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The rehabilitation of diverse and three‐dimensional forest vegetation patterns is crucial for preventing forest degradation and improving soil fertility. However, the relationship between soil microbial community and soil fertility was not clear. To accurately assess the capability of vegetation restoration measures on the real impact on degraded soil ecosystems. We selected three vegetation rehabilitation models of degraded Pinus massoniana forests in typical soil erosion areas in China as the research objects, with untreated bare land as the control. All three vegetation construction patterns increased the abundance and diversity of soil bacteria and fungi, thereby enhancing the stability of the soil ecosystem. Additionally, the vegetation rehabilitation models also altered the community structure of soil bacteria and fungi in the degraded P. massoniana forests. The pH and soil fertility index (IFI) were the main factors leading to variations in the community structure of the soil bacteria and fungi. Among them, the grass‐planting model showed a significantly greater improvement in the soil fertility of degraded P. massoniana forests than the shrub‐planting and arbor‐planting models. Furthermore, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Glomeromycota exhibited the most significant response to IFI, indicating their potential as indicator microorganisms for soil fertility changes. The improvement in soil fertility in degraded P. massoniana forests was influenced primarily by the increase in urease activity (S‐UE) according to the vegetation rehabilitation models (84.20%, p = 0.000). In conclusion, the grass‐planting system effectively improved the soil ecosystem quality of degraded P. massoniana forests in southern erosion‐prone areas of China and was suitable for further application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a book titled "A History of Cyber Literary Criticism in China" by Youquan Ouyang. The book explores the development and evolution of internet literature in China, as well as the emergence of cyber literary criticism as a popular area of research. It is divided into two parts, with the first part focusing on the history and evolution of Chinese internet literature, and the second part delving into the analysis of essential areas such as conceptual change and functional transitions. The book aims to fill an academic gap and provide a comprehensive understanding of the field. However, it also highlights the challenges and lack of consensus in defining and understanding Chinese internet literature. [Extracted from the article]

Soil bacterial communities play a crucial role in the evaluation of soil ecosystem stability. Vegetation restoration is a key determinant of soil bacterial communities in areas affected by soil erosion. However, it remains unclear how the structure and diversity of soil bacterial communities vary with soil depth. In this study, we collected soil samples from 0 to 10 cm, 10 to 20 cm, 20 to 30 cm, and 30 to 40 cm depths in vegetation restoration sites located in typical soil erosion areas in China. We compared and analyzed the differences in bacterial community characteristics among different soil depths, using untreated areas as controls. Compared to the untreated areas, the abundance of soil bacteria in the 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–30 cm depths of the vegetation restoration sites increased by 1.63, 1.04, and 1.29 times, respectively. Furthermore, vegetation restoration enhanced soil bacterial diversity at the 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–30 cm depths. Soil organic carbon (OC) was the main explanatory factor (53.50%, p = 0.000) for the decrease in soil bacterial diversity with soil depth. Additionally, after vegetation restoration in soil erosion areas, the dominant bacterial community composition shifted from Chloroflexi to Actinobacteria at the 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–30 cm depths and to Proteobacteria at the 30–40 cm depth. The differences in soil bacterial communities among different soil depths were primarily driven by soil total nitrogen (TN) content, which explained up to 34.5% of the variation. In conclusion, in the subsequent management of vegetation restoration sites, increasing OC and TN content can enhance soil bacterial diversity, improve bacterial community composition, and ultimately enhance the stability of soil ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Benggang' is a local term for a widespread type of severgully erosion with steep collapsing walls in granitic, low, hilly areas of southern China, and its development and expansion are closely related to the shear strength of the collapsing wall. Plant roots play an important role in improving soil shear strength. However, the shear strength of root‐soil complexes in different layers of collapsing walls remains obscure. We selected Dicranopteris linearis fern roots and adopted the direct shear method to evaluate the effect of root weight density (RWD) (0–1.25 g 100 cm−3) on the shear properties of the lateritic, sandy and detritus layers. The results showed that roots could enhance soil shear strength, and the maximum increase in the lateritic layer was 11.53%, higher than that in the sandy (5.84%) and detritus layers (3.17%). As the root content increased, the cohesion of the sandy and detritus layers increased and then decreased, and their maximum increase in cohesion and the fitting optimal RWD were lower than those of the lateritic layer. The internal friction angle was not affected by roots. When the root content was constant, the shear strength and cohesion of the lateritic layer were significantly higher than those of the sandy and detritus layers, while their internal friction angle was significantly lower than that of the latter two layers. The average increment of soil cohesion calculated by the Wu‐Waldron model (WWM) was 10.52 kPa, which was 0.30, 3.75 and 19.38 times the measured average values of the lateritic, sandy and detritus layers, respectively. The correction coefficient k′ was 0.02–1.18, and the k'¯$$ \overline{k\hbox{'}} $$ in the lateritic layer was the highest (0.82), followed by that in the sandy and detritus layers. By combining the modified WWM with Coulomb's formula, new shear strength equations for root‐soil complexes of D. linearis were established. The predicted shear strength compared well with the measured shear strength (R2 > 0.90, NSE >0.90). Overall, the roots only had a significant reinforcement effect on the lateritic layer, and they could still not change the mechanical properties of the collapsing wall, which were more stable in the upper layers and weaker in the bottom. Therefore, other measures should be taken in the bottom layers to improve the stability of Benggangs. Highlights: Effect of D. linearis roots on the shear strength of collapsing walls in Benggang was studied.Roots could improve collapsing‐wall soil shear strength, mainly reflected in the cohesion.The roots enhancement effect in lateritic layer was better than that of sandy and detritus layers.New shear strength equations of root‐soil complexes were established based on the Wu‐Waldron model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. dysgalactiae (SDSD) is one of the most prevalent pathogens causing bovine mastitis worldwide. However, there is a lack of comprehensive information regarding genetic diversity, complete profiles of virulence factors (VFs), and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes for SDSD associated with bovine mastitis in China. In this study, a total of 674 milk samples, including samples from 509 clinical and 165 subclinical mastitis cases, were collected from 17 herds in 7 provinces in China from November 2016 to June 2019. All SDSD isolates were included in phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA and multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). In addition, whole genome sequencing was performed on 12 representative SDSD isolates to screen for VFs and AMR genes and to define pan-, core and accessory genomes. The prevalence of SDSD from mastitis milk samples was 7.57% (51/674). According to phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA, 51 SDSD isolates were divided into 4 clusters, whereas based on MLST, 51 SDSD isolates were identified as 11 sequence types, including 6 registered STs and 5 novel STs (ST521, ST523, ST526, ST527, ST529) that belonged to 2 distinct clonal complexes (CCs) and 4 singletons. Based on WGS information, 108 VFs genes in 12 isolates were determined in 11 categories. In addition, 23 AMR genes were identified in 11 categories. Pan-, core and accessory genomes were composed of 2,663, 1,633 and 699 genes, respectively. These results provided a comprehensive profiles of SDSD virulence and resistance genes as well as phylogenetic relationships among mastitis associated SDSD in North China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently reported on the diversity of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from dairy herds in China. In our previous work, isolates from subclinical mastitis (SCM) had lower indices of diversity when compared with bacteria from other sources, possibly due to a contagious-like spread of udder adapted strains. Here we explored the virulence profile and capsular types of K. pneumoniae isolated from different sources on 2 dairy farms in China. Our overarching goal was to gain insights on the role of virulence genes toward the severity of mastitis caused by K. pneumoniae. A total of 1,484 samples were collected from clinical mastitis (CM; n = 355), SCM (n = 561), bulk tank milk (BTM; n = 130), and environmental and extramammary (EE) sites (n = 438). From those, 431 K. pneumoniae isolates were obtained, including 129, 77, 66, and 159 isolates from CM, SCM, BTM, and EE samples, respectively. Polymerase chain reactions were used to determine the capsular types and to detect potential virulence genes in all isolates. No significant farm effects were observed when comparing the distribution of most virulence genes in K. pneumoniae isolated from each source. K57 was the most prevalent capsular type in K. pneumoniae from all sources, but with increased detection rate in isolates from CM. entB , kfu , fimH1 , mrkD , and β- d - lacZ were frequently detected in K. pneumoniae from all sources. β- d - lacZ , entB , and ituA were more prevalent in isolates from CM, whereas kfu , allS , and nif were more frequently detected in isolates from SCM. ybtS , aerobactin , and rpmA had increased prevalence in K. pneumoniae from BTM when compared with bacteria from other sources. No association was detected between virulence genes and the severity of CM. K57 and the nif gene had the highest discriminatory power to classify isolates from CM and SCM, respectively. Based on our findings, it is likely that K57 is the dominant capsular type in K. pneumoniae causing CM in large Chinese dairy herds. Likewise, we demonstrated that β- d - lacZ is disseminated in K. pneumoniae isolated from large Chinese dairy farms, irrespectively of the source of bacteria. Our results also suggest a low contribution of the virulence profile of K. pneumoniae toward CM severity. Finally, the role of nif in increasing the adaptability to the udder and promoting a contagious-like spread of K. pneumoniae warrants further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The vegetation restoration model added microbial abundance and diversity in soil erosion areas. • The increase of soil alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen by vegetation restoration was the main explanation factor for the increase of bacterial diversity. • The increase of soil organic matter by vegetation restoration was the main explanation factor for the increase of fungal diversity. • The arbor-shrub -grassland model has the most obvious improvement on the stability of soil ecosystem. Investigating the effects of diverse artificial vegetation restoration methods on soil microbial communities is important for understanding soil health and achieving sustainable utilization of vegetation resources. In this study, the surface soil samples (0–10 cm) of three artificial vegetation restoration modes were selected as the research object which included the fenced forest, the arbor-shrub-grassland, and the chestnut forest in the soil and water loss area of South China. Three artificial vegetation restoration modes have significantly increased both the abundance and diversity of bacteria and fungi in areas affected by soil erosion, thus contributing to the stabilization of the ecosystem. Specifically, the arbor-shrub-grassland mode demonstrated the most significant improvements. Soil alkali nitrogen (71.10%, P = 0.000) and organic matter content (63.30%, P = 0.001) emerged as the primary factors driving this increase in bacterial and fungal diversity. After restoration, the composition of soil bacterial and fungal communities in soil erosion areas has undergone significant changes. However, it was observed that only the arbor-shrub-grassland mode could induce a shift in dominant bacterial species from Chloroflexi to Acidobacteria. Variations in soil bacterial and fungal community compositions across different modes were attributed to differences in soluble organic carbon (65.80%, P = 0.002) and soil bulk density (49.00%, P = 0.010). In conclusion, the increased fungal abundance and the bacterial shift observed in the arbor-shrub-grassland mode underscore its superior effectiveness in rehabilitating degraded soils, compared to both the fenced forest and the chestnut forest modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standing for over 800 years, the pagoda of Dinglin Temple in Nanjing, a city in eastern China, is the world's most leaning tower on record. Prior to restoration work performed by an engineering team in China, the tower leaned towards the northwest at an angle of 7°59′ due to uneven settlement of the foundation and the overall integral stability of the tower was nearly critical. Inspired by a method used to move important cultural relics, the first use of an integrated bundling technology to rectify this tilted ancient masonry pagoda is reported. The leaning angle of the tower was successfully reduced by 2°23′ through a combination of deviation-rectifying and foundation-strengthening reinforcement measures. After this deviation rectification, the pagoda of Dinglin Temple now leans by approximately 5°36′ compared with an angle of 3°59′ for the leaning tower of Pisa. It thus remains the world's most leaning tower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycoplasma bovis is an important cause of bovine mastitis in China and worldwide. We hypothesized that M. bovis damages bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMEC), with the degree of damage varying among field isolates. Our objective was to evaluate 2 novel sequence type (ST) field strains of M. bovis (ST172 and ST173) for their ability to induce oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, pathomorphological changes, and apoptosis in bMEC, as a model for pathogenesis of M. bovis -induced bovine mastitis. Cytotoxicity (as indicated by release of lactate dehydrogenase, LDH) from bMEC depended on multiplicity of infection (MOI), with a high MOI (1:1,000) being required to induce cytotoxicity. Morphological changes in bMEC, including shrinkage, loss of cell integrity, and heavy staining (hematoxylin and eosin) of cytoplasm were apparent 24 h after infection with ST172 or ST173 M. bovis , with more severe changes being induced by the latter strain. Adhesion and invasion assays both had curvilinear patterns, peaking 12 h after infection with MOI of 1:1,000. Both production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and proportion of apoptotic cells increased with time after infection. Increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratios and activation of caspase-3 implied involvement of mitochondria-dependent pathways of apoptosis. Furthermore, intracellular ROS generation, apoptosis, and cleaved caspase-3 were mitigated by N -acetyl- l -cysteine, a ROS scavenger. Both interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 were significantly upregulated by ST172 and ST173 M. bovis , with little change in expression of tumor necrosis factor-α. One ST173 M. bovis isolate had the greatest cytotoxicity of all of our field isolates, with the highest LDH release, adhesion, invasion, ROS production, and apoptosis. In conclusion, our hypothesis was supported: M. bovis damaged bMEC by generating ROS and initiating a mitochondria-dependent pathway of apoptosis, with the degree of damage varying among field isolates. This study provided new knowledge regarding pathogenesis of M. bovis -induced bovine mastitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• Sediment characteristics of a watershed after continuous soil erosion control. • Three main flood patterns decreased in both frequency and sediment concentration. • The dominant relation between suspended sediment concentration and discharge was single-valued. • The implementation of soil and water conservation measures led to limited sediment supply. To investigate the runoff and sediment characteristics of the watershed after continuous soil erosion control in the red soil region of southern China, hydrological data were collected from 2013 to 2020 in the Zhuxi watershed, which is located in the southeast of the red soil region. The results showed that the monthly suspended sediment concentration and annual sediment yield have significantly decreased since 2017. At the event scale, 180 floods were classified into four flood patterns (A, B, C and D) by the K-medoids clustering method based on the flood duration, runoff depth and peak discharge. Each flood pattern resulted in differing levels of the event sediment yield (D > C > B > A), and Pattern C contributed the most to runoff and sediment yield. The study period was divided into two stages according to the annual sediment yield. Compared with 2013–2016, the total runoff and sediment yield of the 3 major flood patterns (A, B and C) in 2017–2020 decreased by 17.88%∼25.12% and 78.92%∼90.34%, respectively. These flood patterns decreased not only in frequency but also in suspended sediment concentration, which was caused by the changes in the runoff-sediment relationships of flood events. Six types of suspended sediment concentration and discharge (SSC - Q) relations appeared in the flood events, indicating that the sediment sources and sediment transport processes were complex and dynamic. In 2017–2020, the single-valued relation became the dominant type of SSC - Q relations for all flood patterns, which suggests that the sediment supply was inhibited. The results provide a more comprehensive understanding of the runoff and sediment processes of a watershed after continuous soil erosion control, which is beneficial for revealing the development of soil erosion in the red soil region of southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Vegetation restoration has improved the soil multifunctionality in eroded areas. • Vegetation restoration has increased the abundance and diversity of carbon-fixing functional bacteria. • Vegetation restoration has enhanced the network complexity of carbon-fixing functional bacteria. • The changes in carbon-fixing functional bacteria are closely related to the changes in soil multifunctionality. Carbon-fixing bacteria are a key functional group in soil carbon fixation processes, but their relationship with soil multifunctionality during vegetation restoration in eroded areas remains unclear. This hinders our ability to assess the true impact of vegetation restoration on soil ecosystem services. Therefore, we studied the impacts of three vegetation communities (tree-shrub, tree-grass, and tree-shrub-grass) in the same small watershed in a severely eroded area in southern China on the community of carbon-fixing bacteria in the soil. Compared to eroded areas, vegetation restoration sites had more complex networks of carbon-fixing bacteria, more carbon-fixing bacterial taxa, and more associations among these bacteria. Particularly, in the tree-shrub communities, the Chao1 index, Shannon index, node number, and edge number increased significantly by 291.29%, 49.65%, 364.58%, and 530.89%, respectively. The vegetation community pattern shifted the dominant carbon-fixing bacteria in the eroded areas from Rhodovastum to Nocardia. In the tree-shrub, tree-grass, and tree-shrub-grass patterns, the relative abundance of Rhodovastum decreased by 90.11%, 96.76%, and 95.37%, respectively, compared to that in the control group (CK). This indicates that vegetation community patterns have the potential to shift the dominant carbon-fixing bacteria from strict autotrophs to facultative autotrophs. The changes in the characteristics of the carbon-fixing bacterial community are closely related to the changes in soil multifunctionality caused by vegetation restoration. These results demonstrate that vegetation communities have a significant positive impact on the soil carbon fixation capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global concern regarding the adverse effects of heavy metal pollution in soil has grown significantly. Accurate prediction of heavy metal content in soil is crucial for environmental protection. This study proposes an inversion analysis method for heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb) in soil based on hyperspectral and machine learning algorithms for 21 soil reference materials from multiple provinces in China. On this basis, an integrated learning model called Stacked RF (the base model is XGBoost, LightGBM, CatBoost, and the meta-model is RF) was established to perform soil heavy metal inversion. Specifically, three popular algorithms were initially employed to preprocess the spectral data, then Random Forest (RF) was used to select the best feature bands to reduce the impact of noise, finally Stacking and four basic machine learning algorithms were used to establish comparisons and analysis of inversion model. Compared with traditional machine learning methods, the stacking model showcases enhanced stability and superior accuracy. Research results indicate that machine learning algorithms, especially ensemble learning models, have better inversion effects on heavy metals in soil. Overall, the MF-RF-Stacking model performed best in the inversion of the six heavy metals. The research results will provide a new perspective on the ensemble learning model method for soil heavy metal content inversion using data of hyperspectral characteristic bands collected from soil reference materials. [Display omitted] • Vis-NIR hyperspectroscopy is used to achieve the inversion of heavy metal content in soil. • Median filtering effectively preprocesses data and improves the accuracy of model. • Using hyperspectral characteristic bands related to HM concentrations can improve the inversion accuracy. • A fast and non-destructive MF-RF-Stacking model is developed for prediction of HM content in soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic disorders have been a major concern for public health in China, especially in the rural regions. However, there is little information available about prevalence of many common single-gene disorders in Guizhou Province in the south western part of China. In the present study, we performed a molecular newborn screening for four genetic disorders, including beta-thalassemia (β-thal), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, phenylketonuria (PKU), and non-syndromic hearing loss and deafness (NSHL) in this region. A total of 515 newborns were genotyped using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) developed for screening the mutations causing these four disorders, and then confirmed by Sanger sequencing. The results showed that 48 out of 515 newborns were carriers of mutations related to these four diseases, with a frequency of 1 in 11 (9.32%). The carrier frequencies for each disease are: β-thal 2.72%; G6PD deficiency 1.94%; PKU 0.78% and NSHL 4.47%. The genotyping results by MALDI-TOF MS were concordant with Sanger sequencing results within 30 randomly selected samples. This is the first study that reveals carrier frequencies of these four diseases in Guizhou Province. These data provide valuable information for the genetic counseling and disease prevention in Guizhou and southwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 50 Mycoplasma bovis isolates were collected from 476 mastitis milk samples in China. • Two novel STs were registered as ST172 and ST173 by multi-locus sequence typing. • The isolates showed low MIC to fluoroquinolones and tiamulin. • Antimicrobial treatments possibly have contributed to emergence of novel STs. Mycoplasma bovis (M. bovis) is regarded as the most prevalent mycoplasma species causing bovine mastitis worldwide. This study was conducted with the objectives to: (1) estimate M. bovis prevalence in samples from clinical mastitis and bulk tank milk; (2) assess genetic diversity and population structure of isolates; and (3) determine antibiotic susceptibility of isolates to nine antimicrobials. Milk samples (n = 476), including 450 clinical mastitis and 26 bulk tank milk samples from 23 farms (each with >1000 lactating cows) in 10 provinces of China were collected between May 2018 and September 2019. M. bovis cultured from milk samples were analyzed by multi-locus sequence typing. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of all isolates to nine antimicrobials were determined. Differences in minimum inhibitory concentration values were assessed by Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction. The positive proportions of M. bovis in clinical mastitis samples and bulk tank milk samples were 39/450 (8.7%) and 11/26 (42.3%), respectively. Based on multi-locus sequence typing, the 50 isolates were identified as three sequence types, including sequence type 10 and two novel sequence types (newly registered as sequence type 172 and sequence type 173). The most prevalent type, sequence type 172 (31/50, 62.0%), had allelic profile 4, 3, 2, 3, 5, 7, 4. In addition, sequence type 10 with allelic profile 4, 3, 2, 3, 5, 3, 4 had a mid-range prevalence (11/50, 22.0%), whereas sequence type 173 with allelic profile 10, 3, 6, 13, 21, 6, 10 was the least prevalent (8/50, 16.0%). Both sequence type 10 and sequence type 172 were clustered in Clonal Complex 3, with isolates from the USA. M. bovis isolates in this study uniformly had low level minimum inhibitory concentrations to enrofloxacin and tiamulin. Overall variances among isolates were significant (Kruskal-Wallis test) for clindamycin (P = 0.006), erythromycin (P = 0.012) and tylosin (P =0.004). Relative to the sequence type 10 group, there were higher minimum inhibitory concentrations levels for the sequence type 173 group (H = -19.795, P = 0.003, for clindamycin; H = -19.574, P = 0.003, for erythromycin; and H = -18.881, P = 0.003, for tylosin) by post-hoc comparisons using pairwise comparisons of mean ranks following Kruskal-Wallis test with Bonferroni correction. Hence, increasing antimicrobial resistance may have contributed to emergence of novel sequence types. These data provided a baseline for elucidating genetic diversity and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of M. bovis in the main dairy-farming provinces in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoglycemia is a common metabolic condition in neonatal period, but severe and persistent hypoglycemia can cause neurological damage and brain injury. The aim of the present study was to analyze the risk factors of neonatal hypoglycemia in clinic. A total of 135 neonatal hypoglycemia infants and 135 healthy infants were included in the present study. The differences in birth weight between neonatal hypoglycemia group and healthy control group were analyzed via t test. The associations between neonatal blood sugar level and relevant characteristic factors were explored using χ2 test. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to analyze risk factors related to the incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia. The results showed that the average birth weight was matched in neonatal hypoglycemia group and healthy control group. Neonatal blood sugar level of the infants was significantly associated with born term, birth weight, feed, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and hypothermia (all P<0.05). Besides, logistic regression analysis showed that babies' born term (odds ratio (OR) = 2.715, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.311-5.625), birth weight (OR = 1.910, 95% CI: 1.234-2.955), improper feeding (OR = 3.165, 95% CI: 1.295-7.736) and mother's GDM (OR = 2.184, 95% CI: 1.153-4.134) were high risk factors for neonatal hypoglycemia. The incidence of hypoglycemia in infants was significantly associated with various clinical factors. And monitoring these risk factors is one of important measures to reduce long-term neurological damage caused by neonatal hypoglycemia., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

Fine spatiotemporal mapping of PM 2.5 concentration in urban areas is of great significance in epidemiologic research. However, both the diversity and the complex nonlinear relationships of PM 2.5 influencing factors pose challenges for accurate mapping. To address these issues, we innovatively combined social sensing data with remote sensing data and other auxiliary variables, which can bring both natural and social factors into the modeling; meanwhile, we used a deep learning method to learn the nonlinear relationships. The geospatial analysis methods were applied to realize effective feature extraction of the social sensing data and a grid matching process was carried out to integrate the spatiotemporal multi-source heterogeneous data. Based on this research strategy, we finally generated hourly PM 2.5 concentration data at a spatial resolution of 0.01°. This method was successfully applied to the central urban area of Wuhan in China, which the optimal result of the 10-fold cross-validation R 2 was 0.832. Our work indicated that the real-time check-in and traffic index variables can improve both quantitative and mapping results. The mapping results could be potentially applied for urban environmental monitoring, pollution exposure assessment, and health risk research., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

α-Thalassemia (α-thal) is one of the most prevalent genetic diseases in the world and is especially frequent in tropical and subtropical regions, including South China. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and spectrum of α-thal in Guizhou Province as this information was unknown. A total of 40 α-thal carriers were determined in 1219 newborn umbilical cord blood samples by hemoglobin (Hb) electrophoresis combined with DNA analysis, which revealed that the carrier rate of α-thal in Guizhou Province was 3.28%. One thousand and forty-five individuals referred to our hospital were tested for α-thal mutations. Two hundred and twenty-four cases were determined as α-thal carriers or patients. A total of 11 genotypes and five different α-thal mutations were identified in these 224 cases. Of these mutations, more than 96.0% were deletions, including - -(SEA) (65.89%), -α(3.7) (rightward) (22.87%) and -α(4.2) (leftward) (7.74%). The other two nondeletional mutations, Hb Constant Spring (Hb CS, α(CS)α, HBA2: c.427T > C) and Hb Quong Sze [Hb QS, α(QS)α, HBA2: c.377T > C (or HBA1)] account for 2.71% and 0.78%, respectively. The results of this study will be useful in genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis (PND) of α-thal in Guizhou Province.

The activated sludge model No. 3 (ASM3) was modified to describe the biological reactions in aerobic granular sludge SBR. The simultaneous storage and growth, nitrification and denitrification were all accounted for in modified model. The sensitivities of effluent COD, NH(4)(+) -N, and TN toward the stoichiometric and kinetic coefficients were analyzed. A standard set of parameters obtained from a combination of literature data was chosen for the model. The experimental results for the time profile of COD, NH(4)(+) -N, and TN in a typical cycle were used to verify the ASM3 model. The verification results show the model established is applicable for simulating the perfo rmance of an aerobic granule-based SBR. A comparison of the measured and predicted values of substrate removal for both the modified ASM3 and the original ASM3 was also performed. The verification and comparison results show the modified ASM3 model describes the aerobic granule-based SBR better and more mechanistically., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)