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Wind shear has important implications for Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) and gravity waves (GWs) in the mesosphere–lower thermosphere (MLT) region where its momentum transport process is dominated by short-period (<1 h) GWs. However, the sub-hourly variation in wind shear is still not well quantified. This study aims to improve current understanding of vertical wind shear by analyzing multi-year meteor radar measurements at the Mohe (MH, 53.5°N, 122.3°E), Beijing (BJ, 40.3 ° N , 116.2 ° E ), Wuhan (WH, 30.5 ° N , 114.6 ° E ), and Fuke (FK, 19.5°N, 109.1°E) stations in China. The wind field is estimated by a new algorithm, e.g., the damped least squares fitting. Taking the wind shear estimated by normal products as a criterion, the shear produced by the new algorithm has more statistical convergence as compared to the traditional algorithm, e.g., the least squares fitting. Therefore, we argue that the 10 min DLSA wind probably produces a more reasonable vertical shear. Both intensive wind shears and GW kinetic energy can be simultaneously captured during the 0600–1600 UTs of May at MH and during the 1300–2400 UTs of March at FK, possibly implying that the up-propagation of GWs could contribute to the production of large wind shears. The sub-hourly variation in wind shears is potentially valuable for understanding the interrelationship between shear (or KHI) and GWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous measurements of atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs), conventional gases and meteorological parameters were performed at an urban site in Jinan, East China, in June 2021 to explore the formation and evolution mechanisms of summertime ozone (O3) pollution events. O3 Episode Ⅰ, O3 Episode II, and non-O3 episodes were identified based on the China Ambient Air Quality Standards and the differences in precursor concentrations. The O3 concentrations in Episode I and Episode II were 145.4 μg/m3 and 166.4 μg/m3, respectively, which were significantly higher than that in non-O3 episode (90 μg/m3). For O3 precursors, VOCs and NOx concentrations increased by 48% and 34% in Episode I, and decreased by 21% and 27% in Episode II compared to non-O3 episode days. The analysis of the m,p-xylene to ethylbenzene ratio (X/E) and OH exposure demonstrated that the aging of the air masses in Episode II was significantly higher than the other two episodes, and the differences could not be explained by localized photochemical consumption. Therefore, we speculate that the high O3 concentrations in Episode II were driven by the regional transport of O3 and its precursors. Backward trajectory simulations indicated that the air masses during Episode II were concentrated from the south. In contrast, the combination of high precursor concentrations and favorable meteorological conditions (high temperatures and low humidity) led to an excess of O3 in Episode I. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) model results indicated that increased emissions from combustion and gasoline vehicle exhausts contributed to the elevated concentrations of VOCs in Episode I, and solvent usage may be an important contributor to O3 formation. The results of this study emphasize the importance of strengthening regional joint control of O3 and its precursors with neighboring cities, especially in the south, which is crucial for Jinan to mitigate O3 pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the interdecadal characteristics of the frequency of the winter single station extreme cold events (SSECEs) in North China and their relationship with sea surface temperature (SST). The results showed the following: (a) The SSECEs occurred frequently before 1991, but less thereafter, with an increase after 2018. The first two interdecadal modes of the SSECE frequency were east–west inverse and "n" patterns. (b) The interdecadal abrupt change of the "n" pattern occurred around 1997/1998. Before 1997/1998, the synergistic effects between the positive Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (+IPO) and the negative North Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (−AMO) triggered the "two troughs and one ridge" anomalous circulation in Eurasia. The Rossby wave energy propagated downstream from the Atlantic, strengthening the Lake Baikal ridge. Furthermore, the Siberian High (SH) became weaker in the north and stronger in the south. With the favorable jet conditions, the cold air invaded North China along the northerly airflow in front of the Lake Baikal ridge, resulting in the frequent SSECE occurrence in central North China. Afterwards, the opposite occurred. (c) The cooperation of SST anomalies (SSTAs) led to the east–west inverse anomaly of the SSECE frequency. Before 1991, the high SSTAs in the central North Atlantic and low SSTAs in the equatorial Indian Ocean and the southwest Pacific triggered "+", "−", "+", and "−" wave trains at mid-latitudes from the Atlantic to the North Pacific. The Rossby wave energy propagated eastward from the Atlantic, resulting in the SH and Urals ridge strengthening, and the Aleutian Low and East Asian trough deepening. The northwestern airflow in front of the Urals ridge guided the cold air into North China, leading to frequent SSECEs in central and eastern North China before 1991. The opposite occurred between 1992 and 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While air quality in China has improved significantly in recent years, the population is becoming increasingly vulnerable to air pollution due to the aging population. In this study, we assessed premature deaths attributable to long- and short-term exposures to PM2.5 and O3, as well as their driving forces in Shandong from 2014 to 2060 based on county-level near-real-time air pollutant concentration datasets and projected concentrations of PM2.5 and O3. We found that the concentrations of PM2.5 and O3 in most districts and counties from Shandong are still higher than the corresponding concentration limit of Grade II. Premature mortality caused by long- and short-term exposures to PM2.5 decreased by 13,045 and 8092 in 2020 compared with those in 2014, respectively. Furthermore, premature mortality attributable to short-term exposure to O3 was 36.08% higher than that due to short-term exposure to PM2.5 in 2020. The results of the driving force analysis indicate that the health benefits brought about by the improvement in air quality have been offset by the changes in population age structure. In the future, the increase in O3 concentration and population aging are the top two driving forces having adverse effects on the health burden. This study provides support for controlling the health risks of PM2.5 and O3 pollution, especially for the development of dual-pollutant concentration targets and synergistic control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise and efficient fertilizer and irrigation management is critical for apple production in the Loess Plateau, China. In this study, we established three levels of nitrogen application and irrigation in nine treatments in an apple orchard based on a completely randomized block design. Then, we analyzed different apple indicator responses to nitrogen and irrigation and their related interactions. More importantly, we used the multilevel comprehensive fuzzy evaluation value (MFCE) method to combine the weights of all indicators to obtain the comprehensive growth indicators for apples. Finally, we analyzed the effect of nitrogen and irrigation coupling on the comprehensive growth of apples and then determined the optimal interval for nitrogen application and irrigation. The results indicated that an increase in the amount of irrigation was beneficial for apple yield, but excessive nitrogen fertilizer application significantly reduced apple yield. The apple indicators were not sensitive to irrigation and nitrogen application and their related interactions; they were mainly controlled by the apple cultivar. On the other hand, an increase in the amount of nitrogen fertilizer or a reduction in the amount of irrigation could improve apple quality. The results of the comprehensive evaluation showed that the T5 treatment was most beneficial for the comprehensive growth of apples. To obtain the optimal interval for nitrogen application and irrigation more precisely, we used multiple linear regression based on the MFCE values of apples, nitrogen, and irrigation in R language. Nitrogen and irrigation showed a positive effect on the comprehensive growth of apples when the irrigation amount was low. However, nitrogen application and irrigation had a negative effect on the comprehensive growth of apples when the irrigation level was high. After optimization, the optimal nitrogen application and irrigation amounts were 170.5–189.5 kg·hm−2 and 38.4–42.7 mm, respectively. We recommend using this irrigation and fertilizer management scheme for apple orchards in China's Loess Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere (MLT) are crucial for the understanding of general circulation. However, their dynamical characteristics are hardly retrieved due to the difficulty in the high-resolution observation of wind. Therefore, this paper uses eight years (2013–2020) of meteor radar measurements in the MLT region at Mohe station (53.5°N, 122.3°E), China, to retrieve high-temporal-resolution mesospheric wind data and further evaluate the temporal variation of GW kinetic energy. As the detected meteor trails exceed 6, the wind velocity is recalculated using the least square algorithm method, significantly increasing the temporal resolution of wind from 1 h up to 5 min. This resolution is sufficiently high for the investigation of GW kinetic energy, which exhibits a high spatial-temporal variability. For instance, it is enhanced in the winter season during the period of 0200–1400 UT and in the spring season during the period of 0800–1300 UT. The similarity between the climatological characteristics of GWs in MLT and the seasonal variation of GW total energy in the troposphere, determined from high-resolution radiosondes near to Mohe station, suggests that the meteorology in the lower atmosphere could be an important source of GWs in the MLT region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Desertification is one of the main obstacles to global sustainable development. Monitoring, evaluating and mastering its driving factors are very important for the prevention and control of desertification. As one of the largest deserts in China, the development of desertification in Otindag Sandy Land (OSL) resulted in the reduction in land productivity and serious ecological/environmental consequences. Although many ecological restoration projects have been carried out, the vegetation restoration of OSL and the impact mechanism of climate and human activities on desertification remain unclear. Methods: Taking OSL as the research area, this paper constructs the desertification index by using the remote sensing images and meteorological and socio-economic data, between 1986 and 2016, and analyzes the spatio-temporal evolution process and driving factors of desertification by using trend analysis and spearman rank correlation. Results: The results showed that: (1) Desertification in the OSL has fluctuated greatly during the past 30 years. Desertification recovered between 1986 and 1990, expanded and increased between 1990 and 2000, reduced between 2000 and 2004, developed rapidly between 2004 and 2007, and recovered again between 2007 and 2016; (2) The desertification of OSL is dominated by a non-significant change trend, accounting for 73.27%. In the significant change trend, the area of desertification rising trend is 20.32%, which is mainly located in the north and east, and the area of declining trend is 6.41%, which is mainly located in the southwest; (3) Desertification is the result of the superposition of climate and human activities. Climate change is the main influencing factor, followed by human activities, and the superposition effects of the two are spatio-temporal differences. Conclusions: These results shed light on the development of desertification in OSL and the relative importance and complex interrelationship between human activities and climate in regulating the process of desertification. Based on this, we suggest continuing to implement the ecological restoration policy and avoid the destruction of vegetation by large-scale animal husbandry in order to improve the situation of desertification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the prodromal stage and an important risk factor of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Interventions at the MCI stage are significant in reducing the occurrence of AD. However, there are still many obstacles to the screening of MCI, resulting in a large number of patients going undetected. Given the strong correlation between gastrointestinal function and neuropsychiatric disorders, the aim of this study is to develop a risk prediction model for MCI based on gastrointestinal myoelectrical activity. The Mini-Mental State Examination and electrogastroenterography were applied to 886 participants in western China. All participants were randomly assigned to the training and validation sets in a ratio of 7:3. In the training set, risk variables were screened using LASSO regression and logistic regression, and risk prediction models were built based on nomogram and decision curve analysis, then validation was performed. Eight predictors were selected in the training set, including four electrogastroenterography parameters (rhythm disturbance, dominant frequency and dominant power ratio of gastric channel after meal, and time difference of intestinal channel after meal). The area under the ROC curve for the prediction model was 0.74 in the training set and 0.75 in the validation set, both of which exhibited great prediction ability. Furthermore, decision curve analysis displayed that the net benefit was more desirable when the risk thresholds ranged from 15% to 35%, indicating that the nomogram was clinically usable. The model based on gastrointestinal myoelectrical activity has great significance in predicting the risk of MCI and is expected to be an alternative to scales assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevated remnant cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). We aimed to evaluate the concentrations and general distribution of remnant cholesterol at admission in patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and those in patients who reached the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) target or non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) target. Patients with ACS who were enrolled in the Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China—ACS project from 2014 to 2019 were included. Elevated remnant cholesterol concentrations were defined as ≥1.0 mmol/L. Among 94,869 patients, the median (interquartile range) remnant cholesterol concentration at admission was 0.6 mmol/L (0.4–0.9 mmol/L) and 19.2% had elevated remnant cholesterol concentrations. Among patients with LDL-C concentrations < 1.4 mmol/L, 24.4% had elevated remnant cholesterol concentrations, while the proportion was 13.3% among patients with LDL-C concentrations between 1.4 and 1.7 mmol/L. Among patients with non-HDL-C concentrations < 2.6 mmol/L, 2.9% had elevated remnant cholesterol concentrations but 79.6% had LDL-C concentrations ≥ 1.4 mmol/L. Even among patients with LDL-C < 1.4 mmol/L and non-HDL-C < 2.6 mmol/L, 10.9% had elevated remnant cholesterol. In conclusion, one fifth of patients with ACS have elevated remnant cholesterol concentrations at admission. Elevated remnant cholesterol concentrations are present in patients with LDL-C or/and non-HDL-C concentrations within the target, which represents an unmet need to add remnant cholesterol as a target for the secondary prevention of ASCVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information Using Artificial Neural Networks–Climate Data Record (PERSIANN-CDR) was evaluated for the assessment of long-term drought monitoring in Huaihe River Basin using daily gauge observation data for the period from 1983 to 2017. The evaluation results show that the PERSIANN-CDR algorithm has a good detection ability for small precipitation events over the whole basin, but a poor ability for extreme precipitation events (>50 mm/day). Daily PERSIANN-CDR estimates perform relatively better in areas with abundant precipitation, while the monthly and yearly PERSIANN-CDR estimates are highly consistent with gauge observations both in magnitude and space. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) at various time scales (3, 6, and 12 months) was calculated based on PERSIANN-CDR and gauge observation, respectively. Grid-based values of statistics derived from those SPI values demonstrate that PERSIANN-CDR has a good ability to capture drought events of each time scale across the basin. However, caution should be applied when using PERSIANN-CDR estimates for basin-scale drought trend analysis. Furthermore, three drought events with long duration and large extent were selected to test the applicability of PERSIANN-CDR in drought monitoring. The results show that it has a good ability to capture when and where droughts occur and how far they spread. Due to the overestimation of small precipitation events, PERSIANN-CDR tends to overestimate the number of extreme droughts and their extents. This needs to be considered in future algorithm improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new dimeric C-glycoside polyketide chrysomycin F ( 1 ), along with four new monomeric compounds, chrysomycins G ( 2 ), H ( 3 ), I ( 4 ), J ( 5 ), as well as three known analogues, chrysomycins A ( 6 ), B ( 7 ), and C ( 8 ), were isolated and characterised from a strain of Streptomyces sp. obtained from a sediment sample collected from the South China Sea. Their structures were determined by detailed spectroscopic analysis. Chrysomycin F contains two diastereomers, whose structures were further elucidated by a biomimetic [2 + 2] photodimerisation of chrysomycin A. Chrysomycins B and C showed potent anti-tuberculosis activity against both wild-type Mycobacterium tuberculosis and a number of clinically isolated MDR M. tuberculosis strains.

The purpose of this study was to note how people recognize the green lifestyle and how much extra money they are willing to pay for it. An integrated model based on the theory of planned behavior was constructed, and data on the willingness to pay (WTP) for green lifestyles of 1377 respondents in five cities in East China were measured and calculated using the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (DBDC) combined with interval regression analysis. The results showed that the respondents were willing to pay an extra 81.8 yuan, 52.5 yuan, 38.9 yuan, 53.2 yuan, and 37.2 yuan per month for green food, clothing, travel, housing, and waste recycling, respectively. Attitude and moral norms were the strongest predictors of WTP for green clothing, travel, housing, and waste recycling. Perceived behavior control, environmental awareness, personal habits, subjective knowledge, gender, income, and education can affect a few kinds of green lifestyle's WTP.