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This study investigates the dynamic pattern of learners' evaluation of their learning experiences on the MOOC platform at different stages. Data include 364 evaluative comments from the large MOOC in Consecutive Interpreting for a period of 15 weeks. The results of MANOVA test suggest that MOOC learners left significantly more comments on four areas at the later stage compared with those at the early stage: learning resources, learning community, learning opportunity, and student voice. It suggests that MOOC learners at a later stage are looking for a learning environment which supports self-assessment, peer feedback, and coaching to fulfil their personal needs and expectations. Moreover, qualitative thematic analysis suggests that learning resources addresses three areas: the design of the tasks, helpfulness, and diversity of the resources. Learning community largely refers to peer-feedback, co-instructions of peers, and instructors. Learning opportunities refers to the tasks which improve professional knowledge, self-regulated learning strategies, and language proficiency. Last, student voice indicates three types of tensions: the need for pre-existing knowledge to study MOOCs, learners' diversified personal goals and teaching objectives of MOOCs, preferred learning strategies between MOOC designers and learners.

In the built heritage studies, the intricate web of social and selective processes that define heritage is evident. These processes are, in many cases, intertwined with the notion of scale, examplified through the production of heritage sites at the local, national, and transnational scales. While heritage and geography scholars have articulated the role played by scale in heritage-making and argue against a rigid, fixed, and hierarchical understanding of scale, they highlight the constant reproduction of scale. There is, so far, limited explanation of how the perception of scale gets reproduced and how crucial actors manipulate scalar power and resources for heritage making and the reproduction of scale. To fill this gap, this paper delves into mainland China's heritage-making, using the southern Anhui historical villages as an example. Based on intensive 5-month field research, this paper has three findings: 1) The nomination process for a World Heritage Site is notably influenced by politics and selectivity; 2) Diverse stakeholders are pivotal in shaping heritage narratives; 3) Individual contributions to heritage creation directly interact with, and subsequently reshape, 'scale', an entity that is simultaneously discursive and tangible. By integrating the notion of 'scale' into heritage discussions, we illuminate two concurrent processes: creating hierarchies through rule assimilation by interpreting the UNESCO standard internally and evolving socio-spatial dynamics via the manifestation of individual agency with resource manipulation, scale jumping, and reproduction of scale. This approach aligns with the material orientation in human geography and repositions 'scale'. Here, it's not just an epistemological framework but also a tangible force that steers individual perceptions and actions and yields measurable material impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Allergic rhinitis is a common health concern that affects quality of life. This study aims to examine the online search trends of allergic rhinitis in China before and after the COVID-19 epidemic and to explore the association between the daily air quality and online search volumes of allergic rhinitis in Beijing. Methods: We extracted the online search data of allergic rhinitis-related keywords from the Baidu index database from January 23, 2017 to June 23, 2022. We analyzed and compared the temporal distribution of online search behaviors across different themes of allergic rhinitis before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, using the Baidu search index (BSI). We also obtained the air quality index (AQI) data in Beijing and assessed its correlation with daily BSIs of allergic rhinitis. Results: The online search for allergic rhinitis in China showed significant seasonal variations, with two peaks each year in spring from March to May and autumn from August and October. The BSI of total allergic rhinitis-related searches increased gradually from 2017 to 2019, reaching a peak in April 2019, and declined after the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the first half of 2020. The BSI for all allergic rhinitis themes was significantly lower after the COVID-19 pandemic than before (all p values < 0.05). The results also revealed that, in Beijing, there was a significant negative association between daily BSI and AQI for each allergic rhinitis theme during the original variant strain epidemic period and a significant positive correlation during the Omicron variant period. Conclusion: Both air quality and the interventions used for COVID-19 pandemic, including national and local quarantines and mask wearing behaviors, may have affected the incidence and public concern about allergic rhinitis in China. The online search trends can serve as a valuable tool for tracking real-time public concerns about allergic rhinitis. By complementing traditional disease monitoring systems of health departments, these search trends can also offer insights into the patterns of disease outbreaks. Additionally, they can provide references and suggestions regarding the public's knowledge demands related to allergic rhinitis, which can further be instrumental in developing targeted strategies to enhance population-based disease education on allergic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have investigated how adults with severe depressive symptoms are more likely to attempt suicide, and these adults often have traumatic experiences and chaotic sleep/wake rhythms. Thus, this study using Latent class analysis aimed to investigate the relationship between childhood trauma class, chronotype, and suicide attempts among emerging adults with severe depressive symptoms. Methods: This study was conducted among emerging adults with severe depressive symptoms covering 63 Universities in Jilin Province, China. A total of 1,225 emerging adults (mean age = 19.6 ± 1.78) constructed the final sample. In addition to measuring socio-demographic characteristics, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, the Single-Item Chronotyping, and a single item for suicide attempts were used to evaluate childhood trauma, chronotype, and suicide attempts, respectively. Latent class analysis was applied to identify the classes of childhood trauma within emerging adults who had severe depressive symptoms. Hierarchical logistic regression models were run to investigate the effects of socio-demographic characteristics, chronotype, and childhood trauma class on suicide attempts. Results: Three latent classes were identified: the Low-risk for childhood trauma class, the Neglect class, and the High-risk for childhood abuse class. Those who suffered sexual, emotional, and physical abuse at the same time were divided into the High-risk for childhood abuse class, and were significantly more likely to experience suicide attempts than those in the Neglect class (OR = 1.97, 95%CI = 1.34–2.89, p < 0.001) and the Low-risk for childhood trauma class (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.50-3.46, p < 0.001). In terms of chronotype, the results showed that the chaotic type was a risk factor for suicide attempts when compared with the evening type (OR = 0.46, 95%CI = 0.27–0.78, p < 0.01), the moderately active type (OR = 0.53, 95%CI = 0.31–0.89, p < 0.05), and the daytime type (OR = 0.42, 95%CI = 0.21–0.86, p < 0.05). Overall, the significant risk factors for suicide attempts included being female, living in an urban area, having experienced sexual, emotional, and physical abuse simultaneously, and having a chaotic chronotype. Conclusion: Emerging adults suffering sexual, emotional, and physical abuse at the same time and identifying with chaotic chronotype showed a higher risk of attempting suicide. The findings provided a clinical reference to quickly identify those at high risk of suicide attempts among emerging adults with severe depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing carbon emissions is of paramount importance to the accomplishment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The effect of rural e-commerce on agricultural carbon emissions (ACEs) is controversial, and particularly the mechanism behind the effect is unknown. To identify the impact of rural e-commerce on agricultural carbon emissions and its mechanisms, we take advantage of China's Rural E-Commerce Demonstration County Program (REDCP) as a quasi-natural experiment and use the multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) model to investigate the relationship between rural e-commerce and agricultural carbon emissions. Our data are based on panel data of 355 prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2019 in China. We identify that rural e-commerce can reduce agricultural carbon emissions by an average of 14.4%, but this effect is not long-lasting. Mechanism analyses suggest that the reduction effect of rural e-commerce on agricultural carbon emissions is mainly due to fostering agricultural economic growth, increasing the share of low-carbon industry, and improving agricultural total factor productivity (TFP). Further heterogeneity analyses demonstrate that rural e-commerce has better carbon emissions reduction performance in eastern cities as well as in non-major grain-producing cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) has been recognized to be an effective therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, in China, the application of PR interventions is still less promoted. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to understand COPD patients' intention to receive PR, capture the potential personal, social and environmental barriers preventing their willingness of receiving PR, and eventually identify demanding PR services with the highest priority from patients' point of view. Methods: In total 237 COPD patients were recruited from 8 health care facilities in Zhejiang, China. A self-designed questionnaire was applied to investigate patients' intention to participate in PR and potentially associated factors, including personal dimension such as personal awareness, demographic factors, COPD status and health-related literacy/behaviors, as well as social policies and perceived environmental barriers. The demand questionnaire of PR interventions based on the Kano model was further adopted. Results: Among the 237 COPD patients, 75.1% of COPD patients were willing to participate in PR interventions, while only 62.9% of the investigated patients had heard of PR interventions. Over 90% of patients believed that the cost of PR services and the ratio of medical insurance reimbursement were potential obstacles hindering them from accepting PR services. The multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the PR skills of medical staff, knowledge promotion and public education levels of PR in the community, patients' transportation concerns and degree of support from family and friends were significantly associated with willingness of participation in PR interventions. By using the Kano model, the top 9 most-requisite PR services (i.e., one-dimensional qualities) were identified from patients' point of view, which are mainly diet guidance, education interventions, psychological interventions and lower limb exercise interventions. Subgroup analysis also revealed that patients' demographics, such as breathlessness level, age, education and income levels, could influence their choice of priorities for PR services, especially services related to exercise interventions, respiratory muscle training, oxygen therapy and expectoration. Conclusions: This study suggested that PR-related knowledge education among patients and their family, as well as providing basic package of PR services with the most-requisite PR items to COPD patients, were considerable approaches to promote PR attendance in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle size distribution is an important characteristic of reclaimed soil in arid and semi-arid mining areas in western China, which is important in the ecological environment protection and control of the Yellow River Basin. Large-scale coal resource mining disturbances have caused serious damage to the fragile ecological environment. The timely and accurate dynamic monitoring of mining area topsoil information has practical significance for ecological restoration and management evaluation. Investigating Wuhai City in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China, this study uses Landsat8 OLI multispectral images and measured soil sample particle size data to analyze soil spectral characteristics and establish a particle size content prediction model to retrieve the particle size distribution in the study area. The experimental results and analysis demonstrate that: (1) the 6SV (Second Simulation of the Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum Vector version) atmospheric correction model is more accurate than the FLAASH (Fast Line-of-sight Atmospheric Analysis of Hypercubes) model in arid and semi-arid areas with undulating terrain; (2) 0–40 cm is the optimum soil thickness for modeling and predicting particle size content in this study; and (3) the multi-band prediction model is more precise than the single-band prediction model. The multi-band model's sequence of advantages and disadvantages is SVM (Support Vector Machine) > MLR (Multiple Linear Regression) > PLSR (Partial Least Squares Regression). Among them, the 6SV-SVM model has the highest precision, and the prediction precision R2 of the 3 particle sizes' contents is above 0.95, which can effectively predict the soil particle-size distribution and provide effective data to support topsoil quality change monitoring in the mine land reclamation area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-source data is widely used in the field of energy future prices forecasting, the improvement of forecast ability and data screening are becoming the focus of current research. In this paper, two tree-based models (namely, Random Forest and XGBoost model) are employed to predict China's crude oil future prices. The empirical analysis confirms that Random Forest and XGBoost model have superior prediction performances than benchmark and the XGBoost model performs best. An important finding is that there is a time gap between investor information search and processing because the prediction performance within the time lags is obviously superior than that of the current period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the development of 'China's new urbanization, the "characteristic town movement" with the development of industrial economy first has brought problems to a large number of rural settlements, such as no cultural planning, no consumption of industry, and no soul. Then, in reality, there are still a large number of rural settlements under the planning of the upper-level local government, with the goal of developing into a characteristic town in the future. Therefore, this study believes that there is an urgent need to build a framework for evaluating the construction potential of rural settlements with sustainable characteristic towns. Not only that but also a decision analysis model should be provided for real-world empirical cases. This model needs to cover the assessment of the sustainable development potential of characteristic towns as the goal and the formulation of improvement strategies. This study combines the data collection of current characteristic town development rating reports, applies data exploration technology to extract core impact elements and obtain hierarchical decision rules, integrates expert domain knowledge with DEMATEL technology, and establishes an impact network relationship diagram between core impact elements. At the same time, the representative characteristic town cases are assessed for their sustainable development potential, and the modified VIKOR technique is applied to clarify the actual problems of the empirical cases, in an attempt to determine whether the development potential and development plan of the characteristic town meet the sustainable development needs from the pre-evaluation mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tibial cortex transverse transport (TTT) surgery is an extension of the Ilizarov technique. Based on the law of tension‐stress, its primary function is to rebuild microcirculation which can relieve ischemic symptoms and promote wound healing. It has received more and more scholars' attention and has experienced a series of changes for 20 years since it entered PR China. The mechanisms involved have gradually become clear, such as the reconstruction of the polarization balance of macrophages, the promotion of vascular tissue regeneration, and the mobilization and regulation of bone marrow‐derived stem cells. TTT technique is mainly used in the treatment of chronic ischemic diseases of the lower extremities. It has recently been successfully used in the treatment of primary lymphedema of the lower extremities. A series of improvements have been made in the external fixator's style, the size of skin incision and osteotomy, and distraction method. For example, the annular external fixator has been redesigned as a unilateral external fixator, and accordion technology has been introduced. For distraction methods after surgery, there was no uniform standard in the past. The technique can also be used in combination with other treatments to achieve better effects, such as interventional therapy, negative pressure sealed drainage, 3D printing technology, traditional Chinese medicine. Nevertheless, the surgery may bring some complications, such as secondary fracture, nail infection, skin necrosis at the surgical site, etc. Reports of complications and doubts about the technique have made the TTT technique controversial. In 2020, the relevant expert consensus was published with treatment and management principles, which might guide the better application and development of this technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the course of China's rapid urbanization, rural places are brought into urban areas, forming semi-urbanization. These semi-urbanized sites suggest a dual urban–rural structure in their form and management. With the slowing down of urbanization, the Chinese government adopted heritage tourism to boost the local economy. Local historic buildings and cultural resources were regenerated and restored in this process. This paper aims at examining the role of heritage tourism in blurring the boundary of rurality and urbanity, boosting local economy, and revitalizing the areas with cultural-led development. In this paper, we analyzed the Huangpu Ancient Village's regeneration process. We argue that the Huangpu Ancient Village integrates local historical and cultural resources to boost the local economy, simultaneously adopting urban renewal and rural revival strategies. This paper contributes to the body of literature addressing villages in urban areas, breaking the duality of urbanity and rurality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Treatment of functional dyspepsia (FD) in children is generally symptomatic and unsatisfactory. Traditional Chinese medicines, such as Shenqu Xiaoshi Oral Liquid (SXOL), have been recommended to alleviate dyspeptic symptoms. However, evidence of their safety and efficacy remains limited to date. AIM: To assess whether 2 weeks of therapy with SXOL was non-inferior to domperidone syrup in children with FD. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, double-simulated, non-inferiority, multi-center clinical trial, we recruited children (3–14 years) with FD according to the Rome IV criteria from 17 tertiary medical centers across China. Patients were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive SXOL or domperidone syrup for 2 weeks. We compared the participants' clinical scores from both groups based on the severity and frequency of dyspepsia symptoms according to Rome IV criteria (0, 1, 2, and 4 weeks after randomization). The primary endpoint was the total response rate, which was defined as the proportion of patients with a decrease of 30% or more in the FD symptoms clinical score from baseline, at the end of the 2-weeks treatment. A non-inferiority margin of -10% was set. Secondary endpoints and adverse events were assessed. This trial is registered with www.Chictr.org.cn, number ChiCTR1900022654. Results: Between February 2019 and March 2021, a total of 373 patients were assessed for eligibility, and 356 patients were enrolled and randomized. The clinical response rate at week two was similar for SXOL [118 (83.10%) of 142] and domperidone [128 (81.01%) of 158]; difference 2.09; 95% CI −6.74 to 10.71, thereby establishing non-inferiority. The total FD symptom scores were significantly improved in the two groups at 1-, 2-, and 4-weeks follow-up periods (p < 0.005). The decrease in symptom score compared with the baseline were similar between these two groups. Over the total study period, 10 patients experienced at least one treatment-related adverse event [six (3.37%)] in the SXOL group, four [(2.25%) in the domperidone group], although no serious adverse event was noted. Conclusion: Treatment with SXOL effectively improves dyspeptic symptoms and is well tolerated. In addition, it is not inferior to domperidone syrup and leads to sustained improvement in Chinese children with FD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrow and closed spaces like high-speed train cabins are at great risk for airborne infectious disease transmission. With the threat of COVID-19 as well as other potential contagious diseases, it is necessary to protect passengers from infection. Except for the traditional preventions such as increasing ventilation or wearing masks, this paper proposes a novel measurement that optimizes passenger-to-car assignment schemes to reduce the infection risk for high-speed railway passengers. First, we estimated the probability of an infected person boarding the train at any station. Once infectors occur, the non-steady-state Wells–Riley equation is used to model the airborne transmission intercar cabin. The expected number of susceptible passengers infected on the train can be calculated, which is the so-called overall infection risk. The model to minimize overall infection risk, as a pure integer quadratic programming problem, is solved by LINGO software and tested on several scenarios compared with the classical sequential and discrete assignment strategies used in China. The results show that the proposed model can reduce 67.6% and 56.8% of the infection risk in the base case compared to the sequential and discrete assignment, respectively. In other scenarios, the reduction lies mostly between 10% and 90%. The optimized assignment scheme suggests that the cotravel itinerary among passengers from high-risk and low-risk areas should be reduced, as well as passengers with long- and short-distance trips. Sensitivity analysis shows that our model works better when the incidence is higher at downstream or low-flow stations. Increasing the number of cars and car service capacity can also improve the optimization effect. Moreover, the model is applicable to other epidemics since it is insensitive to the Wells–Riley equation parameters. The results can provide a guideline for railway operators during the post-COVID-19 and other epidemic periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist(GnRH-ant) has been shown to have a negative effect on endometrial receptivity. Therefore, the use of lower doses of GnRH-ant during controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) may improve endometrial receptivity and clinical pregnancy rate. However, the GnRH-ant dose is relatively flexible and there is no fixed requirement for guidance. In this retrospective study, we determined the effects of half-dose and full-dose GnRH-ant on IVF-ET outcomes.Methods: Of the 316 cycles in the 314 patients analyzed in this study, 149 received GnRH-ant half-dose (Group1), while 167 received GnRH-ant full-dose (Group2). The groups were further classified based on age and BMI. Age subgroups, were divided as age ≤ 35(subgroup A) and age > 35(subgroup B): 180 cycles in subgroup A (107 cycles in subgroup A1,73 cycles in subgroup A2), 136 cycles in subgroup B (42 cycles in subgroup B1,94 cycles in subgroupB2). The subgroups based on BMI were divided as BMI < 25 (subgroup C)and BMI ≥ 25 (subgroup D):208 cycles in subgroup C (94 cycles in subgroup C1,114 cycles in subgroup C2), 108 cycles in subgroup D (55 cycles in subgroup D1,53 cycles in subgroup D2).Results: The number of fertilized oocytes, superior-quality embryos, clinical pregnancy rate, and live birth rate differed significantly between the two groups. However, the number of retrieved oocytes and available embryos were significantly higher in Group 1 than Group 2 (8.17 ± 4.10 vs. 7.07 ± 4.05, 2.96 ± 2.03 vs. 2.52 ± 1.62, respectively,p<0.05). Differences between the age subgroups were not statistically significant. However, in the subgroups based on BMI, the fertilized oocytes, available embryos, the number of superior-quality embryos, and the live birth rate differed significantly between the four subgroups. The number of retrieved oocytes was higher in subgroup C1 than in subgroup C2 (8.24 ± 4.04 vs. 6.83 ± 3.92,p < 0.05), In addition, the clinical pregnancy rate was slightly higher in subgroup D1 than in subgroup D2(45.45 vs. 24.53%, P < 0.05).Conclusions: The results showed that half-dose GnRH-ant was as effective as full-dose GnRH-ant for most patients. Moreover, half-dose GnRH-ant may be more suitable in patients with BMI greater than or equal to 25. The findings of this study need to be validated in a large sample RCT.Trial Registration: Retrospectively registered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) is widely used in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment regimens. In this study, we aimed to develop a population pharmacokinetic (PK) model of HD-MTX in Chinese pediatric patients with ALL for designing personalized dosage regimens. In total, 4,517 MTX serum concentration data for 311 pediatric patients with ALL, aged 0.75–15.2 years and under HD-MTX treatment, were retrospectively collected at a tertiary Children's Hospital in China. The non-linear mixed-effect model was used to establish the population PK model, using NONMEM software. The potential covariate effects of age, body weight, and biochemical measurements (renal and liver function) on MTX PK disposition were investigated. The model was then evaluated using goodness-of-fit, visual predictive check. MTX PK disposition was described using a three-compartment model reasonable well. Body weight, implemented as a fixed allometric function on all clearance and volume of distribution parameters, showed a substantial improvement in model fit. The final population model demonstrated that the MTX clearance estimate in a typical child with body weight of 19 kg was 6.9 L/h and the central distribution of volume estimate was 20.7 L. The serum creatinine significantly affected the MTX clearance, with a 0.97% decrease in clearance per 1 μmol/L of serum creatinine. Other covariates (e.g., age, sex, bilirubin, albumin, aspartate transaminase, concomitant medication) did not significantly affect PK properties of MTX. The proposed population PK model could describe the MTX concentration data in Chinese pediatric patients with ALL. This population PK model combined with a maximum a posteriori Bayesian approach could be used to estimate individual PK parameters, and optimize personalized MTX therapy in target patients, thus aiming to reduce toxicity and improve treatment outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swertia bimaculata (SB) is a medicinal herb in China having an array of therapeutic and biological properties. This study aimed to explore the attenuating effect of SB on carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4) induced hepato-toxicity by regulation of gut microbiome in ICR mice. For this purpose, CCl 4 was injected intraperitoneally in different mice groups (B, C, D and E) every 4th day for a period of 47 days. Additionally, C, D, and E groups received a daily dose (50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 200 mg/kg respectively) of Ether extract of SB via gavage for the whole study period. The results of serum biochemistry analysis, ELISA, H&E staining, and sequencing of the gut microbiome, indicated that SB significantly alleviates the CCl 4 -induced liver damage and hepatocyte degeneration. The serum levels of alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, malondialdehyde, interleukin 1 beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were significantly lower in SB treated groups compared to control while levels of glutathione peroxidase were raised. Also, the sequencing data indicate that supplementation with SB could restore the microbiome and its function in CCl 4 -induced variations in intestinal microbiome of mice by significantly downregulating the abundances of pathogenic intestinal bacteria species including Bacteroides , Enterococcus , Eubacterium , Bifidobacterium while upregulating the levels of beneficial bacteria like Christensenella in the gut. In conclusion, we revealed that SB depicts a beneficial effect against hepatotoxicity induced by CCl 4 in mice through the remission of hepatic inflammation and injury, through regulation of oxidative stress, and by restoring gut microbiota dysbiosis. • Swertia bimaculata is a medicinal herb in China having an array of therapeutic and biological properties. • Swertia bimaculata significantly alleviates the CCl 4 -induced liver damage and hepatocyte degeneration. • Swertia bimaculata could restore the microbiome and its function in CCl 4 -induced variations in intestinal microbiome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Fertilization F72 kg N/ha increased fungi diversity in maize experimental field. • Maize recruit different associated fungi than soil, by altering network complexity. • Core genera play an important role for nitrogen utilization in maize plants. • Endophytic fungi are valuable natural based solutions to improve crop fertilizer management. Endophytic mycobiomes are an integral part of crops in agricultural systems. Fertilization is a conventional practice to improve agricultural crops and may alter the mycobiomes of soil and plant systems. In agroecosystems, Nature Based Solutions (NBS) are key strategies for agricultural suitability. Investigating mycobiomes under N flux can provide fundamental data for constructive NBS strategies. In this study, the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilizer treatments on fungal compositions of the soil-maize systems were systematically investigated in field experiments at six N rates (F0, F72, F126, F180, F234, F280 kg N/ha) in northern China. Meta-omics amplicon sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was employed to study community dynamics, network correlation, metabolic functional assemblies, abundance patterns and core fungi. This study found that fungal communities were significantly higher at 72 kg N/ha compared with control and other treatments. Network topology increased in maize fungi (R2 = 0.69) but decreased in the soil (R2 = 0.51). Abundances of carbon–nitrogen metabolizing functional genes (Ure , AMT, gdhA and GDH) were significantly correlated with maize fungal communities and were assembled by stochastic processes. Additionally, the relative abundance of Ascomycota (67.26 %) was dominant in the soil, whereas Basidiomycota (61. 73 %) prevailed in maize samples at 72 kg N/ha. Moreover, Sporidiobolus , Alternaria , Fusarium , and Penicillium served as conserved core genera and were positively correlated with NH 4 +-N mg/kg, NO 2 –-N mg/kg and NO 3 –-N mg/kg, and pH components. Furthermore, selective genera were tested and confirmed to increase the growth rate and nitrogen utilization in maize. The study highlights the promising role of associated endophytes as Nature-Based Solution for optimizing fertilization to improve crop production in maize-agroecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue imposes a heavy economic burden on families and society. We used surveillance data reported in 2019 to characterize the dengue epidemic in Zhejiang Province, China, which provided guidance for dengue prevention and control. Dengue epidemics mostly occurred in July to October. People aged 30-44 years, males, and commercial service workers were more likely to suffer from dengue. The epidemic areas were mainly in Hangzhou and Wenzhou. Meanwhile, we assessed the economic cost of dengue in the province from both family and organizational perspectives. The direct economic burden of dengue patients was estimated to be USD 405,038.25, and the indirect economic burden was USD 140,364.90, for a total economic burden of USD 543,213.00. The direct economic burden of dengue patients should be reduced by increasing the coverage and reimbursement of health insurance. Additionally, the total annual cost of dengue prevention and control for the government and organizational sectors was estimated to be USD 7075,654.83. Quantifying the dengue burden is critical for developing disease control strategies, allocating public health resources, and setting health policy priorities.

The effectiveness of environmental regulations on green total factor productivity (GTFP) is controversial, and the mechanisms of the relationship between environmental regulation and GTFP are unknown. In this article, we take advantage of the Environmental Protection Interview (EPI) program-the harshest environmental monitoring program in Chinese history-to carry out a natural experiment to estimate the effect of environmental regulation on GTFP. Applying a time-varying difference-in-differences model based on city panel data from 2003 to 2018 in China, we determined that the EPI can lead to an average GTFP promotion of 35.6%, but the effect of the EPI is not consistent in the long term. A heterogeneity analysis documented that the effect of the EPI on GTFP is more significant in cities with low initial GTFP levels and low economic levels. A mechanism analysis showed that the EPI increases GTFP, basically, through technical creativity and industrial structure upgrading.

Purpose: To investigate information-seeking behavior related to urticaria before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in China., Methods: Search query data for terms related to urticaria were retrieved using Baidu Index database from October 23, 2017 to April 23, 2022, and daily COVID-19 vaccination doses data were obtained from the website of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Among the 23 eligible urticaria search terms, four urticaria themes were generated as classification, symptom, etiology, and treatment of urticarial, respectively. Baidu Search Index (BSI) value for each term were extracted to analyze and compare the spatial and temporal distribution of online search behavior for urticaria before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and to also explore the correlation between search query and daily COVID-19 vaccination doses., Results: The classification of urticaria accounted for nearly half of the urticaria queries on the internet. Regular seasonal patterns of BSI were observed in urticaria-related online search, by attaining its highest level in spring and summer and lowest level in winter. The BSIs of all urticaria themes significantly increased after the COVID-19 pandemic than that before the pandemic (all P <0.05). Xizang, Qinghai and Ningxia are the most active geographical areas for increased urticaria-searching activities after the COVID-19 pandemic. There was also a significant positive correlation between daily BSIs and daily COVID-19 vaccination doses in each urticaria theme. Cross-correlation analysis found that the search of symptom, etiology, and treatment attained their strongest correlation with daily COVID-19 vaccination doses at 11-27 days before the injection of vaccine, imply vaccination hesitation related to concerns of urticaria., Conclusions: This study used the internet as a proxy to provide evidence of public search interest and spatiotemporal characteristics of urticaria, and revealed that the search behavior of urticaria have increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccination. It is anticipated that the findings about such increase in search behavior, as well as the behavior of urticaria-related vaccine-hesitancy, will help guide public health education and policy regulation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhang, Yu, He, Yao, He, Wu, Xu and Ye.)

Aims: We aimed to assess the eradication efficacy and factors that influencing it of high-dose dual therapy (HDDT) in Gansu region, Northwest China., Methods: A total of 216 treatment-naive patients with Helicobacter pylori infection were randomly assigned to two groups for the 14-day eradication treatment: the HDDT group (amoxicillin 750 mg q.i.d. and esomeprazole 40 mg t.i.d.) and the amoxicillin and clarithromycin-containing bismuth quadruple therapy group (ACBQT: esomeprazole 20 mg, bismuth potassium citrate 2 g, amoxicillin 1 g, and clarithromycin 500 mg; b.i.d.). The eradication rates, adverse effects and patient compliance of these two groups were compared. Eradication efficacy was determined by 13 C urea breath test ( 13 C UBT) 4-8 weeks after finishing treatment. Antibiotic resistance was determined by the Epsilometer testing (E-test) method., Results: The eradication rates for the HDDT and ACBQT groups were 71.0% and 74.7% (P = .552) by per-protocol analysis, and 65.7% and 68.5% (P = .664) by intention-to-treat analysis. The overall adverse event rates in the HDDT and ACBQT groups were 2.0% and 43.4% (P < .001), respectively. The resistance rates to amoxicillin, clarithromycin, tetracycline, levofloxacin and metronidazole were 15.2%, 42.0%, 5.4%, 35.7% and 83.0%, respectively. Amoxicillin resistance and delta over baseline (DOB) of 13 C UBT ≥ 20 before treatment significantly reduced the eradication rate in 112 participants with H. pylori cultured., Conclusion: The HDDT as first-line treatment for H. pylori was unsatisfactory in Gansu. Amoxicillin resistance and DOB of 13 C UBT ≥ 20 before treatment were significantly correlated with H. pylori eradication failure., (© 2022 British Pharmacological Society.)

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence characteristics of human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in 29,508 female cases in Jinshan District, Shanghai., Materials and Methods: The current research represents a retrospective study that included 29,508 women who received cervical screening in the Jinshan Branch of Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital from 2010 to 2020. The overall prevalence, distribution types, age-specific prevalence and annual trends were analysed., Results: The overall HPV infection rate among the patients was 21.97%. They were primarily high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) infections (20.30%) and single HPV infections (15.91%). A general decline in HPV and HR-HPV prevalence was observed with time from 33.52% to 25.45% in 2011 to 21.47% and 20.18% in 2020. The most common HPV genotypes were HPV52, HPV16, HPV58, HPV51, HPV53 and HPV68. The infection rates of HPV genotypes, including HPV6, HPV11, HPV16, HPV18, HPV31, HPV33, HPV35, HPV39, HPV42, HPV43, HPV66 and HPV68, showed overall declines across different years. The age-specific prevalence of total HPV and HR-HPV infections formed an approximate U-shaped curve with two peaks, one in the ≥55 age group (29.75%, 28.43%) and the other in the <25 age group (22.93%, 20.85%). Both total HPV and HR-HPV infection rates decreased to their lowest in the 25-34-year age groups., Conclusions: The prevalence of HPV infections showed a downward tendency with time. Single HPV genotype infections and HR-HPV infections were predominantly detected. The after prevalent characteristics of HPV can help to guide HPV vaccinations and cervical cancer screenings: 1) non-HPV16/HPV18 H R-HPV genotypes were prevalent; 2) non-vaccine-covered HPV53, HPV51 and HPV68 were also prevalent; 3) women above the age of 55 years had the highest HPV and HR-HPV infection rates., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The author(s) do not have conflicts of interest relevant to this article., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen often found in patients with low immunity. It causes nosocomial infections, which are difficult to treat. This bacterium can rapidly mutate, developing resistance to antimicrobials and adapting to environmental stress, thereby increasing its survival. Understanding such adaptive mechanisms will be beneficial for controlling the spread of A. baumannii. Astrobiology studies have demonstrated that microbiomes from astronauts and manned spaceflight environments show resistance to stress and antibiotics. Astronauts also encounter low immunity during spaceflight missions. The extreme conditions of spaceflight provide a unique research platform for studying how opportunistic pathogens such as A. baumannii adapt to conditions such as microgravity and mutate during spaceflight. In this study, we compared phenotypic variations and analyzed genomic and transcriptomic variations in A. baumannii strains exposed to three different conditions: ST1 (64 days on Tiangong-2 space laboratory), GT1 (ground control), and Aba (original strain). Biofilm formation ability of the ST1 strain increased after 64 days of spaceflight. In addition, high-throughput sequencing revealed that some differentially expressed genes were upregulated in the ST1 strain compared to the GT1 strain. These results provide insights into the environmental adaptation of this widespread pathogen., (© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Sociedade Brasileira de Microbiologia.)

Background: Ageism is a global challenge, which leads to a range of adverse outcomes for elderly people worldwide, which maybe more severe among urban older adults in a competitive society. However, how self-perceived ageism influences the quality of life in a sample of urban older adults remains inconclusive., Objectives: The current study aims to assess the status of self-perceived stigma among urban Chinese older adults, identify its relationship with quality of life, and further explore whether both attitude toward own aging and traditionality moderate this relationship., Materials and Methods: Primary data were collected through cross-sectional surveys among urban older adults in three provinces of China from October 2019 to December 2020. A total of 764 urban older adults were valid participants (effective response rate = 81.28%) and completed questionnaires via anonymous face-to-face interviews. Socio-demographic factors, self-perceived stigma, attitude toward own aging, traditionality, and quality of life were assessed using questionnaires that included the Self-perceived Stigma, Attitude Toward Own Aging, Traditionality, and SF-8 Scales., Results: For urban Chinese older adults, the average score of self-perceived stigma was 2.041 ± 0.726. Self-perceived stigma (β = -0.391, p < 0.05) and attitude toward own aging (β = -0.211, p < 0.05) both influenced quality of life. Additionally, attitude toward own aging (β = -0.530, p < 0.05) and traditionality (β = -0.525, p < 0.05) moderated the association between self-perceived stigma and quality of life. Simple slope analysis revealed that when the level of negative attitude toward own aging and traditionality was higher, the strength of the influence of self-perceived stigma on quality of life was stronger., Conclusion: Urban Chinese older adults were aware of the self-perceived stigma, which contributes to decreased quality of life. Attitude toward own aging and traditionality could moderate the association between self-perceived stigma and quality of life. When negative attitudes toward own aging and traditionality are higher, self-perceived stigma has a greater effect on the quality of life. More interventions related to relieving self-perceived stigma, traditionality, and negative attitude toward own aging should be considered to build a new modern society that emphasizes health, friendliness, well-being, and dignity for all ages., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sun, Zhang, Yan, Lian, Yu, Yin, Zhao, Wang, Chang, Ji, Cheng, Wang, Huang and Cao.)

Soil salinity is one of the most significant abiotic stresses affecting crop yield around the world. To explore the molecular mechanism of salt tolerance in rapeseed ( Brassica napus L.), the transcriptome analysis and metabolomics analysis were used to dissect the differentially expressed genes and metabolites in two rapeseed varieties with significant differences in salt tolerance; one is an elite rapeseed cultivar, Huayouza 62. A total of 103 key differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) and 53 key differentials expressed genes (DEGs) that might be related to salt stress were identified through metabolomics and transcriptomics analysis. GO and KEGG analysis revealed that the DEGs were mainly involved in ion transport, reactive oxygen scavenging, osmotic regulation substance synthesis, and macromolecular protein synthesis. The DEMs were involved in TCA cycle, proline metabolism, inositol metabolism, carbohydrate metabolic processes, and oxidation-reduction processes. In addition, overexpression of BnLTP3 , which was one of the key DEGs, could increase tolerance to salt stress in Arabidopsis plants. This study reveals that the regulation mechanism of salt tolerance in rapeseed at the transcriptome and metabolism level and provides abundant data for further in-depth identification of essential salt tolerance genes.