Search

Although the effect of campus landscape space on stress relief among college students has been confirmed, few existing studies have considered the impact on stress recovery from the perspective of factor combination, and the key visual elements and the most effective combination of visual elements to relieve stress are still unclear. This study attempts to conduct a natural experiment within Chinese campuses, measuring physiological indicators of stress such as heart rate (HR), frequency domain index of heart rate variability (LF/HF), skin conductance level (SCL), skin temperature (SKT), and respiratory rate (RESP) using physiological instruments. It explored the effects of visual elements and their combinations in campus landscape spaces on short-term stress relief among college students through semantic segmentation, multifactorial analysis of variance, and post hoc multiple comparison methods. Research results demonstrate that the presence of water elements in the field of vision can effectively improve the stress relief effects of landscape spaces. Reasonable combinations of natural landscape elements and artificial landscape elements in the design can also effectively promote stress relief among students. Building facade area and sky area, water area and sky area, and plant species and pavement area are three combinations of factors with the strongest interactive effects. "Natural water scenery" and "exquisite artificial" are two campus landscape design patterns most conducive to short-term stress relief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of COVID-19 has boosted growth in the takeaway and medical industries but has also generated a large amount of plastic waste. Peanut shells (PS) are produced in large quantities and are challenging to recycle in China. Co-pyrolysis of peanut shells (PS) and polypropylene (PP) is an effective method for processing plastic waste and energy mitigation. Thermogravimetric analysis was conducted on PS, PP, and their blends (PS-PP) at different heating rates (10, 20, 30 °C·min−1). The results illustrated that the co-pyrolysis process of PS-PP was divided into two distinct decomposition stages. The first stage (170–400 °C) was predominantly linked to PS decomposition. The second stage (400–520 °C) resulted from the combinations of PS and PP's thermal degradations, with the most contribution from PP degradation. With the increase in heating rate, thermogravimetric hysteresis appeared. Kinetic analysis indicated that the co-pyrolysis process reduced the individual pyrolysis activation energy, especially in the second stage, with a correlation coefficient (R2) generally maintained above 0.95. The multi-level reaction mechanism function model can effectively reveal the co-pyrolysis process mechanism. PS proved to be high-quality biomass for co-pyrolysis with PP, and all mixtures exhibited synergistic effects at a mixing ratio of 1:1 (PS1-PP1). This study accomplished effective waste utilization and optimized energy consumption. It holds significance in determining the interaction mechanism of mixed samples in the co-pyrolysis process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wind profiling within operating wind farms is important for both wind resource assessment and wind power prediction. With increasing wind turbine size, it is getting difficult to obtain wind profiles covering the turbine-affecting area due to the limited height of wind towers. In this study, a stepwise quality control and optimizing process for deriving high-quality near-surface wind profiles within wind farms is proposed. The method is based on the radial wind speed obtained by the Doppler Wind Lidar velocity-azimuth display (VAD) technique. The method is used to obtain the whole wind profile from ground level to the height affected by wind turbines within a utility-scale onshore wind farm, in northern China. Compared with the traditional carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) filter-based quality control method, the proposed data processing method can significantly improve the accuracy of the derived wind. For a 10 m wind speed, an increase in coefficient of determination (R2) from 0.826 to 0.932, and a decrease in mean absolute error (MAE) from 1.231% to 0.927% are obtained; while for 70 m wind speed, R2 increased from 0.926 to 0.958, and MAE decreased from 1.023% to 0.771%. For wind direction, R2 increased from 0.978 to 0.992 at 10 m, and increased from 0.983 to 0.995 at 70 m. The optimized method also presents advantages in improving the accuracy of derived wind under complex wind environments, e.g., inside a wind farm, and increasing the data availability during clear nights. The proposed method could be used to derive wind profiles from below the minimum range of a vertically operating scanning Doppler Lidar to a height affected by wind turbines. Combined with Doppler beam-swinging (DBS) scanning data, the method could be used to obtain the complete wind profile in the boundary layer. These wind profiles could be further used to predict wind power and evaluate the climate and environmental effects of wind farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The escalating frequency and severity of extreme climate greatly impact the carbon dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. To understand the multi-temporal response of net ecosystem productivity (NEP) to extreme climate, we investigated 11 temperature and precipitation extreme indices across different vegetation types in China. From 1981 to 2019, the results showed that NEP in China increased at a rate of 0.64 g·m−2·a−2. Extreme climate demonstrated a significant warming trend and a non-significant moistening trend; specifically, maximum daily minimum temperature (TNx) exhibited a significant increase at a rate of 0.34 °C/10 a, while maximum 5-day precipitation (Rx5day) showed an insignificant increase at a rate of 1.78 mm/10 a. NEP was significantly impacted by extreme temperature at the annual, seasonal, and monthly scales, but moderately impacted by extreme precipitation. Specifically, extreme temperature had the most significant effect on grassland, with minimal influence on cropland. In contrast, extreme precipitation had the most significant effect on forest, with minimal impact on cropland. Moreover, the lagged time for extreme precipitation was longer than that for extreme temperature. Extreme precipitation exhibited a corresponding lagged time of at least 2 months (p < 0.01), while extreme temperature exhibited a lagged time of at least 1 month (p < 0.01). The maximum lag time observed was 4 months (p < 0.01). Our findings provide valuable insights into the multi-temporal response of NEP to extreme climate in China and inform sustainable development practices in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The process of aging itself and the behavioral changes caused by aging have been extensively studied and recognized in the field of biology. In this study, we determined that age had no effect on social behavior in male Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana). Old female macaques were less likely to approach other monkeys. This study provides a new perspective on adjusting social interaction strategies in old non-human primates under nature environments. Aging can induce changes in social behaviors among humans and nonhuman primates (NHPs). Therefore, investigating the aging process in primate species can provide valuable evidence regarding age-related concerns in humans. However, the link between aging and behavioral patterns in nonhuman primates remains poorly comprehended. To address this gap, the present research examined aging-related behaviors exhibited by Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) in their natural habitat in Huangshan, China, during the period from October 2020 to June 2021. We collected behavioral data from 25 adult macaques using different data collection methods, including focal animal sampling and ad libitum sampling methods. We found that among adult female macaques, the frequency of being attacked decreased with their age, and that the frequency of approaching other monkeys also decreased as age increased. In males, however, this was not the case. Our findings demonstrate that older female macaques exhibit active conflict avoidance, potentially attributed to a reduction in the frequency of approaching conspecifics and a decreased likelihood of engaging in conflict behaviors. This study provides some important data for investigating aging in NHPs and confirms that Macaca can exhibit a preference for social partners under aging-related contexts similar to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has implemented an environmental protection tax for large-scale agricultural farming to address environmental pollution caused by livestock and poultry breeding. Studying the environmental management of large-scale pig farming is crucial for controlling agricultural pollution. However, the economic impact and effectiveness of the current tax design, including responsibility sharing, tax rates, and taxpayers, are unclear. This study aims to address these gaps. Firstly, two types of taxation principles, production-based and consumption-based, are established, and their effects on pollution emissions distribution between pig production and marketing areas are comparatively analyzed. Secondly, the economic impact of consumption-based environmental taxes is estimated from inter-provincial and rural–urban perspectives under the current tax mechanism. Thirdly, a new alternative tax rate aligned with inter-provincial pig consumption levels is proposed based on the consumption principle. By comparing alternative tax systems, the potential impact of the current environmental tax on the regional economic burden is analyzed. The results highlighted that a production-based tax system resulted in 83% of regions experiencing varying degrees of implicit emission transfers, and a consumption-based tax system helped coordinate the environmental economic burden between pig production and marketing regions. Additionally, a linear relationship between tax rates and pork consumption expenditure not only alleviated the overall economic burden, leading to tax savings in 30% of regions, but also increased the national environmental revenue from the pig farming industry, resulting in a remarkable 147% rise in overall environmental tax revenue. These findings provide theoretical support for adjusting responsibility and economic burden through environmental tax modifications, facilitating the establishment of a compensation mechanism for the benefits between pig production and marketing areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the variation of mechanical properties of steel under acid rain corrosion conditions in northern China, monotonic tensile tests were conducted on Q235 steel with a thickness of 3.0 mm and 4.5 mm using a method of artificially prepared simulated acid rain solution for indoor accelerated corrosion. The results show that the failure mode of corroded steel standard tensile coupon includes normal fault and oblique fault. The failure patterns of the test specimen show that the thickness of the steel and corrosion rate affected the corrosion resistance. Larger thicknesses and lower corrosion rates will delay the failure mode of corrosion on steel. The strength reduction factor (Ru), deformability reduction factor (Rd) and energy absorption reduction factor (Re) decrease linearly with the increasing corrosion rate from 0% to 30%. The results are interpreted also from the microstructural point of view. The number, size, and distribution of the pits are random when the steel is subjected to sulfate corrosion. The higher the corrosion rate, the clearer, denser, and more hemispherical the corrosion pits. The microstructure of steel tensile fracture can be divided into intergranular fracture and cleavage fracture. As the corrosion rate increases, the dimples at the tensile fracture gradually disappear and the cleavage surface gradually increases. An equivalent thickness reduction model is proposed based on Faraday's law and the meso-damage theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius. L) possesses anti-tumor, anti-thrombotic, anti-oxidative, immunoregulatory, and cardio-cerebral protective effects. It is used clinically for the treatment of cardio-cerebrovascular disease in China. This study aimed to investigate the effects and mechanisms of action of safflower extract on myocardial ischemia–reperfusion (MIR) injury in a left anterior descending (LAD)-ligated model based on integrative pharmacology study and ultra-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight-tandem mass spectrometer (UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS). Safflower (62.5, 125, 250 mg/kg) was administered immediately before reperfusion. Triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC)/Evans blue, echocardiography, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ability, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were determined after 24 h of reperfusion. Chemical components were obtained using UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to analyze mRNA and protein levels, respectively. Safflower dose-dependently reduced myocardial infarct size, improved cardiac function, decreased LDH levels, and increased SOD levels in C57/BL6 mice. A total of 11 key components and 31 hub targets were filtered based on the network analysis. Comprehensive analysis indicated that safflower alleviated inflammatory effects by downregulating the expression of NFκB1, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-18, TNFα, and MCP-1 and upregulating NFκBia, and markedly increased the expression of phosphorylated PI3K, AKT, PKC, and ERK/2, HIF1α, VEGFA, and BCL2, and decreased the level of BAX and phosphorylated p65. Safflower shows a significant cardioprotective effect by activating multiple inflammation-related signaling pathways, including the NFκB, HIF-1α, MAPK, TNF, and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways. These findings provide valuable insights into the clinical applications of safflower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi is an annual herb from the Scutellaria genus that has been extensively used as a traditional medicine for over 2000 years in China. Baicalin and other flavonoids have been identified as the principal bioactive ingredients. The biosynthetic pathway of baicalin in S. baicalensis has been elucidated; however, the specific functions of R2R3-MYB TF, which regulates baicalin synthesis, has not been well characterized in S. baicalensis to date. Here, a S20 R2R3-MYB TF (SbMYB12), which encodes 263 amino acids with a length of 792 bp, was expressed in all tested tissues (mainly in leaves) and responded to exogenous hormone methyl jasmonate (MeJA) treatment. The overexpression of SbMYB12 significantly promoted the accumulation of flavonoids such as baicalin and wogonoside in S. baicalensis hairy roots. Furthermore, biochemical experiments revealed that SbMYB12 is a nuclear-localized transcription activator that binds to the SbCCL7-4, SbCHI-2, and SbF6H-1 promoters to activate their expression. These results illustrate that SbMYB12 positively regulates the generation of baicalin and wogonoside. In summary, this work revealed a novel S20 R2R3-MYB regulator and enhances our understanding of the transcriptional and regulatory mechanisms of baicalin biosynthesis, as well as sheds new light on metabolic engineering in S. baicalensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Industrial Revolution, fossil fuels have become the main energy source for economic development. However, fossil fuels have also been linked to serious environmental impacts. China has recently undergone rapid economic growth, but its development model demands large amounts of energy and causes severe pollution. Therefore, there has been a recent shift toward the development of coordinated strategies to achieve economic growth while minimizing energy consumption and preserving the environment. This study sought to explore the spatiotemporal evolution of the coordination degree between economic growth, energy consumption, and environmental conservation (i.e., the "3E" system) in China, thus establishing a basis to improve coordinated development and minimize regional differences. This study evaluated 30 Chinese provinces using mathematical models. Between 2000 and 2019, the coordinated development level of the components of the 3E system in China increased steadily but remained generally low. Clear spatial agglomeration was also identified at the provincial scale, with the highest values occurring on the east coast and lower values occurring in the west and middle provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity and water pollution are essential factors limiting coordinated regional development, especially in water-deprived regions. Industrial restructuring is an effective water management solution to alleviate water scarcity and mitigate water pollution. However, due to widely existing inexact parameter information in the water resource management system, it is challenging to allocate water resources among industrial sectors. To address these problems, an export coefficient coupled with a two-stage stochastic robust programming method (EC-TSRP) was developed through integrating an export coefficient model (ECM), two-stage stochastic programming (TSP) and robust optimization. The proposed EC-TSRP model could effectively deal with the multiple uncertainties expressed as stochastic and the intervals with fluctuation ranges, and enhance the robustness of optimal plans for supporting water resource allocation among industrial sectors under complex uncertainties. It was then applied to Bayan Nur City, in arid north-west China. The optimization alternatives indicate that wheat, sheep and services would be the most sensitive sectors among all industrial sectors, when non-point source (NPS) pollution exports are restricted. In addition, comparing the EC-TSRP results with the deterministic model, the reliability of the system could be improved significantly, while the value of the objective function would be decreased slightly. The simulation results were also compared with the historical data from 2012 to 2016. Although the total revenue of Bayan Nur City would decrease by 1.52%, the pollutant loads of total nitrogen, total phosphorus and chemical oxygen demand (TN, TP and COD) would decrease by 14.5%, 7.75% and 2.07%, respectively, and total water allocation also would decrease from 4.6 billion m3 to 4.23 billion m3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation in the terrestrial ecosystem, sensitive to climate change and human activities, exerts a crucial influence on the carbon cycles in land, ocean, and atmosphere. Discrimination between climate and human-induced vegetation dynamics is advocated but still limited, especially in coastal China, which is characterized by a developed economy, a large population, and high food production, but also by unprecedented climate change and warming. Taking coastal China as the research area, our study used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in growing seasons, as well as precipitation, temperature, and sunlight hours datasets, adopted residual trend analysis at pixel and regional scales in coastal China from 2000–2019 and aims to (1) delineate the patterns and processes of vegetation changes, and (2) separate the relative contributions of climate and human activities by adopting residual trend analysis. The results indicated that (1) coastal China experienced the most vegetation greening (83.04% of the whole region) and partial degradation (16.86% of the whole region) with significant spatial heterogeneity; (2) compared with climate change, human activities have a greater positive impact on NDVI, and the regions were mainly located in the north of the North China Plain and the south of southern China; (3) the relative contribution rates of climate change and human activities were detected to be 0–60% and 60–100%, respectively; (4) in the northern coastal areas, the improvement of cultivated land management greatly promoted the greening of vegetation and thus the increase of grain yield, while in southern coastal areas, afforestation and the restoration of degraded forest were responsible for vegetation restoration; and (5) similar results obtained by partial correlation between nighttime lights and NDVI indicated the reliability of the residual trend analysis. The linear relationships of precipitation, temperature, and radiation on NDVI may limit the accurate estimation of climate drivers on vegetation, and further ecosystem process-modeling approaches can be used to estimate the relative contribution of climate change and human activities. The findings in our research emphasized that the attribution for vegetation dynamics with heterogeneity can provide evidence for the designation of rational ecological conservation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gymnopus is a widely distributed genus consisting of about 300 species thus far, including Gymnopus fusipes as a generic type. A total of nine species from China belong to the sect. Levipedes, including eight new species—Gymnopus longisterigmaticus, Gymnopus longus, Gymnopus macrosporus, Gymnopus striatus, Gymnopus changbaiensis, Gymnopus tomentosus, Gymnopus tiliicola, and Gymnopus globulosus—which were delimited and proposed based on morphological and molecular evidence; and one new record from Jilin Province, China—Gymnopus erythropus. Detailed descriptions and illustrations are presented, as well as comparisons to similar species. Overall, our results broaden the morphological characterization of the genus. The pileipellis of sect. Levipedes typically takes on the "Dryophila structure", while, in our findings, pileipellis terminal hyphae inflated to spherical to prolate were observed, in addition to extremely long basidia sterigma. The phylogenies inferred from the ITS and nLSU dataset supported the Gymnopus, which was defined by Oliveira et al. as a monophyletic genus, and the novel species as separate lineages within. A key to all species described in this study is also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Influenced by global climate, trade, and transportation factors, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) has gradually spread from southern regions to Beijing, Hebei, and other northern areas in China. In order to evaluate the risk of damage of B. dorsalis to the dominant northern fruits, an age-stage two-sex life table was used to study the fitness of B. dorsalis for peaches and apples, with oranges as the control. Our results showed that the pest can cause continuous damage on northern fruit hosts, with the damage degree being basically the same on peaches as on the southern fruit of oranges. The B. dorsalis population on peaches increased by 12,112.1 times 90 days after oviposition, easily causing great damage. Additionally, the population increased by 4311 times on apples, which may also become a potentially new host of B. dorsalis in northern China, though with relatively lower fitness. This research lays a foundation for monitoring and the formulation of efficient control strategies for B. dorsalis. Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), as a quarantine pest in many countries and regions, has shown a trend of northward diffusion in the past century in China. In order to determine whether B. dorsalis will cause great harm to the dominant northern fruits, the age-stage two-sex life tables of peaches and apples were constructed, with oranges as the control. The results showed that the developmental rate, intrinsic rate of increase (r), and finite rate of increase (λ) on oranges and peaches were significantly greater than on apples. Additionally, the prediction of population growth 90 days after oviposition revealed that the whole population on oranges and peaches increased by 13,667.3 and 12,112.1 times, respectively, indicating that B. dorsalis is very likely to endanger peach orchards. The population increased on apples by 4311 times, though this is lower than that on oranges and peaches. Overall, peaches with high fitness similar to oranges are very suitable as a host for B. dorsalis and are likely to become a new favorable host, while apples may also become a potentially new host, though with lower fitness. Therefore, the most pressing solutions to take are population monitoring, comprehensive prevention, and control in the case of any potential large-scale outbreak of B. dorsalis in northern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the effects of future land use and land cover change (LULC) on ecological processes and functions is crucial for improving regional sustainability in arid and semiarid areas. Taking the Agro-Pastoral Transitional Zone of Northern China (APTZNC) as an example, four IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios scenarios (Scenario of economic emphasis on a regional scale (A1B), Scenario of economic emphasis on a global scale (A2), Scenario of environmental protection on a regional scale (B1), Scenario of environmental protection on a global scale (B2)) were adopted in the study to analyze the influence of the future land use and land cover change on the net primary production (NPP), soil organic matter (SOM), soil total nitrogen (TN), and soil erosion (ERO) using the model of Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator-Land use/land cover model (TES-LUC) linking ecological processes and land-use change dynamics. The results were analyzed from the perspectives of LULC components, LULC conversions, and landscape patterns under the four scenarios. The main results include the following: (1) Environmentally oriented scenarios (A1B and B1) experienced the conservation of forest and grassland; economically oriented scenarios (A2 and B2) were characterized by significant loss of natural land covers and expansion of agricultural and urban land uses. (2) The NPP and soil nutrients are the highest while the ERO is the lowest in the woodland; the trend in cultivated land is opposite to that in woodland; the grassland ecosystem function is relatively stable and could make an important contribution to effectively mitigate global climate change. (3) The general trend in NPP, SOM, and TN under the four scenarios is B1 > A1B > baseline (2010) > B2 > A2, and that in ERO is A2 > B2 > baseline (2010) > A1B > B1. (4) Trade-offs between ecosystem functions and the ecological effects of LULC can be evaluated and formulated into decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trends of asthma mortality vary widely all over the world, while the trends in China over the past 15 years are unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the trends of asthma mortality in China. Methods: Asthma deaths and demographic characteristics were collected from National Death Cause Datasets of Disease Surveillance System between 2004 and 2019. The data were analyzed with joinpoint regression analysis and age-period-cohort (APC) analysis for the mortality rate due to asthma in China. Results: Asthma mortality declined from 2.4 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.3–2.5) per 100,000 in 2004 to 1.6 (95% CI: 1.5–1.7) per 100,000 in 2019. Age-adjusted asthma mortality rates decreased for men and women in urban and rural areas from 2004 through 2019. The decreasing trend of the mortality rate has slowed down substantially during 2007 and 2009. After that, the decreasing trend has stabilized. The asthma mortality rates generally have a positive relationship with the age of the population when controlling for period and cohort. The period trend decreased and then increased when controlling for age and cohort. Conclusions: We should pay more attention to asthma management plans or treatment for aging people who are facing higher risk of asthma death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the immunogenicity of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines between people living with HIV (PLWH) and HIV-negative individuals. We recruited 120 PLWH and 53 HIV-negative individuals aged 18–59 years who had received an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in two Chinese cities between April and June 2021. Blood samples were tested for immunogenicity of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. The prevalence and severity of adverse events associated with SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were similar between PLWH and HIV-negative individuals. The seropositivity of neutralizing activity against authentic SARS-CoV-2, of the total amount of antibody (total antibody) and of S-IgG were 71.3%, 81.9%, and 92.6%, respectively, among fully vaccinated PLWH. Among all participants, PLWH had lower neutralizing activity, total antibody, S-IgG, and T-cell-specific immune response levels, compared to HIV-negative individuals, after controlling for types of vaccine, time interval between first and second dose, time after receiving the second dose, and sociodemographic factors. PLWH with a longer interval since HIV diagnosis, who received their second dose 15–28 days prior to study commencement, and who had an interval of ≥21 days between first and second dose had higher neutralizing activity levels. The immunogenicity of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was lower among PLWH as compared to HIV-negative individuals. Vaccination guideline specific for PLWH should be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate and effective government communication is essential for public health emergencies. To optimize the effectiveness of government crisis communication, this paper puts forward an analytical perspective of supply–demand matching based on the interaction between the government and the public. We investigate the stage characteristics and the topic evolutions of both government information supply and public information demand through combined statistical analysis, text mining, text coding and cluster analysis, using empirical data from the National Health Commission's WeChat in China. A quantitative measure reflecting the public demand for government information supply is proposed. Result indicates that the government has provided a large amount of high-intensity epidemic-related information, with six major topics being the medical team, government actions, scientific protection knowledge, epidemic situation, high-level deployment and global cooperation. The public's greatest information needs present different characteristics at different stages, with "scientific protection knowledge", "government actions" and "medical teams" being the most needed in the outbreak stage, the control stage and the stable stage, respectively. The subject of oversupply is "medical team", and the subject of short supply is "epidemic dynamics" and "science knowledge". This paper provides important theoretical and practical value for improving the effectiveness of government communication in public health crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fully mechanized top-coal caving mining with high mining height, hard roofs and strong mining pressure are popular in the Shendong mining area, China. The occurrence of dynamic disasters, such as rock burst, coal and gas outburst, mine earthquakes and goaf hurricanes during the coal exploitation process under hard roof conditions, pose a threat to the safe production of mines. In this study, the characteristics of overburden fracture in fully mechanized top-coal caving with a hard roof and high mining height are studied, and the technology of advanced weakening by hard roof staged fracturing was proposed. The results show that the hard roof strata collapse in the form of large "cantilever beams", and it is easy to release huge impact kinetic energy, forming impact disasters. After the implementation of advanced hydraulic fracturing, the periodic weighting length decreases by 32.16%, and the length of overhang is reasonably and effectively controlled. Ellipsoidal fracture networks in the mining direction of the vertical working face, horizontal fracture networks perpendicular to the direction of the working face, and near-linear fracture planes dominated by vertical fractures were observed, with the accumulated energy greatly reduced. The effectiveness of innovation technology is validated, and stress transfer, dissipation and dynamic roof disasters were effectively controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV), a Fijivirus in the Reoviridae family, is transmitted by the white-backed planthopper (Sogatella furcifera, WBPH), a long-distance migratory insect, and presents a serious threat to rice production in Asia. It was first discovered in China's Guangdong Province in 2001 and has been endemic in the south of China and north of Vietnam for two decades, with serious outbreaks in 2009, 2010, and 2017. In this study, we evaluated the resistance of 10 dominant rice varieties from southern China, where the virus overwinters and accumulates as a source of early spring reinfection, against this virus by artificial inoculation. The results showed that in all tested varieties there was no immune resistance, but there were differences in the infection rate, with incidence rates from 21% to 90.7%, and in symptom severity, with plant weight loss from 66.71% to 91.20% and height loss from 34.1% to 65.06%. Additionally, and valuably, the virus titer and the insect vector virus acquisition potency from diseased plants were significantly different among the varieties: an over sixfold difference was determined between resistant and susceptible varieties, and there was a positive correlation between virus accumulation and insect vector virus acquisition. The results can provide a basis for the selection of rice varieties in southern China to reduce the damage of SRBSDV in this area and to minimize the reinfection source and epidemics of the virus in other rice-growing areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benggang is a typical erosional landform in southern and southeastern China. Since benggang poses significant risks to local ecological environments and economic infrastructure, it is vital to accurately detect benggang-eroded areas. Relying only on remote sensing imagery for benggang detection cannot produce satisfactory results. In this study, we propose integrating high-resolution Digital Orthophoto Map (DOM) and Digital Surface Model (DSM) data for efficient and automatic benggang discovery. The fusion of complementary rich information hidden in both DOM and DSM data is realized by a two-stream convolutional neural network (CNN), which integrates aggregated terrain and activation image features that are both extracted by supervised deep learning. We aggregate local low-level geomorphic features via a supervised diffusion-convolutional embedding branch for expressive representations of benggang terrain variations. Activation image features are obtained from an image-oriented convolutional neural network branch. The two sources of information (DOM and DSM) are fused via a gated neural network, which learns the most discriminative features for the detection of benggang. The evaluation of a challenging benggang dataset demonstrates that our method exceeds several baselines, even with limited training examples. The results show that the fusion of DOM and DSM data is beneficial for benggang detection via supervised convolutional and deep fusion networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bamboo leaves of Phyllostachys nigra (PN), Lophatherum gracile (LG), and Pleioblastus amarus (PA) are three common herbs in China. In this work, a new high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of seven compounds in bamboo leaves has been developed; and PN, LG, and PA leaves were analyzed. PN showed four times as much chlorogenic acid (CA) than the other two, and contained the most isoorientin (iso-ORI) and isovitexin (iso-VIT) as well. The PA presented the most orientin (ORI) and LG covered a majority of cynaroside (CYN). We measured the antioxidant activity by scavenging the stable 2,2-diphenyl-1-pyridinohydrazinyl (DPPH) free radicals, and found that Luteolin (inhibitory concentration (IC)50 = 0.42 µM, LUT) and CYN (IC50 = 0.43 µM) showed 2–3 times higher antioxidant activity than iso-ORI (IC50 = 0.81 µM), ORI (IC50 = 0.84 µM), and other related antioxidant standards such as trolox (IC50 = 0.97 µM) and ascorbic acid (IC50 = 0.93 µM, VC). Among extracts, PN and PA showed considerable antioxidant activity, which was related well with the contents of CA, iso-ORI, and iso-VIT (p < 0.05). This study firstly provides evidence for functional antioxidant compounds of bamboo leaves based on statistical analysis of the HPLC analysis and DPPH assay, and it lays a foundation for its further development or utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a theoretical investigation on the safety evaluation, stability evaluation, and service life prediction of concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) structures in a Northern China area with acid rain. The finite element software ABAQUS was used to establish a numerical model, which was used to simulate the axial compression behavior of CFST columns subjected to the combined actions of freeze–thaw cycles and acid rain corrosion. The model performance was validated using the experimental results of the evaluation of mechanical properties, including the failure mode and load–displacement curve. Then, the effects of the section size, material strength, steel ratio, and combined times on the residual capacity were studied. The results show that the section size has a smaller influence on the residual strength than the other parameters and can be neglected in the design procedure. However, the other parameters, including the material strength, steel ratio, and combined times have relatively large influences on the axial compressive performance of CFST stub columns subjected to a combination of freeze–thaw cycles and acid rain corrosion. Finally, design formulae for predicting the residual strength of CFST stub columns that are under axial compression and the combined effect of freeze–thaw cycles and acid rain corrosion are proposed, and their results agree well with the numerical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding human movement patterns is of fundamental importance in transportation planning and management. We propose to examine complex public transit travel patterns over a large-scale transit network, which is challenging since it involves thousands of transit passengers and massive data from heterogeneous sources. Additionally, efficient representation and visualization of discovered travel patterns is difficult given a large number of transit trips. To address these challenges, this study leverages advanced machine learning methods to identify time-varying mobility patterns based on smart card data and other urban data. The proposed approach delivers a comprehensive solution to pre-process, analyze, and visualize complex public transit travel patterns. This approach first fuses smart card data with other urban data to reconstruct original transit trips. We use two machine learning methods, including a clustering algorithm to extract transit corridors to represent primary mobility connections between different regions and a graph-embedding algorithm to discover hierarchical mobility community structures. We also devise compact and effective multi-scale visualization forms to represent the discovered travel behavior dynamics. An interactive web-based mapping prototype is developed to integrate advanced machine learning methods with specific visualizations to characterize transit travel behavior patterns and to enable visual exploration of transit mobility patterns at different scales and resolutions over space and time. The proposed approach is evaluated using multi-source big transit data (e.g., smart card data, transit network data, and bus trajectory data) collected in Shenzhen City, China. Evaluation of our prototype demonstrates that the proposed visual analytics approach offers a scalable and effective solution for discovering meaningful travel patterns across large metropolitan areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz. has been used as an invigorating spleen drug for eliminating dampness and phlegm in China. According to recent researches, different processing methods may affect the drug efficacy, so we collected A. macrocephala from the Zhejiang Province, produced with different processing methods, crude A. macrocephala (CA) and bran-processed A. macrocephala (BA), then analyzed its essential oils (EOs) by GC/MS. The results showed 34 components representing 98.44% of the total EOs of CA were identified, and 46 components representing 98.02% of the total EOs of BA were identified. Atractylone is the main component in A. macrocephala. Compared with CA, BA has 46 detected compounds, 28 of which were identical, and 6 undetected compounds. Pharmacodynamic results revealed that the EOs of CA and atractylone exhibited more effective anticancer activity in HepG2, MCG803, and HCT-116 cells than the EOs of BA; while the EOs of BA exhibited simple antiviral effect on viruses H3N2, both the EOs and atractylone show anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in ANA-1 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valuation of wetland ecosystem services and the construction of environmental landscapes are generally recognized as contributing to the sustainable development of human wellbeing. The valuation of ecosystem services plays an important role in planning for the recovery of degraded wetlands and in urban wetland park management; however, the role of the valuation of ecosystem services is always ignored. To bring more intuitive awareness to the importance of the ecological functions of wetlands and to rationally plan wetland parks, the Lotus Lake National Wetland Park (LLNWP), an urban wetland park in Northeast China, was selected as the study area. We referred to the millennium ecosystem assessment (MA) method and calculated the valuation of this park using the market value, benefit transfer, shadow engineering, carbon tax, and travel cost. ArcGIS was used for remote sensing interpretation. The research results were as follows. LLNWP was classified under seven types of land-use. The functions of the ecosystem services included provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services, and their total value in LLNWP was 11.68×10 8 CNY. Regarding the per-unit area value of the ecological service functions of different land types, it was found that forest swamp > herbaceous swamp > artificial wetland > permanent river > floodplain wetland. Combined with the characteristics of the functions of its ecosystem's services, LLNWP was divided into ecological and socio-cultural functions. Then, according to the main service functions of the different land types, we propose that the space in LLNWP can be reused, and proposal planning and management suggestions can be made with the aim of preserving the basic functions.

Based on the dual-factor model of mental health (DFM) and the cumulative risk (CR) model, this study aimed to investigate the impact of CR on left-behind children's mental health and the underlying mechanism involved, specifically the mediating role of coping style and the moderating role of gratitude in the relationship between CR and mental health. The random cluster sampling method was applied to collect data on CR, coping style, gratitude, life satisfaction, and depression from 705 left-behind children (374 boys, M age = 12.20 ± 1.25). The moderated mediation analyses indicated that: (1) the moderated mediation model of CR and depression was significant: coping style mediated the relationship between CR and depression, and gratitude moderated this mediating effect with gratitude strengthening the negative association between CR and coping style; and (2) gratitude moderated the relationship between CR and life satisfaction and it also strengthened the negative association between CR and life satisfaction. The findings suggest that the mechanisms of coping style may differ in the relationships between CR and positive and negative indicators of mental health in left-behind children and that gratitude as a protective factor has limited capacity to buffer the negative effect of accumulated risk. These findings provide evidence for differentiated intervention approaches to promote disadvantaged children's life satisfaction and depression.

An analytic database was built based on meta-regression analysis (MRA) method, mainly including ecosystem service type, farmland division, cultivated land type, value assessment method, and farmland characteristics. The feasible weighted least square (FWLS) method was adopted to comprehensively investigate the seventy observations from empirical studies. The results indicate that: (1) except the negative impact of farmland area on farmland value, such factors as paddy field, good soil conservation function, mainly providing agricultural products, and using market value method for assessment all produce positive effect on the promotion of farmland value. (2) In meta-regression analysis, the average transfer error is 36.74%, and the median transfer error is 14.59%. (3) Under the A1B, A2, B1, and B2 scenarios of IPCC SRES, it is discovered from calculation that the value changes under different scenarios have some differences, in which, the total value rises significantly under A2 scenario and will reach to 15,220 billion yuan until the year of 2100; while the total value loss is the greatest under B1 scenario and will fall to 6320 billion yuan until the year of 2100. Finally, this paper gives some suggestions for scholars to deeply study the service value of farmland ecosystem as well as for the government to formulate differentiation policies.