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Given the national goal of "emission peaking and carbon neutralization", China has become the largest country in the world for offshore wind farm construction. At the same time, navigational safety problems in offshore wind farm waters have become increasingly frequent. Owing to the complexity of offshore wind farm waters and the small number of accident data samples available for reference, the system theory method is more suitable for selection than the traditional method. Based on causal analysis based on system theory (CAST) and a complex network (CN), in this study, a qualitative and quantitative accident analysis model, CAST-CN, is constructed to analyze a complete case of vessel and wind turbine allision in offshore wind farm waters. The results show that, at the micro level, in addition to the master, crew, shipping company, and typhoon Hato, the maritime safety administration and the wind farm operation management department have a certain impact on the development of the accident discussed in this study. At the macro level, internal and external factors leading to the lack of system safety are identified, and measures and suggestions for system safety improvement are proposed based on analysis. This study can fill the research gap in the systematic analysis of traffic accidents in offshore wind farm waters and provide support for the safety assessment and decision-making of government management departments and research institutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A complete ostrich femur from the Late Pleistocene deposits of the Upper Cave at Zhoukoudian (China) was referred by Shaw to Struthio anderssoni in the 1930s, but its present whereabouts are unknown. A good quality plaster cast of the missing specimen has been found in the collections of the Natural History Museum (London). This cast provides interesting information about the morphology of this large ostrich femur, which had previously been only summarily described and not illustrated. Although smaller than the femora of the Early Pleistocene giant ostrich Pachystruthio, the robust femur from Zhoukoudian shows morphological similarities with them, and it is suggested that 'Struthio' anderssoni should be placed in the genus Pachystruthio. The importance of old palaeontological casts is emphasized, as well as the need to preserve and curate them properly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited studies have investigated the latent autistic traits in the mainland Chinese population for autism spectrum conditions (ASC). This study explored the psychometric properties of a Mandarin Chinese version of the CAST in a sample consisting of 737 children in mainstream schools and 50 autistic cases. A combination of categorical data factor analysis and item response theory suggested a good-fit model of a two-factor solution for 28 items on the Mandarin CAST including social and communication, and inflexible/stereotyped language and behaviours (Goodness-of-fit indices: RMSEA = 0.029, CFI = 0.957, TLI = 0.950, SRMR = 0.064). The correlation between the two factors was moderate (GFC = 0.425). This study provided evidence for the CAST as a multidimensional measure for ASC screening in a Chinese population and also showed that the symptom manifestation of ASC in Chinese children shares similarity with western populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Parents of 150 children from clinical setting and general population in China filled in Mandarin Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST) and Clancy Autism Behaviour Scale (CABS). [•] Using standardised diagnostic instruments for case identification, the validity of Mandarin CAST was better than CABS. [•] As screening instruments for ASC, the Mandarin CAST was found significantly better than CABS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] 70 parents of children in two mainstream schools in Beijing filled in the Mandarin Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST). [•] Using cut-off of 15, the test–retest reliability of Mandarin CAST was good (kappa=0.64). [•] The test–retest reliability of Mandarin CAST of three categories (≤11, 12–14, ≥15) was moderate (weighted kappa=0.53). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Emergency management research is used to deal with the increasing number of extreme weather threats in urban areas. This paper uses causal analysis based on systems theory (CAST) to review the subway water ingress accident and the government's emergency management actions in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, during the heavy rainstorm disaster on 20 July 2021. The aims of this article are to establish safety control structures at both the enterprise level and the government level, and to systematically analyze the problems in emergency management in Zhengzhou City. Our analysis found that the construction of disaster prevention facilities restricted emergency management. Therefore, we suggest that enterprises and governments not only pay attention to emergency management, but also to the construction of disaster prevention facilities. This article also points out that the system of chief executive responsibility that is implemented in China is becoming a double-edged sword in emergency management. Our study makes recommendations for enhancing the capacities of emergency management, points out the shortcomings of the existing emergency management structure, and provides knowledge gained for future emergency management research.

The aim of the study was to characterize the polymorphism of the Calpastatin (CAST) gene identified with three restriction enzymes (TaqI, HinfI, MspI) in Meishan and five other pig populations, and to provide information on their potential in marker-assisted selection and conservation. Meishan pigs appeared to be monomorphic at loci CAST/HinfI and CAST/MspI. A high frequency of the favoured genotype, FF, in terms of meat quality was detected in Meishan pigs, a breed well known for high quality meat. However, the frequency of the genotype, FF, was very low in Sutai pigs, a breed developed from a Duroc (50%) x Meishan (50%) cross. This is probably partially due to the fact that genetic improvement in this breed was achieved through the use of traditional quantitative genetics. It is suggested that traditional selection techniques combined with the use of the polymorphisms discovered have an important potential to improve overall meat quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The activities of earthworms (Pheretima aspergillum) affect the soil water content. • Earthworm increased the water stable aggregates and organic matter contents. • Earthworm cast mulch reduced the soil evaporation. • The evaporation was inhibited depend on the cast mulch thickness and proportion. Earthworms are typical ecosystem engineers because they greatly affect the physical properties of soil in various ways. In this study, simulation experiments were performed to assess the effects of earthworms (Amynthas aspergillum) on the soil evaporation process in a subtropical region of China. Five population sizes CK (0), A1 (0), A2 (10), A3 (20), and A4 (30), four cast mulch thicknesses (0, 1, 2, and 4 cm), and four cast mulch area coverage percentages (0, 30%, 60%, and 90%) were tested with four replicates each for the different treatments. Water was applied again to the treatments until the soil water content reached 20% on day 14. The results showed that earthworms significantly increased the content of water-stable aggregates (WSA), where the WSA contents under different treatments were 35–40.6 g (P < 0.05). The soil water content decreased in the first 13 days after earthworm inoculation, before increasing gradually after adding water again. Compared with CK, the average water contents increased by 45.9–151.2 g in the earthworm treatments. When the number of added earthworms was 30, the water contents were 126.5 g in A3 and 151.2 g in A4 (P < 0.05). Different earthworm cast mulch thickness and area coverage percentages significantly reduced the cumulative evaporation (P < 0.05), where they reduced the cumulative evaporation by 31.2–63.5% and 14.5–29.8%, respectively, compared with CK. When the soil moisture was at a low level, minimal differences were observed in the evaporation rates among the treatments. Thus, the activities of earthworms can improve the soil water-holding ability and inhibit evaporation from lateritic red soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate whether calpastatin (CAST) gene polymorphisms are in association with keratoconus (KC) in Han Chinese population., Methods: Four SNPs (rs4434401, rs7704167, rs26504, and rs10053056) in CAST gene were genotyped in 120 unrelated Han Chinese KC patients and 305 age and gender matched healthy controls, using TaqMan SNP genotyping method. PLINK and LDmatrix software was used for data analysis., Results: SNP rs4434401, whose contribution to KC susceptibility has been established in Caucasians, still kept its effect in our population. The C allele frequency of rs4434401 was markedly higher in cases (27.7%) than in the controls (20.7%, P = 0.03654, OR = 1.47, 95%CI = 1.02-2.11). The genotype distribution of rs4434401 showed marginal difference between KC cases and controls. The allelic and genotype frequencies of other three tested SNPs showed no significant difference between cases and controls., Conclusion: We confirmed previous report that SNP(s) in CAST gene conferred risk for KC susceptibility in Han Chinese population, suggesting the potential contribution of CAST gene to KC development., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)