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The study investigates the distinct impact of vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on vegetation productivity in the Northern Hemisphere by isolating the effects from air temperature (T) and soil moisture (SM). The findings reveal that interactions between VPD, T, and SM offset potential benefits of warming on productivity and amplify negative effects of soil drying, offering novel insights into VPD's role in terrestrial ecosystems.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to result in a change in the incidence of respiratory tract infection 1-3. It is unknown whether the pandemic has the same impact on vulvovaginitis among girls and adolescents. This study aims to explore the potential changes in the epidemiology, pathogenic pattern, and drug susceptibility of girls with vulvovaginitis before and during COVID-19 pandemic in China. A retrospective study of prepubertal and adolescent girls (below 18 years old) diagnosed with vulvovaginitis between 2018 and 2021. The study was approved by the Human Subjects Committees of the Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine (approval number 2019-IBR-103). Out-patient clinic, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (PAG) in the Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) patients who were clinically diagnosed with genital inflammation at their first clinical visit; 2) patients with abnormal vaginal discharge which was collected for microbiological investigation and drug sensitivity test. Demographic data, clinical features and laboratory study findings were analyzed. A total of 4644 cases of vulvovaginitis were identified during the study period, including 2427 cases in 2018-2019 before COVID-19 pandemic, and 2217 cases in 2020-2021 during COVID-19 pandemic. The average age was 7.55± 3.20 years and 8.24±3.33 years, respectively. The proportion of vulvovaginitis in the age group of 0-6 years significantly decreased from 40.23% (971/2427) in 2018-2019 to 31.30% (694/2217) in 2020-2021 (χ2=38.52, p <.001). The proportion of vulvovaginitis in the age group of 10-18 years increased from 30.09% (727/2427) in 2018-2019 to 39.60% (878/2217) in 2020-2021 (χ2=47.69, p <.001). Compared with 2018-2019, the major causative pathogens were similar in 2020-2021. The detection rates of Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pyogene and Streptococcus pneumoniae in 2020-2021 were decreased (118/709 vs 268/648, 144/709 vs 277/648, 5/709 vs 20/648). The detection rates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Candida Albicans were increased (96/709 vs 37/648, 19/709 vs 7/648, 206/709 vs 112/648). Concerning the drug susceptibility test of Haemophilus influenzae, the sensitivity to ampicillin/sulbactam and amoxicillin/clavulanate increased after the pandemic by 5.55% (χ2=7.44, P < 0.05) and 13.39% (χ2=12.18, P < 0.05) respectively. The COVID-19 has been found to result in similar changes in the epidemiology of vulvovaginitis in terms of the age distribution, and proportion of causative pathogens. There was no significant difference between drug susceptibility tests for most strains except Haemophilus influenzae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal damage accumulation and strength deterioration caused by mining-induced disturbances in deep mines are among the factors influencing the occurrence of dynamic disasters such as rock bursts. To study the mechanical deformation and failure characteristics of coal masses under both cyclic impact and confining pressure, SHPB experiments were performed to systematically analyze the behavior of coal samples under 1, 2, and 3 cycles at impact pressures of 0.25, 0.30, 0.35, 0.40, and 0.45 MPa. To study the influence of pressure and impact frequency on the dynamic mechanical failure of coal samples, a weakening effect model of coal samples under confining pressure was established, revealing the dynamic mechanical characteristics and failure mechanism of coal samples under different impact pressures and impact frequencies. The confining pressure SHPB results reveal that the number of cycles and impact pressure are inversely proportional to the peak stress and are proportional to the degree of weakening. The peak stress weakening coefficient of the coal samples under the different impact pressures ranged from 28.5 to 73.2%, and a linear weakening relationship with the number of cycles was obtained. The coal exhibited an end effect-controlled Y-shaped failure mode under both confining pressure and dynamic loading. This study provides an experimental reference for preventing the energy absorption and erosion of weak structures around rock bursts and improving the stability of supporting structures., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

In this paper, the effects of irrigation with different water qualities on the soil characteristics of 8 kinds of garden plants were analyzed. The results showed that soil pH (ranging at 7.76-8.73) had no significant difference in different soils compared with the contrast treatment. Under the reclaimed water irrigation, the content of soil total salinity, chloride ions, and water soluble sodium in soil of most plants was averagely 160.3%, 83.3%, and 67.5% higher than that of tap water, respectively. The influences of reclaimed water irrigation on soil nutrients were changed with the types of plants. The content of soil organic matter and the available potassium showed no significant differences in most plants. Compared with the tap water irrigation, the content of alkaline nitrogen in 5 plants increased (averagely 25.8%) after 5-year irrigation with reclaimed water. In terms of soil microorganism, the increase of soil microbial population, including bacteria, fungus and actinomycetes, has been promoted by different levels of reclaimed water irrigation, which is closely related with soil nutrients., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)