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The intervention process for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is inextricably associated with their parents' mental health problems, such as hopelessness, which may adversely affect resilience and indirectly impact the effectiveness of interventions for their children. Hence, the motivation to help parents of children with ASD reduce hopelessness prompted us to conduct the present study and explore the interrelationship between hopelessness symptoms and resilience. This study evaluated hopelessness and resilience using the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD‐RISC). Participants met the criteria for their children's ASD diagnosis by a psychiatrist (N = 448; 54.69% mothers; Meanage = 34.59 years, SDage = 4.94 years). Moreover, we used symptom network analysis to examine the variability in network structure between fathers and mothers. The flow function was applied to examine which hopelessness symptoms were directly or indirectly associated with resilience. The results showed that #BHS11 (i.e., unpleasantness‐ahead) was the central symptom found in the network structure for all parents and fathers, while #BHS17 (i.e., no‐future‐satisfaction) was the central symptom in the network structure for mothers. Additionally, #BHS6 ([NOT] expect‐to‐succeed) was directly and positively associated with resilience in all three network structures (i.e., all parents, fathers, and mothers). The results of the present study provide evidence that influential symptoms should be addressed and offer guidance for further interventions to reduce hopelessness and enhance resilience among parents of children with ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the natural habitats of China, dauciform roots were only described in degraded alpine meadows. It was found that the presence of dauciform roots of Carex filispica was related to the advantage of multiple functional traits after trampling, reflecting short‐term resistance. However, the long‐term response of dauciform roots to trampling and the recovery of C. filispica with and without dauciform roots to trampling require further studies. In this study, different intensities of trampling (0, 50, 200 and 500 passages) were performed in an alpine meadow. One year later, individuals with and without dauciform roots were separated and their functional traits related to the economic spectrum of leaves and roots were measured as a reflection of recovery from trampling. The results showed that: (1) 1 year after trampling, the number of dauciform roots showed an increase with trampling intensity; (2) 1 year later, there was no significant difference in the response of economic spectrum traits among trampling intensities, or between plants with and without dauciform roots; (3) the number of dauciform roots was positively correlated with the leaf area of both individuals with and without dauciform roots, as well as with the biomass of those without dauciform roots; and (4) plants with more resource‐conservative roots showed an advantage after trampling recovery: specifically, plants with dauciform roots showed such an advantage in the control group, which was lost with a leaning towards resource‐acquisitive roots and an increased density of dauciform roots once trampled. In contrast, plants without dauciform roots showed a significant advantage of conservative roots only after trampling. In conclusion, the presence of dauciform roots is related to the plants' position on the root economic spectrum, thereby influencing the recovery of C. filispica from trampling. Carex filispica showed strong recovery from trampling after 1 year, which makes it an adequate choice for ecological restoration in alpine meadows. Dauciform roots showed a positive correlation with the aboveground growth of both plants with and without them, however, it requires a lab‐controlled study to confirm whether there is indeed a positive effect on the growth of neighbouring plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carex heterostachya and Carex breviculmis are easy to develop lawns in a short period while taking on high ornamental significance in northwest China where summer temperatures are high, rainfall is uneven, and soil is scarce. Several questions were raised, which are elucidated as follows: what type of plant functional characteristic has they formed for long-term survival and adaptation to this environment; which plant is more adaptable; which leaf functional characteristic are critical to photosynthetic characteristics. The following conclusions were drawn based on the exploration of the leaf functional characteristic of the two plants using gas exchange technology and field emission electron scanning technology: (a) C. breviculmis refers to a slow investment-return plant, exhibiting strong environmental adaptability and plasticity, and it is resistant to barrenness, drought, and shade. C. heterostachya refers to a type of quick investment-return plant, with high photosynthetic efficiency, well-developed transport tissue, and relatively shade-tolerant. The soil with low water content and poorer soil applies to C. breviculmis cultivation, and C. heterostachya applies to cultivation in the environment with sufficient light and rich nutrients. Moreover, C. breviculmis and C. heterostachya can be adopted to enrich the diversity of understory landscape. (b) Carex exhibits strong environmental adaptability, large variation in eco-physiological characteristics, as well as strong plasticity. Leaf anatomical characteristics are stable, whereas differences exist in the interspecific variability and plasticity. (c) when the genus Carex grew in the semi-shade and the soil environment was arid, specific leaf area (SLA) can become the main factor for the photosynthetic availability of Carex, the thickness of the stratum corneum, the thickness of the upper serve as secondary factors. The above-described findings can lay a theoretical basis for the cultivation and application of Carex and the expansion of turfgrass germplasm resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of bone age is important for evaluating child development, optimizing the treatment for endocrine diseases, etc. And the well-known Tanner-Whitehouse (TW) clinical method improves the quantitative description of skeletal development based on setting up a series of distinguishable stages for each bone individually. However, the assessment is affected by rater variability, which makes the assessment result not reliable enough in clinical practice. The main goal of this work is to achieve a reliable and accurate skeletal maturity determination by proposing an automated bone age assessment method called PEARLS, which is based on the TW3-RUS system (analysis of the radius, ulna, phalanges, and metacarpal bones). The proposed method comprises the point estimation of anchor (PEA) module for accurately localizing specific bones, the ranking learning (RL) module for producing a continuous stage representation of each bone by encoding the ordinal relationship between stage labels into the learning process, and the scoring (S) module for outputting the bone age directly based on two standard transform curves. The development of each module in PEARLS is based on different datasets. Finally, corresponding results are presented to evaluate the system performance in localizing specific bones, determining the skeletal maturity stage, and assessing the bone age. The mean average precision of point estimation is 86.29%, the average stage determination precision is 97.33% overall bones, and the average bone age assessment accuracy is 96.8% within 1 year for the female and male cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, dauciform roots were hardly studied and only reported in alpine meadows, where sedges showed a different tendency from other functional groups such as grasses and forbs with degradation. In addition, Carex species were proved to have shifting scaling relationships among LES (leaf economics spectrum) traits under disturbance. So, are these unique performances of sedges related to the presence of dauciform roots, and if so, how? An alpine meadow dominated by Carex filispica in Baima Snow Mountain was selected, and quantitative trampling was performed (0, 50, 200, and 500 passes). The cover and dauciform root properties of Carex filispica were measured, as well as the morphological, chemical traits and biomass of leaves and roots, their correlations and the differences between individuals with and without dauciform roots were analyzed. After the trampling, individuals with dauciform roots showed multiple resource‐acquisitive traits: Larger, thicker leaves, more aboveground biomass, higher efficiency of nutrient utilization, and slenderer roots. Additionally, they had a tighter correlation among belowground biomass, morphological and chemical traits, as well as dauciform root properties and morphology of leaves, suggesting that their traits were more related than those without dauciform roots. The presence of dauciform roots in Carex filispica was related to advantages in multiple traits after trampling, which is consistent with and might be responsible for the unique performances of sedges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tanshinone IIA (TSA), a major lipophilic component extracted from the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, has been widely used in China for its various biological activities. However, its effect on ovarian reserve in aged mice was not studied elsewhere. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the effect of TSA on the ovarian reserve of aged mice as well as young mice. Forty weeks old mice (N = 40) were considered as aged group compared to 4 weeks old mice (N = 40), and these groups were subdivided into four subgroups (N = 10) to receive different doses of TSA (0, 10, 20, and 40 μg/g/day). Methods: The effect of TSA was evaluated by counting follicular number by histological examination. Basal serum levels of FSH, LH, E2, and anti‐Mullerian hormone (AMH) were measured by ELISA. Moreover, the expression levels of antioxidant genes (CAT, Nrf2, GPX1), gap junction (Cx37), ERK1/2, and Smad5 family gene were examined at both mRNA (qPCR) and protein levels (western blot). Results: Follicular number, level of AMH and E2, and the expression of CAT, Nrf2, and GPX1 genes increased significantly (p < 0.05) in aged mice administrated with medium (20 μg/g/day) and high (40 μg/g/day) doses of TSA, whereas FSH and LH levels were significantly low compared to low dose (10 μg/g/day) and control (0 μg/g/day) aged subgroups. However, we did not observe any effect of all doses of TSA on young mice. Conclusions: Administration of TSA with medium and high doses up‐regulates the expression of antioxidative genes, reduces the oxidative injury, increases levels of AMH, and E2 levels that are relatively comparable to those in young mice, and consequently results in a healthy oocyte development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertical and differential deformations in super-high-rise buildings are extremely important during construction. In order to be able to adjust the construction process accurately, taking the deformations into account, such deformations must be calculated exactly. The analysis of the vertical deformations of the high-rise Shanghai World Financial Centre building is illustrated in this paper. The prediction models of CEB-FIP 90 are used for calculating shrinkage and creep. The fictitious degree of hydration method has been applied for calculating the creep behaviour of the early-age concrete. The influence of steel bars on the vertical deformations has been analysed based on the macroscopical modulus method. Calculation of the vertical deformations includes the pre-construction and the post-construction deformations. Finally, the differential deformation between the concrete and the mega-structure column is determined. Theoretical results for the vertical displacement of this super-high-rise building agree very well with field monitoring data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional imbalance is a typical feature of economic and social development in China, and place-based policies aimed at promoting balanced regional development may bring challenges to low-carbon goals. This study uses the panel data of China's prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2019 to investigate the impact of place-based policies on carbon emission efficiency using a quasi-experimental method. Results indicate that place-based policies significantly reduce the regional total-factor carbon emission efficiency. The difference-in-differences method based on propensity score matching and entropy balancing matching consistently supports the finding that carbon emission efficiency decreases after policy intervention. Place-based policies lead to a significant decline in capital allocation efficiency but have an insignificant impact on labor allocation efficiency. Moreover, place-based policies result in the expansion of carbon-intensive industries but hinder the progress of the financial technology of financial institutions. Nevertheless, place-based policies do not lead to the deterioration of environmental quality. Among the advantages of these policies are the significant promotion of regional digitization and increased fiscal expenditure on science and technology. Political promotion, carbon regulation, trade policies, and other conditional factors may be optimally designed to promote low-carbon development in the old revolutionary areas.

The social contact patterns associated with the infectious disease transmitted by airborne droplets or close contact follow specific rules. Understanding these processes can improve the accuracy of disease transmission models, permitting their integration into model simulations. In this study, we performed a large-scale population-based survey to collect social contact patterns in three cities on the Pearl River Delta of China in winter and summer. A total of 5,818 participants were face-to-face interviewed and 35,542 contacts were recorded. The average number of contacts per person each day was 16.7 considering supplementary professional contacts (SPCs). Contacts that occurred on a daily basis, lasted more than 4 hours, and took place in households were more likely to involve physical contact. The seasonal characteristics of social contact were heterogeneous, such that contact in the winter was more likely to involve physical contact compared to summer months. The spatial characteristics of the contacts were similar. Social mixing patterns differed according to age, but all ages maintained regular contact with their peers. Taken together, these findings describe the spatiotemporal distribution of social contact patterns relevant to infections in the Guangdong Province of China. This information provides important parameters for mathematical models of infectious diseases.