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Research Findings: This study investigated teachers' Concept development (CD) strategy use in whole-group math teaching and its associations with children's higher-order thinking processes in 25 Chinese preschool math lessons. We utilized the CD dimension within the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) to guide our exploration. CD identifies 12 specific cognitive strategies, grouped into four organizing indicators, and include analysis and reasoning, creating, integration, and connections to the real world. Results showed: (1) Chinese teachers rarely used strategies such as "connecting concepts," "integrating with previous knowledge," and "real-world applications"; (2) Over half of teachers' CD strategies failed to facilitate children's higher-order thinking. When teachers used "clarification/comparison" and "brainstorming" strategies, however, was positively associated with children's displaying high-level cognitive processes. Practice or Policy: Findings shed light on the need to promote effective CD strategies during math instruction for preschoolers and have implications for teachers' professional development.

Aiming to inform teaching practices and understand cultural differences, we examined praise practices of high- and low-quality preschool teachers in China. As part of a broader project, we purposefully selected three high-quality and three low-quality teachers based upon their Pre-K CLASS ratings and self-reports, and conducted qualitative analysis of their class videos. The two groups gave similar amount of praise, but extremely high or low numbers were observed among the low-quality teachers. The high-quality teachers applied specific praise more while the low-quality teachers used general praise more. Although both groups used praise heavily in whole group activities, the high-quality teachers utilized praise more in small group activities, while the low-quality teachers used praise more in transitions. Additionally, the high-quality teachers used praise more effectively to provide emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Finally, the Chinese teachers praised their students substantially less than American or Australian teachers in other published studies.

Clinopodium gracile is one of the commonly used medicinal herbs of the She ethnic minority in China. The whole plant of C. gracile is rich in flavonoids. This study pioneers the investigation to improve flavonoid yield by the use of response surface methodology (RSM) and microwave irradiation pretreatment method. The antimicrobial activities of its extracts was also tested. The significant parameters of extraction conditions of the whole plant of C. gracile flavonoids (WPCF) were as follows: wetted time of 25.514 min, microwave radiation pretreatment time of 38.024 s, microwave power of 411.557 w, and mass of vaporization solvent of 1.841 mL. For the convenience of the experiment, the optimum process parameters were modified as follows: wetted time of 25 min, microwave radiation pretreatment time of 38 s, microwave power of 420 w, and mass of vaporization solvent of 1.8 mL. Under these conditions, the yield of WPCF was 145.677 mg/g, which was increased by 25.450% compared to the traditional water bath extraction, a significant difference was observed. Antimicrobial experimentations showed that the extracts of ethyl acetate exhibited good activities against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC9027), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC29213), Staphylococcus aureus (SA1) with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 16 mg/mL, 8 mg/mL, 8 mg/mL, respectively. Therefore, the processing technology in this study was successful and microwave irradiation pretreatment provided some practical significance for the extraction of WPCF. The results also suggest that the extracts from C. gracile could be used as a potential antimicrobial source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is to examine the attitudes of students towards the case studies based on mobile messaging in a pharmacotherapy introduction class. Case studies were divided into 4 groups, with 30 pharmacy students each group. Each group was required to share pharmaceutical care plans on WeChat by posting messages. A post-activity survey was conducted: Over 70% of the students agreed that mobile messaging-based case studies (MMBC) helped developing skills and knowledge and stimulating additional research and readings. Over 60% of the students felt that MMBC helped understanding others' viewpoints and sharing their experience and knowledge. More than half of the students agreed that MMBC was more convenient than traditional and internet-based case study. Less than 30% of the students agreed that the interaction with other students was good. The findings reflect the MMBC studies' popularity with students. Recommendations to use MMBC studies include (a) balance the merits, such as expressing opinions clearly and concisely, allowing for collaborative learning, with the drawbacks: distraction and the low quality of interactions; (b) use small groups for case discussion; (c) design a collaborative schedule dividing the discussion into different sections.

TiO2-impregnated activated carbon was designed to adsorb and remove arsenic from water polluted by diphenylchloroarsine. The material showed an excellent efficiency to treat the contaminated water with diphenylchloroarsine perhaps because TiO2 and activated carbon have a collaborative removal of arsenic to adsorb diphenylchloroarsine and its hydrolysis product. In our study, several important factors on arsenic removal efficiency were evaluated including the adsorption time, initial concentration of arsenic, temperature and pH. The TiO2-impregnated activated carbon can achieve a good performance when it treats DA-contaminated water with the arsenic concentrations below 10 mg/mL in 1 h at pH of 7 and at the temperature ranging from 10 to 40 °C. A combination of FTIR, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and energy-dispersive spectroscopy analyses further enables identification of the arsenic on the surfaces of TiO2-impregnated activated carbon. Therefore, the TiO2-impregnated activated carbon holds a promising prospect to deal with the polluted water caused by DA, one of chemical weapons abandoned by Japanese in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Family members of patients hospitalized in intensive care unit (ICU) are susceptible to adverse psychological outcomes. However, there is a paucity of studies specifically examining the mental health symptoms in ICU patients' family members with a prior history of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Aim This study aimed to investigate mental health status and its influencing factors of ICU patients' family members with previous COVID-19 infection experience in China. Design Nationwide, cross-sectional cohort of consecutive participants of family members of ICU patients from 10 provinces randomly selected in mainland China conducted between October 2022 and May 2023. Methods The basic information scale, Self-rating depression scale, Self-rating Anxiety Scale, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, Perceived Stress Scale, Connor-Davidson resilience scale, Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire were employed to explore mental health status among participants. Results A total of 463 participants, comprising 156 individuals in Covid-19 family member cohort (infection group) and 307 individuals in control family member cohort (control group), met inclusion criteria. The infection group exhibited significantly higher incidence of composite mental health symptoms compared to control group (P  = 0.017). Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that being female, engaging in physical/mental labor, residing in rural areas, and having children were identified as risk factors for the development of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, while medical history of surgery was protective factor. A predictive model demonstrated a favorable discriminative ability and excellent calibration. Conclusion COVID-19 infection experience regarded as new traumatic stressors worsen mental health status of ICU patients' family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low permeability reservoir perfect an important role of energy replacement in petroleum industry. Aiming at the problem of low prediction accuracy of the deep profile control in low permeability reservoirs and the lack of theoretical basis for the tracking and adjustment of projects, the variation characteristics of relaxation time are determined based on the viscoelastic experiments of movable gels with different concentrations, shear rates and angular velocities. The viscoelastic mobile gel apparent viscosity model considering the relaxation time kinetics is established based on the Maxwell theory and the pressure prediction model for the expanded granular/mobile gel deep profile control in low permeability reservoirs is established. Finally, the real production data of profile control wells in Yushulin oilfield in China is taken as an example, the application effects of the new pressure prediction model considering the viscoelasticity, the pressure model without viscoelasticity and the numerical simulation model are compared and verified. The results show that the gel exhibits viscoelasticity at high shear rate, and when the gel concentration is increased from 500 mg/L to 1500 mg/L, the relaxation time decreases from 1.04 s to 0.08 s and from 6.3 s to 0.8 s before and after gelation, respectively. The application effects of the models show that the new model takes into account the viscoelasticity of the gel, which is 12.3 percentage points higher than that of the traditional pressure model based on the reservoir engineering method and 10.6 percentage points higher than that of the numerical simulation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are known to bring heavy rainfall, strong winds and severe storm surges simultaneously, resulting in tremendous damage beyond the effects of a single hazard. However, the compound impacts of TC multi‐hazards remain unexplored in macroeconomic assessments. Here, we provide empirical evidence on the multi‐hazard economic losses of TC for the first time. We used a national panel of provincial economic output in China over 2000–2020. Our results show that the total macroeconomic impact of the severest TC multi‐hazards can represent up to 14 times the value of merely TC winds. Specifically, the vast majority (over 80%) of the combined TC impacts is caused by precipitation, with wider and greater economic impacts than TC winds and storm surges. Furthermore, high‐latitude and interior regions of China are more vulnerable to TCs due to the interactions with temperature variability and TC wind intensity variability. High‐income areas and secondary industries respond markedly to all TC hazards, and the economic impact of TC precipitation is significant over all sectors. Our findings provide new implications for the socio‐economic impact mechanisms of multiple hazards of TCs and valuable insights into the design of climate policy for compound hazard risks. Plain Language Summary: Understanding how compounding weather and climate events affect economic production is crucial for mitigating and adapting to climate risks, especially as multiple hazards compound in time and space under climate change. Our study focuses on the macroeconomic impact of multiple hazards from tropical cyclones (TCs) and their impact mechanisms. We find that TC rainfall has the largest economic impact, followed by TC winds, while storm surges have the least impact. Temperature variability increases the negative impact of TC rainfall on economic production and contributes to high vulnerability in northern China. Low seasonal variability of TC wind intensity leads to adverse impacts of TC winds on inland areas. Wealthier regions, mainly coastal, respond more significantly to all TC hazards and have more complex risk patterns than poorer, inland regions. The agricultural sector benefits from TC precipitation, while the construction sector is the most sensitive to all TC hazards, highlighting the need for more adaptation measures to reduce losses. The findings can help policy makers design climate policies to mitigate the multiple hazards of TC and enrich our understanding of how these hazards affect socio‐economic development. Key Points: Rainfall from tropical cyclones in China has a greater economic impact than winds or storm surges, causing over 80% of the combined impactsHigh‐latitude and interior regions of China are more vulnerable to TC precipitation and TC winds, respectivelyTropical cyclone hazards in China have significant impact on high‐income areas and secondary industries, with rainfall affecting all sectors [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two waves of reform have been conducted in China since the 1980s to transform its early childhood curriculum into a Western-style, progressive model. Western curricula and programs such as the Montessori method, the project approach, the Reggio Emilia method, and the high/scope method have been imported and adopted all over the country. But the top-down reforms and these "imported" ideas have been challenged by scholars and practitioners. Aiming to understand how practices in kindergartens measure up with the reform objectives, the present study investigated the teachers' beliefs and practices in five Shenzhen kindergartens' literacy instruction. Altogether, ten early childhood classrooms were observed for one school week, and the ten classroom teachers were interviewed about the observed Chinese teaching practices. The teachers and teaching assistants of the ten classes (N = 20) were also surveyed about their teaching beliefs and practices. The results indicated a remarkable belief-practice gap as well as a policy-practice gap. Most of the curriculum reform ideas were expressed by the teachers in their self-reported beliefs but had not been implemented in their teaching practice. The traditional Chinese model with the teacher directing the whole-class session was still dominating. Slight differences were also found among the ten classes, which reflect the cascading effects of curriculum reform. These findings suggest that curriculum reforms should take into consideration the culture, language, teachers, parents, resources available, and the prevailing education system. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

Since the early 1990s, the central government of China has been gradually privatizing early childhood education. As the main precursor of this large-scale reform in the country, Shenzhen has witnessed several innovative as well as radical changes. The existing public early childhood settings in the city were therefore forced to transform into self-funded enterprises when municipal subsidy was cut in September 2006, and this opened doors to controversy. Aiming to understand the controversy and underlying arguments of the public and to offer suggestions to the policymakers, we collected the Internet postings and analyzed the views presented in Chinese virtual communities. We applied content and statistic analyses on the search results, and the findings indicated that: (a) most of the postings were against the transformation, pinpointing the possible problems in relation to national strategic development, governmental function, the nature of teaching profession, and the development of early childhood education; (b) some of the postings were in favor of the transformation as it was believed to bring out fair competition and reasonable distribution of educational resources; and (c) two post hoc mechanisms were suggested for this reform: one for the redistribution of the limited resources among all the settings and the other for the monitoring of the profit-making level and quality assurance in the individual setting. The lessons learned from this study and the implications for future development are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)

This study assessed the correlation between middle-aged and elderly fraud victimhood's experiences of being defrauded (EOBD) and depressive symptoms. This was a prospective study. Data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2018 (N = 15,322, mean age = 60.80 years) were used. Logistic regression models were used to identify the association between EOBD and depressive symptoms. Independent analyses were used to examine the association between different types of the fraud and depressive symptoms. Among the middle-aged and elderly people, 9.37% of them have EOBD, and it was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Among those with EOBD, fundraising fraud (3.72%) and fraudulent pyramid scheme and sales fraud (22.4%) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms, whereas telecommunication fraud (73.88%) had a limited role in inducing depressive symptoms in victimhood. This study suggested that the government should make further efforts to prevent fraud, pay more attention to the mental health of the middle-aged and elderly victimhood, and provide timely psychological assistance to reduce the secondary harm caused by fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural sewage collection networks play extremely important roles in rural sewage treatment, and the lack of a suitable collection model makes this task difficult. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop a new method to collect and deal with rural sewage. This paper establishes a rural sewage optimal collection model (RSOCM) with critical distance (d) and sewage quota per unit area (qs) as the constraint factors. The implementation of critical distance for rural sewage collection pipeline networks was demonstrated for 38 rural areas in the Huicheng District, Huizhou City, Guangdong Province of China. The average critical distances of 22 m, 38 m, 29 m, 29 m, 41 m, and 55 m were demonstrated for Sandong Town, Ma'an Town, Luzhou Town, Ruhu Town, Hengli Town, and Shuikou Subdistrict, respectively. The qs is used to create the best possible pipe network layout, determine the appropriate treatment method, and reduce construction costs. This model can be widely applied to sewage collection in rural areas of China, where the overall sewage collection system can implement different regional strategies to maximize rural pollution control and protect the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Summarize the existing evidence regarding the prevalence and risk factors of frailty in stroke patients. Design: A meta-analysis and systematic review. Participants: Stroke patients in hospitals or communities. Methods: We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis using articles available in 8 databases, including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, and Weipu Database (VIP) from January 1990 to April 2022. Studies were quality rated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality tool. Results: A total of 24 studies involving 30,423 participants were identified. The prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty in stroke patients was 27% (95%CI: 0.23–0.31) and 47.9% (95%CI: 0.43–0.53). Female gender (OR = 1.76, 95%CI: 1.63–1.91), advanced age (MD = 6.73, 95%CI: 3.55–9.91), diabetes (OR = 1.34, 95%CI: 1.06–1.69), hyperlipidemia (OR = 1.46, 95%CI: 1.04–2.04), atrial fibrillation (OR = 1.36, 95%CI: 1.01–1.82), National Institutes of Stroke Scale (NIHSS) admission scores (MD = 2.27, 95%CI: 1.72–2.81) were risk factors of frailty in stroke patients. Conclusions: Frailty was more prevalent in stroke patients. Female gender, advanced age, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, and National Institutes of Stroke Scale (NIHSS) admission scores were identified as risk factors for frailty in stroke patients. In the future, medical staff should pay attention to the early screening of frailty in high-risk groups and provide information on its prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional based air pollution control is implemented for settling transboundary pollution, with multi-dimensional factors playing their roles. In this study, the dimensions of governance patterns, stimulation tools, and participating groups are introduced to reflect the regional based air pollution control mechanisms, and corresponding index system is established. With China's Air Pollution Control Action Plan implemented in 2013 as an example, Propensity Score Matching Difference in Differences method is applied to explore the effects and influence factors of regional based air pollution control policies. It is concluded that regional based air pollution control provinces have significantly achieved more reductions in air pollutant emissions than local based air pollution control provinces. The main factor of regional based air pollution control mechanism is the industry structure transformation featuring the vertical hierarchy of governance pattern, but the greening of enterprises has not been realized. Regional based air pollution control mechanism is dominated by central-local relationships, while intra-provincial interactions hardly exert effects. Therefore, it is recommended to build more vigorous horizontal interactions among administrative districts, reinforcing market-based instruments, for achieving a more sustainable regional based air pollution control mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enormous economic losses and casualties were caused by tropical cyclones in the southeast coastal areas of China every year. In order to understand the time-space variation characteristics of tropical cyclones (including intensity, minimum central atmosphere pressure, duration, and generation position) in the global and the western North Pacific basin, the monthly and interannual variation characteristics of tropical cyclones from 1949 to 2018 were analyzed by the quantile regression method and least square regression method. The results show that the global climate temperature and the annual maximum wind speed of tropical cyclones have a tendency to increase under different quantiles. While the maximum wind speed of tropical cyclones generated in the WNP basin basically decreases with the increase of years in El Niño, La Niña, and normal years under different quantiles. It is obvious that the interannual variation of the maximum wind speed of tropical cyclones is affected by the ENSO events. Similarly, minimum central atmospheric pressure, duration, and generation position of TCs from 1949 to 2018 are also analyzed in the present study. The results of this study can provide an effective reference for data analysis and trend prediction of tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the genetic diversity, genetic structure, and phylogenetic relationships of different cultured populations of Takifugu rubripes and T. obscurus in China, and to find a DNA barcode that can effectively distinguish one species from the other. In total, 120 T. rubripes and 130 T. obscurus individuals were collected from four and three different regions, respectively. Based on the sequences of the mitochondrial genes COI, COII, COIII, 16S rDNA, and Cytb, the genetic diversity and genetic evolution of the different populations of T. rubripes and T. obscurus were analyzed, and the genes with more polymorphic loci and high genetic diversity were selected for DNA barcoding for the identification of the two species. The results showed that Cytb had the highest genetic diversity, consistent with the genetic diversity of the other four genes. T. rubripes and T. obscurus have low haplotype and diversity indices, indicating that they may be subjected to variety of processes, such as inbreeding or domestication, that could lead to a continuous decline in diversity. From the perspective of differentiation and phylogeny, gene exchange may occur between some of the studied populations. Many populations of T. rubripes and T. obscurus showed limited variation, indicating that they reproduce according to the neutral evolution model, and that their diversity cannot be improved. In addition, the Cytb gene fragment used can effectively distinguish T. rubripes from T. obscurus, which can provide support for species identification and breeding in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic, preliminary research has reported a significant decline in physical activity (PA) and an increase in sedentary behaviour (SB) among typically developed children and adolescents. Limited research has looked at the current situation of PA and SB during this pandemic among children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID). This study investigated the situations about PA and SB among school‐aged children and adolescents with ID on China's mainland during the COVID‐19 outbreak. Methods: In total, 837 parents of children and adolescents (ages 6–18 years) with ID from 15 special education schools of Shandong Province in China were recruited through convenience sampling in the study. Parents reported PA and SB among children and adolescents with ID through the Children's Leisure Activities Study Survey‐Chinese version (CLASS‐C) online questionnaires. Results: From parents' reports, Chinese children and adolescents with ID during the COVID‐19 pandemic participated in approximately 10 min of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity, and engaged in approximately 530 min of SB every day. Meanwhile, only 17.4% of children and adolescents with ID were able to achieve the recommendation of 60 min of daily moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity and 76.1% of children and adolescents with ID spent more than 2 h on SB per day. Additionally, the problems of decrease PA and excessive SB were more prominent in older adolescents with ID compared with younger children with ID. Conclusion: In China, the low level of PA and high level of SB is particularly evident in children and adolescents with ID during the outbreak of COVID‐19. The great majority of children and adolescents with ID did not meet the recommended amount of PA while undergoing excessive SB under the long‐term home quarantine environment. Therefore, immediate attention and great effort should be made to deal with this severe situation among this vulnerable population in the mainland of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is a country prone to natural disasters, and roads are easily damaged in natural disasters. As the infrastructure of people's production and life and the lifeline of post-disaster rescue, roads play a very important role. There are many previous studies on geological disasters risk assessment, but few special researches on highway geological disasters risk assessment, especially quantitative risk assessment combined with remote sensing images. Therefore, the risk assessment of geological disasters along the road is of great significance for the prevention and control of geological disasters and the protection of life and property safety. Based on GF-6 data and other geographic data, this study used the comprehensive evaluation method to realize the geological disasters risk assessment of the Maoxian-Wenchuan section along the G213 line, and analysed and discussed the causes and spatial distribution of geological disasters along the G213 line. Our study presents several key findings, (1) The order of impact degree of each impact factor is road network density, soil erosion, slope, human activities, vegetation coverage, rainfall, and slope aspect, among them, the road network density factor plays a leading role, and the aspect factor is the least impact factor; (2) The geological disasters risk in the study area is divided into five categories: extremely low risk, low risk, medium risk, high risk, and extremely high risk. In general, the geological disasters risk of the research road section is relatively high, and the risk area division is consistent with the historical disaster point data. The research results can provide reference for the smooth development and implementation of road geological disasters risk assessment in the mountainous areas in southwestern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme heat is one major warming‐related threat to food security and farmers' livelihood, especially in Asia. As an economic adaptation, weather index insurance (WII) can transfer such weather‐related risks, secure farms' incomes, and recover agricultural systems soon after yield losses. However, few relevant studies evaluate its potential in the warming future. Here, we investigated the efficiency of WII to compensate for future heat‐induced yield losses (YHloss ${Y}_{Hloss}$) under SSP1‐2.6, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP5‐8.5 (Shared Socioecomoic Pathways, SSP) in southern China, a typical smallholder‐dominated rice production area in the world. Combining a crop model with machine learning, we found that heat‐induced rice vulnerability showed large spatial variability. Rice vulnerability and warming scenarios co‐determined future YHloss ${Y}_{Hloss}$ and economic losses at the county scale, with more significant losses in the mid‐far future (2051–2100) than in the near future (2021–2050). Compared with the historical period (1961–2010), YHloss ${Y}_{Hloss}$ will increase approximately by up to 5% under SSP1‐2.6, 18% under SSP3‐7.0%, and 26% under SSP5‐8.5. As an ex‐ante strategy, county‐specific WII will effectively improve (by up to 13%) and stabilize (by up to 36%) farmers' incomes, even though the pure premium rate will increase by 10% at 2050 and by 30% at 2100. Overall, our study demonstrates that WII is an effective economic adaption in the future for assisting smallholder livelihood in a developing country. WII has the potential to be applied in other countries for other crop failures to mitigate climate‐related risk for global food systems in the future. Plain Language Summary: The rice‐producing farmers of east and southeast Asia are particularly vulnerable to yield losses because of their smallholder status, poor infrastructure, and increasing heat extremes from global warming. In this study, we applied crop model and machine learning methods to evaluate the yield and economic losses for rice farmers in southern China in the warmer future under different scenarios, and then analyzed the future implementation of weather index insurance (WII) for smallholders under the warming world. We found that yield and economic losses tended to worsen as we moved closer to the end of the century. However, WII could effectively protect farmers by compensating for these heat‐induced losses, even though the pure premium rate of such insurance protection products would also increase. Overall, our study proved the potential of WII as an adaptation strategy to global warming for smallholder rice farmers in China, which can be extended to other crops and regions. Key Points: Heat‐induced rice yield losses in China will increase by up to 5%, 18%, and 26% at the end of this century under three SSPsThe pure premium rate of weather index insurance (WII) in China will increase by 10% at 2050 and 30% at 2100As an ex‐ante strategy, county‐specific WII will effectively improve (by up to 13%) and stabilize (by up to 36%) farmers' income [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gross primary productivity (GPP) is an essential indicator of vegetation growth that reflects ecosystem function. GPP is the original source of energy entering cropland ecosystem and thus could serve as a direct indicator of crop yield. In the context of increasing population, changing climate, and decreasing available resources, accurate monitoring and forecasting of food and crop yields play an essential role in sustainable human development. In this study, the process-based Farquhar GPP model (FGM) driven by multisource remote sensing data was implemented to estimate the spatial and temporal dynamics of GPP in crop-growing areas of the North China Plain from 2001 to 2016. We found that the GPP of crops in the North China Plain is relatively high in the southern provinces while lower in the northern part. The GPP values showed a significant increasing trend from 2001 to 2016 (+2.19 Mt C yr−1, P<0.05). Based on crop yield statistical yearbook, we found that GPP is well correlated with crop yield (R2 = 0.98, RMSE = 10.4 Mt yr−1). Thus, we constructed an empirical regression model between GPP and crop yield (i.e., 'GPP-yield' empirical model). Finally, time-series GPP data and the ' GPP-yield ' model were applied the crop yield in the North China Plain with spatial and temporal continuity. We found that the crop yield in the North China Plain changed in accordance with GPP, and also showed a significant increasing trend from 2001 to 2016, with a mean increasing rate of +2.84 Mt yr−1 (P<0.05, R2 = 0.16, RMSE = 31.73 Mt yr−1). This study proved an example of large-scale crop yield estimation using multi-source remote sensing data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquake disasters often cause massive casualties and property losses, so it is essential to achieve rapid emergency rescue response. Although many scholars have studied the speed of emergency rescue response from different perspectives, there are still many problems in the impact of road congestion on travel paths and distances, as well as the timeliness of the road network. Therefore, this study calculated the travel distance from the rescue point to the disaster point using the path planning method based on the Baidu map navigation data, and obtained the distribution map of the emergency rescue response level in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, China. The results show that :(1) the path planning method based on Baidu map navigation data is more realistic and accurate than the traditional method. (2) there are apparent spatial differences in the emergency rescue response in Wenchuan County, and the emergency rescue response level in Weizhou town in the north is higher than that in Wolong and Sanjiang town in the southwest. The research results have significant reference value for planning emergency rescue routes and improving rescue speed in Wenchuan County and similar counties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of disaster emergency response, how to achieve rapid sharing of geographic information data is still a difficult problem to be solved. Combining the demand for emergency geographic information data in response to emergencies and major natural disasters in China, investigating the current situation of existing emergency geographic information data sharing, and based on the actual emergency geographic information service guarantee work, this paper researches and analyzes the sharing demand, designs the emergency geographic information data sharing model, and studies the emergency geographic information data sharing mechanism from the aspects of sharing platform, data sharing requirements, and service sharing requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity has been recognized as a global epidemic as approximately one-third of the world's population. Findings on early and late mortality rates between obese, overweight, and underweight vs normal body mass index (BMI) patients confirm that the obese and overweight patients were found to have lower risk and underweight patients were found to have increased risk of mortality as compared to normal weighted patients. It is unclear if the "obesity paradox" exists with survival outcomes of hip fracture patients. We hereby reviewed early (in-hospital and 30-day mortality) and late mortality (≥ 1-year) rates between obese, overweight, and underweight vs normal body mass index (BMI) patients with hip fractures. PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL, and Google Scholar were searched for studies reporting mortality rates of hip fracture patients based on BMI. We pooled crude and adjusted mortality rates in a random-effects model. Eleven studies were included. Meta-analysis indicated significantly reduced risk of early (RR: 0.64 95% CI: 0.59, 0.69 I2 = 0% p < 0.00001) and late mortality rates (RR: 0.78 95% CI: 0.67, 0.91 I2 = 93% p = 0.002) in obese vs normal BMI patients. Meta-analysis failed to demonstrate any statistically significant difference in early mortality (RR: 0.90 95% CI: 0.54, 1.53 I2 = 44% p = 0.71) but significantly reduced risk of late mortality in overweight vs normal BMI patients (RR: 0.85 95% CI: 0.73, 0.93 I2 = 84% p = 0.003). Scarce data suggested increased risk of early (RR: 1.44 95% CI: 1.08, 1.93 I2 = 26% p = 0.01) and late mortality (RR: 1.23 95% CI: 1.08, 1.41 I2 = 7% p = 0.002) in underweight vs normal BMI patients. Adjusted data corroborated the reduced risk of mortality in overweight (HR: 0.78 95% CI: 0.74, 0.83 I2 = 0% p < 0.0001) and obese patients (HR: 0.66 95% CI: 0.60, 0.73 I2 = 0% p < 0.0001). Our results indicate that the "obesity paradox" exists with survival outcomes of hip fracture patients. Obese and overweight patients were found to have lower risk and underweight patients were found to have increased risk of mortality as compared to normal weighted patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in land use patterns lead to changes in soil ecosystem functions, and soil microorganisms can sensitively reflect the evolution of soil quality and different ecosystem functions. Here, three typical land use patterns (wetland, arable land, and forest) in the Sanjiang Plain of northeastern China were selected to study the effect of land use changes on the microbial community structure of wetlands. High-throughput sequencing technology based on bacterial 16S rRNA genes was used to study the community structure of soil bacteria in three land use patterns and to explore the relationship between soil bacterial community and environmental factors. Our findings indicated that the dominant bacterial phyla in soils of different land use patterns were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Actinobacteria. However, the land use patterns significantly changed the composition and abundance of soil bacterial genera. Combined with the soil bacterial alpha diversity index, the soil bacterial α diversity in wetlands was higher than that in forests and farmlands. Soil bacterial beta diversity varied significantly among land use patterns. The redundancy analysis results showed that soil moisture content was the main factor affecting the bacterial community structure of wetland soils, whereas pH, soil organic carbon, and total nitrogen were the main factors affecting the soil bacterial community structure in forests, and total phosphorus and available phosphorus were the main factors affecting the soil bacterial community structure in arable land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To define the role of organic or inorganic fertilizers in the stability and sustainability of soil organic carbon (SOC) and crop yield, we examined changes in SOC and crop yield, as well as their correlation, in nine different fertilization treatments (sheep manure [M], sheep manure and urea [MN], sheep manure and diammonium phosphate [MP], sheep manure, urea, and diammonium phosphate [MNP], urea and diammonium phosphate [NP], urea and potassium sulfate [NK], diammonium phosphate and potassium sulfate [PK], diammonium phosphate, urea, and potassium sulfate [NPK], no fertilizer [CK]) from 2015 to 2018 on the Loess Plateau. The organic carbon content was higher in organic fertilizer (M, MNP, MP, MN) than in inorganic fertilizer treatments (NP, NPK, NK, PK) and the control. Crop yield was higher for organic than for inorganic fertilizers, whereas that of the control was always lower than those in the fertilization treatments. The highest crop yield was obtained in MNP. Crop yield and soil organic matter quality score correlated positively, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.5994 to 0.7151. Our results provide a theoretical basis for organic and inorganic fertilizer application in dry farming areas on the Loess Plateau and aid the long-term healthy development of soil in cultivated areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately estimating the shrubland aboveground biomass (AGB) of the desert steppe and understanding its dynamic changes are vitally important for studying the regional carbon cycle and sustainable use of grassland resources. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data are seldom applied to estimate shrubland AGB, particularly in arid and semiarid desert steppe landscapes. The main objective of this study was to model shrubland AGB in arid and semiarid desert steppe regions with HJ1B and RADARSAT-2 C-band data. The main species was Caragana microphylla, one of the most widespread shrubs in desert grasslands. Three regression models based on stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR), partial least squares regression (PLSR) and random forest regression (RFR) were developed between the measured AGB and radar backscatter coefficient, vegetation indices and texture information. The three methods were compared, and their performance was evaluated for the estimation of shrubland AGB from HJ1B and RADARSAT-2 data. The results show that SAR can produce higher accuracy with R2 = 0.34–0.42 than PLSR and RFR in arid and semiarid desert steppe regions. The RF results were slightly worse than those of SMLR and PLSR for sparse vegetation. The use of C-band SAR data to monitor dynamic changes in shrubland AGB in northern China will be of great value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The International Trauma Questionnaire—Child and Adolescent version (ITQ-CA) is a self-report measure that assesses posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (CPTSD) based on the diagnostic formulation of the 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). This study aimed to provide a Chinese translation and psychometric evaluation of the ITQ-CA using a sample of mental-health service seeking adolescents in Mainland China. Methods: The ITQ-CA was translated and back-translated from English to simplified Chinese and finalized with consensus from an expert panel. Adolescents ages 12–17 were recruited via convenience sampling from an outpatient psychiatric clinic in Mainland China. Participants completed the ITQ-CA; measures of four criterion variables (depression, anxiety, stress, adverse childhood experiences); and the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Construct validity, concurrent validity, and comparison of PTSD caseness between ICD-11 and DSM-5 measures were assessed. Results: The final sample consisted of 111 Chinese adolescents (78% female; mean age of 15.23), all diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the two-factor second-order model provided optimal fit. All criterion variables were positively and significant correlated with the six ITQ-CA symptom cluster summed scores. In the present sample, 69 participants (62.16%) met symptom criteria for ICD-PTSD or CPTSD using the ITQ-CA, and 73 participants (65.77%) met caseness for DSM-5 PTSD using the PCL-5. Rates of PTSD symptom cluster endorsement and caseness deriving from both diagnostic systems were comparable. Conclusions: The Chinese ITQ-CA has acceptable psychometric properties and confers additional benefits in identifying complex presentations of trauma-related responses in younger people seeking mental health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) is a traditional flower, famous in China, which owns highly ornamental value due to its various colors, especially double-colored species. However, the researches on color formation of double colored are rare reported. In this study, the P. lactiflora variety 'Hebao Jinlian' with red-yellow double colored petals was used as materials. The anatomical structure and flavonoid components were observed and determined. It was found that colored cells were mainly distributed in the upper and lower epidermis, six kinds of flavonoid components were identified. The total amount of anthocyanins and anthoxanthins decreased gradually with the growth of flowers, and the content in the outer petals was higher than that in the inner petals. Furthermore, by transcriptome sequence, the differential expression genes (DEGs) of outer and inner petals were enriched in flavonoid biosynthesis, phenylpropane biosynthesis and so on at four developmental stages. The accuracy of transcriptome sequence was verified by the expression pattern of DEGs detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Combined the analyses of flavonoid assay with transcriptome sequence, the synergistic effect of chalcone synthase (CHS), flavonoid 3-hydroxylase (F3H) and anthocyanindin synthase (ANS) may be the main reason for the formation of red outer petals, while the expression of chalcone isomerase (CHI) and flavonol synthase (FLS) were conducive to the formation of yellow inner petals. The results will lay a foundation for clarifying the color mechanism of double colored petals of P. lactiflora, and also provide a reference for the study of flower color in other ornamental plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Laiyang Group in the Jiaolai Basin, eastern China, contains Lower Cretaceous continental river and lake deposits that provide a complete record of the evolution of the paleoclimate in the Laiyang area from the early to late Aptian. This study used novel chemical weathering indices and palynological data for Lower Cretaceous mudstone in the Laiyang Group coupled with existing geochemical data, clay mineralogy and plant fossil record to reconstruct the geochemical weathering conditions and paleoclimatic evolution of the Jiaolai Basin over this period. Four distinctive episodes of paleoclimatic change were identified, with one linked to an extremely dry–hot climatic event correlated with the Oceanic Anoxia Event (OAE)1a. During Stage 1, strong chemical weathering was correlated with a relatively warm–humid climate during the early Aptian but the intensity of chemical weathering tended to decrease with an increasingly dry and hot climate. In contrast, Stage 2 was characterised by stable conditions with weak chemical weathering and an extremely dry, hot climate during the early and middle Aptian. The presence of organic-rich black shale and the associated distribution of organic carbon isotope values verified that the extremely dry–hot climate during this stage was related to OAE 1a. Stage 3 was a transitional period extending through the middle and late Aptian during which the climate became relatively warm and humid, triggering increases in chemical weathering. Finally, Stage 4 during the late Aptian was characterised by a return to high chemical weathering rates and a warmer climate. Notably, the paleoclimatic changes in the Aptian period indicated by the geochemical record of the Jiaolai Basin are synchronous with those indicated by marine records. The results of this study provide a reference for further study of this climatic event in terrestrial systems within the context of the greenhouse climate in the Cretaceous. Geochemical and palynological records of rapid climatic change are preserved in lower to upper Aptian terrestrial sediments in eastern China. Chemical weathering in inland east Asia during OAE 1a first increased, then decreased and then increased again. Terrestrial vegetation responded to global climate change during the early Aptian period in eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the effects of anticipatory emotions induced by episodic future thinking on the basic decision‐process of delay discounting and preventive behaviors during the most stringent COVID‐19 "lockdown" period in China. We define anticipatory emotions as any discrete emotions induced from anticipating decision outcomes and felt during decision‐making. In an online study conducted with healthy volunteers, anticipatory emotions were induced and appraised by asking participants to rate various emotions they feel when thinking they may be infected by COVID‐19 (N = 246). The participants in the control group reported their present emotions during the COVID‐19 pandemic (N = 245). Compared with the control group, the participants in the anticipatory emotion group had a higher future‐oriented preference for monetary rewards, with a significantly lower delay discounting rate. These participants also had a higher intention to engage in proactive, preventive behaviors. The likelihood estimate of being infected by COVID‐19 mediated these effects. Moreover, anticipatory disgust increased the preference for larger‐and‐later rewards. Anticipatory emotions induced by future thinking guide fast and rational decision‐making in a health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of the problems that have emerged along with the rapid industrialization and urbanization in China in recent years, the country proposes to compile the national main functional area plan, divides the national land space into four types of main functional areas: optimized development, key development, restricted development and prohibited development, and carries out the compilation of the national main functional area plan at two levels: national and provincial. The spatial evaluation indexes of the country and the results of the main functional area planning are expressed graphically in the form of thematic maps to make them visual, intuitive and easier to understand. In this paper, we study the topic selection of the National Atlas of Main Functional Area Planning, and mainly introduce the research results of the atlas in topic selection research, content structure design and layout design based on the comprehensive analysis of national and provincial information and following the principles of topic selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZY-1 02D satellite is an important satellite in China space infrastructure planning. The Land Satellite Remote Sensing Application Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People's Republic of China (LASAC) undertook the construction of the satellite hyperspectral data processing system and produced surface reflectance products. Reflectance is the basis of hyperspectral remote sensing data application, which is directly related to the efficiency and quality of hyperspectral application. At present, there is no comprehensive and in-depth study on the accuracy evaluation of the atmospheric correction reflectance of ZY1 - 02D satellite hyperspectral data. In view of this problem, Accuracy Verification of LASAC products using accuracy, precision, uncertainty, spectral curve correlation and spectral angle chord four indicators based on surface reflectance produced by AERONET ground measured data. The results show that the average values of accuracy, precision, uncertainty of LASAC products are 3.2 %, 2.02 % and 4.13 %, respectively. The spectral curve correlation and spectral chord angle are 0.998 and 0.979, respectively. The research result can provide technical reference for the processing and application of ZY1 - 02D hyperspectral image surface reflectance products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Arrhythmia, pneumonia, cardiac insufficiency, a high leukocyte count, and low albumin concentrations were associated with increased 30-day mortality in elderly hip fracture patients after surgery. It is important to improve short-term survival rates by optimizing the respiratory and cardiac function of geriatric patients before they undergo surgery. Introduction: This study aims to investigate the 30-day mortality and related risk factors for elderly patients following surgery for hip fractures. Methods: This retrospective study examined chart reviews for evaluating associations of gender, age, fracture site, biochemical indicators, pre-surgery comorbidities, number of pre-surgery comorbidities, time to surgery and anesthesia and surgery methods with postoperative 30-day mortality in elderly hip fracture surgery patients. Results: A total of 1,004 patients were included in the study and 43 (4.3%) patients died within 30 days after surgery. Univariate analysis showed that patients in the non-survival group had a higher mean age, higher leukocyte counts, lower hemoglobin and albumin levels, a higher proportion of arrhythmias, pneumoniae and cardiac insufficiency and number of presurgical comorbidities than the survival group (all P-values < 0.05). Multivariate logistic analysis further confirmed that arrhythmia (OR = 2.033, P = 0.038), pneumonia (OR = 2.246, P = 0.041), cardiac insufficiency (OR = 2.833, P = 0.029), high leukocyte count (OR = 1.139, P = 0.009), and low albumin (OR = 0.925, P = 0.041) were all significant risk factors for mortality 30 days after surgery. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that arrhythmia, pneumonia, cardiac insufficiency, a high leukocyte count, and low albumin concentrations were associated with increased 30-day mortality in elderly hip fracture patients after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate prediction of PM2.5 concentration is the premise and guarantees to effectively control PM2.5 concentration and avoid the adverse effects of high PM2.5 concentration on human health. However, given the existing statistical models can only predict the pollutant concentration at the monitoring sites, the spatial distribution of PM2.5 concentration cannot be predicted, which greatly limits the application of the model in PM2.5 concentration prediction. This study combined the PM2.5 spatial distribution data predicted using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer 3 km aerosol optical depth (AOD) and meteorological factors into a spatiotemporal autoregressive (STAR) model to predict the regional PM2.5 concentration and quantify the short-term spatial distribution change of PM2.5 in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region (JingJinJi) one day in advance. Five simulation functions were used to simulate the STAR model, and the 2014 data of JingJinJi were used to verify its accuracy. Results showed that the STAR model had the best prediction performance when gradient boosting decision tree was used as the simulation function compared with other simulation functions. The coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square prediction error (RMSE), index of agreement (IA), and mean absolute error (MAE) of the STAR model were 0.85, 27.08 µg/m3, 0.96, and 20 µg/m3, respectively. The spatial distribution prediction results of PM2.5 showed that the +1-day PM2.5 spatial distribution prediction results were in good agreement with the PM2.5 spatial distribution results predicted by AOD to provide accurate spatiotemporal distribution data for reducing air pollution and air pollution early warning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High‐throughput 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA sequencing were performed to study the changes of soil microbial diversity and community structure under different heavy metal pollution levels in Chengxian lead–zinc mining area, Gansu Province. In this study, we characterized the main physicochemical properties, multiple heavy metal pollution, and microbial community structure of the soil in the tailings. The results show that the soil near the tailings pond was alkaline, barren and the heavy metals were seriously polluted. The microbial diversity and richness of S1 and S2 sites were significantly lower than that of CK2 site (P < 0·05), indicating that the heavy metal pollution could change the physicochemical properties and microbial community structure in soil. Among 97 identified core operating taxa of fungal communities, Ascomycota, Teguta and Basidiomycota were dominant at the phylum level, while among 1523 identified core operating taxa of bacterial communities, Actinomycota was dominant at the phylum level. In addition, the redundancy analysis and Spearman correlation analysis showed that the physicochemical properties and the heavy metal concentration had significant effects on the composition and distribution of soil microbial community. The basic characteristics of soil physicochemical properties, multiple heavy metal pollution and microbial community structure in the tailings were revealed, hoping to provide a basis for ecological rehabilitation of tailings by revealing the variance rule of microbial community diversity in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of immunological memory for protective immunity against viral infection, whether H7N9-specific antibodies and memory T-cell responses remain detectable years after the original infection is unknown. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the immune memory responses of H7N9 patients who contracted the disease and survived during the 2013–2016 epidemics in China. Sustainability of antibodies and T-cell memory to H7N9 virus were examined. Healthy individuals receiving routine medical examinations in a physical examination centre were recruited as control. A total of 75 survivors were enrolled and classified into four groups based on the time elapsed from illness onset to specimen collection: 3 months (n = 14), 14 months (n = 14), 26 months (n = 28) and 36 months (n = 19). Approximately 36 months after infection, the geometric mean titres of virus-specific antibodies were significantly lower than titres in patients 3 months after infection, but 16 of 19 (84.2%) survivors in the 36-month interval had microneutralization (MN) titres ≥40. Despite the overall declining trend, the percentages of virus-specific cytokine-secreting memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells remained higher in survivors at nearly all time-points in comparison with control individuals. Linear regression analysis showed that severe disease (mean titre ratio 2.77, 95% CI 1.17–6.49) was associated with higher haemagglutination inhibition (HI) titre and female sex for both HI (1.92, 1.02–3.57) and MN (3.33, 1.26–9.09) antibody, whereas female sex (mean percentage ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.08–2.63), underlying medical conditions (1.94, 95% CI 1.09–3.46) and lack of antiviral therapy (2.08, 95% CI 1.04–4.17) were predictors for higher T-cell responses. Survivors of H7N9 virus infection produced long-term antibodies and memory T-cell responses. Our findings warrant further serological investigation in general and high-risk populations and have important implications for vaccine design and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important indicator of soil quality and crop production. In order to optimize management practices and balance agronomic and environmental interests, we conducted physicochemical fractionation to determine the effect of different fertilization treatments on a maize-wheat field in southern China. The fertilization treatments include unfertilized control (CK), nitrogen fertilizer alone (N), balanced fertilizer (NPK) and application of fertilizer plus manure (NPKM). SOC in CK was 6.5 g kg-1 lower than that in the NPKM treatment and 1.4 g kg-1 higher than that in the N treatment. The proportions of C fractions to SOC in unprotected pool, physically protected pool and stably protected pool (chemically protected pool plus biochemically protected pool) were 22.2~43.9%, 4.8~6.9%, and 49.4~71.6%, respectively. Soil organic carbon was mainly contained in the unprotected C pool. In addition, the biochemically protected C showed changing saturation levels in different fertilization treatments. Therefore, the application of fertilizer plus manure might be the best option in order to improve soil TOC and C fractions in the maize-wheat cropping system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choosing varieties that are suitable for planting in different areas has become a key scientific issue. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate and select better varieties with relatively high potato tuber yield and quality in the Loess Plateau of China. We selected fifteen potato varieties that are mainly grown locally for the experiment. The potato variety significantly affected potato tuber yield, dry matter accumulation, starch content, protein content, reducing sugar, total soluble sugar, vitamin C, and browning intensity. The soil nitrate N content in 0-20 cm was 17.8% and 28.6% higher than that in 20-40 cm and 40-60 cm, respectively. Potato tuber yield was significantly correlated with the soil water, soil ammonium N, soil alkali-hydrolyzable N, and soil available phosphorus contents. The starch content of potato tubers was significantly correlated with soil pH value and soil electrical conductivity. The potato variety of Xiapoti had the relatively high potato tuber yield, dry mater accumulation, starch content, total soluble sugar, and protein content. Therefore, Xiapoti is recommended as an optimal potato variety in the Loess Plateau of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentrations and stoichiometry of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) have critical implications for nutrient cycling and ecosystem function. While their high sensitivity to atmospheric N deposition is well known, it remains unclear for the soil depth-dependence of such responses to N deposition. Here, we examined the responses of soil C : N : P stoichiometry at three soil depths in the upper humus horizon (0–5, 5–10, and 10–20 cm) of Haplic Chernozem (Loamic) across a gradient of urea addition rates (0, 2, 10, 20, and 50 g N m–2 year–1) after five years treatments in a hay-harvest meadow steppe of northern China. We found that the effects of increasing N addition rates on the concentrations and stoichiometry of soil C, N and P did not depend on soil depth, though those parameters varied greatly across different soil layers. Across all soil depths, the concentrations of soil C and N increased with increasing N addition rates, but soil P concentration was not affected by N addition. The higher sensitivity of soil N than soil C to N enrichment resulted in decreasing soil C : N ratio across the N addition gradient, especially for the surface soil layer. Soil N : P ratio showed a positive response to the increases of N addition rates. The unbalanced responses of soil C, N, and P concentrations to N enrichment, as indicated by the decreases of soil C : N ratio and the increases of soil N : P ratio across the N addition gradient, highlighted the role of N enrichment in decoupling soil nutrient cycling in the temperate steppe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full understanding of the workability and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the cemented high-porosity (CHPB) material, made of surface sand, widely distributed in the western mining area, foam, and cementing materials, is important for applying in ecologically fragile mining areas of western China. In this article, the influence of solid content, density grade, sand/binder ratio, and silica fume dosage in binder on workability and strength development of CHPB samples in different curing ages is studied. Test results show that the fresh CHPB mix has good workability, due to the existence of a large number of bubbles. With the increase of density grade, the UCS of the CHPB sample increases exponentially. Workability of fresh CHPB samples significantly decreases with increasing solid content due to the reduction of interparticle distance. For a given mix proportion, the optimal solid content of CHPB samples is 83.7%. The variation of the sand/binder ratio from 3 to 4.5 results in a slight increase of workability and a significant increase of the UCS. Silica fume demonstrates improvement on workability and strength behavior, and the optimal dosage in the binder should not exceed 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been reported that root characteristics and canopy structure in an agroforestry system directly change the availability of underground and aboveground resources and climatic conditions and seriously affect crop growth and yield (Dufour et al. in J Agron Crop Sci 199: 217–227, 2013; Bouttier et al. in Agroforest Syst 88: 693–706, 2016; Farooq et al. in Appl Ecol Env Res 17: 3553-3566, 2019). An experiment was conducted in northwest China to explore the distribution and characteristics of root systems for alfalfa grown in a poplar/alfalfa silvopastoral system. Field sampling was conducted every 15 days in a 3-yr-old alfalfa + 7-yr-old poplar silvopastoral system, a 3-yr-old sole-alfalfa system, and a 7-yr-old sole-poplar system. The results showed that intercropping reduced the RLD of alfalfa, while the FSRL of intercropped alfalfa was higher than that of sole-cropped alfalfa. In terms of the agronomic traits of alfalfa (plant height, leaf area index, leaf-stem ratio, growth rate), intercropping traits were significantly lower than sole-cropped alfalfa, and the total hay yield during intercropping was 55.27% lower than that of sole-cropped alfalfa. In terms of field microclimate, the dew point temperature and wind speed of sole-cropped alfalfa were 70.68% and 93.83% higher than that of intercropping, but the air humidity of sole-cropped alfalfa was 13.49% lower than that of intercropping, and there was no significant difference in air temperature. The crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), and relative feed value (RFV) of intercropping alfalfa were 17.78%, 12.33%, and 17.26% higher than sole-cropped alfalfa, respectively. Although the agronomic traits and yield of alfalfa decreased with intercropping, intercropping could improve the microclimate and the quality of alfalfa significantly. The land equivalent ratio (LER = 1.42) in the poplar/alfalfa silvopastoral system was > 1, indicated that the system in advantageous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the occurrence of ESBL and colistin‐resistant E. coli and its genotypic characterization and identification of virulence determinants in cases of bovine mastitis in three provinces of China. Materials and methods: Five hundred and thirty‐five milk samples presenting mastitis symptoms were screened for the presence of ESBL, colistin‐resistant and different virulence genes. Susceptibility testing was identified by the micro‐dilution method. Escherichia coli isolates were used to detect ESBL genes (blaCTX‐M, blaSHV and blaTEM) and colistin‐resistant genes mcr‐(1–9). Multiplex PCR approach was used for the detection of major blaCTX‐M groups, different phylogroups and virulence genes. The clonal relationship was then evaluated with MLST, MLSA and PFGE. Results: Multi‐drug resistance (MDR) was found in more than 85% of ESBL and colistin‐resistant E. coli isolates. Genotypic characterization showed a dominance of the blaCTX‐M‐1 group, and the most prevalent alleles observed were blaCTX‐M‐28 (38·37%), blaCTX‐M‐14 (17·44%), blaCTX‐M‐66 (13·95%) and blaCTX‐M‐55 (10·46%). The targeted virulence genes were detected in 97·89% of isolates. Sequence types ST58 and ST410 were the most predominant (2/20 = 20%). The majority of the E. coli isolates carrying ESBL and mcr‐1 were clonally unrelated. Conclusion: High level of association was observed between ESBL‐producing and COL‐resistance in E. coli of bovine mastitis. Significance and Impact of the Study: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report which shows the genetic diversity of ESBL and mcr‐1, and various virulent features of E. coli strains isolated from bovine clinical mastitis in three different provinces of China. The major carriers of the blaCTX‐M‐1 and blaCTX‐M‐9 were blaCTX‐M‐28 and blaCTX‐M‐14 alleles respectively. The association of ESBL‐producing E. coli with mcr‐1 is of particular concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents has become a worldwide epidemic. There are several studies that have concentrated on the prevalence rate of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID), whereas data on such a population on the mainland of China remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence rate of overweight and obesity among school‐aged children and adolescents with ID on China's mainland. Methods: This study employed a cross‐sectional design to examine the body weight status of 1873 children and adolescents (ages 6–18 years old) with ID in 35 special education schools. Body mass index was calculated, and the concepts of overweight and obesity were defined according to the standard of the Working Group for Obesity in China. Results: Data indicated that 18.2% (95% CI: 16.5%–20.0%) of children and adolescents with ID were overweight and 14.4% (95% CI: 12.8%–16.0%) were obese. Boys with ID were more likely to be overweight than girls with ID (OR = 1.48[95% CI: 1.13–1.94], P < 0.05). Children and adolescents with Down syndrome or autism spectrum disorder had a trend to be classified as overweight (OR = 1.76[95% CI: 1.22–2.54], P < 0.05; OR = 1.57[95% CI: 1.17–2.09], P < 0.05, respectively) or obesity (OR = 1.82[95% CI: 1.23–2.69], P < 0.05; OR = 1.40 [95% CI: 1.02–1.93], P < 0.05, respectively) compared with those with ID without these conditions. Moreover, children and teenagers with ID living in urban areas had a predisposition to be overweight (OR = 2.16[95% CI: 1.14–4.09], P < 0.05) or obese (OR = 3.25[95% CI: 1.41–7.50], P < 0.05) relative to those who lived in rural areas. Conclusion: Results indicated that in China, the prevalence rate of overweight and obesity among school‐aged children and adolescents with ID was remarkably high. Therefore, future research should make every effort to focus on reducing and preventing overweight and obesity of this population in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most ecological operation charts of hydropower stations have focused on the average ecological benefits over a long period of time, while the possible ecological damage caused by flood or drought is often overlooked or averaged out. This study proposed a new hydropower-ecological operation chart of cascade hydropower stations, in which limited ecological curves were introduced and optimized to alleviate the negative impacts caused by drought or flood events on fish habitat and to maintain the long-term average habitat quality without reducing the power generation. The optimal ecological discharge range at a given ecological conservation target was determined from the weighted usable area-discharge curve using the physical habitat simulation model, and then the upper and lower limited ecological curves were obtained by reverse calculation, which together with the conventional operation chart (COC) formed the ecological operation chart (EOC). The limited ecological curves were further optimized with the goal of reducing the ecological damage frequency in wet and dry extremes, and then incorporated into COC to form the optimized ecological operation chart (OEOC). A case study was performed with Jasajiang (JS) and Madushan (MDS) cascade reservoirs on the Yuan River in southwestern China. The results show that the EOC that takes into account the ecological benefits can reduce the ecological damage frequency compared to the COC, but potentially at the expense of the overall ecological benefit. However, further optimization of limited ecological curves in OEOC makes it possible to obtain higher short-term ecological benefit and lower ecological damage frequency with the loss of lower overall ecological benefit. Specifically, OEOC is helpful to reduce the ecological damage frequency and improve the power generation and overall ecological benefit at an ecological target of 60 ~ 80%. Notably, at an ecological target of 80%, OEOC results in a 4.1% increase in power generation and a 11.25% decrease in ecological damage frequency for JS-MDS cascade reservoirs compared with that of COC, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the incidence and associated predictors of adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) among pregnant women infected with syphilis. Design: Cox regression analysis. Setting: China. Population or sample: Pregnant women who were tested for and diagnosed with syphilis during the index pregnancy and delivered at a gestational age ≥28 weeks between 2016 and 2019. Methods: Data were extracted from China's Information System of Prevention of Mother‐to‐Child Transmission of Syphilis Management. Descriptive analysis provided profiles and pregnancy outcomes of maternal syphilis, as well as the incidence of APOs. Log‐rank tests and Cox proportional hazard models were used to investigate factors influencing APOs in infected mothers with singleton births. Main outcome measures: The incidence of APOs and the hazard ratios of associated predictors using Cox proportional hazard model. Results: Syphilis treatment data were available from 83.86% of diagnosed women. Including deliveries from the total study population, 13.33% experienced APOs. Cox regression indicated that APOs were more likely in women tested and diagnosed in the late trimester, at delivery or postpartum. Women who accepted non‐standardised treatment and who received standardised treatment had less risk of APOs. Conclusions: China has made huge progress over the last decades in the prevention of mother‐to‐child transmission of syphilis, but the incidence of APOs among pregnant women infected with syphilis remains high. It is essential to further strengthen access to early detection and standardised treatment of infected women to reduce the risk of APOs. Access to early detection and standardised treatment reduces the risk of APOs due to maternal syphilis. Access to early detection and standardised treatment reduces the risk of APOs due to maternal syphilis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has challenged public health agencies globally. In order to effectively target government responses, it is critical to identify the individuals most at risk of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), developing severe clinical signs, and mortality. We undertook a systematic review of the literature to present the current status of scientific knowledge in these areas and describe the need for unified global approaches, moving forwards, as well as lessons learnt for future pandemics.Methods: Medline, Embase and Global Health were searched to the end of April 2020, as well as the Web of Science. Search terms were specific to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19. Comparative studies of risk factors from any setting, population group and in any language were included. Titles, abstracts and full texts were screened by two reviewers and extracted in duplicate into a standardised form. Data were extracted on risk factors for COVID-19 disease, severe disease, or death and were narratively and descriptively synthesised.Results: One thousand two hundred and thirty-eight papers were identified post-deduplication. Thirty-three met our inclusion criteria, of which 26 were from China. Six assessed the risk of contracting the disease, 20 the risk of having severe disease and ten the risk of dying. Age, gender and co-morbidities were commonly assessed as risk factors. The weight of evidence showed increasing age to be associated with severe disease and mortality, and general comorbidities with mortality. Only seven studies presented multivariable analyses and power was generally limited. A wide range of definitions were used for disease severity.Conclusions: The volume of literature generated in the short time since the appearance of SARS-CoV-2 has been considerable. Many studies have sought to document the risk factors for COVID-19 disease, disease severity and mortality; age was the only risk factor based on robust studies and with a consistent body of evidence. Mechanistic studies are required to understand why age is such an important risk factor. At the start of pandemics, large, standardised, studies that use multivariable analyses are urgently needed so that the populations most at risk can be rapidly protected.Registration: This review was registered on PROSPERO as CRD42020177714 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: In China, apple production areas are largely from the coastal to inland areas and across varied climate zones. However, the relationship among soil micro‐organisms, environmental factors and fruit quality has not been clearly confirmed in orchards. Here we attempted to identify the variation of soil bacteria in the main apple producing regions and reveal the relationship among climatic factor, soil properties, soil bacterial community and fruit quality. Methods and Results: Sixty soil samples were collected from six main apple producing areas in China. We examined the soil bacteria using bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicon profiling. The results show that the soil bacterial diversity of apple orchards varied from the Bohai Bay Region to the Loess Plateau Region. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Actinobacteria were the predominant taxa at the phylum level for all six areas. In the Bohai Bay and the Loess Plateau region, which are the two largest apple producing areas, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria had the highest relative abundance, respectively. Furthermore, soil bacterial diversity showed positive correlation with the mean annual temperature (MAT), soil organic matter (SOM) and pH. Excluding a direct effect on the apple fruit quality, MAT exerted an indirect influence through soil SOM and pH to alter the relative abundance of dominant taxa and shift the bacterial diversity, which affects the apple fruit titratable acids and soluble solids. Conclusions: Geographic variables underlie apple orchard soil bacterial communities vary according to spatial scale. Environmental factors exert an indirect effect on apple fruit quality via shaping soil bacterial community. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study provides a list of bacteria associated with environmental factors and the ecological attributes of their interactions in apple orchards, which will improve our ability to promote soil bacterial functional capabilities in order to reduce the fertilizer input and enhance the fruit quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Fusarium oxysporum is the primary pathogen causing root rot disease that severely affects cultivation of jujube fruit in the Xinjiang province of China. The aim of this study was to identify endophytic bacteria in healthy jujube organs that could effectively suppress F. oxysporum growth. Methods and Results: Different plant organs (leaves, twigs and roots) were collected from healthy Chinese jujube cultivated in southern Xinjiang province of China. The endophytic bacterium Brevibacterium halotolerans JZ7 was selected for its strong antagonistic activity and growth‐promoting characteristics. Gas‐chromatography mass‐spectrometry analysis showed that acetoin, 2,3‐butanediol and fenretinide were the three dominant volatile organic compounds produced by strain JZ7. Fenretinide strongly suppressed spore germination of F. oxysporum in vitro. Pot experiments showed that strain JZ7 colonized both the roots and rhizosphere soil of Chinese jujube and significantly reduced F. oxysporum level in jujube rhizosphere soil. Conclusion: We demonstrated that B. halotolerans JZ7 can be developed into a biological control agent to combat root rot disease of Chinese jujube in the Xinjiang province of China. Significance and Impact of the Study: The suggested strategy for biological control of jujube root rot disease is fully in accordance with the current principles of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]