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In this study, dormitory room and social group assignment data from a college are used to investigate peer effects on college students' decisions to switch majors. Results reveal strong evidence of such peer effects at both the room and the social group level. Most notably, at the room level, the dense concentration of same-major roommates deters students from switching majors; having one or two same-major roommates has no significant effect on major switching, indicating strong nonlinearity of peer effects at the room level. Such nonlinearity is not observed among social group members. Results also reveal evidence that students' choices of new majors are affected by peers' majors. Peers are more likely to choose the same destination majors than nonpeers. In choosing their new majors, students do not necessarily follow their peers indiscriminately. Their decisions seem to be influenced more by short-term academic requirements than by long-term job prospects. Finally, peer effects on major switching and major choices are stronger at the dormitory room level than at the social group level in most cases.

This study provides empirical evidence related to two critical assumptions in the student engagement literature in higher education--namely, the malleability of study effort and the causality of the relationship between study effort and student outcomes. We merged student-level administrative data on dormitory assignments, study effort in a hybrid course, and course performance from a regional college in China. Our results indicate that study efforts are more similar for a pair of randomly assigned roommates than for a pair of randomly assigned non-roommates, indicating the malleability of study effort. In addition, we provide evidence on the causal relationship between study effort and academic performance by using roommates' study efforts as an instrumental variable when estimating the effect of a student's study effort on course performance.

Evaluating the impact of land‐use intensification on soil microbial communities is essential for recognizing the implications on microbiome stability and ecosystem function. The microbial biomass and enzyme activity in the topsoil have been found to decrease as a consequence of natural forest conversion; however, the impact of land‐use conversion on the microbes in subsoil remains largely unclear. Here, we examined the effect of primary forest conversion to plantations and cultivated lands on microbial communities at three sites with similar soil, climate, and landform. The forest conversion was set as the experimental treatment, and the primary forest as the control. A linear mixed‐effect model was applied to investigate the role of environmental parameters in shaping the soil microbial biomass and community determined by the phospholipid fatty acids analysis in both the topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (20–40 cm). Compared to the primary forest, the total microbial biomass, β‐1,4‐N‐acetylglucosaminidase, leucine aminopeptidase, acid phosphatase activities, and labile organic C fraction contents in both topsoil and subsoil were reduced in cultivated lands. The ratios of gram‐positive bacteria to gram‐negative bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to saprotrophic fungi in subsoil decreased by 45%–53% and increased by 29%–151%, respectively, following the primary forest conversion to cultivated lands. The response ratio (the percentage of microbial and enzyme indicator response to the primary forest conversion) ranged from −80% to 140% depending on the soil depth, specific microbial group, and converted land‐use type. Microbial biomass and enzyme activity are primarily controlled by the labile organic C content and nutrients availability in both topsoil and subsoil. This study suggests that the primary forest conversion exerts an adverse effect on the microbial biomass, enzyme activity, and substrate availability in both topsoil and subsoil, highlighting the degradation of subsoil health in subtropical China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As environmental challenges escalate, green development is crucial for sustainability. This study analyzes China's county-level agricultural green total factor productivity using SBM and ML index, introducing a comprehensive index to quantify the impact of different types of environmental regulations on productivity. The findings reveal the following: baseline analysis reveals that comprehensive environmental regulation notably boosts agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP), with regulatory intensity positively linked to productivity growth. Other factors like policy intervention, industrial structure, savings levels, and per capita GDP also favorably impact productivity. All three types of regulations, command, incentive, and voluntary type, substantially enhance AGTFP. The mediating effect test results show that all three types of regulations directly and positively impact AGTFP. Indirect effects vary: command-type regulation's mediating effect through independent R&D is significant, accounting for 39% of the impact. For incentive type, both industry structure upgrading (23.79%) and independent R&D (3.1%) mediate the effect. For voluntary type, technological advancement via independent R&D mediates about 13.0% of the impact. Heterogeneity analysis reveals distinct impacts of different environmental regulations on AGTFP across regions. Command-type regulation is most effective in the west, while in the central region, both command- and incentive-type regulations have similar promotional effects. In the east, incentive- and voluntary-type regulations show stronger impacts. Robustness tests, including endogeneity testing, dependent variable substitution, sample winsorizing, and model substitution, consistently confirm the baseline finding that environmental regulation significantly boosts AGTFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elucidating the mechanism of soil erosion caused by extreme rainstorms could improve agroecosystems' resilience to the extreme climate. However, less attention has been paid to the regional difference of soil erosion during extreme rainstorms through multiple field investigations. Using six field surveys of extreme rainstorms, soil erosion and its driving mechanism were investigated on farmland in the Loess area and the Rocky mountain area. Conclusions are as follows: (1) Farmland was severely eroded in comparison with abandoned land and forest–grass land. The erosion modulus of farmland in the Loess area (51 606.51 t/km2) was greater than that in the Rocky mountain area (2582.75 t/km2). (2) In both the Loess area and the Rocky mountain area, the main erosion types on sloped cropland and terraced land were rills/gullies and embankment failure, respectively. Terracing is an appropriate measure that can effectively control farmland erosion in rainstorm events. (3) Concentrated flow is a major driver of soil erosion, with nearly all rills/gullies occurring in the flow paths. Drainage measures can prevent the formation of concentrated flow, weakening rills/gullies erosion in farmland. (4) Building bio‐embankment, planting high‐coverage crops, and implementing local protection measures could reduce the farmland erosion influenced by extremely heavy rainfall. Combining drainage and agronomic measures is the common strategy to combat extreme rainstorm events for reducing farmland erosion in the two regions. These results can be applied to improve the ability of agricultural systems to cope with extreme rainstorms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to analyze breast cancer burden attributable to high body mass index (BMI) and high fasting plasma glucose (FPG) in China from 1990 to 2019. Methods: Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019. Deaths and disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs) were used for attributable burden, and age‐period‐cohort (APC) model was used to evaluate the independent effects of age, period and birth cohort. Results: In 2019, the age‐standardized mortality and DALY rates of breast cancer attributable to high BMI were 1.107 (95% UI: 0.311, 2.327) and 29.990 (8.384, 60.713) per 100 000, and mortality and DALY rates attributable to high FPG were 0.519 (0.095, 1.226) and 13.662 (2.482, 32.425) per 100 000. From 1990 to 2019, the age‐standardized mortality and DALY rates of breast cancer attributable to high BMI increased by 1.192% and 1.180%, and the trends of high FPG were not statistically significant. The APC results showed that the age effects of high BMI and high FPG‐mortality and DALY rates increased, with the highest rates in the age group over 80 years. The birth cohort effects of high BMI showed "inverted V" shapes, while high FPG showed downward trends. Conclusions: Age was the main reason for the increase of attributable burden, and postmenopausal women were the high‐risk groups. Therefore, targeted prevention measures should be developed to improve postmenopausal women's awareness and effectively reduce the prevalence of obesity and diabetes, thereby reducing the breast cancer burden caused by metabolic factors in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have investigated economies of scale and scope in higher education as a means of providing public and private providers of college and university teaching, research and other services and their stakeholders with knowledge of the cost structures that underpin provision in this economically and socially important sector. However, debate continues on the precise nature of the economies of scale and scope in higher education given the mixed findings, largely because of significant institutional and other differences across studies. To address this, we employ meta-regression analysis to explore not only the overall level of scale and scope economies across more than 40 international studies conducted in Australia, the US, the UK, Italy, China, and elsewhere since the early 1980s, but also those factors that potentially affect their presence in the higher education sector. Our findings suggest that functional form and allowances for managerial efficiency have a significant impact on the estimated scale economies. In contrast, for scope economies, the key discriminating factors appear to be when the analysis was conducted, the diversity of the sample, and the national level of economic development.

This document is an introduction to a special issue of the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction focused on innovations in human-computer interaction (HCI) in China. It provides a historical overview of HCI development in China, starting with the focus on ergonomic aspects of computing technology in the 1980s. The article highlights the growth of HCI in China, including the establishment of research and development centers by foreign corporations and the impact of HCI on various industries. The special issue includes articles on topics such as trustworthy AI, affective computing, human-robot interaction, HCI in autonomous vehicles and healthcare, and the application of VR/AR/MR technologies. It also explores the integration of HCI with traditional Chinese culture and the use of innovative technologies to enhance user performance and experience. The goal of the special issue is to showcase the contributions of Chinese HCI professionals and promote collaboration in addressing the challenges of intelligent technologies and human-AI collaboration. [Extracted from the article]

"Trapiche-like" texture is distinct from "trapiche" texture as typically observed in emeralds, amethysts, and aquamarines. It is also occasionally encountered in sapphires from Changle, eastern North China Craton. The advent of the trapiche-like texture has enhanced the ornamental value of sapphire, although its origin is still unclear. In this study, techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet–visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA), and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), have been applied to test the spectroscopic data of the cores, arms, and blue sectors of trapiche-like sapphires from Changle and explore the mineralogical characteristics of different domains. The main component of the core, arms, and blue sectors of trapiche-like sapphire is corundum (Al2O3), with trace elements including Fe, Ti, Mg, Cr, V, Ga, etc. From arms to cores to sectors, trace elements show a trend of increasing and then decreasing. Nb and Ta elements are more enriched in the arms than in the sectors, indicating the existence of rutile. With changes in physicochemical conditions during magma evolution, rutile melted, and related voids were filled with glassy inclusions, which formed the arms of trapiche-like sapphires. Field observations of primary deposits, as well as petrological and geochemical analyses, reveal that the trapiche-like sapphire of Changle belongs to magmatic sapphire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Territorial spatial planning involves fixability and flexibility in different driving factors related to control and development orientation, and they play an important role in regional sustainable development, especially in developing countries such as China. With rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, China has been impacted by conflicts between development and protection in territorial space. To integrate the contradictions among different territorial spatial planning measures, planners and scholars have started to focus on studies regarding fixability–flexibility relationships and integration. However, the relationship between and integration of fixability and flexibility in territorial spatial planning have yet to be clearly summarised. This paper explores an innovative research direction for the fixability–flexibility relations in territorial spatial planning from a new perspective, the Food–Energy–Water Nexus, which is a dynamic and comprehensive framework for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) studies. This paper covers the existing research on fixability and flexibility in territorial spatial planning. Moreover, after summarising the conflicts of fixability and flexibility, the dialectical relationship between and the integration of fixability and flexibility are researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eastern Kuqa Depression in the northern Tarim Basin, NW China, is rich in oil and gas. However, recent exploration has been hindered by a lack of knowledge on the evolution of the petroleum system. To address this, we conducted hydrocarbon generation and accumulation modeling using both the 2Dmove and PetroMod2017 software for a complex tectonic extrusion section in the Kuqa Depression. The results show that the source rocks in the northern slope zone became mature quite early at around 170 Ma, but the thermal maturity evolution stagnated subsequently because of tectonic extrusion and uplift. The source rocks in the central anticline zone, the southern slope zone, and the deep sag zone were of overall low maturity during the Jurassic to Paleogene but rapidly became mature to highly mature with the deposition of the Neogene Jidike and Kangcun formations. The main hydrocarbon generation periods are in the late Neogene and Quaternary, and the main hydrocarbon generation stratum is the lower Jurassic Yangxia formation. The amount of cumulative hydrocarbon generation gradually increases for carbonaceous mudstone, mudstone, and coal source rocks. Sourced from source rocks mainly in the northern slope zone, oil and gas migrated to anticlinal traps along sandstone transport layers and faults. Recent discoveries, such as the Tudong-2 gas field in the central anticline zone, underscore the richness of this region in petroleum resources. Some gas fields were also predicted in lithologic traps in the southern slope zone and the deep sag zone, as well as in fault-related traps in the northern part of the northern slope zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide susceptibility assessment (LSA) is an essential tool for landslide hazard warning. The selection of earthquake-related factors is pivotal for seismic LSA. In this study, Newmark displacement (Dn) is employed as the earthquake-related factor, providing a detailed representation of seismic characteristics. On the algorithmic side, a dual-channel convolutional neural network (CNN) model is built, and the last classification layer is replaced with two machine learning (ML) models to facilitate the extraction of deeper features related to landslide development. This research focuses on Beichuan County in Sichuan Province, China. Fifteen landslide predisposing factors, including hydrological, geomorphic, geological, vegetation cover, anthropogenic, and earthquake-related features, were extensively collected. The results demonstrate some specific issues. Dn outperforms conventional earthquake-related factors such as peak ground acceleration (PGA) and Arias intensity (Ia) in capturing seismic influence on landslide development. Under the same conditions, the OA improved by 5.55% and AUC improved by 0.055 compared to the PGA; the OA improved by 3.2% and AUC improved by 0.0327 compared to the Ia. The improved CNN outperforms ML models. Under the same conditions, the OA improved by 4.69% and AUC improved by 0.0467 compared to RF; the OA improved by 4.47% and AUC improved by 0.0447 compared to SVM. Additionally, historical landslides validate the reasonableness of the landslide susceptibility maps. The proposed method exhibits a high rate of overlap with the historical landslide inventory. The proportion of historical landslides in the very high and high susceptibility zones exceeds 87%. The method not only enhances accuracy but also produces a more fine-grained susceptibility map, providing a reliable basis for early warning of seismic landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used housing assignment data from a college in China to investigate peer effects on college grades. Study results provided some evidence for peer effects in college housing units. First, peer effects through means occurred during both fall and spring semester of the first year in college, with estimated effect much larger than that in previous studies. Second, students are also influenced by the mix of roommates. Finally, having more than one roommate in the top quartile has large and significant effects for female students; however, this positive effect is not statistically significant for male students.

In this study we examined the resource-research relationship at China's research universities. The stochastic frontier production function was employed in analyses of a panel data set on a group of the most research-intensive universities in China from 2000 to 2010. Results suggested overall tight relationships between various resources (including human resources, research expenditures, and research equipment) and research publications. Distinct patterns emerged when research publications were disaggregated by fields [i.e., science and engineering (SE) vs. non-science and engineering (non-SE)] and publishing venues (i.e., domestic vs. international journals). Research publications in SE, especially those published in international journals, depended heavily on all three resources, while research in non-SE depended more on human resources. In addition, results suggested that research in SE had shifted its focus from domestic to international publications during this period.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the clinical efficacy and complications associated with open-wedge high tibial osteotomy (OWHTO) in the treatment of medial compartment knee osteoarthritis. Additionally, the compensatory changes in the hip, patellofemoral, and ankle regions will be assessed through imaging. Methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical data pertaining to 86 patients who underwent OWHTO at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January 2015 to September 2018 was conducted. The weight-bearing line ratio (WBLR) was measured postoperatively, and patients were categorized into a normal group (50% < WBLR ≤ 62.5%, n = 67) and an overcorrection group (WBLR > 62.5%, n = 19). Various parameters, including hip–knee–ankle angle (HKA), medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA), lateral distal femoral angle (LDFA), joint line convergence angle (JLCA), and posterior tibial slope (PTS), were measured before surgery and at the last follow-up to assess lower limb line correction. The compensatory changes in adjacent joints were evaluated by measuring hip abductor angle (HAA), tibial plafond inclination (TPI), talus inclination angle (TIA), Carton–Deschamps index, lateral patellar tilt (LPT), lateral patellar shift (LPS), medial patellofemoral space, and lateral patellofemoral space in both groups. The American Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) score and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) of the affected knee were assessed before surgery and at the last follow-up, and the incidence of complications in both groups was analyzed. Results: Postoperative complications occurred in 26.32% (five cases) of the overcorrection group and 5.97% (four cases) of the normal group, with a statistically significant difference (χ2 = 4.548, p = 0.033). No significant differences were observed in HSS and WOMAC between the two groups at the last follow-up. HAA was − 2.44 ± 1.98° in the overcorrection group and − 1.16 ± 2.1° in the normal group, with a statistically significant difference (t = 2.32, p = 0.023). There were no significant differences in other imaging indexes. Conclusion: Overcorrection of varus deformity may not significantly impact clinical outcomes within 5 years post-OWHTO but may elevate the incidence of postoperative complications and lead to increased compensatory adduction of the hip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The choice of old-age care methods or places plays an important role in improving the quality of life and well-being of older adults. This study aimed to analyze the choices of various old-age care modes (OCMs) among middle-aged and older adults (MOA) aged 40 years and older in Henan Province, China, and to explore the influence of personal health status, perspectives on old-age (POA) and external support received on their choices. Methods: This study analyzed the data from the previous survey which included 911 MOA. The mean comparison method was used to analyze the evaluation of MOA prior to selecting OCMs, and the effect of individual characteristics, external support received, and personal health status on the choice of OCM for MOA was assessed by Logistic regression (LR) and Concentration Index. The Mediation Effect Model was used to explore effect manner and scope of MOA' POA in their choice of OCM. Results: The overall scores for MOA on the choice of the home-based, community-family, retirement village, nursing homes OCM were 4.06 ± 0.81, 3.70 ± 0.88, 3.72 ± 0.90, 3.49 ± 0.97, respectively. The LR model indicated that education level, number of children, relationship between family members and the relationship with neighbors affected the choice of OCM for MOA (P < 0.05). Difference in OCM selection was relatively the largest based on the individual's POA (Concentration index = -0.0895 ~ -0.0606), and it was shown to play a mediating role in other factors influencing the choice of OCM for MOA (Mediation effect = -0.002 ~ 0.013). Conclusions: The evaluation of MOA on choosing a non-home OCM was generally, and the number of children and external support received were shown to have a relatively substantial impact on the choice of OCM among MOA, however, their power was affected by MOA' POA. Policy makers could encourage the MOA' selection of non-home OCM by improving the relationship among MOA persons while positively transforming their POA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sichuan is a high-incidence area of thunderstorm activity in China. Based on the data of the total lightning location system from 2018 to 2022, the total lightning, cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning, and intracloud (IC) lightning activity regularity for the Sichuan province (SC) and its three climate subregions: Sichuan Basin (SB), Panxi district (PD), and West Sichuan Plateau (WSP) are analyzed, and the influences of different climate and topography conditions on lightning activities are also discussed. The results show that (1) for the whole province, the annual mean value of total lightning is about 850 thousand. The SB has the most lightning occurrences, and the WSP has the largest IC and +CG proportion. The southwest of PD, the north-center of PD, and the southeast of SB are the three high-value centers of lightning density. (2) For SB, the better thermodynamic and moisture conditions account for the most lightning occurrences. For PD, the lightning distribution is attributed to the joint effect of specific meteorological conditions and mountainous topography. For WSP, the convections are weak and shallow, which lead to high IC and +CG proportion. (3) The IC lightning mainly occurs below 12 km, and the IC height is much lower on WSP. The spatial and seasonal variation of IC height corresponds well to the cloud base height (CBH) and cloud top height (CTH). (4) The seasonal lightning frequency distribution in the three regions is similar, but the diurnal variation is quite different. The lightning activity mainly occurs between 1400 and 2200 LT on WSP but shows obvious nocturnal in SB. (5) Most CG intensity concentrates in the range below 50 kA, and IC concentrates in the range below 75 kA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tobacco smoke is associated with several diseases, and identified as the second leading risk factor for death from any cause worldwide. The relationship of tobacco smoke to mortality or premature death is not yet available from contemporary cohorts after 2010 in China. This study aimed to investigate the smoking behavior and the relationship of tobacco smoke to mortality and premature death among a nationally representative cohort starting from 2011 in China. Methods: The nationally representative datasets (China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, CHARLS, 2011–2012) was employed and linked with follow-up data (2013). CHARLS was an ongoing nationally representative survey, which longitudinally followed up subjects aged over 45 years. Smoking status (non-smoker, ex-smoker, smoker, pack-years of smoking, age at starting and ceasing smoking) was used as independent variable, and all-cause mortality, premature death (defined as mortality before age 72.7 years in men and 76.9 years in women) were used as dependent variables. The Cox's proportional hazards regression mode was used to estimate the effect of tobacco smoke and pack-years of smoking on all-cause mortality and premature death. Results: A total of 16,701 subjects were included. The association between tobacco smoker (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.37, 95%CI = 1.02, 1.83) / ex-smoker (HR = 1.75, 95%CI = 1.24, 2.46) and all-cause mortality was significant. Tobacco smoker (HR = 1.58, 95%CI = 1.04, 2.39) and ex-smoker (HR = 2.25, 95%CI = 1.38, 3.66) was associated with increase in the risk of premature death. Pack-years of smoking ≥ 30 was associated with increased risk of premature death compared with non-smokers in total (HR = 1.59, 95%CI = 1.03, 2.43) and women (HR = 3.38, 95%CI = 1.22, 9.38). Additionally, our results also revealed that there was a linear trend between pack-years of smoking and premature death in total (P = 0.002) and women (P = 0.010). Conclusion: This study found a negative effect of smoking status on all-cause mortality and premature death among a contemporary and nationally representative data in China. The correlation between pack-years of smoking and premature death and the trend of pack-years of smoking with premature death was also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sweet potato, which is an important tuber crop in China, is susceptible to a variety of pathogens and insect pests during cultivation and production. Stem rot is a common sweet potato disease that seriously affects tuber yield and quality. Unfortunately, there have been relatively few studies on the mechanism mediating the stem rot resistance of sweet potatoes. In this study, a transcriptome sequencing analysis was completed using Xushu 48 samples at different stages (T1, T2, and T3) of the stem rot infection. The T1 vs. T2, T1 vs. T3, and T2 vs. T3 comparisons detected 44,839, 81,436, and 61,932 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), respectively. The DEGs encoded proteins primarily involved in alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism (ko00250), carbon fixation in photosynthetic organisms (ko00710), and amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism (ko00520). Furthermore, some candidate genes induced by phytopathogen infections were identified, including gene-encoding receptor-like protein kinases (RLK5 and RLK7), an LRR receptor-like serine/threonine protein kinase (SERK1), and transcription factors (bHLH137, ERF9, MYB73, and NAC053). The results of this study provide genetic insights that are relevant to future explorations of sweet potato stem rot resistance, while also providing the theoretical basis for breeding sweet potato varieties that are resistant to stem rot and other diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between soil moisture (SM) and evaporative fraction (EF), which reflects the degree of exchange of water and energy between the land and the atmosphere, is an important component of the theory of land–atmosphere coupling. Exploring the relationship between SM and EF in the transitional climate zone of China can help deepen our understanding of the characteristics of water and energy exchange in this region of strong land–atmosphere coupling. Data on observations in fluxes in the transitional climate zone revealed that fluxes in the energy on the surface of the land in this region exhibited significant inter-annual variations. The sensible heat flux (SH) exhibited the largest fluctuations in July and August, while the latent heat flux (LE) varied the most from June to August. The EF was found to exhibit weak correlations with indicators of vegetation growth such as the leaf area index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and gross primary productivity in the transitional zone of the East Asian summer monsoon. By contrast, the relationship of land–atmosphere coupling between EF and SM in the transitional climate zone was stronger. Based on an analysis of the consistency of the relationship of SM-EF coupling, when the SMP reached 35%, there was a significant transition in the linear relationship between the SMP and EF that was consistent between the shallower and deeper layers of soil (0–40 and 40–80 cm). However, neither level had SM that reached saturation during the six-year observational period (2007–2012), and the mean values of its probability density function showed that the deep soil was drier than the shallow soil. This characteristic shows that SM plays a dominant role in variations in the EF in the transitional climate zone, which in turn indicates that constraints on the moisture govern the SM–EF relationship. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of land–atmosphere coupling in the transitional climate zone of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geological storage is one of the most important measures to reduce carbon emissions. The newly developed oilfield A in the Pearl River Mouth Basin of the South China Sea is associated with a large amount of CO2 with a purity of up to 95%. Two weakly consolidated sandstone saline aquifers located above the oil reservoir can be used for CO2 storage, but the CO2 geochemical reaction characteristics in the aquifers should be investigated clearly, which may cause significant damage to the physical properties of the reservoirs and caprocks of the aquifers. In this paper, static CO2 geochemical reaction experiments and rock thin section identifications were carried out using drill cuttings and sidewall cores, respectively. A numerical simulation was conducted according to the reactor conditions to explore the equilibrium state of the CO2 geochemical reaction. Through these studies, the characteristics of the geochemical reaction, its impact on the physical properties of the formation, and the CO2 storage potential by mineral trapping in the target aquifers were revealed. The results show that the two saline aquifers have similar physical properties. The reservoirs are mostly made up of fine-to-medium-grained sandstones as quartz arenite with a considerable amount of feldspar, which can provide favorable pore space for CO2 storage, while the caprocks are fine-grained felsic sedimentary rocks that can have a good sealing effect. However, both the reservoirs and caprocks contain a certain amount of carbonate and clay minerals. Mineral dissolution dominates in the CO2 geochemical reaction process, and more Ca2+ and Mg2+ is released into the formation water. The theoretical maximum CO2 mineral trapping capacity in the aquifers is 0.023–0.0538 mol/100 g rock, but due to the dynamic equilibrium of the geochemical reaction, the amount of mineralized CO2 in most of the rock samples is negative, and the average utilization factor is only −55.43%. As a result, the contribution of mineral trapping to the CO2 storage capacity takes −0.32%, which can be ignored. In the future, it is necessary to conduct detailed research to reveal the effect of a CO2 geochemical reaction on storage safety, especially in offshore weakly consolidated sandstone saline aquifers, which could be important sites for large-scale CO2 storage in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kuqa depression is an important oil and gas production area in western China, and there are abundant natural gas resources in the deep and ultra‐deep tight reservoirs. In this study, the accumulation law of deep oil and gas in the Kuqa depression has been systematically discussed based on the analysis of geochemical parameters, reservoir fluid inclusions and the recovery of burial‐thermal evolution history in different structural zones. The results show that the lacustrine mudstones of the Triassic Huangshanjie and Upper Jurassic Qiakemake formations in the Kuqa depression are the main oil‐generating source rocks, and the coal‐measure source rocks of the Middle and Lower Jurassic are the main gas‐generating source rocks. The oil and gas in the northern tectonic belt originated from the Huangshanjie and Yangxia formations have the characteristics of 'lower‐source and upper‐reservoir' and 'self‐generation and self‐storage'. The source rocks in the central tectonic belt are of high maturity and mainly generate natural gas, and a small amount of crude oil is derived from mudstones of the Jurassic Qiakemake Formation. The oil and gas in the southern slope belt are mainly derived from the source rocks of the Huangshanjie Formation, followed by the Jurassic source rocks. The ordered accumulation of oil and gas in the Kuqa depression is controlled by the effective spatiotemporal matching of multi‐stage tectonic evolution and hydrocarbon generation evolution of multi‐source rocks. Three spatiotemporal ordered hydrocarbon accumulation series have been proposed: early near‐source accumulation, late far and near‐source accumulation, and late upper‐near source accumulation. The piedmont belt is dominated by the near‐source continuous accumulation mode, the thrust belt is dominated by the ultra‐late upper source accumulation mode, and the slope belt is dominated by the late far‐source accumulation mode. Therefore, future exploration will focus on the tight lithologic reservoirs in the northern piedmont belt, the structural reservoirs in the central structural belt, and the unconformity hidden reservoirs in the southern slope belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between shale and various fluids is crucial as it modifies pore structures, which govern the effective development of shale gas and the geological storage of carbon dioxide in shale formations. In this study, samples from the Longmaxi Formation shale in Sichuan Basin of China were exposed to different fluids, including 6 MPa CO2, 12 MPa CO2, 6 MPa CO2+brine, and 12 MPa CO2+brine, at 45 °C for 100 days. Various methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and the low-pressure gas adsorption (N2) test, were adopted to evaluate chemical and structural changes during the exposure process. After being treated with supercritical CO2+brine and subcritical CO2+brine, the shale underwent significant changes in its major element composition. The content of Ca, Al, and K in shale saturated with supercritical CO2+brine decreased from 13.00% to 10.34%, from 3.65% to 3.36%, and from 1.56% to 1.37%, respectively. Meanwhile, the content of Si and Na in the same shale increased slightly after saturation. The amount of quartz and dolomite increased, while the levels of clay and calcite slightly decreased. The surface of the shale sample became rougher and small bumps and cracks appeared after saturation with different fluids, as shown by the FESEM analysis results. Furthermore, the changes in both the total pore volume and pore size followed a similar pattern to the alterations in the specific surface areas. The highest level of variation occurred with the shale that was saturated with 12 MPa of CO2, indicating that gas pressure and CO2 phase state have a significant influence on the shale's pore structure. In addition, the distribution of pore sizes showed a bias towards larger sizes across all diameters; this suggests that the reaction resulted in a decrease in the number of micropores. This also highlights that the impact of varying fluid saturation was primarily focused on micropores and macropores. The results of this study provided experimental evidence to further test the mechanisms and permeability of geological storage of CO2 in organic-rich self-sourced shale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although the health of the floating elderly population is an important part of active and healthy ageing, it is neglected in current Chinese society. Based on the general consensus that social interaction can affect the health of the floating population, this study explored whether the interaction type, mode and frequency influenced the health of the floating elderly population in China and investigated the variability of these influential effects. Methods: This study used the China Migrant Population Dynamic Survey Data 2017 and selected 5239 floating elderly individuals over 60 years old. Self-rated health was used to assess the comprehensive health status of respondents. Social interaction was measured by the interaction type, mode and frequency. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyse the health and social interaction status. An ordinal probit model was used to estimate the influential effects and differences on health caused by social interaction. The 2SLS model was used to examine the mutual causality relationship between interaction frequency and health, and a robustness test was conducted. Results: A total of 44.6% interacted with local residents, 14.2% participated in interaction activities based on geographical relations, and only 4.3% and 7% participated in interactions based on business and interest, respectively. Interacting with natives improved individuals' self-rated health by 18.5%; specifically, geographical interaction increased self-rated health by 40.9%, occupational interaction increased it by 25.2%, interest-based interaction increased it by 41.2%, and interaction frequency improved the self-rated health (β = 0.128). In addition, sex, education level, personal income, and floating into the eastern region had a positive effect on individuals' health. However, age, spouse and hukou exerted a negative effect. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that interacting with local residents could improve the health of floating elderly population, and revealed that interest-based interaction and their frequency had a positive impact on health. The government should speed up the construction of the voluntary service system and encourage the floating elderly population to realize their personal value in social interaction. In addition, the reform of the hukou system should be further promoted, so as to remove institutional barriers to the social interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North China Plain is an important area for agricultural economic development in China. But water shortages, severe groundwater over-exploitation and drought problems make it difficult to exercise the topographic resource advantages of the plain. Therefore, the precise monitoring of soil moisture is of great significance for the rational use of water resources. Soil characteristics vary in natural farmland ecosystems, crops are constrained by multiple compound stresses and the precise extraction of soil moisture stress is a difficult and critical problem. The long time series was decomposed via complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) to obtain different intrinsic mode function (IMF) components, and the statistical descriptors of each component were calculated to realize the precise discrimination of soil moisture stress. A quantitative evaluation model of soil moisture was established, and the different noise addition ratios and modeling types were set respectively to investigate the optimal inversion model. The results showed that: (1) The reconstruction error of the CEEMDAN was small and almost 0; it had a high reconstruction accuracy and was more suitable for the decomposition of the long time series. The first two components, IMF1 and IMF2, were soil moisture stress subsequences, and it could effectively reflect the moisture stress situation. (2) The inversion model performed well when ε was 0.05 and the model type was quadratic, with a coefficient of determination R2 of 0.98, which gave a better fit and less error. (3) The overall soil moisture content in the study area was low, basically in the range of 6.9% to 15.7%, with the central part, especially the south-central part, being the most affected by soil moisture stress, and the overall impact of soil moisture stress showed a decreasing trend from February to May. The utilization of CEEMDAN further enhances the accuracy of soil moisture inversion in agricultural fields, realizing the effective application of remote sensing observation technology and time-frequency analysis technology in the field of soil moisture research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government fiscal support is an important way to improve social welfare and enhance the protection of people's livelihood. This paper uses the entropy weight TOPSIS method, fixed effect model, two-stage least squares regression, moderating effect model, and mediating effect model to comparatively analyze the level of high-quality development of the region and explore the impact and mechanism of livelihood expenditures on the high-quality development of the region. The findings show that increasing government expenditures on people's livelihoods can effectively improve regional high-quality development, but the degree of marginal improvement varies with different periods and locations. People's livelihood expenditure could promote sustainable regional development by increasing the consumption level of residents. Urbanization could strengthen the positive effect of livelihood expenditure on regional high-quality development. This study enriches the theoretical research on institutional economics and explores the effect and role of government behavior in the process of high-quality development from the perspective of livelihood expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent future orientation is highly relevant to the sociocultural context in which they are situated. However, adolescents in non-Western cultures are underrepresented in literature. This study investigated the profiles and developmental transitions of adolescent educational future orientation, as well as the roles of adolescent academic achievement and perceived parental educational expectations within the context of Chinese culture. The sample was 605 (54.5% boys) urban and rural senior high school students followed for one and a half years. Three distinctive profiles were identified: the concentrated-committed profile characterized by the concentrated goals (i.e., hopes and fears for future education) and the highest level of planning and evaluation components, the low profile scoring the lowest on each component, and the tentative profile characterized by the highest level of hopes and fears density and mean levels of planning and evaluation components. Latent transition analysis revealed high stabilities for the concentrated-committed and the low profiles but very low stabilities for the tentative profile, and transitions were more common in ways from low or tentative profiles to the concentrated-committed profile rather than vice versa. Greater academic achievement predicted the concentrated-committed profile. Perceived parental educational expectations increased adolescent educational future orientation, particularly for urban adolescents or those in the tentative profile. Urban adolescents were more likely to be in or transition into the concentrated-committed profile, particularly for those with higher academic achievement or parental expectations. These findings demonstrate the heterogeneities of adolescent thinking about future education, reveal how the Chinese sociocultural factors contribute to shaping the development of adolescent future orientation, and provide implications for the promotion of adolescent future orientation in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genesis of giant gold provinces is an international scientific frontier, in which the source of a huge amount of gold and the drive for mineralization are key challenges. The mineralization intensity of the Jiaodong gold province in eastern China is a rare occasion in the world, because it owns gold reserves of ∼5500 tons within an area of less than 10,000 km2. The Jiaodong gold province formed in the superimposed domain of diverse tectonic regimes in an intracontinental setting. Paleoproterozoic regional peak metamorphism and Triassic continental collision are followed by the tectonic transition and gold mineralization at ca. 120 Ma with time intervals of 1.9 billion years and about 100 million years, respectively. The Jiaodong gold deposits are different from orogenic and intrusion-related gold deposits in terms of the tectonic background, types of host rocks, and ore-forming mechanism. These gold deposits show close spatial-temporal and genetic relationships to mafic igneous rocks, implying the derivation of ore-forming fluids from the metasomatic mantle domains. Mafic dykes in Jiaodong have negative εHf(t) values of −29.9 to −9.1, Os content of 0.002–0.16 ppb, heavy δ18O up to 8.23‰, and high initial 187Os/188Os ratios of 0.1352–0.8858. These indicate that the lithospheric mantle was metasomatized by ancient crust-derived components. The lithospheric mantle in the western Jiaodong shows generally more enriched isotope features than that in the eastern part, which is explained to be an important reason for its huge gold resources. The mafic dykes show lighter Mg isotope characteristics (average δ26Mg of −0.33‰, n=50) and high CaO content (overall greater than 6.5 wt%), indicating that the lithospheric mantle would also record the metasomatism by the carbonate rocks from the subducting oceanic slab. Under the background of the rollback of the subducting paleo-Pacific slab and the destruction of the North China Craton, partial melting of the lower crust would produce granitic magmas that led to the enrichment of gold in the residual crust. The syn-mineralization asthenosphere upwelling would promote the recycling of the lower crust and the partial melting of the metasomatic mantle domains. Basic magmas, produced by the partial melting, and the mantle itself would degas to form ore fluids. The ore fluids would further leach gold in the lower crust to increase its fertility. The auriferous fluids were transported to the middle to upper crust along the detachment and strike-slip faults. Water-rock interaction and fluid immiscibility, which occurred in and above the ductile-brittle transition zone to induce gold precipitation, formed the Jiaodong gold deposits. Given the unique geological features and genetic model of the Jiaodong gold deposits, they can be defined as "Jiaodong-type" gold deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of hypertension is high (25.2% in 2012) and there were a large number of patients with hypertension (more than 200 million) in China. Township health centres in rural areas and community health centres in urban areas are responsible for hypertension management. This study aims to identify trends in hypertension management output and related facility-level, geographical and economic factors in primary care facilities and to assess the effect of the national project of basic public health services in China from 2009 to 2017. Methods: A cross-sectional survey (2018) was combined with retrospective data collection (2009–2017) from 685 primary care facilities in six provinces in China. The hypertension management output was indicated by the number of patients with hypertension under management per 10,000 population. Latent class growth analysis and group-based trajectory models were applied to classify trajectories and determine associations with facility-level, geographic and economic characteristics. Results: The trend in the output increased rapidly from 2009 to 2012 with an average growth rate of 54.58% and slowed down from 2012 to 2017 (growth rate of 5.94%). Five trajectories of the output were identified and labelled according to baseline status and increase rates: low-gradually increasing (16.9%), middle-slightly increasing (16.2%), low-sharply increasing (7.9%), middle-sharply increasing (34.2%) and persistently high (24.9%). The time-stable characteristics, including region (eastern, central or western), district (urban or rural), landform, were associated with hypertension management output of the facilities. Number of public health physicians was a significant time-dependent characteristic influencing management output. Conclusions: Five latent trajectories of hypertension management output were identified. The output was still at a low level compared with the prevalence of hypertension. Hypertension screening in young people need to be emphasized. Facilities are recommended to establish good relationships with residents for better hypertension management outcomes especially in urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China bears a heavy burden due to tuberculosis (TB) with hundreds of thousands of people falling ill with the disease every year. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the effectiveness of current control measures in China. In this paper, we first present a TB model that incorporates both vaccination and treatment. Additionally, the model considers TB transmission characteristics such as relapse and variable latency. We then define the basic reproduction number R 0 of the proposed model and indicate that the disease-free equilibrium state is globally asymptotically stable if R 0 < 1 , and the endemic equilibrium state is globally asymptotically stable if R 0 > 1 . We then apply the Grey Wolf Optimizer algorithm to obtain the parameters and initial values of the model by combining TB data collected in China from 2007 to 2020. Through the partial rank correlation coefficient method, we identify the parameters that are most sensitive to R 0 . Based on the analysis results of the model, we propose some suggestions for TB control measures in the conclusion section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliability of high-rise buildings' rigid-pile composite foundations primarily relies on the load test results of single-pile composite foundations. Field load tests were conducted for a high-rise building in the loess area of China, the results conformed to the design requirements. Nevertheless, the buildings experienced significant settlement after construction, which was quite different from the test results. Investigating bearing disparities between the single-pile and group-pile composite foundations in high-rise structures was necessary. Firstly, conducting an indoor interface shear test to propose a pile–soil hyperbolic contact model and integrate it into the numerical model. Subsequently, a finite element model was employed that accounts for pile–soil interactions in order to analyze discrepancies in bearing. The results show that the settlement difference rises by 56.4% as the load escalates by 100 kPa from the initial level and increases by 28.9% as the load ascends by 100 kPa to the final level. The settlement difference changes with an increasing load in a hardened curve pattern. Furthermore, differences in pile bearing characteristics and pile–soil interaction were analyzed. Negative friction occurs within 1/4 of the pile length within group-pile composite foundations, while in single-pile composite foundations, the range contracts to 1/10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-span spatial lattice structures generally have characteristics such as incomplete modal information, high modal density, and high degrees of freedom. To address the problem of misjudgment in the damage detection of large-span spatial structures caused by these characteristics, this paper proposed a damage identification method based on time series models. Firstly, the order of the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model was selected based on the Akaike information criterion (AIC). Then, the long autoregressive method was used to estimate the parameters of the ARMA model and extract the residual sequence of the autocorrelation part of the model. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) was introduced to reduce the dimensionality of the model while retaining the characteristic values. Finally, the Mahalanobis distance (MD) was used to construct the damage sensitive feature (DSF). The dome of Taiyuan Botanical Garden in China is one of the largest non-triangular timber lattice shells worldwide. Relying on the structural health monitoring (SHM) project of this structure, this paper verified the effectiveness of the damage identification model through numerical simulation and determined the damage degree of the dome structure through SHM measurement data. The results demonstrated that the proposed damage identification method can effectively identify the damage of large-span timber lattice structures, locate the damage position, and estimate the degree of damage. The constructed DSF had relatively strong robustness to small damage and environmental noise and has practical application value for SHM in engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object: Numerous studies show that depression and anxiety have an adverse effect on life satisfaction among college students. Moreover, neuroticism affects depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction. Comparing the low-neuroticism and high-neuroticism groups, the current study used network analysis to examine the relationship between depression, anxiety, and life satisfaction among college students. Methods: A sample consisted of 1233 college students from China who completed the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS).All students were divided into two groups according to levels of neuroticism. Depression-anxiety symptom networks and flow networks were formed. Results: "Insomnia" (SAS19) and "Sleep disturbance" (SDS4) are bridge symptoms of groups with varying neuroticism. In addition, compared to the group with low levels of neuroticism, the group with high levels of neuroticism showed more depression symptoms in bridge symptoms and greater global strength. Many depression-anxiety symptoms are negatively associated with life satisfaction, and "Emptiness" (SDS18) is an important symptom in the high-neuroticism group's flow network. Conclusion: This study contributes to our understanding of the connection between depression, anxiety, neuroticism, and life satisfaction. In addition, the current study identified the essential symptoms to target in depression and anxiety intervention and life satisfaction enhancement among college students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This investigation aimed to evaluate the impact of continuous pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block and continuous fascia iliac compartment block (FICB) on postoperative pain following total hip arthroplasty (THA). Methods: This prospective, randomized, and controlled trial recruited a cohort of fifty-seven patients with unilateral femoral neck fractures from Xi'an Aerospace General Hospital in northwest China between July 2020 and November 2021. These patients were randomly assigned to two groups: the continuous PENG block group (PENG group, n = 29) and the continuous FICB group (FICB group, n = 28). Under ultrasound guidance, PENG block and FICB procedures were performed prior to spinal anesthesia, utilizing 20 ml of 0.25% ropivacaine for PENG block and 30 ml of 0.25% ropivacaine for FICB. Subsequently, a catheter was inserted. All study participants received a standardized postoperative multimodal analgesic regimen, including intravenous administration of 30 mg Ketorolac tromethamine every eight hours and patient-controlled neural analgesia (PCNA) after surgery. Numerical rating scale (NRS) scores at rest and during exercise were recorded at various time points: prior to block (T0), 30 min post-blockade (T1), and 6 h (T2), 12 h (T3), 24 h (T4), and 48 h (T5) postoperatively. Additional data collected encompassed postoperative quadriceps muscle strength, the time of initial ambulation after surgery, the number of effective PCNA activations, rescue analgesia requirements, and occurrences of adverse events (such as nausea and vomiting, hematoma, infection, catheter detachment, or displacement) within 48 h following surgery. Results: In the PENG group, the resting NRS pain scores exhibited lower values at T1, T4, and T5 than those at T0. Furthermore, exercise NRS pain scores at T1-T5 were lower in the PENG group than in the FICB group. Similarly, during the same postoperative period, the PENG group demonstrated enhanced quadriceps strength on the affected side compared to the FICB group. Additionally, the PENG group displayed earlier postoperative ambulation and reduced occurrences of effective PCNA activations and rescue analgesia requirements compared to the FICB group. Conclusion: Continuous PENG block exhibited superior analgesic efficacy after THA compared to continuous FICB, promoting recovery of quadriceps strength on the affected side and facilitating early postoperative ambulation. Trial Registration: This clinical trial was registered in the China Clinical Trials Center (http://www.chictr.org.cn) on 20/07/2020, with the registration number ChiCTR2000034821. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural gas injection is considered for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in a high saturation pressure reservoir in block B111 of the Dagang oilfield, China. To investigate the interaction characteristics of injected natural gas and crude oil, the ability for dissolution–diffusion and miscibility–extraction of natural gas in crude oil was tested using a piece of high-temperature and high-pressure PVT equipment. The physical properties and minimum miscible pressure (MMP) of the natural gas–crude oil system and their interaction during dynamic displacement were analyzed using the reservoir numerical simulation method. The results show the following: (1) Under static gas–oil contact conditions, natural gas has a significant dissolution–diffusion and miscibility–extraction effect on the crude oil in block B111, especially near the gas–oil interface. The content of condensate oil in gas phase is 10.14–18.53 wt%, while the content of dissolved gas in oil phase reaches 26.17–57.73 wt%; (2) Under the reservoir's conditions, the saturated solubility of natural gas injected in crude oil is relatively small. The effect of swelling and viscosity reduction on crude oil is limited. As the pressure increases with more natural gas dissolved in crude oil, the phase state of crude oil can change from liquid to gas; accordingly, the density and viscosity of crude oil will be greatly reduced, presenting the characteristics of condensate gas; (3) The MMP of natural gas and crude oil is estimated to be larger than 40 MPa. It mainly forms a forward-contact evaporative gas drive in block B111. The miscible state depends on the maintenance level of formation pressure. The injected natural gas has a significant extraction effect on the medium and light components of crude oil. The content of C2–C15 in the gas phase at the gas drive front, as well as the content of CH4 and C16+ in the residual oil at the gas drive trailing edge, will increase markedly. Accordingly, the residual oil density and viscosity will also increase. These results have certain guiding significance for understanding gas flooding mechanisms and designing gas injection in block B111. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating the correlation between changes in design rainstorms and extreme rainstorm events under climate change facilitates flood control and disaster reduction. Based on the daily rainfall data of 609 stations during 1958–2017, the Pearson-III curve, least square method, F-test, and other methods were adopted to study the changes in design rainstorms and the response to extreme rainstorms over nearly 60 years in China, and to explore the flood control capacity of engineering during climate change. The conclusions are as follows. (1) There is a general increasing trend in extreme rainstorm events in China. Most extreme rainstorm indices present upward trends in East China (EC), South China (SC), Central China (CC), Northwest China (NW), and Southwest China (SW) and downward trends in Northeast China (NE) and North China (NC). (2) The temporal series of design rainstorms shows general growth under each return period in China. In EC, SC, and SW, the design rainstorms increase significantly with rates of 3.0, 3.1, and 1.3 mm/10a, respectively, in the 20-year return period, while they decrease significantly by −2.0 mm/10a in NC (p < 0.05). (3) Design rainstorms have a positive response to extreme rainstorm events, which resulted in increasing rainstorms in a specific return period in EC, SC, NW, and SW. These results can promote the revision of engineering design standards and improve the flood control capability of engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Plants accomplish multiple functions by the interrelationships between functional traits. Clarifying the complex relationships between plant traits would enable us to better understand how plants employ different strategies to adapt to the environment. Although increasing attention is being paid to plant traits, few studies focused on the adaptation to aridity through the relationship among multiple traits. We established plant trait networks (PTNs) to explore the interdependence of sixteen plant traits across drylands. Results: Our results revealed significant differences in PTNs among different plant life-forms and different levels of aridity. Trait relationships for woody plants were weaker, but were more modularized than for herbs. Woody plants were more connected in economic traits, whereas herbs were more connected in structural traits to reduce damage caused by drought. Furthermore, the correlations between traits were tighter with higher edge density in semi-arid than in arid regions, suggesting that resource sharing and trait coordination are more advantageous under low drought conditions. Importantly, our results demonstrated that stem phosphorus concentration (SPC) was a hub trait correlated with other traits across drylands. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that plants exhibited adaptations to the arid environment by adjusting trait modules through alternative strategies. PTNs provide a new insight into understanding the adaptation strategies of plants to drought stress based on the interdependence among plant functional traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2 (DADA2), an autosomal recessive autoinflammatory disorder caused by biallelic loss-of-function variants in adenosine deaminase 2 (ADA2), has not been systemically investigated in Chinese population yet. We aim to further characterize DADA2 cases in China. Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with DADA2 identified through whole exome sequencing (WES) at seventeen rheumatology centers across China was conducted. Clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, genotype, and treatment response were analyzed. Results: Thirty patients with DADA2 were enrolled between January 2015 and December 2021. Adenosine deaminase 2 enzymatic activity was low in all tested cases to confirm pathogenicity. Median age of disease presentation was 4.3 years and the median age at diagnosis was 7.8 years. All but one patient presented during childhood and two subjects died from complications of their disease. The patients most commonly presented with systemic inflammation (92.9%), vasculitis (86.7%), and hypogammaglobinemia (73.3%) while one patient presented with bone marrow failure (BMF) with variable cytopenia. Twenty-three (76.7%) patients were treated with TNF inhibitors (TNFi), while two (6.7%) underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). They all achieved clinical remission. A total of thirty-nine ADA2 causative variants were identified, six of which were novel. Conclusion: To establish early diagnosis and improve clinical outcomes, genetic screening and/or testing of ADA2 enzymatic activity should be performed in patients with suspected clinical features. TNFi is considered as first line treatment for those with vascular phenotypes. HSCT may be beneficial for those with hematological disease or in those who are refractory to TNFi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zooplankton community could be affected by aquatic environment, land use patterns, and climate factors. However, few studies have evaluated the relative importance of these factors to the zooplankton community succession on a long-term scale. In this study, long-term data were used to analyze the succession characteristics and drivers of zooplankton communities in Honghu Lake, a large-scale shallow lake in central China. Results showed that zooplankton community structure changed greatly in 1959–2021. In general, the species number decreased, abundance and biomass increased, and the number and proportion of pollution tolerant species among dominant species increased during the past ~ 60 years. For the driving factors of zooplankton from 1992 to 2021, redundancy analysis showed that nutrients, wind speed, and aquaculture enclosure and pond were the main drivers of Protozoa and Rotifera, while phytoplankton abundance, wind speed, dissolved oxygen, and farmland were the main drivers of Cladocera and Copepoda. Generalized additive model showed that the aquatic environment had the highest direct explanation (mean is 60.2%) to zooplankton variation, followed by land use (mean is 35.6%) and climate factors (mean is 33.1%). Variance partitioning analysis showed that the effects of human activities (32.9–43.1%) associated with land use, water quality, and phytoplankton on the zooplankton succession are stronger than that of climate factors (19.9–29.2%). Additionally, lake eutrophication is an important factor for the decline in the richness index (p = 0.0017, r = − 0.8411) and Shannon index (p = 0.0301, r = − 0.8020) of zooplankton from 2019 to 2021. Our results highlighted that anthropogenic activity has stronger driving effects on zooplankton succession in the long term than climate changes in the lake. These findings can provide insights into zooplankton conservation in response to global climate change and complex anthropogenic actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has significantly enhanced vegetation coverage and terrestrial carbon sink functions through ecological restoration. However, cropland ecosystems are sensitive to a changing climate over the summertime monsoon transition zone of China (SMTZC), which has implications for carbon cycling. For example, it is unclear how changes in precipitation will affect the cropland ecosystem carbon sinks (CSe) and carbon sink potential (CSp), and the mechanisms of tradeoffs that develop between plant and soil organic carbon (SOC) are unclear. Here, we integrated crop yield, total biomass (TB) and water coefficient in a combined field and modelling experimental. We explored the mechanisms of ecosystem carbon cycling and CSp in the SMTZC under different precipitation scenarios. We found that soil organic carbon sink (SOCs) was strongly correlated with the plant organic carbon sink (POCs) and discovered. Significant differences in CSp between ecosystems resulting from interannual precipitation. The C4 (maize, Zea mays) and C3 (potato, Solanum tuberosum L) carbon sinks (CSs) were 68.59, 190.73, 160.37 Mt and 10.21, 30.97, 14.59 Mt for the 3 years, respectively. Precipitation effectively increased TB and yield, but excessive precipitation in them, which was most obvious in C3 ecosystem (R2 > 0.60) and reduced POCs, evident in C4 ecosystem (R2 > 0.16). This study provides data and a scientific basis for increasing CS and achieving carbon neutrality in cropland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the periodic rise and fall of the water level in the Three Gorges Reservoir in China, the rock mass in the ebb and flow zone of the slope is always in a state of a dry-wet cycle. In order to explore the influence of dry-wet cycle on mechanical properties of jointed sandstone, the triaxial and uniaxial compression tests of dry-wet cycle of jointed sandstone were carried out. For the experiment, four groups of samples with different numbers of joints were set up, and the jointed rock samples were subjected to 20 dry-wet cycles. Using both the triaxial compression test and the Mohr-Coulomb (M-C) rock fracture criterion, the strength envelope of the sandstone samples was fitted, and their strength degradation was further analyzed and studied. The results show that: ① The peak intensity and elastic modulus of the sandstone samples decrease with increased number of dry-wet cycles. ② The total deterioration of mechanical properties of intact rock samples is bigger than that of jointed sandstone samples as the number of dry-wet cycles increases. ③ With the increase of confining pressure, the peak intensity of intact sandstone samples increases muchmore than that of jointed sandstone samples, which indicates that joints and their numbers have obvious influence. ④ Joints and their numbers play an important role in guiding the damage effects of sandstone samples, which weaken the damage caused by dry-wet cycles. Therefore, the envelope of the M-C strength criterion of intact sandstone samples moves more than that of jointed sandstone samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous activities on Mars have gradually declined since the Noachian (>3.7 Ga). Although water can be stored in the subsurface during the latest epochs, geomorphological evidence is still limited. In this study, we used in situ imaging and spectral data acquired by China's Zhurong rover, as well as high‐resolution remote‐sensing data, to investigate the transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) in the Zhurong landing region of Utopia Planitia. A two‐stage evolutionary scenario of the TARs is proposed and polygonal features with hydrated minerals are identified for the first time on the surface of Martian TARs. We discussed the possible formation mechanisms of the polygonal features, and proposed that they could be related to recent aqueous activity and atmosphere‐surface water exchange on Mars, which sheds light on the hydrological cycle of Mars in current cold and dry climate. Plain Language Summary: The history of water on the surface of Mars has been studied for a long time. Since about 3.7 billion years ago, the role of water has gradually declined. Although the existence of subsurface ice on present‐day Mars has been confirmed, evidence for surface water is still limited. Transverse aeolian ridges (TARs), a kind of ripple‐like aeolian landform, are widely distributed on Mars and usually thought to be active within the last ∼3 million years. They are also identified in southern Utopia Planitia, the landing region of China's Mars exploration rover Zhurong. We analyzed the morphology and evolution of the TARs in the Zhurong landing region, and found some polygonal features with hydrated minerals such as gypsum on the surface of the latest‐formed TARs. We discussed the possible origins of these polygons, and proposed that they represent very recent aqueous activity on the Martian surface, which will help us better understand the hydrological cycle on current Mars. Key Points: Morphology and evolution of the transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) in the Zhurong landing region are studiedPolygonal features with hydrated minerals are identified on some of the TARs investigated by the Zhurong roverThe polygons could be related to very recent aqueous activity and atmosphere‐surface water exchange on Mars [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice farming threatens freshwater resources, while also being increasingly vulnerable to drought due to climate change. Rice farming needs to become more sustainable and resilient to climate change by improving irrigation drainage systems. Small water bodies, used to store drainage water and supply irrigation in traditional rice farming systems have gradually been abandoned in recent decades. This has resulted in a higher water footprint (WF) associated with rice farming due to increased freshwater usage and wastewater release, also leaving rice production more vulnerable to extreme weather events. Here, we propose how protecting and reactivating small water bodies for rice irrigation and drainage can decrease rice production WF in China by 30%, save 9% of China's freshwater consumption, increase irrigation self-sufficiency from 3% to 31%, and alleviate yield loss in dry years by 2–3%. These findings show that redesigning rice irrigation drainage systems can help meet water scarcity challenges posed by climate change. Ponds played an important role in ancient rice-growing regions such as China and India. Here, the authors find that reviving small water bodies to recycle drainage water for irrigation can reduce China's rice production water footprint by 9% and alleviate 2-3% yield loss in dry years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The summer monsoon transition zone (SMTZ) in China represents an unusual land type with an agro-pasture ecotone, and it is a climate-sensitive region. Changes in climate aridity and changes in meteorological drought are mutually related yet fundamentally different. In this study, potential evapotranspiration (ETO) is calculated using Penman–Monteith, based on China's national meteorological stations data from 1961 to 2013. An ETO-based climate aridity index (IAI) and ETO-based standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) are used as the metrics for climate aridity and meteorological drought, respectively. The result shows a significant difference between climate aridity and meteorological drought in the SMTZ, compared with the monsoon and non-monsoon zone. This difference varies on different time scales (1–48 months), and the greatest differences between IAI and SPEI are on seasonal and monthly scales (1–12 months), but lower at longer time scales (>12 months). The first reason for the difference is the desynchronicity of meteorological drought and the background climate. After the background climate becomes a relatively arid state (such as 0.96 < IAI < 1) from a semi-arid state (0.50 < IAI < 0.80), the continued arid state with weak IAI fluctuations eventually results in increasingly severe meteorological droughts, or the recurrence of equally severe droughts with drastic reduction. Consequently, the onset of the most severe climate aridity is two to seven months (mostly three to four months) ahead of the onset of the most severe drought events, until the climate returns to a semi-arid state. Second, climate aridity represents the average state of the background climate over a long time period and changes gently, while meteorological droughts are stochastic climate events and change drastically. These findings indicate that IAI can serve as a predictor of the onset of meteorological drought events, especially in the SMTZ, but it fails to characterize the progression of meteorological drought events well. Therefore, this result is of great significance for drought prediction and early warning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In China, recurrent pandemics require frequent city‐wide lockdowns and quarantine actions to contain the impact of COVID‐19, exposing college students to psychological problems, including hopelessness. Hence, the purpose of helping problematic college students alleviate hopelessness symptoms motivates us to carry out the present study to explore their interrelationship. Methods: Hopelessness (i.e., a complex phenomenon with important clinical consequences, such as depression and suicidality) was investigated in a large longitudinal sample of college students (N = 2787; 58.59% female; age mean±SD = 18.34 ± 0.92) who were recruited during and after the COVID‐19 lockdown using the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). Results: Applying the novel approach (i.e., symptom network analysis), the results indicated that the edge of #BHS1 (i.e., [NOT] hope‐enthusiasm)–#BHS15 (i.e., [NOT] faith‐in‐the‐future) showed the strongest association both in Wave 1 and Wave 2. Similarly, #BHS20 (i.e., not‐trying) had the highest node expectedinfluence (centrality) in the hopelessness symptoms network both among Wave 1 and Wave 2. The Network Comparison Test indicated that the global network strength significantly differed between the two time points. As expected, college students' hopelessness will gradually dissipate with the end of segregation control. The stability and accuracy indicated that the network analysis results were trustworthy. Conclusions: The study findings provide evidence that central nodes and edges connecting symptoms should be addressed. Further interventions and treatments that may target these symptoms are essential to effectively alleviate the overall hopelessness level among college students. Theoretical and clinical potential consequences were discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therefore, the mechanisms that promote interactions between metastatic tumour cells and activated tumour-associated lymphatic endothelium in primary tumours and draining lymph nodes should be investigated in more detail to prevent and treat EMPD. Extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) is a rare tumour presenting with an erythematous spread in elderly patients, mainly in the genital region.[[1]] It is most common in Caucasian women, but in Asian populations, there is a male predominance.[[3]] Given the rarity of this disease, limited studies have reported the 5-year outcomes on the Chinese population; hence a comprehensive survival analysis on the Chinese mainland is still lacking. Additional prospective data are needed to clarify the characteristics of high-risk EMPD patients and to further identify better and more effective superior management approaches to recurrent and potential tumour metastasis. [Extracted from the article]

As the Human Genome Project experiences remarkable success and a flood of biological data is produced, bioinformatics becomes a very "hot" cross-disciplinary field, yet experienced bioinformaticians are urgently needed worldwide. This paper summarises the rapid development of bioinformatics education in China, especially related undergraduate courses and graduate programmes at some leading universities and research institutes. With further educational reform and international collaboration, China has new developmental potential in this field. (Contains 5 online resources, 1 figure, and 2 tables.)

Background: The transfusion rate is relatively high in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA). However, relevant studies focusing on the predisposing factors for transfusion with a large sample size are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of and risk factors for allogeneic blood transfusion in patients with AS undergoing primary unilateral THA. Methods: This retrospective study included 331 patients with AS who underwent primary unilateral THA between 2011 and 2021. Relevant parameters were collected through a chart review. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify possible factors associated with perioperative allogeneic blood transfusion. Results: A total of 113 (34.1%) patients received perioperative allogeneic blood transfusions. Factors related to receiving an allogeneic blood transfusion included prolonged operative duration (odds ratio [OR] per 10 min = 1.139, P = 0.047), increased estimated intraoperative blood loss (OR per 100 mL = 1.348, P < 0.001), and increased postoperative drainage volume (OR per 100 mL = 1.235, P = 0.024). A higher body mass index (BMI) (OR = 0.914, P = 0.012), perioperative tranexamic acid (TXA) use (OR = 0.166, P < 0.001), and a higher preoperative hemoglobin level (OR per 1 g/dL = 0.744, P = 0.004) decreased the risk of transfusion. Conclusions: In patients with AS undergoing THA, prolonged operative duration, increased estimated intraoperative blood loss, and increased postoperative drainage volume were found to be risk factors for transfusion, whereas a higher BMI, perioperative TXA use, and a higher preoperative hemoglobin level were protective factors. These results may aid in developing a better perioperative management strategy, ultimately reducing the need for transfusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]