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Background: Deep discussions play an important role in students' online learning. However, researchers have largely focused on engaging students in deep discussions in online asynchronous forums. Few studies have investigated how to promote deep discussion via mobile instant messaging (MIM). Objectives: In this study, we applied learning analytical tools (i.e., KBdeX and word clouds) to enhance students' shared epistemic agency and thereby support their deep discussions in MIM. Methods: Forty Chinese college students participated in this study and reflected on their MIM engagement by participating in the learning analytics (LA)-augmented meta-discourse sessions. The study used multiple data analysis methods, including content analysis, statistical analysis, epistemic network analysis and lag sequential analysis. Results: We found that LA engaged students in deep discussions and shared epistemic agency-related discourse, such as creating shared understanding, creating knowledge objects, and projective and regulative processes. In particular, word clouds engaged students in more complete shared epistemic agency discourse trajectory which started from creating awareness of unknowns, then progressed to setting projective plans and sharing information, and ultimately, creating shared understanding. Moreover, our analysis indicated that epistemic agency discourse moves of creating shared understanding led students to a high level of deep discussion. Implications: This study contributes to research by extending the 'comparison paradigm', which focuses on comparing (a)synchronous forums with MIM, to a 'design paradigm', which mobilises design features from (a)synchronous forums to MIM and using learning analytical tools to engage students in deep online discussions by promoting their epistemic agency.

In this study, we explored the gender differences in science achievement, interest, creativity, and so on, using a national representative sample from the National Assessment of Education Quality (NAEQ). NAEQ assessed the Grade-4 (n = 112,314) and Grade-8 (n = 74,808) students' scientific literacy of Mainland China in 2017. The findings indicated that there was no gender difference of science academic achievement in both Grade 4 and Grade 8 in China. However, scientific interests varied in different grades and disciplines. Girls had a higher interest in science in Grade 4 and higher interest in biology in Grade 8. The 8th-grade boys had much higher creativity than girls (p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.301), and outperformed girls in multiple-choice items. Our study also highlighted that boys were likely to outperform in the higher score ranges, as well as lower score ranges. Finally, we also found that the boys had significantly greater variabilities in science achievement and interest (variance ratio [VR] >1.1), while the girls had slight greater variability in creativity (0.9 < VR <1.0). Our results provide a reliable Chinese evidence for international studies on gender differences. However, further research is demanded to study the reasons behind gender differences deeply.

Purpose: Previous studies indicated a positive association between physical education (PE) and mathematics achievement (MA). This study explored how PE curriculum implementation relates to MA using data from the China National Assessment of Education Quality (CNAEQ) in 2015, including Mathematics (CNAEQ-MA 2015) as well as Physical Education & Health (CNAEQ-PEH 2015). Method: This study included 22,619 students (48.7% girls) age 13.96 ± 0.64 yr. from the national sample of Grade 8 students from CNAEQ. During 2015, MA and cardiorespiratory fitness (CF) were assessed. PE curriculum implementation, personal hygiene, eating habits, PE interest, mathematics interest, and self-confidence were collected via a self-report student survey. Personal hygiene and eating habits were combined to create the latent variable, healthy lifestyle (HL). Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the associations. Socioeconomic status, school location, Body Mass Index (BMI), and sex were all controlled. Results: PE curriculum implementation had an indirect, positive association with MA through CF, HL-mathematics interest, and HL-mathematics self-confidence. Together, the model explained 27.8% of the variance in MA. Conclusion: PE curriculum implementation may benefit mathematics education, and this link is mainly through HL, CF, mathematics interest, and self-confidence.

Background: Fine particular matter (PM2.5) has been associated with dementia, but limited information is available regarding the association between PM2.5 components and dementia. Aims: We aimed to identify the major components of PM2.5 that affect cognitive function to further investigate its mechanism of action, and develop a prevention strategy for dementia. Methods: In this study, we included 7804 participants aged ≥ 60 years recruited from seven counties in Zhejiang province, eastern China. The participants completed the baseline survey between 2014 and 2015, and were followed up until the end of 2020. We adopted single-component robust Poisson regression models for analyses, and estimated relative risks and 95% confidence intervals describing associations between the chemical constituents of PM2.5 exposure and incident cognitive impairment in those who were free from cognitive impairment at baseline. Results: Significantly positive associations were observed between sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and organic matter in PM2.5 and incident cognitive impairment across different exposure periods; the relative risks of 10-year exposure before enrollment ranged from 1.01 to 1.02. However, we did not find a significant association between black carbon and cognitive impairment. The point estimates of the relative risk values did not change substantially after performing the sensitivity analyses. Conclusions: Our findings strengthen the idea that long-term exposure to PM2.5 mass and its chemical components is associated with an elevated risk of incident cognitive impairment among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early Cambrian period is a critical time in Earth's history, marked by the second oxygenation of the atmosphere (known as the Neoproterozoic Oxidation Event) and the rapid evolution of animals, as well as the worldwide large-scale deposits. Polymetallic Ni-Mo deposits have been previously reported in the black rocks at the base of the Cambrian strata on the Yangtze Block, South China, while their genesis is still controversial, and their global occurrences are uncertain. Therefore, we conduct a comprehensive analysis of trace elements and rare earth elements in the black rocks at the base of the Yurtus Formation in the Sugaitblak section (SGT) in Aksu, Tarim Block, and then make a comprehensive study by combining our and other data from the Tarim and Yangtze Block. The distribution patterns of the trace and rare earth element data from our study and another two sections in the Aksu area have shown that the black rocks in the Tarim were strongly enriched in V, Sr, Mo, Ba, and U, moderately enriched in Zn, Cu, Cr, and Pb, and slightly depleted in Ni, and Co during the early Cambrian. These enriched elements could mainly originate from the waning hydrothermal fluids, and then precipitate and preserve in sediments under anoxic environment. The comparison of trace elements in the black rocks between the Tarim and the Yangtze Block suggests that the types of enriched metal elements in these two regions were different, and metal concentrations in the Yangtze Block were much higher than those in the Tarim by 1-3 orders of magnitude. This result indicates that there are no polymetallic Ni-Mo enrichment layers in the black rocks in the Tarim during the early Cambrian, and the widespread polymetallic Ni-Mo enrichments in South China have been more likely influenced by the local hydrothermal activity. It could be further speculated that the early Cambrian period may have been an active period for seafloor hydrothermal activity, with locally different chemical components in hydrothermal fluids. Abundant metal nutrients brought by these hydrothermal activities may have been a potential factor for the rapid evolution of life during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sarcopenia is a progressive age-related disease that can cause a range of adverse health outcomes in older adults, and older adults with severe sarcopenia are also at increased short-term mortality risk. The aim of this study was to construct and validate a risk prediction model for sarcopenia in Chinese older adults. Methods: This study used data from the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a high-quality micro-level data representative of households and individuals aged 45 years and older adults in China. The study analyzed 65 indicators, including sociodemographic indicators, health-related indicators, and biochemical indicators. Results: 3454 older adults enrolled in the CHARLS database in 2015 were included in the final analysis. A total of 997 (28.8%) had phenotypes of sarcopenia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that sex, Body Mass Index (BMI), Mean Systolic Blood Pressure (MSBP), Mean Diastolic Blood Pressure (MDBP) and pain were predictive factors for sarcopenia in older adults. These factors were used to construct a nomogram model, which showed good consistency and accuracy. The AUC value of the prediction model in the training set was 0.77 (95% CI = 0.75–0.79); the AUC value in the validation set was 0.76 (95% CI = 0.73–0.79). Hosmer–Lemeshow test values were P = 0.5041 and P = 0.2668 (both P > 0.05). Calibration curves showed significant agreement between the nomogram model and actual observations. ROC and DCA showed that the nomograms had good predictive properties. Conclusions: The constructed sarcopenia risk prediction model, incorporating factors such as sex, BMI, MSBP, MDBP, and pain, demonstrates promising predictive capabilities. This model offers valuable insights for clinical practitioners, aiding in early screening and targeted interventions for sarcopenia in Chinese older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Soil contamination and solid waste accumulation pose significant risks to the safety of agricultural produce and residential areas. In China, coal gangue, a typical form of solid waste, is rich in valuable elements like silicon and aluminum, making it an ideal precursor for the synthesis of zeolite molecular sieves. This study focuses on transforming coal gangue into iron-enhanced X-type zeolite (Fe-NaX) molecular sieve and explores its potential in remediating lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) co-contaminated soil. Methods: Fe-NaX was synthesized from coal gangue in Sichuan using an alkaline melting hydrothermal method. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of Fe-NaX in remediation and assess its ecological risk, soil culture and acid rain leaching experiments were conducted. The microstructures of Fe-NaX were detected to explore its remediation mechanism. Results: The optimal Fe-NaX was synthesized at a 110 °C hydrothermal reaction temperature, a 1.5 mass ratio of NaOH and pretreated coal gangue (PCG), a 2.0 Si/Al molar ratio, and a 3.5 M alkalinity. Fe-NaX demonstrated outstanding performance in remediating Pb and Cd contaminated soil, with immobilizing efficiency for high bioavailability fractions of Pb and Cd at 44.4% and 21.9%, respectively. Even under acid rain stress, Fe-NaX was able to decrease the release of Pb and Cd in the soil by 42.3% and 59.6% respectively, with minimal ecological risk. Conclusion: This study, based on a "solid waste for soil-remediation" strategy, transforms coal gangue into Fe-NaX for use in soil remediation and holds great promise for the contaminated soil remediation and coal gangue comprehensive utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dimethylcyclosiloxanes (DMCs) are utilized as vital monomers in the synthesis of organosilicon compounds, integral to the manufacture of mobile smart terminal devices. Toxicological studies have revealed potential endocrine-disrupting activity, reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, and other toxicities of the DMCs. This study investigated the concentrations and composition profiles of seven DMCs, including hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3), octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6), and tetradecamethylcycloheptasiloxane (D7), hexadecamethylcyclooctasiloxane (D8), and octadecamethylcyclononasiloxane (D9) in three types of mobile smart terminal device components (silicone rubber, adhesive, and plastics). Environmental emissions of DMCs from silicone rubber materials were also estimated to improve the recognition of their potential fate within the environment. D5–D9 were widely present in silicone rubber and adhesives with detection rates ranging from 91–95.5% and 50–100%, respectively, while D3 and D4 were more frequently detected in plastics, both showing a detection rate of 61.1%. Silicone rubber had the highest total DMCs (∑7DMCs) and a concentration of 802.2 mg/kg, which were dominated by D7, D8, and D9. DMCs detected in adhesives were dominated by D4, D5, and D6. The estimated emission of ∑DMCs released into the environment in China from silicone rubber used in mobile smart terminal devices exceeds 5000 tons per year. Further studies are needed on the presence of DMCs in various commodities and environmental media to assess their ecological and human health impacts, as well as the toxicological effects of D7–D9 for the appropriate regulation of these chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A heat recovery coke oven (HRCO) is one of important approaches to achieving a carbon peak and carbon neutrality in China. However, the steady operation of an HRCO is significantly influenced by the internal working conditions and the quality of lining refractories. In this work, a comprehensive study of the internal working conditions of an HRCO was carried out. The results suggest that the partition wall (PW) between the carbonization and combustion chambers is the most vulnerable area, with the corresponding traditional silica bricks inadequate for the service requirements. A reference based on a comparison of the average thermal stress and high-temperature compressive strength is offered for evaluating and selecting silica bricks for the PW. New optimized silica bricks within the reference are verified to be more applicable to the actual working conditions of an HRCO than the traditional silica bricks. As such, this work provides valuable guidance for the optimization and selection of silica bricks for the PW in an HRCO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new termite-pathogenic species, Ophiocordyceps globiperitheciata and O. longistipes, are described from Yunnan Province, China. Six-locus (ITS , nrSSU , nrLSU , tef-1α, rpb1 and rpb2) phylogenetic analyses in combination with morphological observations were employed to characterize these two species. Phylogenetically, O. globiperitheciata is most closely related to Hirsutella cryptosclerotium and O. communis, whereas O. longistipes shares a sister relationship with O. fusiformis. However, O. globiperitheciata differs from H. cryptosclerotium by parasitizing Blattodea and producing clavate, unbifurcated stromata. Ophiocordyceps globiperitheciata is distinguished from O. communis by multiple stromata, shorter asci and ascospores. Ophiocordyceps longistipes differs from O. fusiformis in producing larger stromata, perithecia, asci and ascospores, as well as smaller citriform or oval conidia. Morphological descriptions of the two new species and a dichotomous key to the 19 termite-pathogenic Ophiocordyceps species are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated how and when two different aspects of teacher-student relationship (TSR; closeness and conflict) influence students' mathematical problem solving ability. Participants were 9163 eighth-grade Chinese adolescents (53.5% male) nested in 908 schools, who took part in a standard mathematics assessment and survey using student questionnaires that were all developed by the Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality (CICA-BEQ) in China in 2015. The results indicated that (a) after controlling the factors of gender and SES, teacher-student closeness had a significant and positive effect on mathematical problem solving, while teacher-student conflict did not, (b) the mediating role of mathematical self-efficacy in the relationships of TSRs and mathematical problem solving was confirmed, and (c) school climate negatively moderated the indirect relationships between TSRs and mathematical problem solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is complicated and difficult to prevent due to factors such as bone marrow invasion, therapy, and immune-mediated effects. This study aims to establish a nomogram model for predicting the risk of thrombosis in lymphoma patients undergoing chemotherapy, which has been increasing over the past 30 years. The data of lymphoma patients from the Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Chongqing University in China between 2018 and 2020 were analyzed. This included age, sex, body mass index, ECOG score, histological type, Ann Arbour Stage, white blood cells count, haemoglobin level, platelet count, D-dimer level, and chemotherapy cycle. Univariate and multivariate cox analysis was used to determine the risk factors for VTE. Characteristic variables were selected to construct a nomogram model which was then evaluated using ROC curve and calibration. Age, sex, PLT, D-dimer and chemotherapy cycle were considered as independent influencing factors of VTE. The mean (standard deviation) of the C index, AUC and Royston D statistics of 1000 cross-validations of the Nomogram model were 0.78 (0.01), 0.81 (0.01) and 1.61(0.07), respectively. It indicates a good calibration degree and applicability value as shown by the calibration curve. The DCA curve showed a rough threshold range of 0.05–0.60 with a good model. We have established and validated a nomogram model for predicting the risk of thrombosis in lymphoma patients. This model can assess the risk of thrombosis in each individual patient, enabling the identification of high-risk groups and targeted preventive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northwest China (WTL) is an essential ecological barrier zone of China, an important node of the "Silk Road Economic Belt," and a crucial bearing area for China's execution of the "One Road and One Belt" and "Going Global" strategies. However, its ecology is exceedingly fragile and particularly vulnerable to climate change and human interference. This study explored the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of vegetation in WTL using NDVI data and investigated its drive mechanisms by geodetector, partial correlation analysis, and residual trend analysis methods. As well as forecasting the trend for vegetation changes. The findings demonstrated that (1) the change in NDVI manifested an overall improvement trend and the distribution in space of NDVI rose from the center to the periphery. 57.07% of the area had a sparse cover of vegetation (NDVI between 0 and 0.2). In addition, about 49% of regions had deterioration tendencies, which were mainly aggregated in HX, QCXDB, QCXDN, and the eastern of QCXQN and QCXXB. (2) The NDVI's shifting trend was unsustainability, and the region of uncertain future accounted for 57.45% of the total, with apparent unsustainability features. (3) The key parameters influencing NDVI spatial distribution were Pre (precipitation), vegetation type, land use type, and soil type. The interaction between two factors enhanced the influence of any single element, which appeared as bivariate and nonlinear enhancements. (4) Both climate variations and human activities have been recognized as key variables affecting NDVI growth. NDVI variance in 73.02% of areas was influenced by the combined effects of climate variations and human activities. However, human activities were the most influential element in NDVI growth, with the relative contributions of 80.28% (19.72% of which was caused by climate variations). These results can be conducive to deepening insights into the local vegetation status, identifying the mechanisms driving vegetation change, and providing scientific recommendations for WTL's ecosystem restoration measures based on actual situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reconstruction models of hourly 10‐m wind speeds were developed for each of 2384 stations over China using stepwise regression, random forest and XGBoost machine learning approaches based on hourly observed and ERA5 reanalysis data from 2005 to 2021. The reconstruction procedures applied observed hourly data to reduce the systematic biases of reanalysis data sets. Furthermore, the procedures employed the past dynamically consistent states of the atmosphere simulated by ERA5 reanalysis techniques to reduce/remove wind‐observed data impacts of long‐term non‐meteorological condition changes over time (e.g., urbanization around weather stations), which provide homogenous hourly wind speed data sets from 1959 to 2021. The systematic errors of the models' simulations derived from three approaches are similarly small, with almost two orders of magnitude smaller than ERA5 original data sets. The systematic errors of reconstructed data sets derived from stepwise regression are similar to its simulation; however, the biases from two machine learning methods are even much greater than ERA5 original data sets. This result implies that machine learning methods are not suitable for such typical time‐series predictions using the previous‐hour wind speed as a predictor to reconstruct wind speed data for the next hour. Therefore, stepwise regression was selected to reconstruct hourly wind speed data sets, which have much better quality than ERA5 reanalysis data with the median correctness increased by >50% and the median rRMSE decreased by 25%–50%. Consequently, the reconstructed wind speed data sets have great potential to be useful for more precisely assessing the characteristics/trends of wind energy resources in the past 60 years over China. Plain Language Summary: The reliable wind speed data with great spatial and temporal coverages are essential meteorological information for more accurately evaluating and forecasting wind power characteristics and variabilities. The observed historical wind speed data sets have various limitations: insufficient spatial/temporal coverages, non‐meteorological condition changes over time (e.g., urbanization around weather stations, measurement instruments, station locations). The reanalysis products cannot accurately reproduce surface wind fields since the systematic biases are usually caused by the reanalysis data assimilation processing/modeling. To overcome the limitations of both data sets, the reconstruction models of hourly wind speeds were developed based on hourly observed and reanalysis data from 2005 to 2021. The reconstruction procedures applied observed hourly data to reduce the systematic biases of reanalysis data sets and employed the past dynamically consistent states of the atmosphere simulated by reanalysis techniques to reduce/remove wind‐observed data impacts of non‐meteorological condition changes over time. Therefore, the reconstruction models are able to provide homogenous hourly wind speed data sets from 1959 to 2021 for available stations over China, which have much better quality than the reanalysis data. Consequently, the reconstructed wind speed data sets have great potential to be useful for more precisely assessing the characteristics/trends of wind energy resources in the past 60 years over China. Key Points: The reconstruction models of hourly wind speed data sets for available stations over China were developed using three different approachesThe hourly wind speed data from 1959 to 2021 for 2384 stations over China were reconstructed based on ERA5 reanalysis/observed data setsThe reconstructed historical homogeneous hourly wind speed data have advantages of being better quality than reanalysis data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent anomaly detection for wind turbines using deep-learning methods has been extensively researched and yielded significant results. However, supervised learning necessitates sufficient labeled data to establish the discriminant boundary, while unsupervised learning lacks prior knowledge and heavily relies on assumptions about the distribution of anomalies. A long short-term memory-based variational autoencoder Wasserstein generation adversarial network (LSTM-based VAE-WGAN) was established in this paper to address the challenge of small and noisy wind turbine datasets. The VAE was utilized as the generator, with LSTM units replacing hidden layer neurons to effectively extract spatiotemporal factors. The similarity between the model-fit distribution and true distribution was quantified using Wasserstein distance, enabling complex high-dimensional data distributions to be learned. To enhance the performance and robustness of the proposed model, a two-stage adversarial semi-supervised training approach was implemented. Subsequently, a monitoring indicator based on reconstruction error was defined, with the threshold set at a 99.7% confidence interval for the distribution curve fitted by kernel density estimation (KDE). Real cases from a wind farm in northeast China have confirmed the feasibility and advancement of the proposed model, while also discussing the effects of various applied parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is currently the third most important legume crop in the world. It could form root nodules with its symbiotic rhizobia in soils and perform bio-nitrogen fixation. Mesorhizobium ciceri is a prevalent species in the world, except China, where Mesorhizobium muleiense is the main species associated with chickpea. There were significant differences in the competitive ability between M. ciceri and M. muleiense in sterilized and unsterilized soils collected from Xinjiang, China, where chickpea has been grown long term. In unsterilized soils, M. muleiense was more competitive than M. ciceri, while in sterilized soils, the opposite was the case. In addition, the competitive ability of M. ciceri in soils of new areas of chickpea cultivation was significantly higher than that of M. muleiense. It was speculated that there might be some biological factors in Xinjiang soils of China that could differentially affect the competitive nodulation of these two chickpea rhizobia. To address this question, we compared the composition and diversity of microorganisms in the rhizosphere of chickpea inoculated separately with the above two rhizobial species in soils from old and new chickpea-producing regions. Results: Chickpea rhizosphere microbial diversity and composition varied in different areas and were affected significantly due to rhizobial inoculation. In general, eight dominant phyla with 34 dominant genera and 10 dominant phyla with 47 dominant genera were detected in the rhizosphere of chickpea grown in soils of Xinjiang and of the new zones, respectively, with the inoculated rhizobia. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were dominant at the phylum level in the rhizosphere of all soils. Pseudomonas appeared significantly enriched after inoculation with M. muleiense in soils from Xinjiang, a phenomenon not found in the new areas of chickpea cultivation, demonstrating that Pseudomonas might be the key biological factor affecting the competitive colonization of M. muleiense and M. ciceri there. Conclusions: Different chickpea rhizobial inoculations of M. muleiense and M. ciceri affected the rhizosphere microbial composition in different sampling soils from different chickpea planting areas. Through high throughput sequencing and statistical analysis, it could be found that Pseudomonas might be the key microorganism influencing the competitive nodulation of different chickpea rhizobia in different soils, as it is the dominant non-rhizobia community in Xinjiang rhizosphere soils, but not in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global bamboo area has expanded by almost 50% in the past 30 years. These bamboo stands could impact rainfall partitioning and chemical characteristics. In this study, a field experiment was established to determine the rainfall physical partitioning and chemical characteristics in a bamboo stand in eastern China. The field experiment revealed that rainfall in the bamboo stand was partitioned into throughfall, stemflow, and interception loss, accounting for 80.2%, 9.0%, and 10.8% of the gross rainfall, respectively. The bamboo stand had significant effects on the pH and concentrations of Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, and NH4+ in rainfall and water and element fluxes. The atmospheric rainfall pH value decreased as rainfall passed through the canopy of the bamboo stand. The elemental concentrations and element fluxes increased as rainfall passed through the canopy of the bamboo stand. Although canopy interception resulted in the lower annual water fluxes in the bamboo stand than in an open field, annual element fluxes in the bamboo stand were higher than those in the open field. The results of the study will facilitate a greater understanding of the atmospheric rainfall partitioning and hydrochemical fluxes in bamboo stands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is rich in coal resources under water bodies. However, the safety prediction of high-intensity mining under water bodies has long been one of the problems encountered by the coal industry. It is of great significance to realize safe mining under water bodies, improve the recovery rate of coal resources and protect reservoir resources. Therefore, this article takes the No. 5 coal seam and No. 11 mining area of the Wangwa Coal Mine as the research object, and integrates physical simulation, numerical simulation, theoretical analysis, and other methods to study the development height of water-conducting fracture zones in fully mechanized top coal caving mining. Solid–liquid coupling physical simulation tests reveal the failure characteristics of overlying strata in goaf and the seepage law of reservoir water under the influence of mining. By comparing the monitoring data of borehole leakage, the measured data obtained by borehole monitoring with the height data of the water-conducting fracture zone obtained by the traditional empirical formula of three-under standard, the error between the two is as high as −29.39%. In this case, the variance correction coefficient is used to correct the empirical formula, and on this basis, in order to effectively protect the surface water dam and water body, the mining height of the coal seam in the working face with limited height mining is inversely derived. The research results provide a basis for the safety prediction of high-intensity mining under the reservoir dam in the ecologically fragile areas of western China and a scientific guarantee for the formulation of safety measures under such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stand age is a significant factor when investigating forest resource management. How to obtain age data at a sub-compartment level on a large regional scale conveniently and in real time has become an urgent scientific challenge in forestry research. In this study, we established two strategies for stand-age estimation at sub-compartment and pixel levels, specifically object-based and pixel-based approaches. First, the relationship between canopy height and stand age was established based on field measurement data, which was achieved at the Mao'er Mountain Experimental Forest Farm in 2020 and 2021. The stand age was estimated using the relationship between the canopy height, the stand age, and the canopy-height map, which was generated from multi-resource remote sensing data. The results showed that the validation accuracy of the object-based estimation results of the stand age and the canopy height was better than that of the pixel-based estimation results, with a root mean squared error (RMSE) increase of 40.17% and 33.47%, respectively. Then, the estimated stand age was divided into different age classes and compared with the forest inventory data (FID). As a comparison, the object-based estimation results had better consistency with the FID in the region of the broad-leaved forests and the coniferous forests. In addition, the pixel-based estimation results had better accuracy in the mixed forest regions. This study provided a reference for estimating stand age and met the requirements for stand-age data at the pixel and sub-compartment levels for studies involving different forestry applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To understand the effects of poplar–intercropping systems on soil nutrients and soil enzyme activities, and further analyzed the relationship between soil enzyme activities and soil nutrients. Methods: Three different planting systems were chosen: a monoculture wheat (Triticum aestivum) system (W), a narrowly spaced poplar (Populus deltoides)–wheat intercropping system (PWN), and a widely spaced poplar–wheat intercropping system (PWW). The chemical properties (soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total potassium (TK), available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK)) and four enzymatic activities (urease, catalase, sucrase and alkaline phosphatase) in four soil layers (0–20, 20–40, 40–60 and 60–100 cm) of two sampling sites (1.5 and 3.5 m from tree row) in the three planting systems were investigated. Results: The SOM, TN, TP, TK, AP, AK concentrations and four soil enzyme activities were higher in the intercropping systems than in the monoculture wheat system, especially the PWN system. In the vertical direction, the soil nutrient concentrations and soil enzyme activities decreased with soil depth (P < 0.001), except AK and catalase. In the horizontal direction, the SOM, TN, TP, TK concentrations and four soil enzyme activities decreased with greater of distance from the poplar row, but the distribution trend was the opposite for AN, AP and AK. The correlation analysis revealed that the soil enzyme activities were significantly correlated with the SOM, TN, TP, AN and AP concentrations in the three planting systems (P < 0.01). Conclusion: In conclusion, agroforestry systems can significantly increase soil nutrient status and soil enzyme activities and can be an efficient method for improving soil health conditions. Additionally, compared with the wide poplar spacing in the intercropping system, the reasonably dense planting of intercropped poplar had more obvious effects on improving soil enzyme activities and soil nutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ego resiliency has been considered to be a vital element for psychological health. The Revised Ego Resiliency Scale (ER89-R) is an efficient instrument of ego-resiliency with promising psychometrics. However, the psychometric properties of the scale in Chinese college students are still unclear. This study was to test the psychometric properties of the ER89-R in a sample of 678 university students in Mainland China (mean age = 20.16, SD =1.69, 68.30% female). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a first-order two-factor model of the Chinese version of the ER89-R and evidence of strong invariance across gender. Moreover, the internal consistency values of the Chinese version of the ER89-R were from marginal to acceptable, the stability coefficients over time were moderate. Finally, the criterion validity of the Chinese version of the ER89-R was supported by the expected relations with resilience, mental health, self-efficacy, and perceived stress. These findings suggest that the Chinese version of the ER89-R holds promise as an instrument for evaluating ego-resiliency among Chinese college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to assist plants in increasing metal tolerance and accumulation in heavy metal (HM)-contaminated soils. Herein, a greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to assess the interactions of growth substrates (S1, S2, and S3, respectively) with various HM contamination and nutrient status sampling from a typical contaminated soil and tailings in Shuikoushan lead/zinc mining in Hunan province, China, and AMF inoculation obtained from plants in uncontaminated areas (Glomus mosseae, Glomus intraradices, and uninoculated, respectively) on the biomass and uptake of HMs and phosphorus (P) by the black locust plant (Robinia pseudoacacia L.). The results indicated that the inoculation with AMF significantly enhanced the mycorrhizal colonization of plant roots compared with the uninoculated treatments, and the colonization rates were found to be higher in S1 and S2 compared with S3, which were characterized with a higher nutrient availability and lead concentration. The biomass and heights of R. pseudoacacia were significantly increased by AMF inoculation in S1 and S2. Furthermore, AMF significantly increased the HM concentrations of the roots in S1 and S2 but decreased the HM concentrations in S3. Shoot HM concentrations varied in response to different AMF species and substrate types. Mycorrhizal colonization was found to be highly correlated with plant P concentrations and biomass in S1 and S2, but not in S3. Moreover, plant biomass was also significantly correlated with plant P concentrations in S1 and S2. Overall, these findings demonstrate the interactions of AMF inoculation and growth substrates on the phytoremediation potential of R. pseudoacacia and highlights the need to select optimal AMF isolates for their use in specific substrates for the remediation of HM-contaminated soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater resources are an essential component of global water resources. Long-term consumption of groundwater exceeding the standard levels for iron and manganese can lead to chronic diseases, posing a threat to human health. The Sanjiang Plain is the largest swamp wetland area in China and has high levels of iron and manganese in the groundwater, but the cause still needs to be clarified. Based on the results of water quality tests of 41 groundwater samples in the Eastern Sanjiang Plain, this paper analyzes the distribution characteristics and causes of iron and manganese from the perspectives of the original strata environment, redox conditions, pH conditions, and hydrochemical indicator factors in the research area, using statistical methods and GIS technology. The results show that high iron and manganese content in groundwater is prevalent in the Eastern Sanjiang Plain, and the exceedance rate of manganese is higher than that of iron (87.80% and 82.90%, respectively). The primary sources of iron and manganese in groundwater are iron and manganese minerals in the original strata environment. Influenced by factors such as acidic conditions, reducing environment, and rich organic matter, insoluble high-valent iron and manganese oxides are reduced to low-valent and soluble divalent iron and manganese. At the same time, groundwater's high mineralization and evaporation concentration are conducive to increased iron and manganese content, while the influence of human activities is small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil physicochemical properties and macropore spatial structure affect saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). However, due to regional differences and long measurement time, Ks is tedious to quantify. Therefore, it is of great importance to find simplified but robust methods to predict Ks. One possibility is to use pedo-transfer functions (PTFs). Along this line, stratified sampling was carried out in six typical forestlands in the rocky mountain area of Northern China. Penetration experiments and industrial CT scanning were combined to explore the distribution characteristics of regional Ks and its influencing factors. Based on this, we compared three Ks PTF models by multiple linear regression for Ks prediction. The results indicated that: (1) Ks decreased with increasing soil depth, which followed the order coniferous forest < broad-leaved forest < mixed forest, and the change range of mixed forest was greater than that of homogeneous forest. (2) Soil bulk density, water content, sand, silt, organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total potassium were significantly correlated with Ks (p < 0.05). In addition, stand type and soil depth had a certain impact on soil physicochemical properties that affected Ks. (3) Soil macropore structure, such as number density, length density, surface area density, and volume density, all decreased with increasing soil depth. They were all significantly positively correlated with Ks (p < 0.001). (4) The best predictability and universality for PTFs was achieved for PTFs containing bulk density, organic matter content, and total phosphorus. Only PTFs containing parameters of macropore spatial structure did not yield high predictability of Ks. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of forest hydrological infiltration processes in rocky mountain forests in Northern China, and provide theoretical support for the prediction and management of water loss and soil erosion and the enhancement of water conservation functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classification and evaluation of reservoirs conforming to geological characteristics are the proposed premises of the high‐quality development of unconsolidated sandstone heavy oil reservoirs. The P oilfield in Bohai Bay is one of the largest offshore oilfields in China, but the reservoirs are highly heterogeneous, have complex pore structures, and change fluid properties, which make the classification of reservoirs very difficult. At present, the most commonly used reservoir classification methods are based on the results of logging interpretation, which cannot eliminate the constraints of linear relationships such as empirical formulas. Machine learning has significant advantages for identifying reservoir classification problems that are complex and nonlinear with geological characteristics. First, this study fully considered the pore structure and fluid properties and selected four representative evaluation parameters. An improved K‐means method was used to establish a reservoir classification evaluation system. Characteristics, such as the sedimentary microfacies, pore structure and oilfield production performance, of different types of reservoirs were then analysed. Finally, six logging curves were selected as input results, reservoir classification was used as an output result, and XGBoost was used to carry out reservoir classification evaluation for the entire area. The accuracy of XGBoost was 85.35%. Furthermore, XGBoost was compared with three other machine learning methods to confirm its reliability. The results showed that the reservoirs in the study area can be divided into three types. Sandstone thickness and pore structure were the most important parameters that affected reservoir quality. Among various machine learning algorithms, XGBoost can accurately and quickly achieve a quantitative evaluation of reservoir quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: A meta‐analysis was carried out to review and identify correlates of stigma in poststroke patients. Background: Patients suffer from impaired physical functions and sequelae of stroke. Stroke‐related stigma hinders the recovery process and produces poorer clinical outcomes of stroke, leading to compromised quality of life. Design: A systematic review and meta‐analysis was reported by following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Review Methods: Nine databases were searched from their inception to May 2021 to identify studies focused on the relationships among demographics, disease‐related factors, psychosocial factors and poststroke stigma. Included studies were assessed by using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) scale. The statistical software R studios were used to perform statistical analysis. Results: Nineteen studies were included in the meta‐analysis. Four demographic factors (age, caregiver, residence, monthly income), seven stroke‐related characteristics (type of stroke, mRS, ADLs, stroke duration, recurrence, sequelae, chronic disease comorbidity) and three psychosocial factors (depression, social support, quality of life) showed significant associations with stroke‐related stigma. Conclusions: The results of our study can serve as a foundation for designing interventions to reduce stigma and improve the overall quality of life of poststroke patients and may produce positive clinical outcomes. Healthcare professionals should be aware of stroke patients who are characterised by correlates of stigma. Relevance to clinical practice Poststroke patients showed a moderate‐to‐high level of stigma, and this issue warrants more attention. This review provides a preliminary foundation for healthcare professionals to develop interventions to address stroke‐related stigma by focusing on demographic, disease‐related and psychosocial factors. Additionally, stigma identification should be a part of clinical nursing evaluation. The involvement of clinical and community nursing is very important to screen stroke‐related stigma and pay attention to this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory tract infection is one of the most common reasons for both morbidity and mortality worldwide. High attention has been paid to the etiological tracing of respiratory tract infection since the advent of COVID-19. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the epidemiological features of pathogens in respiratory tract infection, especially during COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 7668 patients with respiratory tract infection who admitted to Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from March 2019 to Dec 2021 were retrospectively included. The respiratory tract specimens were detected using a commercial multiplex PCR-based panel assay for common respiratory pathogens including influenza A virus (Flu-A), influenza A virus H1N1 (H1N1), influenza A virus H3N2 (H3N2), influenza B virus (Flu-B), parainfluenza virus (PIV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus (ADV), Boca virus (Boca), human Rhinovirus (HRV), Metapneumovirus (MPV), Coronavirus (COV), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), and Chlamydia (Ch). The positive rates were compared using a chi-square test. Compared with 2019, the positive rate of pathogen detection during from January 2020 to December 2021 was significantly lower, especially the detection of Flu-A. The positive rate of respiratory pathogen strains was 40.18% during COVID-19 pandemic, and a total of 297 cases (4.69%) of mixed infection with two or more pathogens were detected. There was no statistical difference in the positive rate between male and female patients. However, the positive rates of infection were different among different age groups, with higher incidence of RSV in infancy and toddler group, and MP infection in children and teenager group. While, HRV was the most common pathogen in the adult patients. Moreover, Flu-A and Flu-B were higher in winter, and MP and RSV were higher in spring, autumn and winter. The pathogens such as ADV, BOCA, PIV, and COV were detected without significant seasonal distribution. In conclusion, respiratory pathogen infection rates may vary by age and season, regardless of gender. During the COVID-19 epidemic, blocking transmission routes could help reduce the incidence of respiratory tract infection. The current prevalence of respiratory tract infection pathogens is of great significance for clinical prevention, diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Comprehensive understanding of the root canal system complexity is critical important for successful root canal therapy. A double root canal system may be present in permanent mandibular incisors with a variable incidence in different ethnic populations. Ignorance or improper management of this canal variation can lead to treatment failure. This in vitro study aimed to identify the anatomic features of root canal systems in the mandibular incisors in a Chinese population by using micro-CT. Methods: A total of 106 permanent mandibular incisors (53 central incisors and 53 lateral incisors) were collected from a native Chinese population. The teeth were scanned by a micro-CT scanner and then reconstructed three-dimensionally. The canal configurations were detected by Vertucci's classification, and the number and location of the accessory canals were also identified. The long (D) and short diameters (d) of the main and accessory canals were measured and D/d ratio was calculated at different root levels (cemento-enamel junction [CEJ] level, mid-root level and 1, 2, 3 and 4 mm from the apex). The root canal curvatures in the double-canaled mandibular incisors were measured at the proximal view by using modified Schneider's method. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of occurrence rates. Comparison of means from multiple groups was performed by using one-way ANOVA and LSD post-hoc test. Results: In regard to the occurrence of double root canals, gender difference was neither detected in the mandibular central (16.0% [male] vs 14.3% [female]; p = 0.862), nor in the mandibular lateral incisors (26.9% [male] vs 33.3% [female]; p = 0.611). Age group difference was also not detected in the mandibular central (p = 0.717) and lateral incisors (p = 0.521). The incidence of double root canals was 15.1% (8/53) in the central incisors, and 30.2% (16/53) in the lateral incisors, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.063). The most frequent non-single canal type was the type III (1–2-1) (18.9% [20/106]), and the other types identified included 1 case of type II (2–1) and 3 cases of type V (1–2). The incidence of accessory canals was 17.9% (19/106), with a mean level of 1.92 ± 1.19 mm from the apex. The frequency of long-oval (2 ≤ D/d < 4) and flattened canals (D/d ≥ 4), as well as the mean value of D, d and D/d ratio increased from the apical 1 mm to the apical 4 mm level (the D/d ratio increased from 1.9 to 2.9 for the single canals, from 1.4 to 3.3 for the buccal canals and from 1.2 to 2.3 for the lingual canals), and the D/d ratio reached the peak at the mid-root level. Double curvatures were detected in 33.3% (8/24) of the buccal canals and 37.5% (9/24) of the lingual canals, and the difference has no statistical significance (p = 0.063). The degrees of the primary curvatures were 21.5 ± 7.1 degrees for the buccal and 30.1 ± 9.2 degrees for the lingual canals, and the degrees of secondary curvatures were 27.0 ± 11.4 degrees for the buccal and 30.5 ± 12.5 degrees for the lingual canals in the double curvatures. The degrees of the single curvatures were 14.2 ± 6.3 degrees for the buccal and 15.6 ± 6.0 degrees for the lingual canals. Significant difference was detected among above 6 groups of canal curvatures (p = 0.000), and severe curvatures (≥ 20 degrees) were more frequently detected in the double curved canals. Conclusions: Double-canaled mandibular incisors were not uncommon in the Chinese population, and type 1–2-1 was the most frequent non-single canal type. Gender and age did not significantly impact the occurrence of a second canal in mandibular incisors. Long-oval and flattened canals were very common at different root levels and their incidence increased from apex to the mid-root level. Severe curvatures were frequently detected in the double canal systems, especially in those canals with double curvatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid developments in society and economy, the concentrations of heavy metals in surface water in South China have increased significantly, which poses a serious threat to the regional water security. In this study, the Fuhe River watershed in South China was selected as the study area to analyze physicochemical characteristics and heavy metal (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr) concentrations in river water in the dry and rainy seasons, in 2019, with the purpose of exploring their spatial–temporal variations and main influences and assessing the potential health risks of heavy metals. The pH value of river water varied from 5.82 to 7.97, and it fluctuated less overall in the dry season, but it oscillated greatly in the rainy season and was lower, especially in the lower reach of the Fuhe River. The electrical conductivity (EC) value changed between 33 μS/cm and 128 μS/cm and increased and fluctuated along the river flow in the two periods. The concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn in river water showed obvious differences between the two periods. The concentrations of Cd and Cu were lower with the ranges from 0.001 μg/L to 0.67 μg/L and from 1 μg/L to 12 μg/L, respectively, in the dry season than in the rainy season, while there were inverse cases for other heavy metals. Along the river flow, the Cr concentration was stable, whereas other heavy metals showed increasing trends. It was noted that the concentrations of heavy metals in the Fuhe River were, on average, lower than the Chinese drinking standard values, with the concentration of Pb in the dry season significantly higher than the drinking standard value of the World Health Organization (WHO). Principal component analysis and correlation analysis showed that rock weathering and anthropogenic inputs were the main controlling factors of Cu and Zn in the Fuhe River, and human activities were mainly responsible for Pb, Cr, and Cd concentrations. The health risk assessment results showed that the non-carcinogenic risk (HQingestion) value of Pb was greater than 1 in most sampling points in the middle and lower reaches in the dry season, suggesting a significant non-carcinogenic risk for adults and children by direct ingestion. The minimum carcinogenic risk (CRingestion) value of Cr was more than 10−4 in the rainy and dry seasons, and the CRingestion value of Cd in some sampling points was more than 10−4 in the rainy season, indicating significant cancer risks to adults and children. For areas with significant pollution and health risks in the Fuhe River watershed, it is urgent to strengthen the controls of industrial, agricultural, and urban wastewater discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A high-risk prevention strategy is an effective way to fight against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The China AIDS Fund for Non-Governmental Organizations (CAFNGO) was established in 2015 to help social organizations intervene to protect high-risk populations in 176 cities. This study aimed to evaluate the role of social organizations in high-risk population interventions against HIV/AIDS. Methods: This study was based on the CAFNGO program from 2016 to 2020. The collected data included the number and types of social organizations participating in high-risk group interventions and the amount of funds obtained by these organizations each year. We explored the factors influencing the number of newly diagnosed AIDS cases using a spatial econometric model. Furthermore, we evaluated the effectiveness of intervention activities by comparing the percentages of the individuals who initially tested positive, and the individuals who took the confirmatory test, as well as those who retested positive and underwent the treatment. Results: Overall, from 2016 to 2020, the number of social organizations involved in interventions to protect HIV/AIDS high-risk populations increased from 441 to 532, and the invested fund increased from $3.98 to $10.58 million. The number of newly diagnosed cases decreased from 9128 to 8546 during the same period. Although the number of cities with overall spatial correlations decreased, the spatial agglomeration effect persisted in the large cities. City-wise, the number of social organizations (direct effect 19.13), the permanent resident population (direct effect 0.12), GDP per capita (direct effect 17.58; indirect effect − 15.38), and passenger turnover volume (direct effect 5.50; indirect effect − 8.64) were the major factors influencing new positive cases confirmed through the testing interventions performed by the social organizations. The initial positive test rates among high-risk populations were below 5.5%, the retesting rates among those who initially tested positive were above 60%, and the treatment rates among diagnosed cases were above 70%. Conclusions: The spatial effect of social organizations participating in interventions targeting high-risk populations funded by CAFNGO is statistically significant. Nevertheless, despite the achievements of these social organizations in tracking new cases and encouraging treatment, a series of measures should be taken to further optimize the use of CAFNGO. Working data should be updated from social organizations to CAFNGO more frequently by establishing a data monitoring system to help better track newly diagnosed AIDS cases. Multichannel financing should be expanded as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lidar at 1064 nm and Ka-band millimetre-wave cloud radar (MMCR) are powerful tools for detecting the height distribution of cloud boundaries and can monitor the entire life cycle of cloud layers. In this study, lidar and MMCR are employed to jointly detect cloud boundaries under different conditions. By enhancing the echo signal of lidar at 1064 nm and combining its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the cloud signal can be accurately extracted from the aerosol signals and background noise. The interference signal is eliminated from Doppler spectra of the MMCR by using the noise ratio of the smallest measurable cloud signal (SNR min⁡) and the spectral point continuous threshold (Nts). Moreover, the quality control of the reflectivity factor of MMCR obtained by the inversion is conducted, which improves the detection accuracy of the cloud signal. We analysed three typical cases studies; case one presents two interesting phenomena: (a) at 19:00–20:00 CST (China standard time), the ice crystal particles at the cloud top boundary are too small to be detected by MMCR, but they are well detected by lidar. (b) At 19:00–00:00 CST, the cirrus cloud changes to altostratus where the cloud particles eventually grow into large sizes, producing precipitation. Further, MMCR has more advantages than lidar in detection of the cloud top boundary within this period. Considering the advantages of the two devices, the change characteristics of the cloud boundary in Xi'an from December 2020 to November 2021 were analysed, with MMCR detection data as the main data and lidar data as the assistant data. The seasonal variation characteristics of clouds show that, in most cases, high clouds often occur in summer and autumn, and the low clouds are usually in winter. The normalized cloud cover shows that the maximum and minimum cloud cover occur in summer and winter, respectively. Furthermore, the cloud boundary frequency distribution results for the whole of the observation period show that the cloud bottom boundary below 1.5 km is more than 1 %, the frequency within the height range of 3.06–3.6 km is approximately 0.38 %, and the frequency above 8 km is less than 0.2 %. The cloud top boundary frequency distribution exhibits the characteristics of a bimodal distribution. The first narrow peak lies at approximately 1.0–3.1 km, and the second peak appears at 6.4–9.8 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal metastases are the most common source of morbidity in patients with cancer. Recently, microwave ablation has produced satisfactory results in the management of spinal metastases. However, there is still controversy in terms of clinical treatment, such as indication, power, time, and temperature. To standardize the application of microwave ablation technology and reduce the risk of surgical-related complications in spinal metastases, in this report, we aimed to summarize the current evidence and clinical experience of microwave ablation and developed a clinical guideline, initiated by the Musculoskeletal Tumor Group of the Committee for Minimally Invasive Therapy in Oncology of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used in to rate the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations, and the Reporting Items for Practice Guidelines in Healthcare (RIGHT) checklist was strictly followed to report the guideline. Finally, 15 evidence-based recommendations were formulated based on the 15 most concerned clinical questions among orthopedic surgeons, oncologists, and interventional radiologists in China. This guideline aims to promote the science-based normalization of microwave ablation for the treatment of spinal metastases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Herpes zoster increases the burden on the elderly in an aging society. Although an effective vaccine licensed by China Food and Drug Administration in 2019 was introduced into the market in June 2020, the willingness and influencing factors of herpes zoster vaccines in Chinese adults ≥ 50-years-old during coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic are yet to be elucidated.Methods: An online questionnaire survey was conducted using a simple random sampling method in October 2021 for viewers of the broadcast program. A binary logistic regression and multiple response analysis were conducted for herpes zoster vaccine and vaccination willingness. Pareto's graphs were plotted to present the multiple-choice questions of influencing factors.Results: A total of 3838 eligible participants were included in this study. Among them, 43.02% intended to be vaccinated, including 10.34% self-reported about receiving at least one shot of shingles vaccine, 30.22% declined, and 26.76% were hesitant. This population comprised a large proportion of middle-aged and older people (≥ 50-years-old) who have not experienced an episode of herpes zoster (54.98%) or are unaware of the virus (33.22%). The strongest determinants of vaccine hesitancy among older people were education background of Master's degree or above compared to senior high or equivalent and below, personal monthly income < 3000 RMB compared to 3000-5999 RMB, and living in a rural area.Conclusions: The willingness to get shingles vaccines can be improved further. Professional education and credible recommendation might prompt the elderly to improve their willingness and reassure them of the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Also, accessibility and affordability should also be improved in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China Spallation Neutron Source drift tube linac (DTL) is a high current intensity linear accelerator operated in pulsed mode. Beam loss is the most important cause of DTL performance degradation. Therefore, control of beam loss is very crucial to the linac's commission and routine operation. The beam loss in beam pulse width (∼several hundreds of microseconds) can be regarded as an instantaneous process, which may cause the local temperature of the drift tubes (DTs) to exceed the melting point or the thermal stress to exceed the material yield strength, resulting in permanent damage to the DTs. RF heating and beam loss are two major heat sources of the DTs during operation. First, temperature rise due to RF power dissipation is evaluated in this paper. Then, the thermomechanical response due to beam loss at different energies is investigated. It is found that the 3-MeV beam loss has the greatest stopping power and causes the largest temperature rise to the DTs. The maximum beam current loss for different working conditions is analyzed by both analytical method and ANSYS simulations, and the details will also be discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the influence of dredged sediment transportation on the distribution of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs, C10-13), medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs, C13-17), and long-chain chlorinated paraffins (LCCPs, C18-28), 62 surficial sediment samples were collected from the Huangpu River and the Shanghai offshore areas, East China. A high-performance liquid chromatograph coupled with a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry system (HPLC-QTOF MS) was employed to measure CPs. The concentrations of CPs in sediment samples ranged from 8.76 to 1270.7 ng g−1 for SCCPs, from 22.03 to 1730.78 ng g−1 for MCCPs, and from undetected (ND) to 236.86 ng g−1 for LCCPs. The concentrations were lower than those that can be toxic to organisms. Furthermore, the influence of sediment dredging activity on the distribution of CPs was also investigated. The concentrations of CPs in sediment discarding areas were significantly higher than those in the surrounding areas, but this result is consistent with the concentrations in the Huangpu River sediments where CPs originated. Also, the SCCP congener group in the discarding area was similar to that in the Huangpu River. These findings indicated that CPs exhibited lower migration in the discarding area and had limited environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This phase 3 confirmatory diabetes mellitus treatment study compared the safety and efficacy of Rapilin and NovoRapid insulin asparts in combination with metformin.Methods: This 24-week, open-label, randomized, active-controlled, noninferiority phase 3 confirmatory study conducted across centers in China aimed to enroll patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and blood sugar glucose inadequately controlled by oral antidiabetic drugs. Randomized patients received subcutaneous mealtime Rapilin or NovoRapid (3:1) injections, with metformin. The primary objectives were to demonstrate noninferiority (margin of 0.4%) in HbA1c change from baseline and compare safety profiles of Rapilin versus NovoRapid after 24 weeks. Secondary outcomes included 2-h postprandial plasma glucose (PPG), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and patients achieving HbA1c <7.0% and ≤6.5%.Results: 590 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomized to Rapilin (n = 441) and NovoRapid (n = 149) groups. After 24 weeks, the mean HbA1c change from baseline was -2.20% (Rapilin) and -2.32% (NovoRapid); the estimated treatment difference based on least-square means was 0.04% (95% CI: -0.17, 0.26), meeting the noninferiority criteria for Rapilin versus NovoRapid. Comparable improvements were reported for mean 2-hour PPG (6.14 and 6.29 mmol/L), FPG (2.02 and 1.70 mmol/L), and patients with HbA1c <7.0% (52.6% and 51.0%) and ≤6.5% (34.2% and 30.9%), in the Rapilin and NovoRapid groups, respectively, with no significant safety or immunogenicity outcome differences.Conclusions: Rapilin demonstrated non-inferior glycemic control, and matching safety and immunogenicity to NovoRapid in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus also receiving metformin over 24 weeks.Trial Registration: ChiCTR20003129041. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation slope is widely distributed in the mountainous area of China; this paper takes the slope of the Chengdu–Lanzhou Railway as the engineering background and analyzes the stability of the slope and the mechanical properties of the anti-slip pile under symmetrical train loads. First, the finite element software Midas GTS NX was used to analyze the effect of the slope after the anti-slip pile support and the stability of the slope at different pile spacings, pile row distances, and pile positions. Then, the finite element analysis results of the pile-side earth pressure and landslide thrust were compared with those of earth pressure theory, the standard method, and field-measured data. The results of this paper are as follows: (1) The anti-slip pile support increased the slope stability coefficient from 1.175 to 1.680. (2) The slope stability gradually decreased with increases in anti-slip pile spacing and pile row distance and rose first and then decreased with an increase in pile position. (3) The active earth pressure values behind the pile by Coulomb theory were slightly smaller than the finite element analysis result; the theoretical values of the passive pressure before the pile were much larger than the finite element analysis results. (4) The landslide thrust was calculated by the transfer coefficient method when the safety factor K = 1.00. The results of explicit method and implicit method were the same, which were 8–19% higher than the finite element simulation value; when the safety factor K = 1.35, the theoretical value of the explicit method was about three times the simulated value, and the theoretical value of the implicit method was about 2.3 times the simulated value. (5) The measured values verified that the simulated values had a certain degree of reliability, and the relative deviation between the two was 5–17%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The site of Qujialing experienced a long, sustained process of the development of Neolithic culture in the Jianghan Plain, with a period of some1600 years. Our previous studies based on macrofossil remains and phytoliths revealed that rice (Oryza sativa) from Qujialing was already domesticated, and millet (Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum) had also been spread into the site since the Youziling Culture period (5800-5100 BP). Nevertheless, no direct evidence has been provided regarding the daily consumed plant foods, especially plant foods obtained by gathering, throughout the site occupation. This paper thus examines pottery sherds (n=41) associated with culinary practices from Qujialing with starch grain analysis. Apart from starch grains from rice and millet, the results indicate that job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), lotus roots (Nelumbo nucifera), tubers possibly from Chinese yam (Dioscorea panthainca), acorns (Quercus sp.), and beans (Vigna sp. or/and Vicia sp.) were consumed by the ancient Qujialing people, within job's tears and lotus roots were not discovered before in the macrofossil remains and phytoliths. Combining the starch data and multiple lines of evidence from macrofossil remains and phytoliths, it is suggested that rice was among the most frequently consumed plant foods since the first occupation phase at Qujialing, while acorns could have been gradually replaced by other agricultural products (i.e., rice) and became less important food ingredients, especially when agriculture was more developed in the last occupation phase at Qujialing. These novel findings not only complement our previous research by providing the first line of evidence of paleodiet in the Jianghan Plain from the perspective of starch grain analysis but also delivers a better understanding of the characterized dietary trends and agricultural development in the research region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural irrigation water in Northwest China accounts for more than 80% of total local water consumption, which is 1.23 times that of China. However, Northwest China is the most water-scarce place in China. Water scarcity in restricts crop growth and production. Reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0) is important for agricultural water management. Understanding the reason for ET0 change is helpful to provide a basis for rational planning of agricultural irrigation systems to conserve water. This study investigated the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of ET0 at 181 meteorological stations in Northwest China from 2000 to 2019. And the sensitive factors and dominant factors affecting ET0 change were quantitatively identified based on sensitivity analysis and contribution rate evaluation. Results showed that (1) a significant increase in maximum and minimum temperature (Tmax and Tmin), a significant decrease in sunshine duration (SD) and relative humidity (RH), and a slight increase in wind speed at 10 m height (U10) were observed. (2) Annual ET0 had an insignificant increasing trend. Spring and autumn ET0 contributed greatly to the growth of annual ET0, especially in March, May, September, October, and November. ET0 in HH (Yellow River Basin area) had decreased at annual scale, while other subregions were the opposite trend. Significant differences in monthly and seasonal changes in the spatial distribution of ET0. (3) U10 was the dominating contribution factor related to annual ET0 variability, followed by Tmin, RH, Tmax, and SD. In seasonal time scale, Tmin, SD, U10, and RH were the most dominant factors in spring, summer, autumn, and winter respectively. (4) Spatial distribution for contribution rates of various meteorological factors showed significant diversity among various subregions. The positive contribution of U10 was the major cause of the increase in ET0 in semi-arid grassland area (BGH), the southwest of "Qice line" (QCXXN), and the southeast of "Qice line" (QCXDN); the significant increase in Tmin contributed most in Qaidam Basin (CDM), Hexi inland river basin (HX), the northeast of "Qice line" (QCXDB), and the northwest of "Qice line" (QCXXB), while the contribution of decreasing SD offsets the positive effects of other factors, leading to the decrease in ET0 in HH. Our work illustrates that water management measures should be different at different spatial and temporal scales. The effect of U10 can be offset by covering, to reduce evaporation and maintain water in BGH, QCXXN, and QCXDN. And high-temperature resistant varieties are planted to adapt to temperature growth in CDM, HX, QCXDB, and QCXXB. Agricultural water management strategies should be formulated and selected according to local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric rainfall is one of the major sources of water and nutrient inputs in forest stands. Understanding the atmospheric rainfall partitioning and hydrochemical fluxes of forest stands is critical for forest management and monitoring regional atmospheric pollution, especially in high N deposition regions. In this study, annual rainfall collections were implemented to investigate rainfall partitioning, element concentrations, and element fluxes in an evergreen coniferous forest (ECF) stand, a deciduous broadleaved forest (DBF) stand, and open area field (OAF) in a high N deposition region, China. Rainfall in the ECF and DBF was partitioned into throughfall, stemflow, and interception loss, which accounted for 74.7%, 4.8%, and 20.5% of the gross annual rainfall in the ECF stand, respectively; and 79.8%, 5.8%, and 14.4% of the gross annual rainfall in the DBF stand, respectively. Rainfall physical partitioning chemical characteristics varied with forest stand type. The amount of throughfall and stemflow in the ECF stand was lower than that in the DBF stand; the interception loss in the ECF stand was higher than that in the DBF stand. Element concentrations and element fluxes increased as rainfall passed through forest canopies in the high N deposition region. The stemflow pH in the ECF was lower than that in the DBF stand, the concentrations of NO3−-N, Cl−, and SO42−-S in stemflow in the ECF stand were higher than those in the DBF stand, and the concentrations of K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and NH4+-N in stemflow in the ECF stand were lower than those in the DBF stand. The inorganic N deposition was 52.7 kg ha−1 year−1 for the OAF, 110.9 kg ha−1 year−1 for the ECF stand, and 99.6 kg ha−1 year−1 for the DBF stand; stemflow accounted for 15.1% and 19.2% of inorganic N deposition in the ECF stand and the DBF stand, respectively. In the present study, given the similar rainfall characteristics and meteorological conditions, the differences in rainfall partitioning and chemical characteristics between the ECF stand and the DBF stand could largely be attributed to their differences in stand characteristics. The results of the study will facilitate a greater understanding of the atmospheric rainfall partitioning and hydrochemical fluxes of forest stands in a high nitrogen deposition region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the incidence, clinical characteristics and prognostic factors in HIV associated lymphoma as these are less common than HIV‐negative lymphoma in China. Currently, there are no standard guidelines for treatment of these patients. Therefore, we performed a study to analyse the clinical characteristics and outcomes of newly diagnosed HIV‐associated aggressive B‐cell non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients in Chongqing University Cancer Hospital (CUCH). Totally 86 newly diagnosed HIV‐associated aggressive B‐cell NHL patients in CUCH, southwest China, from July 2008 to August 2021, were analysed. In the entire cohort, median age was 48 years (range, 23–87 years), and more patients were male (87.2%). Most patients had elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (82.6%), advanced ann arbor stage (80.2%) and high IPI score (IPI score, 3–5) (62.7%) at diagnosis. Median CD4+ T‐cell count at diagnosis was 191/μl (range, 4–1022), 84 patients (97.7%) were on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) at lymphoma diagnosis. In DLBCL patients, cox multivariate analysis showed that age ≥ 60 (HR = 2.251, 95%CI 1.122–4.516; p = 0.012), elevated LDH (HR = 4.452, 95%CI 1.027–19.297; p = 0.041) and received less than two cycles of chemotherapy (HR = 0.629, 95%CI 0.589–1.071; p = 0.012) were independent risk factors for adverse prognosis based on PFS. Age ≥ 60 (HR = 3.162, 95%CI 1.500–6.665; p = 0.002) and received less than two cycles of chemotherapy (HR = 0.524, 95%CI 0.347–0.791; p = 0.002) were also independent risk factor for adverse prognosis based on OS. In BL patients, cox multivariate analysis showed that elevated LDH and received less than two cycles of chemotherapy were independent risk factors for adverse prognosis. In the DLBCL group, median PFS times in the received rituximab and no received rituximab groups were not reached and 12 months, respectively (p = 0.006). Median OS times were not reached and 36 months, respectively (p = 0.021). In the BL group, median PFS times in the received rituximab and no received rituximab groups were not reached and 4.8 months, respectively (p = 0.046). Median OS times were not reached and 10.1 months, respectively (p = 0.035). Overall, these data indicated that standardized anti‐lymphoma therapy and rituximab administration were significantly associated with improved outcomes in patients with HIV‐associated DLBCL and BL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important legume crop. However, the yield of pea is adversely affected by heat stress in China. In this study, heat-tolerant germplasms were screened and evaluated in the field under multi-conditions. The results showed that heat stress could significantly affect pea yield. On the basis of grain weight per plant, 257 heat-tolerant and 175 heat-sensitive accessions were obtained from the first year's screening, and 26 extremely heat-tolerant and 19 extremely heat-sensitive accessions were finally obtained in this study. Based on SNaPshot technology, two sets of SNP markers, including 46 neutral and 20 heat-tolerance-related markers, were used to evaluate the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of the 432 pea accessions obtained from the first year's screening. Genetic diversity analysis showed that the average polymorphic information content was lower using heat-tolerance-related markers than neutral markers because of the selective pressure under heat stress. In addition, population genetic structure analysis showed that neutral markers divided the 432 pea accessions into two subpopulations associated with sowing date type and geographical origin, while the heat-tolerance-related markers divided these germplasms into two subpopulations associated with heat tolerance and sowing date type. Overall, we present a comprehensive resource of heat-tolerant and heat-sensitive pea accessions through heat-tolerance screenings in multi-conditions, which could help genetic improvements of pea in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulmonary mucoepidermoid carcinoma (PMEC) is uncommon. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathological features, diagnostic criteria, treatment options, and prognostic factors relating to primary PMEC. Clinical data on 45 patients with primary PMEC were collected and analyzed retrospectively at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and the First People' Hospital of Longquanyi District Chengdu from January 2008 to December 2020. The 45 patients (25 males and 20 females) ranged in age from 22 to 72 years, with a median age of 49 and an average age of 47.7. All the patients underwent surgery, with 32 receiving only surgery and 13 receiving both surgery and postoperative chemotherapy. A total of 34 instances of low‐grade tumors and 11 cases of high‐grade tumors were discovered during postoperative pathological diagnosis. Forty‐five patients were followed for 13 to 78 months, and four died during this period. In all four instances, a lung infection unrelated to the tumor was determined to be the cause of death. The MAML2 gene translocation was detected in 40 of 45 patients, with 34 of them testing positive. Radical surgery with lymph node dissection is an efficient treatment for PMEC. The prognosis is poor for patients with advanced disease, a negative MAML2 gene translocation, lymph node metastases, and high‐grade tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, China's Internet industry has developed rapidly, and the Internet has penetrated into all aspects of people's daily lives. As an emerging transaction model, rural e-commerce is an important channel for precise poverty alleviation. To be specific, rural e-commerce can greatly change the lives of rural people in one way or other ways, thus allowing rural consumers to purchase high-quality and inexpensive goods without having to leave home. In other words, the introduction of national e-commerce into rural areas has changed the lifestyle of rural residents, providing them with great convenience in their daily lives. According to statistics, the level of rural e-commerce development in coastal areas is much higher than that in the mainland, while inland areas are hesitant to develop. Rural areas are a crucial component of Chinese society, and the rural economy is also the main driving force of China's agricultural economy. In an environment where e-commerce is gradually penetrating various fields, the development of rural e-commerce in China has become more urgent with the new and growing rural demand. To be specific, the development of rural e-commerce has become a hot topic in recent years, and it is necessary to gather efforts from all sides to explore and innovate, so as to promote the healthy and orderly growth of rural e-commerce in China. As one of the effective ways to solve the problems of agricultural industry development and farmers' affluence, rural e-commerce has played an increasingly obvious role in industrial development, poverty alleviation, employment, and solving the problems of selling agricultural products. At the same time, the proportion of national online sales of agricultural products is also increasing year by year. Many rural areas have abundant natural resources, rich history and culture, and a pleasant ecological environment. As a result, a great number of rural areas are well suited for e-commerce development in terms of the overall environment and physical resources. In recent years, the development of rural e-commerce in China has been very rapid, but it has also revealed many problems. Therefore, an in-depth study of the regional factors affecting the development of rural e-commerce is helpful to provide a reference for its better development. Based on the analysis of the current situation of rural e-commerce development, this study collects and organizes the indexes of influencing factors of rural e-commerce. The index system of influencing factors of rural e-commerce development is constructed through data collection and so on. After that, this study adopts the regional fuzzy information theory to evaluate the potential of rural e-commerce development, so as to obtain the main influencing factors of rural e-commerce development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 10-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10) is a self-report instrument widely used to assess resilience in particular demographics. This study aimed to evaluate the validity and measurement invariance (MI) of the CD-RISC-10 in Chinese left-behind children. A total of 968 children from three middle schools in Guizhou Province participated in this study, with the CD-RISC-10 used twice, at the base line time point and again after six months. The Ego-resilience Scale (ERS), and General Self-efficiency Scale (GSES-10) were also used as criteria-related validity instruments. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out to examine the one-factor model and the MI with regards to gender and left-behind status, as well as the longitudinal measurement invariance (LMI). The study proved satisfactory reliability and validity of the CD-RISC-10, with good criterion validity with the ERS and GSES-10. CFA results showed that the satisfactory model fit for the one-factor structure was supported in all groups (e.g., CFI =.942, TLI =.925, RMSEA =.057). The strict MI was evident across genders, as well as both the left-behind and non-left-behind groups. Additionally, the LMI of the CD-RISC-10 was also adequately supported. Generally speaking, these findings demonstrate that the CD-RISC-10 can effectively measure the resilience level of left-behind children – boys as well as girls – in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the network environment, online ideological and political education is facing many challenges, the mainstream values of education have been impacted, and the backward educational model, single communication method, and solidified educational content are not conducive to the smooth progress of ideological and political education. However, at the same time, its innovation also ushers in development opportunities, rich educational resources, information platforms, diversified education subjects, strongly targeted education models, etc., which can become favorable factors for educational innovation. To this end, online educators should seize the development opportunities, grasp the good network environment, actively build a network platform for ideological and political education, create a personalized ideological and political education resource recommendation system, and reform the ideological and political education classroom, effectively playing the role of the main position of educating people. Online education breaks through the limitations of time and space, allowing students to get guidance from online teachers without leaving home, and is favored by more and more primary and secondary school students because of its unique advantages. At present, the forms of tutoring for off-campus online education in China are diverse, and there are several specific teaching modes. Whether online teaching can meet the needs of users is a problem worth studying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediments are sinks and sources of pollutants, playing a rather important role in metal migration and transformation. A set of toxic metals of Hg, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cu, Ni and Cd in a suburban river sediment was investigated in the Yangtze River Delta of China, Nantong, and then, the solidification/stabilization scheme and resource-oriented utilization for heavy metal-contaminated sediment were explored. The results showed that all of the metals were apparently higher than the background values. The geo-accumulation index indicated that Ni, Cr, Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd exhibited a none–moderately polluted degree, while Hg corresponded to the moderately contaminated grade. A correlation analysis showed that the contents of metals were not strongly affected by the pH and organic matter content (p > 0.05), but they were associated with each other (p < 0.05) and might have common natural and anthropogenic sources. Moreover, the leaching experiment revealed that the concentration of Ni exceeded the national standard of China for groundwater, which might cause environmental contamination. Thus, three effective solidification/stabilization formulations for amendments were developed: (1) zero valent iron (9.5% w.w.) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (0.5% w.w.); (2) sulphate aluminum cement (1% d.w.) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (0.3% d.w.) and (3) sulphate aluminum cement (1% d.w.), zero valent iron (0.5% d.w.) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (0.3% d.w.). The findings can provide an effective approach and theoretical basis for the treatment of heavy metal pollution in river sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: Nationally representative reports on the characteristics and long‐term survival of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) from developing countries are scarce. The applicability of the current main risk stratifications and the longitudinal changes in goal‐oriented treatments have yet to be elucidated in real‐world settings. Therefore, we aimed to provide insights into the characteristics, goal‐oriented treatments and survival of PAH in China and to explore the applicability of the main risk stratifications in our independent cohort. Methods: PAH patients were consecutively enrolled from a national prospective multicentre registry. Data on baseline, follow‐up re‐evaluation and therapeutic changes were collected. Results: A total of 2031 patients were enrolled, with congenital heart disease (CHD)‐PAH (45.2%) being the most common aetiology. The mean age was 35 ± 12 years, and 76.2% were females. At baseline, approximately 20% of the patients with intermediate or high risk received combination treatment. At follow‐up, approximately half of the re‐evaluated patients did not achieve low‐risk profiles, and even among patients who received combination therapy at baseline, 4% of them still worsened. The rate of combination therapy increased significantly from 6.7% before 2015 to 35.5% thereafter. The main risk assessment tools demonstrated good performance for predicting survival both at baseline and at follow‐up. Conclusion: Chinese PAH patients show both similar and distinct features compared to other countries. Current main risk stratifications can significantly discriminate patients at different risk levels. There were still many patients not achieving low‐risk profiles at follow‐up, indicating more aggressive treatment should be implemented to optimize the goal‐oriented treatment strategy. This Chinese registry study revealed that Chinese patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension showed both similar and distinct features compared to other countries. Many patients did not achieve low‐risk profiles at follow‐up, indicating more aggressive treatment should be implemented to optimize goal‐oriented therapy for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how the individual and combined effects of urbanization and irrigation affect summer climate using convection‐permitting regional climate model simulations with/without urbanization or irrigation over the Huang‐Huai‐Hai plain (3HP). We found that (a) In dramatic urban expansion areas, T2max, T2avg, and T2min increased by 0.53, 0.43, and 0.40°C, respectively. Urbanization influenced the net radiation (RN), sensible heat flux (H), latent heat flux (LE), and ground flux (GF) by 1.08, 9.58, −10.69, and 0.59 W/m2 (b) Over the irrigated area, T2max, T2avg, and T2min significantly decreased by −1.50, −1.30, and −1.16°C. The RN, LE significantly increased by 10.06 W/m2, 28.40 W/m2, while H and GF decreased by 19.44 and 1.19 W/m2. (c) The combined effect of urbanization and irrigation decreased T2max, T2avg, and T2min by −0.84, −0.77, and −0.71°C. The RN, LE significantly changed by 4.93 and 27.84 W/m2, while H and GF declined by 18.65 and 1.28 W/m2. (d) Urbanization significantly decreased the total precipitation by 0.04 mm/day, while irrigation and the combined effect increased the total precipitation by 0.12 and 0.16 mm/day. Urbanization and irrigation have more influence on the extreme precipitation than on the summer mean precipitation. (e) Specific humidity (Q) changes at high altitude (>2 km) are mainly controlled by thermodynamic changes, while at a low level, Q changes depended on the evapotranspiration, sea‐land breeze, and surface roughness. Key Points: The individual and combined impacts of urbanization and irrigation on summer climate were investigated using ALARO‐SURFEX firstly over 3HPUrbanization reduced rainfall by decreasing convective precipitation, while irrigation enhanced convective and large‐scale precipitationUrbanization has accelerated the warming tendency while irrigation processes have delayed the temperature trend to some extent [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chang 7 member in Ordos Basin is an important shale oil exploration layer, with new shale-oil discoveries in recent years. The Chang 73 submember is rich in organic shale, which is the main source rock of shale oil in the Yanchang Formation. In order to clarify the lamina structure, composition, types, and distribution characteristics in Chang 73 submember and its influence on organic matter enrichment, a full coring well in Chang 73 submember located in deep-lacustrine facies is selected to obtain intensive systematic core samples. Core observation, thin section identification, X-ray fluorescence element analysis, X-diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscope, electron probe, rock pyrolysis, and other techniques are performed to systematically analyze the morphology, structure, thickness, mineral compositions, and organic matter content of the shale lamina in the Chang 73 submember. Five types of lamina are identified: silty felsic lamina (SF), tuffaceous lamina (TF), organic-rich clay lamina (ORC), organic-bearing clay lamina (OBC), and homogeneous clay lamina (HC), which are further subdivided into eight subtypes. The lamina types change greatly vertically in the Chang 73 submember, in which the lower part is mainly silty felsic lamina, organic-rich clay, and tuffaceous lamina, the middle part is mainly organic rich and organic clay lamina and organic-bearing clay lamina, and the upper part is mainly homogeneous clay lamina and a small amount of silty felsic organic-bearing clay lamina and organic-bearing clay lamina. Different laminae show various organic matter types, organic matter content (TOC), and organic matter occurrence states which can be divided into four occurrence types. The TOC in organic-rich clay lamina and part of homogeneous clay lamina is high, while that of silty felsic lamina is lower. The relationship between shale lamina and organic matter enrichment is established according to the correlation analysis of laminar characteristics, mineral content, and organic matter content. Among them, the organic-rich lamina is richest of TOC and is a favorable "sweet point" for shale oil exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]