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This article presents the findings of a 13-year retrospective study on the sensitization profiles of aeroallergens among allergic rhinitis (AR) patients in China. The study included 16,664 patients from three different centers. The most common aeroallergens were house dust mites, cockroaches, mustard plants, and maple trees. Children had a higher sensitization rate than adults, and AR patients with asthma had a higher sensitization rate than AR patients without asthma. The sensitization rates of the aeroallergens changed significantly from 2009 to 2021, with different trends observed in the three centers. The study provides valuable information on prevalent aeroallergens in China and proposes a panel of five aeroallergens for the diagnosis of AR. [Extracted from the article]

Clarifying the driving mechanisms of spatial and temporal changes in the regulating ecosystem service value (RESV) is an important part of realizing the goal of sustainable development. Existing studies have focused on specific factors, ignoring the complex interactions between factors and their regional differences. In this regard, the spatial and temporal changes of RESV and its driving mechanisms in the different zones (core area, fringe area, and peripheral area) were explored in the Poyang Lake Area, China. The results showed that RESV spatially showed the distribution characteristics of fringe area > core area > peripheral area, while the lakes influenced the provision of regulating ecosystem services, showing that RESV per unit area was higher in the core area, and gradually declined with the increase of distance from the lakes, presenting the decreasing trend of fringe area > peripheral area. From 2000 to 2020, the study area lost 70.5988 billion CNY for RESV, in which the core area was the most affected. Further analysis of the driving mechanism of RESV in different areas found that there are regional differences in the paths of the driving factors: Population density mainly affects the core area, precipitation mainly affects the fringe area, and GDP per land mainly affects the peripheral area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the expansion of the semiconductor industry, determining the huge associated water and energy consumption and accomplishing sustainable development can be key issues for this industry. This study surveyed the sustainability reports of 28 semiconductor corporations and summarized their environmental stewardship information. Overall, the total water withdrawal in 2021 was 7.89 × 108 m³, total energy consumption was 1.49 × 1011 kWh, and total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 7.15 × 107 tons CO2 equivalent. The total Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions were 2.74 and 4.41 × 107 t CO2 equivalent, respectively. Surface water intake, municipal water supply, groundwater withdrawal, third party supply, and external reclaimed water intake accounted for 47.0%, 35.3%, 8.5%, 5.8%, and 3.2% of total water use, respectively. Electricity, fossil fuel, renewable energy, and others accounted for 83.7%, 12.0%, 2.7%, and 1.7% of the total energy use. In 2021, average water use, energy consumption, and GHG emissions were calculated to be 8.22 L/cm², 1.15 kWh/cm², and 0.84 kg CO2 equivalent/cm2, respectively, based on announced data. Ultrapure water consumption was predicted to be 5.51 and 0.95 × 108 m³ worldwide and for China, respectively. Effective sustainability strategies are supposed to be implemented to meet the considerable growth in water and energy consumption and GHG emissions for the semiconductor industry worldwide and in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the novel classification of inpatients with new-onset diabetes in Eastern China by the cluster-based classification method and compare the clinical characteristics among the different subgroups. Methods: A total of 1017 Inpatients with new-onset diabetes of five hospitals in Eastern China were included in the study. Clustering analysis was used to cluster the data into five subgroups according to six basic variables. The differences in clinical characteristics, treatments, and the prevalence of diabetes-related diseases among the five subgroups were analyzed by multiple groups comparisons and pairwise comparisons. The risk of diabetes-related diseases in the five subgroups was compared by calculating odd ratio (OR). P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Five subgroups were obtained by clustering analysis with the highest proportion of patients with severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD) 451 (44.35%), followed by patients with mild age-related diabetes (MARD) 236 (23.21%), patients with mild obesity-related diabetes (MOD) 207 (20.35%), patients with severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD) 81 (7.96%), and patients with severe autoimmune diabetes (SAID) 42 (4.13%). Five subtypes had their own unique characteristics and treatments. The prevalence and risk of diabetes-related complications and comorbidities were also significantly different among the five subtypes. Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) was the most common in SIRD group. Patients in SIDD, SIRD, and MARD groups were more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or stroke, diabetic peripheral vascular disease (DPVD), and diabetic distal symmetric polyneuropathy (DSPN). The prevalence and risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) were the highest in MOD and SIRD groups. Patients in SAID group had the highest prevalence and risk of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Patients with MOD were more likely to develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Conclusions: The inpatients with new-onset diabetes in Eastern China had the unique clustering distribution. The clinical characteristics, treatments, and diabetes-related complications and comorbidities of the five subgroups were different, which may provide the basis for precise treatments of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main body of Hebi City is located in the transition zone between the mountain and the plain on the north bank of the Yellow River. It includes two major geomorphological units, the bedrock uplift area of the Taihang Mountain and the sedimentary area of the North China Plain. The Shinaimiao (SNM) core locates in Hebi City of China, belongs to the accumulation plain of the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains which is part of the North China Plain, and composed by quaternary alluvium and flood deposits in lithology. The SNM core is 126.64 m deep. Environmental magnetism and ESR dating method are used to divided the lower and middle Pleistocene, and determine the quaternary bottom boundary. OSL and radiocarbon (14C) dating methods are used for the division of the middle and upper Pleistocene, and Holocene. Quaternary stratum of SNM core is divided by multiple dating methods, which have provided the basic data for the study of urban active fault detection and environmental evolution in Hebi City and its vicinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 705 rodents from 6 provinces and autonomous regions of mainland People's Republic of China were tested by PCRs for tick-borne agents (Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, spotted fever group rickettsiae, and Francisella tularensis). Infection rates were 5.5%, 6.7%, 9.1% and 5.0%, respectively. Eighteen (2.6%) rodents of 10 species were positive for 2 or 3 agents. Sequence analysis of PCR products confirmed the presence and genotypes of detected agents. These findings demonstrate that these tick-borne agents cocirculate and that a variety of rodent species may be involved in their enzootic maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The criterion for judging the successful revegetation largely focuses on the aboveground indicators, whereas the information for soil ecosystem during the revegetation is often ignored. To better understand the effects of the revegetation on the development of the soil ecosystem near Shaoguan Pb/Zn Smelter, Guangdong Province of Southern China, we compared the difference of the microbial and physico-chemical parameters between the four revegetated sites and two control sites (bare ground and native forest area). The soil organic C, total N, total P, NH4-N, NO3-N, available P, WHC and porosity significantly increased and bulk density decreased in the four revegetated sites compared with those in bare ground, indicating the processive effects of the revegetation on the reestablishment of the soil nutrient pools. The heavy metal contents were higher in the four revegetated sites than in the bare ground, thus the revegetation resulted in the accumulation of heavy metals released from smelter in surface soil. The soil microbial composition and activities, except that the oligotrophic bacterial number decreased over revegetation time, significantly increased in the revegetated sites compared with those in the bare ground, and predominantly correlated with soil organic C, total N, NH4-N, NO3-N and WHC. The soil oligotrophic bacteria was negatively related to all individual heavy metal contents, thus was the most sensitive indicator in reflecting heavy metal stress, while other microbial parameters, despite not showing negative relationships to the individual heavy metal contents, were sensitive to the potential availability of Pb and Cu (ratio of available to total heavy metal contents), but less sensitive to those of Zn and Cd. Both the principal component analysis (PCA) and the discriminant analysis (DA) resulted from microbial and physico-chemical datasets not only revealed the shifts of the soil physico-chemical and microbial patterns from the unrevegetated to non-polluted conditions, but also implied the possible loss of effects of revegetation on soil remediation in the sites revegetated for four (RIV) and five (RV) years, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent omics studies have provided invaluable insights into the metabolic potential, adaptation, and evolution of novel archaeal lineages from a variety of extreme environments. We utilized a genome-resolved metagenomic approach to recover eight medium- to high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that likely represent a new order ("Candidatus Sysuiplasmatales") in the class Thermoplasmata from mine tailings and acid mine drainage (AMD) sediments sampled from two copper mines in South China. 16S rRNA gene-based analyses revealed a narrow habitat range for these uncultured archaea limited to AMD and hot spring-related environments. Metabolic reconstruction indicated a facultatively anaerobic heterotrophic lifestyle. This may allow the archaea to adapt to oxygen fluctuations and is thus in marked contrast to the majority of lineages in the domain Archaea, which typically show obligately anaerobic metabolisms. Notably, "Ca. Sysuiplasmatales" could conserve energy through degradation of fatty acids, amino acid metabolism, and oxidation of reduced inorganic sulfur compounds (RISCs), suggesting that they may contribute to acid generation in the extreme mine environments. Unlike the closely related orders Methanomassiliicoccales and "Candidatus Gimiplasmatales," "Ca. Sysuiplasmatales" lacks the capacity to perform methanogenesis and carbon fixation. Ancestral state reconstruction indicated that "Ca. Sysuiplasmatales," the closely related orders Methanomassiliicoccales and "Ca. Gimiplasmatales," and the orders SG8-5 and RBG-16-68-12 originated from a facultatively anaerobic ancestor capable of carbon fixation via the bacterial-type H4F Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WLP). Their metabolic divergence might be attributed to different evolutionary paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the epidemiological features and changing patterns of intestinal parasitic diseases in Jiangxi Province from 1989 to 2014, so as to provide scientific evidence for formulating the preventive and control strategy for intestinal parasitic diseases., Methods: The data regarding the status of intestinal parasitic diseases in Jiangxi Province were captured from the 1989 national survey on the distribution of human parasites in China and the 2014 national survey on major human parasitic diseases in China, and the status of human intestinal parasite infections was compared between the two surveys in Jiangxi Province., Results: The prevalence rate of human intestinal parasite infections was 79.59% and 9.64% in Jiangxi Province in 1989 and 2014, with a decline rate of 87.89% during the 25-year period ( χ 2 = 30 870.5, P < 0.01). There were 24 and 20 species of human intestinal parasites detected in Jiangxi Province in 1989 and 2014, respectively, with totally 26 species detected during the two surveys. In Jiangxi Province, the 3 most highly prevalent human intestinal parasites included Ascaris lumbricoides (71.06%), hookworm (17.61%) and Enterobius vermicularis (17.59%) in 1989, and E. vermicularis (13.73%), hookworm (4.66%), whipworm (0.95%) in 2014. A higher rate of human intestinal parasite infections was found in females than in males in both surveys in Jiangxi Province ( P < 0.01), and the prevalence of human intestinal parasite infections reduced by 82.50% to 95.31% in different age groups in Jiangsu Province during the 25-year period., Conclusions: The prevalence of human intestinal parasite infections shows a remarkable decline tendency in Jiangxi Province, and soil-transmitted nematodes remain the main species of human intestinal parasites in Jiangxi Province.