and cities spanning 2011 to 2020 to explore the impact of digitized inclusive finance on consumer consumption and high-quality economic development through a spatial econometric model. Our findings indicate that integrating digital finance with consumer consumption and economic development fosters high-quality economic growth. Furthermore, our semi-parametric spatial lag model suggests a nonlinear relationship between digital inclusive finance and high-quality economic growth, shaped like an inverted "U". Additionally, we examine the mediating effect of consumer consumption on the relationship between digital inclusive finance and high-quality economic development. Our results reveal a substitution effect between digital inclusive financing and consumer consumption in promoting high-quality economic development. Therefore, it is essential to promote the development of digital inclusive finance, harness its positive spillover effects between regions, and encourage an increase in consumer consumption to optimize the consumption structure, upgrade and adjust the industrial structure, and spur growth in emerging industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planform rotation of river basins has been used as a marker of crustal strain and been used to assess the style and rates of on‐fault deformation. We use the geometry of river basins to evaluate horizontal deformation associated with the South China–North China relative block motion in the east Qinling mountains. The long‐time average slip rates of the Luonan fault and Shangdan fault are constrained as 0.31 mm/year and 0.3–0.6 mm/year, respectively. According to the latest GPS, we believe that a minor portion of the crustal strain of relative block motion between North China and South China was partitioned into the east Qinling strike‐slip fault system, leaving a major portion of deformation to be accommodated by southern North China (SNC). We conclude that the eastward extrusion of South China cannot explain the present deformation of the entire eastern China, and more attention should be paid into the SNC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Denosumab entered the Chinese market for the first time in 2020. Since it is a short period of time, there is a lack of data on its effectiveness and safety in Chinese people. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of denosumab in delaying skeletal-related events (SREs) in patients with breast cancer metastatic to bone. Methods: The study retrospectively analyzed data from breast cancer patients with bone metastases (BM) who were treated with denosumab in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from September 2020 to January 2022. The primary endpoint was SRE incidence at 1 year after receiving denosumab treatment. The secondary endpoints included time to first on-study SRE and safety. Descriptive analysis was utilized to display clinicopathological features. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the median time to first on-study SRE in total population and subgroups. Logistic regression analysis and χ2 test were employed to determine the potential factors influencing the occurrence of SREs. Results: Fifty breast cancer patients with BM were enrolled in our study, and 54.0% of the patients had 5 or more metastatic bone lesions. After a median follow-up of 17.00 months, 24% of the patients developed SREs at 1 year after receiving denosumab treatment, and the median time to first on-study SREs was not reached. Five or more metastatic bone lesions were an independent risk factor for SRE occurrence (odds ratio = 6.06, 95% CI: 1.09-33.54, P =.039). The adverse events (AEs) associated with denosumab mainly included hypocalcemia (68.0%), periodontitis (28.0%), and myalgia (14.0%). Only 3 cases of grade III/IV AEs were reported, and no serious AEs occurred. Conclusion: Denosumab was effective and well tolerated in Chinese breast cancer patients with BM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The effectiveness of sugemalimab vs. placebo in post-chemoradiotherapy patients with locally advanced, unresectable stage III NSCLC has been demonstrated and approved by China National Medical Products Administration. The purpose of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of sugemalimab vs. placebo for consolidation treatment of stage III NSCLC from the perspective of the Chinese healthcare system. Methods: A 3-state Markov model with a 3-week cycle length was performed to appraise the incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) of sugemalimab consolidation therapy based on the GEMSTONE-301 clinical trial over a 10-year time horizon. Only direct medical costs, including costs of drug (maintenance and subsequent treatment), routine follow-up, best supportive care, and terminal care in end of life were considered in this model. Costs and health utilities were obtained from local databases and published articles. Sensitivity and scenario analyses were adopted to evaluate the model uncertainty. Internal and external data sources were used to justify the plausibility of the extrapolated portion of the survival model chosen. Results: In comparison with the placebo, sugemalimab consolidation therapy was not cost-effective as it yielded an ICUR value of $90,277 and $49,692 for the concurrent chemoradiotherapy (cCRT) and the sequential chemoradiotherapy (sCRT) population at the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $37,663/QALYs, respectively. When taking the sugemalimab patient assistance program (PAP) into consideration, sugemalimab consolidation therapy was cost-effective with an ICUR dramatic decreases below the WTP. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that the ICUR was most sensitive to the discount rate and subsequent treatment. However, none of the sensitive parameters could affect the cost-effective conclusions without or with PAP. Scenario analyses revealed that the model was particularly affected by assumptions regarding discount in sugemalimab, time horizon, mean duration of sugemalimab maintenance treatment. Conclusions: From the perspective of Chinese healthcare system, sugemalimab consolidation therapy was not a cost-effective strategy in cCRT and sCRT patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC. Given that the sugemalimab PAP was available, sugemalimab consolidation therapy became a cost-effective option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A type of short-pitch rail corrugation on tracks with resilient fasteners called 'Vanguard' fasteners is widely found on different metro lines in China. Field measurements and numerical calculations are used to investigate the cause of the corrugation formation. The corrugation with wavelengths of 30–60 mm occurs on both the curved and straight tracks through field measurements. Corrugation passing frequencies are in the range of 340–700 Hz. The frequencies of pinned-pinned resonance, the P2 resonance and the wheelset torsional resonance are far away from the corrugation passing frequencies. The investigated results show the vertical dynamic characteristic of the track is the main factor for occurrence of the short-pitch rail corrugation. The short-pitch rail corrugation arises by a wavelength-fixing mechanism of rail vertical bouncing on the resilient fasteners. The corrugation wavelength mainly is related to the vertical stiffness of the rail fasteners. Rail corrugation with wavelengths of 25–63 mm easily occurs on tracks with resilient fasteners with the vertical stiffness of less than 20 MN/m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qinling Orogenic Belt was formed by multi-stage convergence and subsequent collision between the North China Block and South China Block during the Palaeozoic to Late Triassic. Following the collision between the South Qinling Belt and the South China Block in the Late Triassic, the whole Qinling Orogenic Belt evolved into an intracontinental orogeny. However, the exact termination time of the Late Mesozoic intracontinental contractional deformation and the tectonic transformation from compression to extension remains unclear. The extensional shear zone developed in the West Qinling Orogenic Belt provides a crucial clue to revealing the tectonic transformation and uplift and exhumation of the orogenic belt. This study focuses on kinematics, deformation temperature, and geochronology of the shear zone in the West Qinling Orogenic Belt through detailed field structural analysis and laboratory analysis. The Taibai shear zone (TBSZ), located in the West Qinling Orogenic Belt, cuts across the Qinling Orogenic Belt along the NE–NEE direction and separates the Taibai pluton in the east from the Baoji pluton in the west. The NE–NEE-striking TBSZ is an extensional shear zone showing a top-to-the-NW sinistral shear sense. The TBSZ was formed under the high greenschist–low amphibolite facies conditions (300–550°C) in the middle-upper crust level (8–15 km). Zircon U–Pb dating and biotite and muscovite 40Ar/39Ar dating indicate that the TBSZ occurred at 120–113 Ma. The extensional TBSZ and normal faults on its hanging wall indicate the tectonic transformation and the extensional collapse of the Mesozoic intracontinental orogenic belt during the late Early Cretaceous. The Cretaceous extensional collapse of the Qinling Orogenic Belt also led to the rapid uplift and exhumation of the Taibai pluton and the North Qinling Belt in the east. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is ART associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcome in 12-month-old offspring compared with those conceived through natural conception? In this prospective cohort study, 488 infertile women undergoing ART and 1397 women with natural conception were recruited and followed until their offspring were 12 months old. The primary outcome was the neurodevelopment in the offspring. The association between exposure to ART and Gesell developmental scale scores was investigated using multiple linear regression models after adjusting for confounders. Propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) were used to verify the results. In total, 18 (3.7%) and 40 (2.9%) children in the ART and natural conception groups, respectively, had been diagnosed with neurodevelopmental delay at 12 months of age. It was found that gross motor, adaptive behaviour, language and total development quotient scores were comparable between the groups. Following multivariate linear regression and IPTW, social behaviour development quotient scores were found to be slightly higher in the ART group than the natural conception group. Higher social behaviour development quotient scores in the ART group were also observed in the male and the singleton subgroups. At 12 months, offspring born after ART appeared to have similar motor, language and adaptive behaviour skills, and total development quotient scores, to those born after natural conception. However, social behaviour development in 12-month-old infants was slightly higher in those conceived using ART than in naturally conceived offspring, especially in male or singleton infants. These findings may provide new information in evaluating the potential benefits and risks of ART. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gansu is a province in the northwest of China that is well known for its rich grassland types and important alfalfa planting base in China. Among the key limiting factors in alfalfa products and high quality are insect and mite pests, particularly those occurring on root and stem parts. Mite populations were collected on alfalfa roots from Jiuquan City located in the northwest part of Gansu Province. This study aimed to identify the principle mite species infesting alfalfa in Gansu Province, by molecular and morphological characterization. DNA from 20 specimens and morphological data from 45 specimens (15 adult females, 20 adult males [10 homeomorphic and 10 heteromorphic] and 10 deutonymphs were used to confirm the identity of the mite species. The species present is described here as a new species (Sancassania alfalfa Shang & Li, sp. nov.). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exchange of energy between the land surface and atmosphere is dependent upon crucial parameters, including surface roughness, emissivity, bulk transfer coefficients for momentum (CD) and heat (CH). These parameters are calculated through site observation data and remote sensing data. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) the aerodynamic roughness of the Gurbantunggut Desert measures 1.1 × 10−2 m, which is influenced by the varying conditions of the underlying surface. The roughness decreases as wind speed increases and is seen to be directly proportional to the growth of vegetation. From April to June, the aerodynamic roughness increases with increasing vegetation cover, but begins to gradually decrease after July. Spatially, the middle regions show higher roughness values than the eastern and western areas. In the central part of the desert, the roughness is between 2.37 × 10−2 m and 2.46 × 10−2 m from April to November. The northwest and northeast regions measure 1.41 × 10−2 m–2.04 × 10−2 m and 1.53 × 10−2 m–2.39 × 10−2 m, respectively. (2) The surface emissivity is 0.93, and it varies depending on the snow and vegetation present in the underlying area. (3) CD and CH exhibit an inverse relationship with wind speed. When wind speed falls below 6 m/s, the CD declines rapidly as wind speed increases. In contrast, once wind speed surpasses 6 m/s, the propensity for the CD to decrease with increasing wind speed slows down and approaches stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geostatistics has become a powerful method for investigating complex spatial variations of prehistoric settlements in floodplains and other geomorphological settings. A geoarchaeological drilling program that covers most of the Sha‐Ying River Basin provides a rare opportunity with unusually detailed environmental data to contest and develop the geostatistics method, which proves to be essential, in combination with archaeological data, to understand long‐term (9000–2500 B.P.) patterns of human inhabitation and adaption to volatile floodplain environments in eastern Central China. We analysed the variography and multivariate ordination of the borehole data and explored the complexities of landform evolution, with reference to sedimentation processes and soil development in the floodplain of the Sha‐Ying River. The recurrent impact of river floods on regional landforms is manifested by spatial‐autocorrelated properties over distances up to 10 km, sometimes with directional trends. We then developed a model of landform evolution through kriging and compared the model with detailed reconstruction of archaeological settlement patterns. Our results illustrate long‐term socio‐environmental dynamics by which human communities first populated and then adapted in diverse ways to the changing floodplain environments from the early to middle Holocene. This improved method will have far‐reaching implications for future studies on similar geomorphological settings across vast floodplains of Central China and other global regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates key drivers of renewable energy transition in China using the quarterly data from Q1-2000 to Q4-2020. We employed the Bootstrap Autoregressive Distributed Lag method for long-run and short-run parameters. The results exhibit that financial development and research and development expenditures are the most prominent factors that encourage energy transition. In addition, human resources and information and communication technology (ICT) also contribute to stimulating the renewable energy transition in China. The overall long-run estimates have pronounced impact than the short-run results, except for the ICT, which has an insignificant effect in the short run. Moreover, the significant negative value of the error correction term converges the model by a 32.9% adjustment rate in case of any deviation. The empirical outcome recommends that the government of China should promote financial development resources and R&D spending to spur the energy transition. • Bootstrap ARDL applies to China's quarterly data. • Drivers of Renewable Energy Transition (RET) are explored. • Financial development and R&D expenditures are the most prominent drivers of RET. • Human development and ICT stimulate RET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to better characterize the clinicopathologic characteristics, outcomes, and prognostic factors of AITL in China. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 312 patients with AITL enrolled between January 2011 and December 2020 from five institutions in China. Results: The median age was 65 years, with 92.6% advanced stage, 59.7% elevated LDH, 46.1% anemia, and 44.0% hypergammaglobulinemia. The majority of patients (84.9%) received anthracycline‐based regimens with or without etoposide, and only 6.1% underwent autologous stem cell transplantation following first remission. The 5‐year OS and PFS estimates were 43.4% and 25.0% with no significant improvement of survival between patients treated during 2011–2015 and 2016–2020, respectively. Both the International Prognostic Index (IPI) and the prognostic index for PTCL, not otherwise specified (PIT), were predictive for OS. In multivariate analysis, age >70 years, elevated LDH, and albumin level <35 g/L were independent prognostic factors for OS. Combining these three factors, a novel prognostic model (the Chinese AITL score) was constructed, which stratified patients into low‐, intermediate‐, and high‐risk groups, with 5‐year OS rates of 69.0%, 41.5%, and 23.7%, respectively. This new model was successfully validated in an independent cohort. Conclusions: Patients with AITL were mainly treated with anthracycline‐based regimens, and the outcomes were still unsatisfactory in China. Our novel prognostic model may improve our ability to identify patients at different risks for alternative therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific cognition and assessment of threats to cultural heritage and surrounding landscapes are prerequisites for targeted management and protection of cultural heritage. This study took 530 city sites in the Central Plains of China as the research object. Based on the survey information of city sites in the third national cultural heritage survey in China, a combination of high resolution google images and land use/land cover data products and city sites survey data enables a comprehensive evaluation of landscape elements impacts on city sites. With spatial statistical method, we divided city site landscape types, and constructed a landscape element risk assessment model and an urbanization intensity index to analyze the threats of each landscape element to city site protection. The results indicated that 40.64% of the sites are in farmland landscapes, where agricultural cultivation, irrigation, and other production activities may affect the surface and subsurface remains of the sites. The sites (16.82%) in urban landscapes are affected by activities such as building houses and roads. Only six sites belong to the water landscape area, which may be affected by water erosion. Other sites (2.84%) are mainly affected by plant root growth in forest landscapes. The city sites distributed in urban areas such as Zhengzhou or the urban–rural junction were significantly affected by urban expansion and got the greatest protection pressure. City sites in agricultural landscapes have the second highest conservation risk. Plant erosion and flooding mainly affected the city sites in the northwest-southwest mountainous areas or near the water area of the study area, and the risks were relatively small. It can be seen that landscape types such as urban and farmland, which are closely related to human activities, bring the most pressure to the protection of city sites, and it is necessary to focus on the impact of human activities such as urban construction on city sites and the surrounding environment in the future, while paying attention to the protection and rational use of city sites with high assessment risk in urban planning and management for the protection of the city site proper and landscape scenery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance resilience for adapting to recent severe issues such as flooding and water shortage, Sponge City (SPC) is being delivered by using Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) across China. Considering a sustainable implementation, an understanding of and effective management for the environment-related underlying dynamics of the adaptability of SPC PPPs are prerequisite. Therefore, we examined a conceptual model integrated with four external environment dimensions, which is useful for identifying externally environmental effects on the project's adaptability. By utilizing the structural equation modeling techniques, the hypothesized relationships illustrated in the conceptual model were tested and verified. Empirical evidence indicates that the Political Environment has the highest impact followed by the Social, Economic and Natural Environments. Implications generated from the SEM are then discussed for future improvements. This study provides governments with an insight into assessing external environment effects that are significant for (1) improving the adaptability of their projects and then (2) enabling sustainability for infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air-quality monitoring and forecasting are crucial for atmosphere pollution control and management. We propose an innovative data-driven framework for air quality index (AQI) prediction by integrating GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO) observation and weather modeling. Empowered by the state-of-the-art machine learning approach, our method can effectively predict regional AQI with a comparable accuracy much more quickly than the traditional numerical modeling and simulation approach. In a real case study using a representative region of China, our data-driven approach achieves a 2000 times speedup; meanwhile, the prediction error measured by rRMSE is only 2.4%. We investigate further the effects of different models, hyperparameters, and meteorological factors on the performance of our AQI prediction framework, and reveal that wind field and atmospheric boundary-layer height are important influencing factors of AQI. This paper showcases a direct application of GNSS-RO observation in assisting in forecasting regional AQI. From a machine learning point of view, it provides a new way to leverage the unique merits of GNSS atmospheric remote sensing technology with the help of the more traditional weather forecasting modeling approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Our aim was to investigate the association between gene polymorphisms in catalase (CAT), a well-known oxidative stress regulator, and susceptibility to idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) or responses to steroid therapy in a Chinese pediatric population. Methods We analyzed 3 CAT single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNVs; rs7943316, rs769217, and rs12270780) using multi-polymerase chain reaction combined with next-generation sequencing in 183 INS patients and 100 healthy controls. Results For the allele and genotype frequencies of the CAT SNVs, no significant differences were observed between INS patients and controls. Patients with C allele of CAT rs769217 had a higher risk of developing steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome than the steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome patients (P = 0.018; odds ratio = 1.76). Conclusion Our data suggests that genetic variations in CAT were unlikely to confer susceptibility to INS in Chinese children, whereas the C allele of the CAT rs769217 polymorphism showed a strong association with steroid-dependent responses in Chinese INS children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flowering time and active accumulated temperature (AAT) are two key factors that limit the expanded production especially for soybean across different regions. Wild soybean provides an important germplasm for functional genomics study in cultivar soybean. However, the studies on genetic basis underlying flowering time in response to AAT especially in wild soybean were rarely reported. In this study, we used 294 wild soybean accessions derived from major soybean production region characterized by different AAT in Northeast of China. Based on genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified 96 SNPs corresponded to 342 candidate genes that significantly associated with flowering time recorded in two-year experiments. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis suggests that the pathways of photosynthesis light reaction and actin filament binding were significantly enriched. We found three lead SNPs with -log10(p-value) > 32 across the two-year experiments, i.e., Chr02:9490318, Chr04:8545910 and Chr09:49553555. Linkage disequilibrium block analysis shows 28 candidate genes within the genomic region centered on the lead SNPs. Among them, expression levels of three genes (aspartic peptidase 1, serine/threonine-protein kinase and protein SCAR2-like) were significantly differed between two subgroups possessing contrasting flowering time distributed at chromosome 2, 4 and 9, respectively. There are 6, 7 and 3 haplotypes classified on the coding regions of the three genes, respectively. Collectively, accessions with late flowering time phenotype are typically derived from AAT zone 1, which is associated with the haplotypic distribution and expression levels of the three genes. This study provides an insight into a potential mechanism responsible for flowering time in response to AAT in wild soybean, which could promote the understanding of genetic basis for other major crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flowering time and active accumulated temperature (AAT) are two key factors that limit the expanded production especially for soybean across different regions. Wild soybean provides an important germplasm for functional genomics study in cultivar soybean. However, the studies on genetic basis underlying flowering time in response to AAT especially in wild soybean were rarely reported. In this study, we used 294 wild soybean accessions derived from major soybean production region characterized by different AAT in Northeast of China. Based on genome-wide association study (GWAS), we identified 96 SNPs corresponded to 342 candidate genes that significantly associated with flowering time recorded in two-year experiments. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis suggests that the pathways of photosynthesis light reaction and actin filament binding were significantly enriched. We found three lead SNPs with -log10(p-value) > 32 across the two-year experiments, i.e., Chr02:9490318, Chr04:8545910 and Chr09:49553555. Linkage disequilibrium block analysis shows 28 candidate genes within the genomic region centered on the lead SNPs. Among them, expression levels of three genes (aspartic peptidase 1, serine/threonine-protein kinase and protein SCAR2-like) were significantly differed between two subgroups possessing contrasting flowering time distributed at chromosome 2, 4 and 9, respectively. There are 6, 7 and 3 haplotypes classified on the coding regions of the three genes, respectively. Collectively, accessions with late flowering time phenotype are typically derived from AAT zone 1, which is associated with the haplotypic distribution and expression levels of the three genes. This study provides an insight into a potential mechanism responsible for flowering time in response to AAT in wild soybean, which could promote the understanding of genetic basis for other major crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grandparental caregiving is common in China, which can directly impact grandchild development. In addition, grandparents may have an indirect impact on children through their relationship with and support of the parents. However, associations between grandparenting, parenting, and child outcomes are rarely investigated. The current study is a pilot study which includes 42 mothers, fathers, and co-residing grandparents in China, and examines whether grandparental sensitivity relates to parental sensitivity (biological child of the grandparent), and whether grandparental sensitivity and maternal and paternal sensitivity each uniquely contribute to 14-month-old children's Executive Function (EF). Results did not show a significant relation between parental and grandparental sensitivity or a unique contribution of sensitivity from mothers, fathers, or grandparents to infant EF. Our findings from exploratory analyses showed differences in sensitivity of grandparents and parents towards the third generation but did not confirm a combined effect of multiple caregivers on infant EF development in China. Highlights: This pilot study is the first to observe caregiving in mothers, fathers and co-residential grandparents in China. The study investigated the relation between grandparenting and parenting, and the association of multiple caregiving with infant EF development. Sensitivity levels of grandparents towards the third generation were lower than those of parents. There was no significant combined effect of multiple caregivers (mother, father and grandparent sensitivity) on infant EF development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, percutaneous nephrolithotomy has become an option for hospitals increasingly to treat calculus. However, due to the certain risk of percutaneous nephrolithotomy, it may lead to postoperative complications. Analyzing the preoperative factors of septic shock after percutaneous nephrolithotomy can provide guidance for reducing the incidence of septic shock after PCNL. This article establishes a logistic regression model based on preoperative factors, uses statistical methods, and uses the professional statistical software SPSS to create a database and analyze the data. The method of classification data analysis was used to determine various influencing factors including patient factors, stone factor, and preoperative factors and combined B-ultrasound guidance and percutaneous nephrolithotomy to reduce the risk of surgery. The experimental results found that the percutaneous nephroscope laser lithotripsy guided by the smart Internet of Things can effectively perform lithotripsy; in this paper, the preoperative data of different complications are obtained, and the risk of surgery is closely related to the operation time. The operation time exceeds 90 minutes and causes the risk of severe bleeding after PCNL. It is twice the operation time of less than 90 minutes and 5 times the operation time of less than 60 minutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) was introduced into China as a kind of turfgrass and has invaded wheat fields of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, causing great losses to grain yield. The acetyl–CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitor clodinafop-propargyl and the acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor mesosulfuron-methyl are highly efficient herbicides that have been widely used for control of this species, which has also resulted in its resistance evolution. However, the resistance status of L. multiflorum in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China remains unclear, which hinders the integrated management of this weed in winter wheat production systems. In the current study, a total of 37 L. multiflorum populations were collected from the wheat fields across the region, and their susceptibility to clodinafop-propargyl and mesosulfuron-methyl was assessed. Of these, 13 populations were resistant or evolving resistance to clodinafop-propargyl (R?, RR, and RRR) with resistance index (RI) ranging from 2.62 to 830.05, and 8 populations were resistant or evolving resistance to mesosulfuron-methyl (R? and RR) with RI ranging from 3.89 to 16.68. Seven populations showed multiple-resistance to both clodinafop-propargyl and mesosulfuron-methyl. Three ACCase (I1781L, I2041N, and D2078G) and four ALS (P197T, P197S, P197A, and W574L) resistance mutations were identified in the herbicide-resistant populations, and I1781L and P197T were predominant ACCase and ALS mutations, respectively. Real-time quantitative PCR assays showed that compared with the susceptible population, the ACCase expression was slightly upregulated in some of the clodinafop-propargyl-resistant populations (AH-01 and AH-05) following clodinafop-propargyl treatment, while the ALS expression in the mesosulfuron-methyl-resistant populations showed no significant change following mesosulfuron-methyl treatment. Whole-plant dose-response testing showed that the AH-01 population carrying an ACCase gene I2041N mutation exhibited cross-resistance to all the ACCase inhibitors tested and multiple-resistance to the ALS inhibitor bispyribac-sodium, the AH-05 population carrying an ACCase gene I1781L mutation and an ALS gene P197T mutation showed cross-resistance to all the ACCase and ALS inhibitors tested, and the HN-07 population carrying an ACCase gene D2078G mutation showed cross-resistance to all the ACCase inhibitors tested and multiple-resistance to some ALS inhibitors. All the resistant populations remained susceptible to the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate inhibitor glyphosate and the photosystem II inhibitor isoproturon. This study has clarified the distributions of clodinafop-propargyl- and/or mesosulfuron-methyl-resistant L. multiflorum in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China, and target gene mutation was one of the most common mechanisms responsible for the resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective of this study is to compare the epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory, and imaging features, and outcomes in patients with Cryptococcus gattii meningitis (CGM) and Cryptococcus neoformans meningitis (CNM). Methods: We performed a retrospective study of HIV‐negative patients with CGM and CNM (2015–2021) distinguished by metagenomic next‐generation sequencing in cerebrospinal fluid in South China. Results: A total of 81 patients (17 CGM, 64 CNM) were enrolled (72.8% male, median age 49 years, range 21–77 years), and CGM patients were younger (median, 43 vs 53 years, p =.005). Of 17 CGM, VGI and VGII accounted for 70.6% and 29.4%, respectively. CGM patients had less underlying diseases (7/17 [41.2%] vs 48/64 [75%], p =.018) and focal neurologic deficit (3/17 [17.6%] vs 35/64 [54.7%], p =.022), had higher intracranial pressure (15/17 [88.2%] vs 25/64 [39.1%], p =.002), more meningeal enhancement (14/17 [82.4%] vs 32/64 [50%], p =.034), less parenchymal involvement (median, 1 vs 3, p =.018), more lung cryptococcomas (6/12 [50%] vs 6/47 [12.8%], p =.014), faster CSF fungal clearance (p =.004), less complications (median, 1 vs 3, p <.001), and more favourable outcomes (16/17 [94.1%] vs 41/64 [64.1%], p =.035). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that species identification helps to guide therapy and predict outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, air pollution has become a factor that cannot be ignored, affecting human lives and health. The distribution of high-density populations and high-intensity development and construction have accentuated the problem of air pollution in China. To accelerate air pollution control and effectively improve environmental air quality, the target of our research was cities with serious air pollution problems to establish a model for air pollution prediction. We used the daily monitoring data of air pollution from January 2016 to December 2020 for the respective cities. We used the long short term memory networks (LSTM) algorithm model to solve the problem of gradient explosion in recurrent neural networks, then used the particle swarm optimization algorithm to determine the parameters of the CNN-LSTM model, and finally introduced the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition of adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) decomposition to decompose air pollution and improve the accuracy of model prediction. The experimental results show that compared with a single LSTM model, the CEEMDAN-CNN-LSTM model has higher accuracy and lower prediction errors. The CEEMDAN-CNN-LSTM model enables a more precise prediction of air pollution, and may thus be useful for sustainable management and the control of air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantic segmentation of the remote sensing images (RSIs) has attracted increasing interest in recent years. However, large-area segmentation of the woodland presents challenges. The wide distribution and diverse tree species of the woodland make feature extraction difficult. For this reason, an infrared attention network (InfAttNet) is proposed to extract woodland from multispectral RSIs. InfAttNet has an extra infrared spectral encoder which makes use of the sensitivity of vegetation to near-infrared and red edge spectrums. This extra encoder applies learning about vegetation to improve woodland segmentation. Several attention blocks are designed to enhance learning about vegetation features and so improve the performance. In addition, a new dataset is built, containing a large number of woodland RSIs and covering several typical woodland distribution regions in China. The experimental results demonstrate that compared with other networks, InfAttNet has the highest accuracy and is capable of rapid extraction of the woodland in RSIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China generates substantial quantities of gasified fine ash (GFA) annually through entrained flow bed coal gasification processes. These GFAs are laden with significant amounts of poorly reactive carbon and abundant ash resources, including silica, aluminum. Typically GFA represent not only a gross squandering of resources but also a potential source of environmental contamination. In order to use both ash and carbon of GFA, our team has developed the thermal modification -melting combustion method. The study conducted thermal modification-melting combustion experiments of GFA with auxiliary heating fuel and varying moisture content on a pilot-scale experimental platform. The aim was to ascertain the influence of operating conditions on the physical and chemical properties of GFA fuel, as well as the carbon conversion rate of GFA and the potential for reusing ash after melting combustion in the entire system. The results indicate that an increase in the moisture content of GFA allows the thermally modified fine ash (MFA) to possess smaller particle sizes and more reactive sites in carbon structures, along with higher combustible gas yield and calorific value. Post-melting combustion, the residual carbon conversion rate in GFA surpassed 96.88 %, indicative of a high recovery potential. Moreover, the ash slag, rich in inorganic non-metallic glassy phases, emerged as a promising candidate for material reuse and application. • Thermal modification and melting combustion of GFA on a pilot scale. • Auxiliary fuel and moisture's impact on melting combustion were studied. • The physical and chemical properties of MFA under different conditions. • Carbon conversion and ash utilization potential were analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Two phases of deformation occured in the south of the Shangdan suture zone across the Mianyuzui ductile strike-slip fault. • The metamorphic temperature of the early stage of shearing deformation is ∼ 600-700℃ and ∼ 300-500℃ for the late stage. • The subduction of the Shangdan Oceanic lithosphere was active till the Early Silurian, and subsequent collisions occurred during the Late Silurian. The Shangdan suture zone (SDSZ) subdivides the Qinling Orogenic Belt into North Qinling and South Qinling belts, marking the main tectonic boundary between the North China and South China Blocks. The Mianyuzi ductile strike-slip fault (MYZF) within the SDSZ separates the North China Block from the South China Block and contains valuable collisional information. This paper integrates the structural and geochronological data of the MYZF to investigate the Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Qinling Orogenic Belt and the collision between the North China and South China Blocks. Two phases of deformation (D 1 -D 2a-b) are identified along the southern boundary of the SDSZ. The metamorphic temperature of mylonites is ∼ 600–700 ℃ for the early stage and ∼ 300–500 ℃ for the late stage of shearing deformation. U-Pb zircon analysis of the mylonites and diabase dike in the ductile shear reveals that zircons have major younger protolith populations at 480–460 Ma, 450–430 Ma, and 405–425 Ma, which suggests that rocks were probably derived from the North Qinling belt. The metamorphism and deformation cooling age from the MYZF have been constrained to be 339–328 Ma and 259 ± 1.6 Ma using U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar dating. Combined with previously published data, we concluded that the subduction of the Shangdan Ocean was active until the Early Silurian and subsequent collisions occurred during the Late Silurian. Meanwhile, the shearing might have been related to the intraplate extension-exhumation during the Carboniferous-Late Permian in the Qinling Orogenic Belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing China's new retail industry on corporate performance. We mainly design the adjustment effect of the internationalization of its new retail industry on corporate performance and proprietary assets. Design/Methodology/Approach: The framework is based on dynamic panel data of 590 listed companies in China's new retail industry from 2007 to 2019. Findings: We apply the concept of big data for the analysis and investigation, including the DOI explanatory variable for the degree of internationalization, Tobin's Q explained variable, and adjusted variable of proprietary assets (R&D intensity RDI, marketing intensity MI, and capital intensity CI). We found that the degree of internationalization of the new retail industry has a positive impact on corporate performance. Research limitations/implications: The resultant findings only reflect the setting of China's new retail marketplace. With the research model developed here in, future research can target cross-country studies of various forms of online and offline market sites to determine regional differences in the development of new retail activities. Originality/Value: The results show that the major new retail industry is a multi-channel concept that affects overall corporate performance. The authors focus on corporate performance, which is a moderating effect based on proprietary assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic matter (OM) and carbonate are the important organic and inorganic components, respectively, in the shales of the upper fourth member of the Eocene Shahejie Formation, Dongying Depression, Eastern China. Their enrichment affects the hydrocarbon generation capacity and reservoir development of shales. The development mechanism of sequence stratigraphy and the influence of sequence stratigraphy on OM enrichment and carbonate deposition are investigated in this study. Based on the petrological, mineralogical, and geochemical analyses, a third-order sequence is recognized, including the lowstand systems tract (LST), transgressive systems tract (TST), and highstand systems tract (HST). The total organic carbon (TOC) content is 0.11–9.05 wt% (average 2.2 wt%), and the carbonate content is 3–95 wt% (average 51 wt%). Organic matter and carbonate are enriched in TST and gradually reduced in HST and LST. The decrease in the relative lake level in LST results in the deposition of abundant siltstone, leading to both poor OM preservation and carbonate precipitation. The rapid rise in the relative lake level in TST may be triggered by marine transgression, promoting OM enrichment in terms of both production and preservation. Seawater input brought abundant Ca2+ and Mg2+, which facilitated the precipitation of carbonates. The enrichment of OM and carbonate improves the capacity of hydrocarbon generation and reservoir performance of shales in the TST. The decrease in the relative lake level in HST causes a slight increase in the terrigenous clastic content, which, on the one hand, accelerates the sedimentation rate and OM deposition and, on the other hand, reduces carbonate precipitation. This study not only explains the differential distribution of OM and carbonate but also helps to improve the accuracy of the evaluation of shale oil sweet spots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The genomic characteristics and mutations in Notch signaling pathway-related genes of SCLC patients were clarified. • The relationship of Notch signaling pathway mutations with tumor immune microenvironment were analyzed. • There was a significant negative correlation between NOTCH 1 gene mutation status and PD-L1 protein expression level. • Patients with positive DLL3 expression and no NOTCH 1 gene mutation had higher PD-L1 expression and may be more likely to benefit from PD-1/PD-L1 ICIs treatment. To explore the characteristics of Notch pathway in small cell lung cancer (SCLC), clarify the expression of delta-like protein 3 (DLL3) in SCLC patients undergoing surgical treatment, and explore the correlation between DLL3 expression and clinicopathological features, prognosis, and immune microenvironment. A total of 134 patients who received surgical treatment and were diagnosed as SCLC by postoperative histopathology were enrolled. All exon gene sequencing was performed in tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues of 28 patients to clarify the genomic characteristics of SCLC. The expressions of DLL3 and programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PDL1) were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 101 postoperative pathological specimens. Notch receptor mutations are common, but the overall mutation rate of Notch ligand family is not high and mutually exclusive. The mutation status of Notch and Notch1 gene were not related to the prognosis. Notch1 gene mutation was significantly negatively correlated with the expression of PD-L1. DLL3 was highly expressed in SCLC and had no significant correlation with prognosis. There was a positive correlation between DLL3 expression and PD-L1 expression. Patients with positive DLL3 expression and no NOTCH 1 gene mutation had higher PD-L1 expression. SCLC patients with such characteristics may be more likely to benefit from immunotherapy. This study preliminarily explored the genomic characteristics and immune microenvironment of surgical resection of SCLC in China, and found the correlation between Notch gene mutation, DLL3 expression and PD-L1 expression, which provided a new idea for selecting appropriate treatment strategies for SCLC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]