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Mining can significantly alter landscapes, impacting wildlife and ecosystem functionality. Natural recovery in open‐pit mines is vital for habitat restoration and ecosystem re‐establishment, although few empirical studies have examined this process. Here, we assessed temporal and spatial responses of small rodents at the community, population, and individual levels during natural mine recovery. We examined the abundance, reproductive potential, and individual health of small rodents at active mines and at former mine sites left to recover naturally for approx. 10 and 20 years. We also assessed the effects of disturbance on rodent recovery processes at three distances from the mine boundary. Rodent numbers peaked after 10–13 years of recovery and exhibited the strongest male bias in the sex ratio. The Chinese white‐bellied rat (Niviventer confucianus) was the most abundant species, achieving its highest population abundance at sites abandoned for 10–13 years and thriving at locations closer to the mine boundary. Only Chevrier's field mouse exhibited morphological responses to the mine recovery category. Ectoparasite load was unaffected by mine or distance‐disturbance categories. Both Chevrier's field mouse (Apodemus chevrieri) and the South China field mouse (Apodemus draco) were affected significantly by vegetation layer cover during recovery succession. Our study highlights the complexities of ecological succession, with a peak in abundance as pioneer communities transition toward a climax seral stage. Careful prior planning and active site management are necessary to optimize abandoned mine recovery. Efforts to accelerate mine recovery through technical restoration should promote conditions that initiate and perpetuate the establishment and succession of wildlife assemblages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the leading technologies for chemical enhanced oil recovery (cEOR), surfactant–polymer (SP) flooding technology has long attracted the interest of petroleum scientists and engineers. However, most of its application scenarios are based on the five-spot well pattern. The EOR potential in an inverted seven-spot well pattern is seldom ever recorded. The applicability of the SP system in the inverted seven-spot well pattern was examined based on the physical characteristics of Karamay Oilfield in China. The numerical simulation and the one-dimensional core flooding experiment were used to compare the sweep intensities and EOR abilities of the two well patterns. The migration law and the EOR ability of the SP system were assessed by a specially made one-third inverted seven-spot configuration. The main controlling factors and compatibility charts of SP flooding development in the inverted seven-spot well pattern were obtained. Results show that 61% of the region is represented by a weak swept state in the inverted seven-spot well pattern. The effective swept area is greatly increased by appropriately raising the viscosity and slug size of the SP system. Compared to constant viscosity injection, step-down viscosity injection further increases the sweep range and oil recovery. The inverted seven-spot well pattern has a greater swept area of the SP system than the five-spot one, but a weaker strength. Polymer concentration is the most effective factor of SP flooding in the inverted seven-spot well pattern, followed by oil viscosity and surfactant concentration. The study can broaden the application of the SP system in the inverted seven-spot well pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Limited information exists on fall-related fractures in older adults with cerebrovascular disease. This study aimed to determine the characteristics of older adults with cerebrovascular disease who sustained fall-related fractures and identify the associated risk factors for perioperative complications. Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, which included patients with cerebrovascular disease who sustained fractures between Jan. 2017 and Dec. 2019. The collected data included demographics (age and gender), time and place of fracture occurrence, mechanism of injury, fracture location, type of cerebrovascular disease, complications, and comorbidities. Results: A total of 768 patients with 815 fractures were included; there were 253 males and 515 females, with an average age of 78.3 years. For either males or females, 80– 84 years was the most commonly involved age group. Most (61.0%) patients had their fractures occurring at home and most fractures (70.7%) occurred during the daytime. Most were hip fractures and limb weakness; instability-related falls were the most common cause of fracture, making a proportion of 34.5%. Patients who suffered falls were mainly combining ischemic cerebrovascular disease. Most (85.9%) patients presented with at least one comorbid disease and the perioperative complication rate was 76.9% in total cases. Age≥ 80 (OR: 1.772, 95% CI: 1.236– 2.540) and the number of comorbidities≥ 3 (OR: 1.606, 95% CI: 1.035– 2.494) were found independently associated with complications, while the type of cerebrovascular disease, fracture location, and comorbidities of prior fragility fracture and respiratory disease were not significantly correlated with complications. Conclusion: Our findings highlighted that more focus on improved physical function explored in intervention setting and the importance of primary home prevention measures seems justified in China and maybe other countries as well. It is the first study that presented the epidemiological characteristics of older adults with cerebrovascular disease who later experienced a fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban community parks, as widely distributed and frequently used small public urban green spaces, play an essential role in meeting the growing needs of residents for recovery. However, previous studies focus on the restorative benefits of nature and have rarely measured the restoration of winter scenes and artificial scenes. This paper selects a typical small community park in the winter city of China and studies how landscape elements affect restorative benefits through the setting of seasonal virtual scenes. Respondents were asked to rate natural, dynamic and seasonal virtual scenes in terms of sense of being away, extent, fascination, compatibility, and restorative potential. The results show plants with rich layers and large coverage areas have a significant positive impact on human perception of recovery, vitality facilities have no significant impact on perceived recovery, and the number of active people has a significant negative impact on perceived recovery. The plant landscape in winter and summer has the same effect on attention recovery, and seasonally induced changes in plant vision can enhance restorative benefits. • Plants with rich layers and large coverage area improves the perceived restorative benefit of the community park. • Facilities have no significant impact on perceived recovery in the community park. • The number of active people has a significant negative impact on perceived recovery. • The perceived restoration of snow-covered plants in winter are slightly less than summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raising children with disabilities is challenging for parents, who experience high parenting stress. The study aimed to understand the status quo of parenting efficacy of parents having children with disabilities and to analyze the association between parent efficacy, parenting stress, and social support in China. We surveyed 373 parents having children with disabilities enrolled in special education schools or rehabilitation institutions from 14 provinces in China. The online questionnaire including Parental Stress Index-Short Form, the Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale-Developmental Disability (CAPES-DD), and Social Support Scale was applied in the study. The results suggested that parenting efficacy of parents having children with disabilities in China was at the medium level. Parenting stress, social support, and parenting efficacy were significantly related with each other, and social support played a mediating role between parenting stress and parenting efficacy. The findings indicated that reducing parenting stress and improving social support might improve parenting efficacy. We also discussed the implications of providing intervention strategies or social support to improve parenting efficacy for parents with disabled children in China.

Background: Casuarina equisetifolia is one of the most important artificially planted protective forests along the coast in southern China for windbreaks, soil erosion, and sand dune stabilization. Self-renewing of C. equisetifolia is very limited, which might be caused by low soil nutrient levels and reduced microbial activity., Methods: Use of high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rDNA to investigate the microbial communities from the rhizosphere and root endosphere of C. equisetifolia in young-aged, intermediate-aged, and mature-aged forests., Results: Our results indicate that the diversity of rhizosphere fungal microbiomes in field-grown C. equisetifolia is much lower than that of the endosphere microbiomes. Bioinformatic analysis showed that rhizocompartments produce the strongest differentiation of rhizosphere and endosphere communities. Notably, the distribution of rhizosphere fungi communities was significantly influenced by the environmental factors, not by forest ages., Conclusions: The presented study suggests that the rhizocompartments and environmental factors, rather than forest ages, determine the diversities of fungal community.