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Purpose: The etiology of 46, XY disorders of sex development (46, XY DSD) is complex, and studies have shown that different series of patients with 46, XY DSD has different genetic spectrum. In this study, we aimed to investigate the underlying genetic etiology in a Chinese series of patients with 46, XY DSD by whole exome sequencing (WES). Methods: Seventy patients with 46, XY DSD were enrolled from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (Beijing, China). The detailed clinical characteristics were evaluated, and peripheral blood was collected for WES to find the patients' rare variants (RVs) of genes related to 46, XY DSD. The clinical significance of the RVs was annotated according to American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) guidelines. Results: A total of 57 RVs from nine genes were identified in 56 patients with 46, XY DSD, which include 21 novel RVs and 36 recurrent RVs. Based on the American ACMG guidelines, 43 variants were classified as pathogenic(P) or likely pathogenic (LP) variants and 14 variants were defined as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). P or LP variants were identified in 64.3% (45/70) patients of the series. Thirty‐nine, 14, and 4 RVs were involved in the process of androgen synthesis and action, testicular determination and developmental process, and syndromic 46, XY DSD, respectively. The top three genes most frequently affected to cause 46, XY DSD were AR, SRD5A2, and NR5A1. Seven patients were found harboring RVs of the 46, XY DSD pathogenic genes identified in recent years, namely DHX37 in four patients, MYRF in two patients, and PPP2R3C in one patient. Conclusion: We identified 21 novel RVs of nine genes, which extended the genetic spectrum of 46, XY DSD pathogenic variants. Our study showed that 60% of the patients were caused by AR, SRD5A2 or NR5A1 P/LP variants. Therefore, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and Sanger sequencing of these three genes could be performed first to identify the pathogeny of the patients. For those patients whose pathogenic variants had not been found, whole‐exome sequencing could be helpful in determining the etiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kriging model can accommodate various spatial supports and has been extensively applied in hydrology, meteorology, soil science, and other domains. With the expansion of applications, it is essential to extend the kriging model for new spatial support of high-dimensional data. Geographical flows can depict the movements of geographical objects and imply the underlying mobility patterns in geographical phenomena. However, due to the bias, sparsity, and uneven quality of flow data in the real world, research about flows remains hindered by the lack of complete flow data and effective flow interpolation methods. In this study, we design a kriging interpolation model for flows based on several flow-related concepts and the autocorrelation of flows. We also analyze the second-order stationarity and anisotropy in the flow spatial random field. To illustrate the effectiveness and applicability of our method, we conduct two case studies. The former case study compares several experiments of flow density interpolation using Beijing mobile signaling data and illustrates the conditions of applicable areas. The latter case study extends our model to other flow attributes, such as travel time uncertainty, using Beijing taxi origin-destination flow data. The results of these cases demonstrate the effectiveness and high accuracy of our model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) is a rare and endangered plant in the world. It has a huge flower and releases a repulsive odor like a corpse. On the evening of 23 July 2022 (Beijing time), a titan arum in the north garden of the China National Botanical Garden in Beijing bloomed. In order to determine the components and contents of volatile compounds released by the titan arum during its flowering, the dynamic headspace adsorption method was utilized to collect the odor of the titan arum flower on the evening of 23 July (S1), the morning of 24 July (S2), the afternoon of 24 July (S3) and the evening of 24 July (S4). The volatile compounds were analyzed by automatic thermal desorption–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Sixty-three volatile compounds were detected in the titan arum flower in four periods. The comparison of the total volatile compounds released in four periods was S2 > S3 > S1 > S4. The highest content of volatile compounds in the S1 period were sulfur compounds (dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide), and the sulfur compounds were released in large amounts only in the S1 period. Dimethyl disulfide was the volatile substance with the highest content in the S1 period (20.00%). The total volatile compounds content of titan arum flower in the S2 period was the highest among the four periods. From the S2 period, the relative content of sulfur compounds decreased significantly until the S4 period. Compared with the S1 period, 1-butanol and butyl acrylate increased significantly and 1-butanol became the highest relative component of volatile compounds in the S2 period. After the S3 period, the total amount of volatile compounds began to decline and reached the lowest level in the S4 period. It is worth noting that the contents of two terpenes, α-pinene and γ-terpinene, rose from the S1 period until their height in the S3 period. From the S4 period, the contents of most volatile compounds decreased significantly. This study revealed the varieties and contents of volatile compounds in the titan arum flower at different flowering periods. The changing trend and physiological significance of dimethyl oligosulfide from the evening of flowering (S1) to the second day (S2–S4) were emphatically discussed, and this research also provides a reference for the study of the release of volatile compounds and the molecular biology of the flower fragrance of titan arum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential thermostat control is considered to be an effective way to allow individual regulation, and to encourage energy saving behavior. However, energy savings resulting from occupants' regulating behavior still needs to be quantified. We investigated several district heating systems that had thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) installed, in Beijing and Tianjin, and evaluated the energy saving ratio, and the influence of heat transfer from adjacent apartments for four typical regulation scenarios. To separate out the effects of the occupants' regulation, a reference analysis method is proposed for comparison. Results indicate that when an individual occupant adjusted the TRVs according to a daily schedule for intermittent heating, the energy saving ratio was only about 6%. When the TRVs of an apartment are kept closed for a long unoccupied period (more than 4 days), the daily energy saving ratio was about 20%, and the total quantity of heat transferred from adjacent apartments was about 80% of the heat consumption of the reference apartment. In addition, when the TRVs were kept at a set-value (such as 3), energy saving ratios of about 12% were obtained. The results of this study provide further data for developing better management policies for heating terminal customization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical flows reflect the movements, spatial interactions or connections among locations and are generally abstracted as origin-destination (OD) flows. In this context, clustering is a spatial pattern describing a group of flows with adjacent O and D points. For data composed of two types of flows (bivariate-flow data), a bivariate-flow cluster is a cluster comprising two types of flows, at least one of which exhibits a clustering pattern. In a bivariate-flow cluster, varying flow density combinations imply different meanings. For instance, a cluster with high-density travel flows on both weekdays (type A) and weekends (type B) may be associated with entertainment, whereas high-density flows on weekdays and sparse flows on weekends may reveal work-related travel. However, identifying bivariate-flow clusters with different flow density combinations is still an unsolved problem. To this end, we extend a bivariate-point clustering method and propose a density-based clustering method for bivariate flows. The simulation experiments verify model robustness. In a case study, we apply this method to extract clusters of bivariate-flow data comprising Beijing taxi OD flows of different periods, and identify clusters of work-related, entertainment, tourism, or egress and return travels. These results demonstrate the capability of our method in detecting bivariate-flow clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: This study purposes a synergy approach to generate the IFC model of very large quantities of data along with its graph database. Giving the identifier to each tile, following database syntax, the historic information and metadata are merged into the graph database. This synergy approach is developed on Grasshopper and Neo4j but is also applicable to other platforms. The investigation of cultural heritage is a continuous process, in which a large scale of metadata is gradually accumulated, i.e., condition data, intervention data, and the comprehension of building techniques. We take the roof tile of Yangxindian Palace as an example. The total number of roof tiles is 17,154. Their positions are various, as they are equally distributed on double-curved irregular surfaces. Their metadata are multisource and heterogeneous. Therefore, the integration between the model and the data can be complex. This paper aims to generate the M1 (metalevel) model with its graph database based on the M3 (metalevel) model through algorithm modeling. This synergy approach consists of three parts. First is the data collection. The unique identifier is used as the index while investigating onsite, which eventually forms the metadata repository. Second is the algorithm modeling. All the roof tiles are rebuilt in Grasshopper with identifiers. Their metadata are merged through Cypher syntax, which can generate the graph database in Neo4j. Third is the delivery. The IFC model and knowledge graph are connected in real time during the whole process. The significance of this paper is to provide a synergy approach and discuss its efficiency for the integration between a model and data of very large quantities. The results show that it is efficient to express the semantic relationships of both conditions and interventions. It is practicable to lightweight the IFC model and to associate metadata into the graph database, enabling online browsing and querying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the effect of short-term recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) replacement therapy on metabolic parameters in juvenile patients following craniopharyngioma (CP) resection. Methods. This retrospective study included 42 cases of juvenile patients that had undergone CP resection in the Department of Endocrinology at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, from April 2013 to August 2020. According to whether they received growth hormone replacement therapy, the patients were divided into either the growth hormone replacement therapy (GHRT) group (30 cases) or the control group (12 cases). Changes in body mass index (BMI), BMI z-score, transaminase activity, fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, blood lipid profile, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels were evaluated after one year of GHRT treatment. Results. The average age of the GHRT group was 13.00 (8.00–14.00) years old and these patients had undergone a CP operation an average of 2.00 (1.62–3.15) years earlier. Prior to receiving GHRT treatment, they received appropriate doses of adrenocortical hormone and thyroid hormone replacement therapy. After one year of GHRT treatment, the average BMI z-score decreased from 1.60 ± 1.76 to 1.13 ± 1.73 (P = 0.005). Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity decreased from 26.50 (17.00∼98.00) U/L to 18.00 (13.00∼26.48) U/L (P ≤ 0.001), and similar changes were observed with regard to aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity in the GHRT treatment group. The average total cholesterol (TC) decreased from 4.67 (4.10–6.14) mmol/L to 4.32 ± 0.85 mmol/L (P = 0.002), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels decreased from 3.05 ± 0.95 mmol/L to 2.56 ± 0.65 mmol/L (P = 0.001) in the GHRT treatment group. The average blood urea nitrogen level decreased from 4.53 ± 1.09 mmol/L to 3.92 ± 0.82 mmol/L (P = 0.016) and the average serum creatinine (SCr) level decreased from 55.59 ± 12.54 µmol/L to 51.15 ± 10.51 µmol/L (P = 0.005) in the GHRT treatment group. The average hsCRP level decreased from 3.23 (1.79∼4.34) mg/L to 0.92 (0.42∼1.21) mg/L in the GHRT treatment group. In the control group, the average ALT activity increased from 26.58 ± 8.75 U/L to 42.58 ± 24.59 U/L (P = 0.039), GGT activity increased from 19.0 (13.25–29.25) U/L to 25.00 (14.75–34.75) U/L (P = 0.026), and LDL levels increased from 2.27 ± 0.76 mmol/L to 3.43 ± 1.28 mmol/L (P = 0.04). Conclusion. GHRT treatment improves the metabolic parameters of juvenile patients that have undergone craniopharyngioma resection by reducing BMI z-scores, low-density lipoprotein, and hsCRP levels and improving liver function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are systemically depleted in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infected patients and are not replenished even after successful combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). This study aimed to identify the mechanism underlying MAIT cell depletion. Methods: In the present study, we applied flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing and immunohistochemical staining to evaluate the characteristics of pyroptotic MAIT cells in a total of 127 HIV-1 infected individuals, including 69 treatment-naive patients, 28 complete responders, 15 immunological non-responders, and 15 elite controllers, at the Fifth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China. Results: Single-cell transcriptomic profiles revealed that circulating MAIT cells from HIV-1 infected subjects were highly activated, with upregulation of pyroptosis-related genes. Further analysis revealed that increased frequencies of pyroptotic MAIT cells correlated with markers of systemic T-cell activation, microbial translocation, and intestinal damage in cART-naive patients and poor CD4+ T-cell recovery in long-term cART patients. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that MAIT cells in the gut mucosa of HIV-1 infected patients exhibited a strong active gasdermin-D (GSDMD, marker of pyroptosis) signal near the cavity side, suggesting that these MAIT cells underwent active pyroptosis in the colorectal mucosa. Increased levels of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and IL-18 were observed in HIV-1 infected patients. In addition, activated MAIT cells exhibited an increased pyroptotic phenotype after being triggered by HIV-1 virions, T-cell receptor signals, IL-12 plus IL-18, and combinations of these factors, in vitro. Conclusions: Activation-induced MAIT cell pyroptosis contributes to the loss of MAIT cells in HIV-1 infected patients, which could potentiate disease progression and poor immune reconstitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To analyse clinical characteristics, antibiotic susceptibility, and risk factors for mortality in paediatric invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in Beijing.Methods: Paediatric IPD patients in our hospital were retrospectively collected from 2012 to 2017. Clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, antimicrobial susceptibility and serotype of isolates, and risk factors for mortality of IPD were analysed.Results: Overall, 186 IPD cases were enrolled. The major manifestations were meningitis (76), pneumonia with bacteraemia (60), bacteraemia without focus (21), and pneumonia with empyaema (22). Of 72 cases with underlying diseases, leukaemia (18.0%), congenital heart disease (15.3%), primary immunodeficiency disease (12.5%), nephrotic syndrome (12.5%), and cerebrospinal fluid leakage (12.5%) were most common. In total 96.9% of isolates would have been covered by the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), including 19F (32.8%), 19A (23.4%), 4 (17.2%), and 23F (9.4%). Nonsusceptibility rates of penicillin, cefotaxime, and cefepime among nonmeningitis patients increased between 2012 and 2017; The mortality rate was 21.5%. Meningitis, respiratory failure, multiple organ failure, and white blood cell count < 4000 cells/μL were independent risk factors for mortality.Conclusion: Meningitis was the most common clinical manifestation of IPD, and was frequently associated with death. Strains in the PCV13 vaccine would cover most of the cases, and so wider use of PCV13 should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the autonomous driving transportation systems are at the heart of both academic and industry research for the distinguished advantages including increased network capacity, enhanced punctuality, greater flexibility and improved overall safety level. With the responsibility of transporting passengers in a safe, comfortable and efficient way, the decision making method plays a critical position in the autonomous driving of high-speed trains. Focusing on solving the autonomous decision making problem, this paper proposes a novel learning based framework by combining the deep learning technology with the distributed tracking control approach. To cope with the data insufficiency problem in training the deep learning network, a generative adversarial network (GAN) based data argumentation scheme is proposed to generate data samples that have the same distribution with actual data samples, and a hybrid learning network is constructed to predict the speed trajectory from the multi-attribute data with both temporal sequences and static features. Then, based on the model predictive control (MPC) scheme, a distributed tracking control model is formulated to minimize the tracking deviations and balance the performance of punctuality, energy-efficiency and riding comfort. Further, the dual decomposition technique is adopted to deal with the coupling constraints for the safe distance headway such that the separation for the autonomous driving of high-speed trains is achieved. Finally, simulation experiments based on actual scenarios of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of our methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has significantly impacted people's lives. This study aimed to examine the influence of the unexpected second wave of COVID-19 on sleep quality and anxiety of Chinese residents in Beijing in June 2020, compared with the initial outbreak at the beginning of 2020, and to investigate the associated factors.Methods: Using a web-based cross-sectional survey, we collected data from 1,511 participants. assessed with demographic information, sleep quality and anxiety symptoms. The participants were asked to compare their recent sleep and sleep during the first outbreak. The Zung's Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) was used to assess their current insomnia severity. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between COVID-19 epidemic and risk of sleep disturbance and anxiety symptom.Results: The overall prevalence of sleep disturbance and anxiety symptoms were 50.8% and 15.3% respectively. People had significantly shorter sleep duration during the second wave of COVID-19(7.3 ± 1.3) h than the first outbreak (7.5 ± 1.4)h (p < 0.001). During the second outbreak, people were less concerned about infection and more concerned about financial stress and occupational inferference. Beijing residents did not have significant differences in sleep disturbance and anxiety compared with other regions, nor were occupations and nucleic acid testing associated risk factors. Home quarantine, health administrators, history of insomnia and anxiety-depression were significantly associated with sleep disturbance. Female gender, home quarantine, history of insomnia and anxiety-depression were significantly associated with anxiety.Conclusion: High prevalence of sleep disturbance and depression symptom was common during the second wave of COVID-19 crisis in Beijing. Home quarantine and previous history of insomnia and anxiety-depressive risk factors were associated with sleep disturbance and anxiety. Female gender was impacting predictor of anxiety. We need continuous assessment of the sleep quality and anxiety symptoms of this epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second COVID‐19 outbreak in Beijing was controlled by non‐pharmaceutical interventions, which avoided a second pandemic. Until mass vaccination achieves herd immunity, cities are at risk of similar outbreaks. It is vital to quantify and simulate Beijing's non‐pharmaceutical interventions to find effective intervention policies for the second outbreak. Few models have achieved accurate intra‐city spatio‐temporal epidemic spread simulation, and most modeling studies focused on the initial pandemic. We built a dynamic module of infected case movement within the city, and established an urban spatially epidemic simulation model (USESM), using mobile phone signaling data to create scenarios to assess the impact of interventions. We found that: (1) USESM simulated the transmission process of the epidemic within Beijing; (2) USESM showed the epidemic curve and presented the spatial distribution of epidemic spread on a map; and (3) to balance resources, interventions, and economic development, nucleic acid testing intensity could be increased and restrictions on human mobility in non‐epidemic areas eased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political autonomy of Chinese provinces derives from their economic independence. After the 2008 economic crisis, budget deficits increased significantly in most Chinese provinces, making them more reliant on financial support from Beijing. Provinces suffering high deficits will lose their political clout in both local and national politics. Therefore, provinces with large deficits tend to be less resistant to the enforcement of the law of avoidance and underrepresented in the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. We find that in provincial standing committees, the members who are native or have more birthplace ties are more likely to be ranked behind the outsiders, especially so in provinces with a high level of deficits. We also find that provincial-standing-committee members from high-deficit provinces have a low possibility to obtain seats in the party's Central Committee. These findings confirm the close relationship between economic independence and political autonomy of Chinese provinces. In addition, we find that the logic of economic independence cannot depict the whole picture and that regional pluralism is also an important concern when the party manages its provincial leadership teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We aimed to analyse FGFR1 rare variants in a series of Chinese congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) patients. In addition, we intended to understand the clinical characteristics and the response to treatment of CHH patients with FGFR1 rare variants. Patients and Methods: A total of 357 CHH patients were recruited at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. We used Sanger sequencing to analyse FGFR1 gene. In silico analysis was carried out to study the pathogenicity of novel missense variants. The clinical, endocrinological and therapeutic effects from patients carrying FGFR1 rare variants were analysed retrospectively. Results: Thimissense mutations.rty patients in this series were found to harbour 29 FGFR1 rare variants, with 8 recurrent and 21 novel variants. After comprehensive analysis, 18 out of 21 novel variants were classified as likely pathogenic (LP) ones. These variants are widely spread throughout the FGFR1 gene and almost all FGFR1 functional domains, which exhibited no hot spot. Cryptorchidism, cleft palate and dental abnormality incidence in this CHH series that possessed FGFR1 LP variants were approximately 38.5%, 7.6% and 3.8%, respectively. Among patients who accepted the fertility‐promoting treatment, 8 out of 10 patients succeeded in spermatogenesis. Conclusions: Eighteen novel LP variants were found to expand the spectrum of FGFR1 rare variants. In CHH patients possessing FGFR1 variants, we found that the rate of spermatogenesis was high following fertility‐promoting therapy and the existence of cryptorchidism may represent the underlying factors which affect spermatogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Patients with 21‐hydroxylase deficiency (21‐OHD) are at risk of reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture due to long‐term glucocorticoid treatment. Trabecular bone score (TBS) is complementary to conventional BMD as a marker for bone quality in patients with glucocorticoid‐induced osteoporosis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the BMD and TBS in a cohort of patients with 21‐OHD and analyse factors related to TBS. Design: An observational study. Patients: A total of 46 21‐OHD adult patients treated with glucocorticoid for over 10 years who visited Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 2015 and 2019 were recruited. Eight male patients included in this study were all under 50 years old, and 38 female patients were all premenopausal. Measurements: Diagnosis was confirmed by multiplex ligation‐dependent probe amplification combined with sequencing. Data were collected on physical characteristics, serum hormones and glucocorticoid treatment. Skeletal quality was evaluated by BMD and TBS, and factors related to TBS were analysed. Results: Among the 46 patients, 2 (4.3%) had low BMD (Z‐score ≤ −2), while 11 (23.9%) patients had low TBS (degraded or partially degraded microarchitecture). The proportion of bone abnormality evaluated by TBS was higher than that by BMD (p <.001). Patients with lower TBS had significantly higher daily hydrocortisone dosage (p =.009 for males; p =.019 for females). TBS value was negatively correlated with daily hydrocortisone dosage (r = −.317, p =.026), and positively correlated with BMI in female patients (r =.345, p =.034). And there was a negative correlation between TBS value and the current age in male patients (r = −.741, p =.036). The distribution of genotypes (p = 1.000 for male; p =.567 for female) or phenotypes (p =.486 for male; p =.075 for female) had no statistical difference in patients with normal or abnormal TBS. Conclusions: Approximately 24% of patients with 21‐OHD had abnormal microarchitecture of their bone in our study, and TBS score was negatively correlated with daily glucocorticoid dosage in patients. TBS may be used alongside conventional BMD as a complementary marker for bone evaluation in 21‐OHD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical flow (hereafter flow) can be modeled as an orderly connected point pair composed of an origin (O) and a destination (D). Aggregation is the most common form of spatial heterogeneity of flows, which we define as their deviation from complete spatial randomness (CSR), and the aggregation scale is an important indicator for its perception. Nevertheless, quantifying the aggregation scale of flows is still an unsolved problem. In this paper, we propose the L-function for flows as a solution, derive theoretical null models of the K-function and L-function in a flow space. We conduct simulation experiments to validate the L-function and its capability to detect aggregation scales. Finally, we apply the solution in a case study with taxi data in Beijing and identify nine aggregation scales of taxi OD flows, ranging from 170 m to 22.1 km. These scales correspond to three classes: less than 300 m, from 600 m to 700 m and more than 1500 m. The classes are related to the sizes of the urban facilities where the dominant flow clusters occur, indicating that the L-function in flow space can detect the aggregation scale of flows at the building scale, the block scale and the district scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) caused by FGFR1 (fibroblast growth factor receptor 1) gene mutations and to evaluate the effect of gonadotropin or pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) therapy on spermatogenesis. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted on CHH patients admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2012 to March 2020. Clinical features and laboratory results were recorded. Testicular volume and sperm count responding to gonadotropin and pulsatile GnRH therapy were compared between the FGFR1 mutation group and the mutation-negative group. Results. (1) FGFR1 mutation group included 14 patients who received sperm-induction therapy, and the mutation-negative group enrolled 25 CHH patients. (2) The incidence of cryptorchidism was 50.0% (7/14) and 12.0% (3/25) in the FGFR1 group and the mutation-negative group, respectively (p = 0.019). The baseline testicular volume of the FGFR1 mutation group was smaller than that of the mutation-negative group, 1.6 (0.5–2.0) mL vs. 2 (1.75–4) mL (p = 0.033). The baseline luteinizing hormone (LH), Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosterone levels were similar between the two groups. (3) Using the Kaplan–Meier and log-rank tests for the analysis of spermatogenesis, it was found that there was no significant difference in the first sperm appearance between the FGFR1 mutation group and the mutation-negative group (χ2 = 1.974, p = 0.160). The median time of spermatogenesis in the FGFR1 mutation group was longer than that in the mutation-negative group, 16 months vs. 10 months, respectively. The cumulative spermatogenesis success rate at 12 months in the FGFR1 mutation group (35.71%) was lower than that in the mutation-negative group (68.75%) (p = 0.047). The sperm concentration in the mutation-negative group was more easily achieved for different thresholds compared with that in the FGFR1 mutation group, but no significant difference was observed (p > 0.05) between the two groups. The last follow-up examination showed that the testicular volume was 7.00 (4.75–12.00) mL and 10.56 ± 4.82 mL (p = 0.098), the ejaculate volume of sperm was 2.20 (1.40–2.26) mL and 3.06 ± 1.42 mL (p = 0.175), and the sperm concentration was 7.19 (1.00–9.91) million/mL and 18.80 (4.58–53.62) million/mL (p = 0.038) in the FGFR1 mutation and mutation-negative groups, respectively, while the sperm motility (A%, A + B%, and A + B + C%) was similar for the two groups (p = 0.839 , 0.909, and 0.759, respectively). The testosterone level during treatment was 366.02 ± 167.03 ng/dL and 362.27 ± 212.86 ng/dL in the FGFR1 mutation and mutation-negative groups, respectively (p = 0.956). Conclusion. Patients with FGFR1 mutations have a higher prevalence of cryptorchidism and smaller testicular volume. Although patients with FGFR1 mutations have a similar rate of success for spermatogenesis compared to that of the mutation-negative patients, a longer treatment period was required and a lower sperm concentration was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a symbol of Chinese culture, Chinese traditional-style architecture defines the unique characteristics of Chinese cities. The visual qualities and spatial distribution of architecture represent the image of a city, which affects the psychological states of the residents and can induce positive or negative social outcomes. Hence, it is important to study the visual perception of Chinese traditional-style buildings in China. Previous works have been restricted by the lack of data sources and techniques, which were not quantitative and comprehensive. In this paper, we proposed a deep learning model for automatically predicting the presence of Chinese traditional-style buildings and developed two view indicators to quantify the pedestrians' visual perceptions of buildings. Using this model, Chinese traditional-style buildings were automatically segmented in streetscape images within the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing and then the perception of Chinese traditional-style buildings was quantified with two view indictors. This model can also help to automatically predict the perception of Chinese traditional-style buildings for new urban regions in China, and more importantly, the two view indicators provide a new quantitative method for measuring the urban visual perception in street level, which is of great significance for the quantitative research of tourism route and urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although ride sharing as a way to improve transportation efficiency is not new, the scale of ride sharing has historically been limited due to safety concerns and logistics challenges. Recent developments in information and communications technology (ICT) enable real-time sharing of individual geographical information, allow for easier participation in the "sharing economy", and present opportunities for implementing ride sharing at a large-scale. This research aims to quantify the environmental benefits of ride sharing using shared taxis in Beijing as a case study. Trip information extracted from vehicle trajectory data of 12,083 taxis in Beijing are used to evaluate the benefits of ride sharing. Our results show that: 1) only limited opportunity cost to the rider (i.e. tolerance of early departure or delayed arrival) can enable large-scale ride sharing; 2) at a tolerance level of 10 min, ride sharing can reduce fleet vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) by 33%; and 3) if implemented for the entire taxi fleet, shared taxis can save 28.3 million gallons of gasoline and reduce 186 tons VOC, 199 tons NOx, 53 tons PM 10 , 25 tons PM 2.5 , and 2392 tons CO emissions annually. • Wide adoption of smart phones and apps enable large-scale dynamic ride sharing. • This study quantifies the environmental benefits of taxi ride sharing in Beijing. • If riders can tolerate a travel time change of 10 min, 33% of the VMT can be saved. • Shared taxis can also reduce energy consumption and vehicular air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education of Chinese cultural traditions has been endorsed by the central government in Mainland China in recent years. The article presents a study which examined how nationalism advocated in the policy text has been interpreted at the localized level by primary school teachers in Beijing. The study draws on discourse theories as the primary point of reference. The qualitative coding methods and textual analysis were employed to interpret the meanings of 52 interview transcripts of public primary school teachers. The findings reveal a discrepancy between the discourse on nationalism presented by the policy and the discourse used by the respondents. The former exhibited a strong nationalist aspiration. The latter made a discourse of cultural nationalism more explicit, which cherishes the intellectual and esthetic aspects of Chinese cultural heritage, and considers them important in cultivating students' cultural taste and moral characters. Teachers' lack of knowledge of the original policy text might be one reason for this discrepancy. Public media also played a significant role in constructing the complexities in their understandings. Its entertaining nature may diminish the importance of sovereignty nationalism in their eyes. The complexity of nationalism in contemporary China seems to go beyond the explanatory power of western theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new method to quantify centrality and identify centers from flow perspective. • Combing the volume and diversity of flows by analogizing the scholar's H-index. • The statistical significance is assessed based on a non-parametric approach. • The spatial structure of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is over-dependent on Beijing. • The Yangtze River Delta region is more polycentric than Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Quantifying the centrality of places and identifying centers constitute the basis for assessing the urban spatial structure, which is essential for sustainable spatial planning. Both the existence and intensity of linkages contribute to the centrality of places. However, few centrality measures consider both aspects simultaneously. Additionally, the identification of centers often relies on specified minimum thresholds, which is subjective and arbitrary. To overcome these limitations, we propose a new flow-based centrality measure (MX-degree) inspired by the scientist's H-index, which effectively integrates flow volume and flow diversity automatically. Furthermore, we design a novel permutation strategy to test the significance of the MX-degree to identify the statistically significant centers. To demonstrate the validity of our method, we conduct a case study quantifying city centrality in China's two urban agglomerations: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) and Yangtze River Delta (YRD), based on population flow data. Specifically, the MX-degree outperforms other common centrality measures in reflecting cities' socioeconomic development levels. Significance tests show that the BTH region is dominated by the only statistically significant central city — Beijing, while the YRD region is more polycentric but with an uneven spatial distribution of central cities. Several implications for regional planning by the comparison of spatial structures are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An integrated resilience assessment framework under pandemic outbreaks is introduced. • The resilience of human mobility to the COVID-19 pandemic is quantified. • Complete change process of human mobility from disruption to recovery is presented. • The gender and age disparities in human mobility resilience are detected. • Heterogeneities and variations in people's response to the pandemic are revealed. Human mobility, as a fundamental requirement of everyday life, has been most directly impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing studies have revealed its ensuing changes. However, its resilience, which is defined as people's ability to resist such impact and maintain their normal mobility, still remains unclear. Such resilience reveals people's response capabilities to the pandemic and quantifying it can help us better understand the interplay between them. Herein, we introduced an integrated framework to quantify the resilience of human mobility to COVID-19 based on its change process. Taking Beijing as a case study, the resilience of different mobility characteristics among different population groups, and under different waves of COVID-19, were compared. Overall, the mobility range and diversity were found to be less resilient than decisions on whether to move. Females consistently exhibited lower resilience than males; middle-aged people exhibited the lowest resilience under the first wave of COVID-19 while older adult's resilience became the lowest during the COVID-19 rebound. With the refinement of pandemic-control measures, human mobility resilience was enhanced. These findings reveal heterogeneities and variations in people's response capabilities to the pandemic, which can help formulate targeted and flexible policies, and thereby promote sustainable and resilient urban management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 25 years since drug abuse re-emerged in China in the 1980s, the National Institute of Drug Dependence (NIDD) has made many contributions to China's antidrug campaign. This present paper offers an account of the history, current status and future of drug dependence research at NIDD. NIDD was originally a research centre at Beijing Medical University, founded by the Chinese Ministry of Health to address the rapid spread of drug abuse in China. Originally, the main task of NIDD was to complete the commissions assigned by the government and university. Further developments transformed NIDD into a national research institute in the field of drug addiction that began to conduct its own research. NIDD has now created a professional team spread across several independent departments involved in neurobiological mechanisms, epidemiological surveys and monitoring, pre-clinical and clinical evaluation of new drugs (mainly analgesic drugs and detoxification drugs) and informatics and data analysis. As a university-based research institute, NIDD's funding derives mainly from grants provided by the government and financial support from international organizations. Its past and present research has a gained NIDD a reputation with both practitioners and policy makers in the field of drug addiction. In the future, NIDD will continue to engage in various aspects of drug addiction research and will enter the field of brain function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Using mobile phone data to track human activity changes over stages of COVID-19. • Human working intensity decreased 60% citywide during COVID-19. • Human dwelling intensity decreased 40% in some work and education areas. • 43% of residents left Beijing before COVID-19, while only 16% have returned back. • All commuters decreased commuting times, while only 75% have reverted to normal. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed human daily activities significantly. Understanding the nature, causes, and extent of these changes is essential to evaluate the pandemic's influence on commerce, transportation, employment, and environment, among others. However, existing studies mainly focus on changes to general human mobility patterns; few have investigated changes in specific human daily activities. Based on one-year longitudinal mobile phone positioning data for more than 31 million users in Beijing, we tracked intensity changes in two basic human daily activities, dwelling and working, over the stages of COVID-19. The results show that during COVID-19 outbreak, human working intensity decreased about 60% citywide, while dwelling intensity decreased about 40% in some work and education areas. After COVID-19 was under control, intensity in most regions has recovered, but that in schools, hotels, entertainment venues, and tourism areas has not. These intensity changes at regional scale are due to behavior changes at individual scale: about 43% of residents left Beijing before COVID-19, while only 16% have returned back; all commuters decreased their commuting times during COVID-19, while only 75% have reverted to normal. The findings reveal variations in human activities caused by COVID-19 that can support targeted urban management in the post-epidemic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human travel flow within a city, defined as the movement of inhabitants between different places, is a crucial aspect of urban planning, as it involves the inhabitants' demand for the built environment. However, the flows of different genders and ages may show different patterns owing to various needs. Therefore, understanding the flow patterns of different groups and their relationships with the built environment is essential for creating a well-designed urban environment that meets the needs of all types of inhabitants. However, few studies have investigated the flow patterns of different groups to capture the heterogeneous effects of the built environment on different populations. This study analysed flow patterns and differences among various groups from a flow perspective and determined the impact of the built environment. The results indicated that different groups differed in flow distance, time, and spatial distribution. Moreover, built environment factors can be categorized into three types: promoting factors positively influence all groups (subway accessibility, population). Inhibiting factors negatively influence all groups (distance, transportation hubs). Bifactorial factors exhibit heterogeneous effects on different groups (residences, employment, commercial, education, healthcare, entertainment, entropy, distance to downtown). Our findings may be crucial in creating a more inclusive and equitable urban environment. • Simultaneously unveiling diverse travel flow patterns among different genders and cohorts • Travel flows and the fine-grained built environment data were derived from multisource big geodata. • This study analysed from the perspective of flow to more comprehensively and intuitively reflect travel patterns. • This study discovered the diverse effects of built environment factors on heterogeneous populations. • Offered actionable and specific urban planning suggestions, i.e., optimized transportation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Objectives To explore the clinical characteristics and analyze the pathogens of bacterial meningitis in children. Methods Bacterial meningitis cases occurring from January 2010 through December 2014 at Beijing Children's Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. The records of all patients, including data on clinical features and laboratory information, were obtained and analyzed. Results In total, the cases of 507 pediatric patients seen over a 5-year period were analyzed; 220 of these cases were etiologically confirmed. These patients were classified into four age groups: 29 days to 1 year ( n = 373, 73.6%), 1–3 years ( n = 61, 12.0%), 3–6 years ( n = 41, 8.1%), and >6 years ( n = 32, 6.3%). The main pathogens identified in this study were Streptococcus pneumoniae ( n = 73, 33.2%), Escherichia coli ( n = 24, 10.9%), Enterococcus ( n = 22, 10.0%), and group B Streptococcus ( n = 18, 8.2%). All Gram-positive bacteria were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid. All Gram-negative bacteria were sensitive to meropenem. The total non-susceptibility rate of S. pneumoniae to penicillin was 47.6% (20/42). The resistance rates to ceftriaxone, cefepime, and ceftazidime were 75% (9/12), 55.6% (5/9), and 40% (4/10), respectively. Conclusions The main pathogen of bacterial meningitis in this study was S. pneumoniae . The antibiotic resistance rates among children with bacterial meningitis are of serious concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The swift relaxation of the zero-COVID policy in late 2022 led to an unprecedented surge in Omicron variant infections in many cities of China. Reconstructing the spatiotemporal spread of infections is crucial for effective disease prevention. However, the challenge arose due to limited data from surveys and testing results. As such, we utilized large-scale mobile phone data to estimate daily infections in Beijing from November 2022 to January 2023. Our study demonstrated that an individual's mobility status (staying home or going outside), inferred from long-term mobile phone signaling data, could indicate his or her infection status. Then, the inferred statuses of millions of individuals could be summed to reconstruct the citywide spatiotemporal dynamics of infections. We found that the infection incidence peaked on 21 December, and 80.1 % of population had been infected by 14 January 2023 in Beijing. Furthermore, infection dynamics exhibited significant demographic and spatiotemporal disparities, with urban centers experiencing faster initial increases compared to suburbs. Our work provides a new viewpoint for sensing the epidemic spatiotemporally from residents' mobility patterns in a city when official measures of confirming cases are not available, and our findings facilitate city policymaking in terms of relaxing containment measures. • Individual's mobility status (staying home or going outside) is used to indicate infection status. • We reconstruct spatiotemporal infection dynamics after relaxing dynamic zero-COVID in late 2022 of Beijing. • Infection dynamics without control measures exhibit significant demographic and spatiotemporal disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cellular automata (CA) based models have been extensively used in urban sprawl modeling to support sustainable urban planning. However, in most existing urban CA models, only abrupt conversion (i.e., from non-urban to urban) was considered, whereas the difference in urbanization levels among different grids, as well as the nature of continuous urban evolution process with gradually increasing urban densities, were commonly ignored. Here, we proposed an impervious surface area (ISA) based urban CA model that can simulate the urban fractional change within each grid, using annual urban extent time series data from satellite observations. We implemented the developed ISA-based urban CA model in Beijing (China) and evaluated its performance through model comparison and scenario analyses. We found the ISA-based urban CA model can well capture the dynamics of urban sprawl with improved performance compared to the traditional urban CA model. The spatial pattern of modeled ISA is generally consistent with observed satellite data, with the root mean square error between the modeled and referred results of 0.14 across all changed pixels. Besides, results from our developed model agree well with the binary urban CA model, with notably reduced overestimation errors. The urban fractional change within each grid revealed in our model can provide more details than the traditional binary urban CA models, showing great potential in supporting sustainable urban development. Furthermore, the developed ISA-based urban CA model can be used for regional, even global scale urban sprawl modeling with urban fractional information in each grid, to support decision-making on the sustainable management and conservation of natural land resources. • We developed an urban growth model to simulate urban fractional changes at the grid scale. • Long-term urban extent time series data were used to characterize the urban growth pattern. • We proposed a sigmoid growth model to characterize the urban fractional change. • The proposed model can promote the efficiency of urban land use modeling at a large (e.g., regional and global) scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional public transportation service coverage analysis focuses more on coverage at the origins. However, the accessibility at destinations also affects coverage. To address this issue, we propose a flow buffer method for analyzing public transportation service coverage, considering walking accessibility from both origins and destinations to the nearest station. We estimated population and volume coverages of metro stations using both proposed and traditional method with commuting flows extracted from mobile phone signaling data for Beijing in September 2018. The results show that coverages estimated using the proposed method significantly differ from those of the traditional method. At a distance threshold of 800 m, the traditional buffer, flow buffer with maximum distance, and flow buffer with additive distance showed population coverages of 32%, 16%, and 29%, respectively, and volume coverages of 15%, 2%, and 5%, respectively. When the distance thresholds were larger than 950 m, population coverages estimated by flow buffer with additive distance were larger than the traditional buffer. Apart from that, all other results estimated by flow buffer were lower than those of traditional buffer. Thus, previous coverage analyses were underestimated or overestimated. This approach encourages the consideration of urban transportation planning from the flow perspective. • A flow buffer method for measuring public transportation service coverage is proposed. • This method considers both origin and destination to assess coverages. • Flow buffer will change traditional results for the transportation service area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of rainfall on the water quality of urban lakes is related to the surrounding land use types. Six lakes surrounded by business units (commercial lakes) and park green spaces (park lakes) in the central area of Beijing, China, were monitored between June 2013 and October 2015. A total of 638 water samples were obtained. The results showed that the water quality was generally worse in the rainy season than in the dry season, with the mean dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration declining by 25.1 %. Compared to the rise in DO of park lakes after rainfall, commercial lakes showed a decreased DO. The nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 −-N) concentration decreased after rain, and that in commercial lakes decreased more than that in park lakes. Different from DO and NO 3 −-N, the ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 +-N)), total suspended solids (TSS) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations of the lakes increased obviously after rain. The values in park lakes increased 138 % (NH 4 +-N)), 120 % (TSS) and 69 % (TP) more than those in commercial lakes. Principal component analysis (PCA) results illustrated that green space was the main source of TSS and TP for urban lakes. Most of the nitrogen (N) comes from artificial impervious surfaces. These results will help target pollutant control for urban lakes. • Water quality differs in rainy season but similar in dry days for different lakes. • DO decreased in commercial lakes and increased in park lakes after rainfall. • In all probability non-point source pollution for TSS and TP in lake water is due to green space. • Artificial impervious surfaces may be major sources of N for urban lakes. Extremely low DO is the most serious problem in commercial lakes, while TP pollution is the most severe problem in park lakes. After rain, NH+ 4-N in urban lakes mainly comes from surrounding roads. Nonroad impermeable ground is the main source of NO- 3-N, and green land contributes more to TP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job-housing flows are among the most important travel flows in a city. Therefore, it is essential to measure the extent to which the job-housing flow distribution covers the city space, which can be used as evidence for evaluating the land use status and transportation system. Existing studies have analyzed the spatial distribution of job-housing flows in terms of where and how the flows are aggregated in the city, but they have not revealed the extent to which the flow distribution fills the city space. In this study, we introduce a fractal dimension to measure the space-filling degree of the job-housing flows, which is defined based on the flow space, with the flow being the basic element. Because the flow fractal dimension is independent of the observation scale, we compared the box-counting dimensions of job-housing flows in Beijing and Shenzhen using mobile phone data. The results demonstrated that the fractal dimension was substantially higher in Beijing than in Shenzhen, indicating that the job and home distributions fill more space in Beijing, and the links between the job and home locations are more disordered and irregular in Beijing. These results are related to the more crammed urban land use and higher commuting demand from the suburbs to the city center. • The fractal dimension is used to measure the job-housing flow space-filling degree. • The flows in Beijing and Shenzhen are compared using mobile phone data. • The fractal dimension is substantially higher in Beijing. • New residences or workplaces should be constructed on the existing developed land. • Public transportation networks could be increased to reduce traffic pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]