Search

By analyzing the test data of 2718 secondary school students in Guangzhou China on 15 listening items from Guangzhou English Achievement Examination (2015) through G-DINA model, the study explored the relationships among the listening comprehension skills. Based on the test specifications and listening skill taxonomies in existence, 5 experts in language skills and language testing conducted item content analysis independently for the 15 listening items, defined 5 listening attributes, and constructed the Q-matrix. After analyzing latent classes and their posterior probabilities, the study discovered the relationship among the listening skills. According to the listening skill relationship, the study provides insights on the sequence of listening skill training. The efficiency of training may be improved when closely related listening skills are instructed and practiced at the same time. The study also demonstrates that the compensatory and saturated G-DINA model caters to the characteristics of listening comprehension skills and can be applied to tests involving highly interactive and hierarchical skills.

Although research on listening skills has been frequently conducted to discover the nature of listening comprehension, there is little study about listening genre competence which is related with knowledge about listening text types. In order to find out whether listening skills and listening genre competence are related, cognitive diagnosis, a quantitative method to disclose finer-grained latent attributes, was adopted in this study. The generalized deterministic inputs, noisy "and" gate (G-DINA) model, which takes attribute compensation and attribute interaction into consideration, was used to carry out cognitive diagnostic analysis. The listening comprehension subtest of Band 4 of Test for English Majors (TEM) which is a large scale English proficiency test for English Majors in China was used as the proficiency test for homogenizing the participants. Three genres in the subtest, dialog, lecture, and news, were investigated. The 2,285 subjects were sophomore English major college students and also test-takers of the same TEM4 examination. They were chosen by random sampling from the nationwide test population in China. The study analyzed three types of relationships between listening skills and genre competence. By analyzing how mastery of certain listening text genres goes with mastery of listening skills according to latent class distribution, the coexistence relationship was discovered. By comparing the average number of skills/genres mastered when the number of genres/skills mastered increases through One-Way ANOVA, compensatory and contributory relationships were revealed. The study also found that the subjects mastering Lecture genre got higher listening scores.

Locust plagues inflict severe agricultural damage. Climate change-induced extreme events like rainfall and droughts have expanded locust habitats. These new areas, often beyond routine monitoring, could become potential high-risk locust areas (PHRLA). Quantitatively understanding the outbreak mechanism driving drought and flood dynamics is crucial for identifying PHRLA, but such studies are scarce. To address this gap, we conducted a case study on locust outbreaks in Xiashan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in Shandong Province, China, in 2017 and 2018. Using time series satellite imagery and meteorological products, we quantitatively analyzed how drought–flood dynamics and temperature affect locust habitats, reproduction, and aggregation. Employing an object-oriented random forest classifier, we generated locust habitat classification maps with 93.77% average overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of 0.90. Combined with meteorological analysis, we found that three consecutive drought years from 2014 to 2016 reduced the water surface area by 75%, expanding suitable habitats (primarily reeds and weeds) to cover 60% of the reservoir. Warm winters and high temperatures during locust key growth periods, coupled with expanding suitable habitats, promoted multi-generational locust reproduction. However, substantial flooding events in 2017 and 2018, driven by plentiful rainfall during key growth periods, reduced suitable habitats by approximately 54% and 29%, respectively. This compression led to high locust density, causing the locust plague and high-density spots of locusts (HDSL). Our study elucidates locust plague outbreak mechanisms under dynamic drought and flood environments. Based on this, we propose an approach to identify PHRLA by monitoring changes in drought and flood patterns around water bodies and variations in suitable habitat size and distribution, as well as surrounding topography. These findings hold significant implications for enhancing locust monitoring and early warning capabilities, reducing pesticide usage, and ensuring food and ecological security and sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequent forest fires cause severe damage to the ecological service functions of forest ecosystems. Machine learning (ML) techniques have gained widespread use for forest fire susceptibility mapping due to their potent nonlinear learning capabilities. However, prior research has devoted insufficient attention to negative sample sampling, leading to overestimated fire susceptibility. Furthermore, the dynamic factors used for fire prediction are often extracted based on fixed time windows (FTW), making it challenging to accurately capture the spatial heterogeneity in forest cumulative dryness status (CDS). In this paper, we introduced a space-humidity-constrained (SHC-based) sampling method to generate negative samples with specific humidity. It was achieved by imposing distance and aridity constraints on randomly generated points, thus enhancing their representativeness. We also proposed a dynamic factor extraction method based on dynamic time windows (DTW), constrained by daily or cumulative precipitation thresholds (Th cp), to obtain fine-grained forest CDS information by limiting the statistical time windows of dynamic factors. Our results demonstrated that the forest fire susceptibility modeling approach, incorporating the above two methods for sample sets and feature sets construction, significantly enhanced the prediction performance of three ML models, namely random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and multi-layer perceptron (MLP), underscoring its stability and robustness in improving model performance. The RF model outperformed the SVM and MLP models in terms of both performance improvement and prediction accuracy. The application of these two proposed methods improved the prediction accuracy of the RF model by more than 3% (FTW of at least 35 days) and 5% (Th cp of at least 40 mm), respectively. As Th cp increased, the performance enhancement became even more pronounced (accuracy can increase by over 8% when Th cp is 60 mm). The novel modeling approach, rooted in an understanding of the mechanisms underlying forest fires and adeptly capturing the forest spatially heterogeneous CDS information, can significantly improve the mapping accuracy. Moreover, coupled with the adaptive acquisition advantage of dynamic factors, this study is able to generate near real-time fire susceptibility maps, which hold greater practical value for aiding decision-makers in formulating effective prevention and management strategies. [Display omitted] • Cumulative dryness status information was considered in modeling forest fire susceptibility. • A space-humidity-constrained sampling method for negative samples was introduced. • A dynamic factor extraction method based on dynamic time windows was developed. • The proposed ML modeling approach effectively improved the prediction performance. • The RF model outperforms the SVM and MLP models and fire risk maps of the GBA were generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Some studies have suggested mizoribine (MZR) could inhibit the replication of BK polyomavirus (BKPyV). The purpose of this study was to explore whether conversion from mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) to MZR in the early stages of BKPyV infection can improve kidney allograft prognosis.Methods: Twenty-one kidney transplant recipients with BKPyV viruria/viremia and ten with BK polyomavirus-associated allograft nephropathy (BKPyVAN) received MZR conversion therapy were retrospectively identified. The clearance rate of urine and blood BKPyV DNA, change of serum creatinine (SCr), uric acid (UA), hemoglobin (HB), white blood cell (WBC), lymphocyte ratio, platelet (PLT), routine urinalysis, panel reactive antibody (PRA), and gastrointestinal disorders during follow-up of the 2 groups were evaluated and compared.Results: After MZR conversion therapy, the clearance rate of urine and blood viral load in BKPyV viruria/viremia group were 85.7 and 100 %, while that in BKPyVAN were 40 and 87.5 %, respectively. Stable SCr were observed in all cases of BKPyV viruria/viremia group, while that of BKPyVAN was only 40 % (P < 0.001) and one even progressed to end-stage renal disease. The results of routine urinalysis in the two groups showed no significant changes before and after MZR conversion therapy. However, in BKPyV viruria/viremia group, four cases developed acute rejection and one had positive PRA-II but no donor specific antibody, requiring conversion back to MMF. Hyperuricemia was the common adverse effect of MZR.Conclusions: Conversion from MMF to MZR could help clear BKPyV infection. As compared to BKPyVAN, patients who underwent initiation of MZR conversion therapy in the early stages of BKPyV infection maintained stable allograft function. Prospective studies with larger sample size are needed to ascertain this preliminary finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: BK virus (BKV) infection has become one of the main complications in renal transplant recipients (RTRs) with the arrival of newer potent immunosuppressive agents. However, reports on the epidemiology of BKV infection and risk factors in Chinese population after renal transplantation are scarce. Methods: From June 2015 to July 2016, living-donor renal transplant recipients (LDRTRs) who routinely received the quantitative BKV DNA testing of urine and plasma samples using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the first time after transplantation were selected, while dialysis patients and healthy living donors during that period served as controls. Potential variables were compared and analyzed using logistic regression model multivariate analysis to assess the BKV infection related factors in LDRTRs. Results: Among the 52 LDRTRs identified, BKV DNA was detected in 16 urine samples (30.8%), significantly higher than that of dialysis patients (6.3%) and healthy living donors (4.2%) (p < .001). Nevertheless, no statistically significant difference wax noted between the latter two groups in urine samples (p = .842). Meanwhile, BKV DNA detection in blood samples was all negative in the three groups. Univariate analysis shown tacrolimus (Tac) trough level and lymphocyte percentage were associated with BKV infection in LDRTRs. Multivariate regression analysis also showed Tac trough level (HR, 1.644; p = .03), lymphocyte percentage (HR, 0.878; p = .026) were associated with BKV infection in LDRTRs. Conclusions: In Chinese population, the incidence of BKV infection increased significantly after living-donor renal transplantation. Significantly increased Tac trough level and decreased lymphocyte percentage might be the risk factors for BKV infection in LDRTRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used the data from a representative sample to investigate the association between family violence (FV) and child bullying victimization (BV) in Xi’an city, China. Data on social demographic information and the prevalence of BV and FV were collected from a randomly selected sample with 3,175 middle school students aged 15 to 17 by self-administrated questionnaires. Results show that 55.9% and 30.3% of the participants have witnessed intimate partner violence (IPV), 37.7% and 30.8% have been victims of child abuse, and 54.9% and 44.6% have been bullied in a lifetime and in the preceding year, respectively. The lifetime and preceding-year co-occurrence rate of FV and BV are 45% and 30.4%, respectively. Multiple logistic regressions confirm FV as a unique risk factor in predicting both direct and relational BV after controlling for a number of confounding factors. This study suggests that FV experiences should be included in the screening and assessment of risk for child BV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How human activities impact on coastal ecosystem during rapid urbanization is one of the hot spots in the coastal management study. In this paper, we comparatively evaluate changes in the positive and the negative ecological elements of Shenzhen's coastal zone in the rapid urbanization process to understand impacts of human activities. The positive and the negative ecological elements divided by built of classification based on extracted land uses from multi-source remote sensing images and land-use degree index. Then landscape indexes such as AWMSI, ED, PSSD, PSCOV at the class level and CONNECT, SHEI at both class level and landscape level were used to reveal spatial and temporal differentiation of impacts of human activities on ecological elements. Results revealed that impacts of human activities on coastal ecosystem were stronger in west coast than that in east coast, and environmental protection awareness of government began to enhance from 2000, whereas the ecosystem health didn't become better. Future urbanization plans about coastal zones need to consider the ecological benefit of the landscape pattern from both a local and global point of view. This method can contribute to the sustainable management of other coastal zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: One year''s data of an MF (medium frequency) radar installed at Kunming (25.6°N, 103.8°E) station, China, are used to study the tidal structure over Kunming. The tidal parameters including amplitudes and phases are analyzed, which show a strong diurnal tide and weak semidiurnal tide for both zonal and meridional components. The maxima diurnal and semidiurnal amplitudes are approximately 40 and 20m/s, respectively. The diurnal phases and amplitudes show strong seasonal variability. Maximum amplitudes occur in March, and subsidiary maxima are attained in August and October, while the phase indicates an annual cycle. Semidiurnal amplitudes vary not so evidently. The vertical structures of the tidal parameters are compared with the Global Scale Wave Model (GSWM-09) values. The observed amplitudes of diurnal tide are smaller than the model values, but reversed for the semidiurnal tide. The observed phases of the diurnal tide show similar variations to GSWM-09 values. The agreement between the observed semidiurnal phase and model values is not so good. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The objective of this research is to investigate the potential of application of China Environment Satellite HJ-1A/B in monitoring rice cultivation areas in Guangdong province in southern China. Information on the rice cultivation areas is of global economic and environmental significance. A CCD camera sensor with 30 m spatial resolution onboard China Environment Satellite HJ-1A and B has visible and near infrared bands and a revisit period of four days; the temporal Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) can therefore be obtained from HJ-1A and B data. The characteristics of the temporal NDVI derived from HJ-1A and B images of rice fields and other crops at rice growth stages in the western part of Guangdong province of China with an area of about 67000 km2 were first analyzed in this research and an algorithm for mapping paddy rice fields was developed based on the temporal changes of NDVI of rice fields from January to July, 2009. The mapping result was evaluated by field survey and the data from China Ministry of Agriculture and the promising accuracy was found with a Kappa factor of 0.71. The result of this study suggests that the China Environment Satellite HJ-1A/B has great potential in the development of an operational system for monitoring rice crop growth in southern China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: There are eight genotypes (A–H) and numerous subgenotypes of hepatitis B virus (HBV). The genotype has been shown to affect the course of HBV infection. Objectives: To develop an efficient genotyping and subgenotyping method for large-scale epidemiological surveys of HBV infection in countries with high prevalence of HBV B and C such as China. Study design: We designed genotype and subgenotype-specific primer pairs, and adjusted PCR conditions for a multiplex-PCR using common Taq polymerase to identify HBV genotypes A–F in one reaction and for the main subgenotypes B1/B2 and C1/C2 in another reaction. Results: We have developed a multiplex-PCR system, which specifically amplifies DNA of HBV genotypes and the corresponding main subgenotypes B and C from the sera of HBV patients. Our patients were infected with HBV of subgenotypes B2 (n =18), C1 (n =2) and C2 (n =48). Eleven patients were doubly infected and three showed a triple infection with HBV A, B and C. Conclusions: The low-cost multiplex-PCR for identification of HBV genotypes A–F and main subgenotypes of HBV B and C, is rapid, reliable and sufficient for large-scale epidemiological surveys and clinical studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Accurate and efficient extraction of cultivated land data is of great significance for agricultural resource monitoring and national food security. Deep-learning-based classification of remote-sensing images overcomes the two difficulties of traditional learning methods (e.g., support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), and random forest (RF)) when extracting the cultivated land: (1) the limited performance when extracting the same land-cover type with the high intra-class spectral variation, such as cultivated land with both vegetation and non-vegetation cover, and (2) the limited generalization ability for handling a large dataset to apply the model to different locations. However, the "pooling" process in most deep convolutional networks, which attempts to enlarge the sensing field of the kernel by involving the upscale process, leads to significant detail loss in the output, including the edges, gradients, and image texture details. To solve this problem, in this study we proposed a new end-to-end extraction algorithm, a high-resolution U-Net (HRU-Net), to preserve the image details by improving the skip connection structure and the loss function of the original U-Net. The proposed HRU-Net was tested in Xinjiang Province, China to extract the cultivated land from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images. The result showed that the HRU-Net achieved better performance (Acc: 92.81%; kappa: 0.81; F1-score: 0.90) than the U-Net++ (Acc: 91.74%; kappa: 0.79; F1-score: 0.89), the original U-Net (Acc: 89.83%; kappa: 0.74; F1-score: 0.86), and the Random Forest model (Acc: 76.13%; kappa: 0.48; F1-score: 0.69). The robustness of the proposed model for the intra-class spectral variation and the accuracy of the edge details were also compared, and this showed that the HRU-Net obtained more accurate edge details and had less influence from the intra-class spectral variation. The model proposed in this study can be further applied to other land cover types that have more spectral diversity and require more details of extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 3D pathways of IGF are identified with an assessment on flow rates. • IGF contributes 36%∼59% to the baseflow and 32%∼52% to the streamflow in the studied river. • Infiltration recharge and aquifer properties affect the development of IGF. Inter-basin groundwater flow (IGF), defined as groundwater flows across the topographic divides, occurs in nature as a common phenomenon, and seriously affect water balance and solute transport in a basin. Although the existence of IGF has been checked in drainage basins with indirect methods, such as using information of hydrogeochemistry, few studies are conducted to directly identify and quantify the IGF in the three-dimensional (3D) space using numerical modeling of groundwater flow. In this study, we identify, partition and quantify IGF based on a regional-scale 3D groundwater flow model covering several traditional surface water basins. The investigation is focused on the Hailiutu River, a groundwater-fed stream in the Ordos Plateau, China. It is the first time that the source zones and 3D paths of IGF as well as its contribution to the streamflow are fully captured for a groundwater-fed stream. Results indicate that the IGF contributes 36%∼59% to the baseflow and 32%∼52% to the streamflow of the Hailiutu River, through different groups of circulation paths with the maximum depth up to ∼ 1000 m. Uncertainty analyses of the model show that the contribution of IGF to the streamflow is positively correlated to the infiltration recharge and hydraulic conductivities of the aquifer media. Several indirect methods are also checked for comparison, but they could only be used to assess the potential contribution of IGF, not the IGF paths. This study will facilitate in deeply understanding the evolution mechanism of the inter-basin groundwater circulation and the interaction between surface water and groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An integrated patch-based habitat suitability assessment method for nationwide locust area extraction is proposed. • Dynamic changes of locust area and its evolution in China from 1995 to 2017 are analyzed. • The influences of land use/cover change on locust area evolution are quantified. • Suggestions for locust area management and monitoring are provided. The Oriental migratory locust (Locusta migratoria manilensis) is a threat to agriculture in China. The locust area is defined as an area possessing a suitable breeding habitat for this locust and has a locust outbreak at least once per decade. Ecological control of the locust area is an effective approach to manage locust with minimal environmental degradation. The formation and dynamic changes of locust areas are greatly affected by land use/cover changes (LUCC). Clarifying the LUCC in the locust area is significant for implementing rational ecological control strategies and detecting timely potential locust areas. This paper proposed a patch-based habitat suitability assessment (PHSA) method for nationwide locust area extraction. Then, a multi-temporal binary coding method was used to detect the locust area dynamic changes from 1995 to 2017. Subsequently, the relationship between LUCC and the extinction and formation of locust areas in different ecotypes was quantitatively investigated. Results show that the area of the locust area has greatly reduced over the past 20 years, and the distribution range has a large degree of temporal and spatial variation. The extinction of the locust area is closely related to the LUCC from cropland and wetland to woodland and artificial surface. It is also related to changes from grassland to cropland and woodland. The newly formed locust area shows opposite LUCC trends. These results provide practical strategies and guidance for ecological control and early monitoring of locust areas. They are instrumental in reducing pesticide use and achieving more sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River source region is located in the transition region between permafrost and seasonally frozen ground on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The region has experienced severe climate change, especially air temperature increases, in past decades. In this study, we employed a geomorphology-based eco-hydrological model (GBEHM) to assess the impacts of climate change on the frozen ground and eco-hydrological processes in the region. Based on a long-term simulation from 1981 to 2015, we found that the areal mean maximum thickness of seasonally frozen ground ranged from 1.1–1.8 m and decreased by 1.2 cm per year. Additionally, the ratio of the permafrost area to the total area decreased by 1.1% per year. These decreasing trends are faster than the average in China because the study area is on the sensitive margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The annual runoff exhibited variations similar to those of the annual precipitation (R 2 = 0.85), although the annual evapotranspiration (ET) exhibited an increasing trend (14.3 mm/10 a) similar to that of the annual mean air temperature (0.66 °C/10 a). The runoff coefficient (annual runoff divided by annual precipitation) displayed a decreasing trend because of the increasing ET, and the vegetation responses to climate warming and permafrost degradation were manifested as increases in the leaf area index (LAI) and ET at the start of the growing season. Furthermore, the results showed that changes to the frozen ground depth affected vegetation growth. Notably, a rapid decrease in the frozen ground depth (< − 3.0 cm/a) decreased the topsoil moisture and then decreased the LAI. This study showed that the eco-hydrological processes in the headwater area of the Yellow River have changed because of permafrost degradation, and these changes could further influence the water resources availability in the middle and lower reaches of the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: It is reported that problem drinking is severe among the elderly. The family environment has been regarded as a significant effecting factor in alcohol consumption of the drinker. With the increasing number of older people, paying more attention to this vulnerable group's drinking status and its' influencing factors is substantial for improving older adults' health and the quality of health services., Methods: This study used data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy and Longevity Study (CLHLS), which was a representative survey covering 23 provinces in mainland China. Cross-sectional analyses were conducted with 15,142 older individuals (aged ≥65 years). Three self-reported questions about drinking behavior were examined to calculate alcohol consumption and categorize problem drinkers. Three multi-level models were utilized while adjusting for numerous socio-demographic and self-reported health factors to analyze the effect of family factors associated with problem drinking among the elderly., Results: A total of 1,800 problem drinkers (12%) were identified in the sample. Key factors for the problem drinker were assessed such as Hukou (governmental household registration system), current marital status, years of schooling, primary caregivers, and financial sources of living were associated with problem drinking. The older population who live in rural areas (OR = 1.702, CI = 1.453, 1.994), with advanced years of education (OR = 1.496, CI = 1.284, 1.744), and making life by themselves (OR = 1.330, CI = 1.139, 1.552) were more likely to engage in problem drinking while those participants who are widowed (OR = 0.678, CI = 0.574, 0.801), cared for by children or other relatives (OR = 0.748, CI = 0.642, 0.871), adult care giver (OR = 0.348, CI = 0.209, 0.578) or by no one (OR = 0.539, CI = 0.348, 0.835), provided with financial support from their children (OR = 0.698, CI = 0.605, 0.806), other relatives (OR = 0.442, CI = 0.332, 0.587), or the government/community (OR = 0.771, CI = 0.650, 0.915), with insufficient financial support (OR = 0.728, CI = 0.608, 0.872) were at lower risk of problem drinking., Conclusions: This study provides a strong correlation of various family factors that were associated with problem drinking among the elderly. The findings underscore the effort to promote healthy behaviors, including the importance of positive family factors and appropriate levels of alcohol consumption., 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 Ye, Feng, Zhang, Wang, Chen, Wu, Kathleen and Jiang.)

Objectives: To examine the association of exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) and tobacco advertising with unassisted smoking cessation among Chinese male smokers., Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 6500 male adult smokers from six cities in China selected in a cross-sectional multistage sampling design. The survey collected self-reported demographic characteristics, smoking and cessation status, SHS exposure and tobacco advertising exposure, with 5782 valid questionnaires included in this study. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association of unassisted smoking cessation with exposure to SHS and tobacco advertising., Results: 42.1% of smokers who made unassisted quit attempts achieved abstinence (95% CI 32.5% to 51.7%). SHS (adjusted OR (aOR) 0.36; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.71; p=0.033) and tobacco advertising exposure (aOR 0.63; 95% CI 0.37 to 0.95; p=0.039) were negatively associated with unassisted smoking cessation., Conclusion: The vast majority of Chinese male smokers rely on unassisted methods to quit smoking. Success prevalence is high, which is very beneficial to health. This study suggests that exposure to secondhand smoking and tobacco advertising hinders the success of unassisted cessation. These findings speak to the need for environmental tobacco control measures to promote unassisted smoking cessation among Chinese adult male smokers., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Around 2 million Chinese people, mostly men, die annually from tobacco-related diseases; yet, fewer than 8% of Chinese smokers ever receive any smoking cessation support., Objective: This study aimed to test the preliminary effectiveness and feasibility for a mobile social network (WeChat)-based smoking cessation intervention (SCAMPI program) among Chinese male smokers., Methods: Chinese male smokers aged 25-44 years were recruited online from WeChat, the most widely used social media platform in China. Individuals using other smoking cessation interventions or who lacked capacity to provide online informed consent were excluded. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to intervention or control groups. Neither participants nor researchers were masked to assignment. The trial was fully online. All data were collected via WeChat. The intervention group received access to the full-version SCAMPI program, a Chinese-language smoking cessation program based on the Behaviour Change Wheel framework and relevant cessation guidelines. Specific intervention functions used in the program include: planning to help users make quitting plans, calculator to record quitting benefits, calendar to record progress, gamification to facilitate quitting, information about smoking harms, motivational messages to help users overcome urges, standardized tests for users to assess their levels of nicotine dependence and lung health, as well as a social platform to encourage social support between users. The control group had access to a static WeChat page of contacts for standard smoking cessation care. Both groups received incentive credit payments for participating. The primary outcome was 30-day biochemically verified smoking abstinence at 6 weeks after randomization, with missing data treated as not quitting. Secondary outcomes were other smoking status measures, reduction of cigarette consumption, study feasibility (recruitment and retention rate), and acceptability of and satisfaction with the program., Results: The program recorded 5736 visitors over a 13-day recruitment period. We recruited 80 participants who were randomly allocated to two arms (n=40 per arm). At 6 weeks, 36 of 40 (90%) intervention participants and 35 of 40 (88%) control participants provided complete self-reported data on their daily smoking status via WeChat. Biochemically verified smoking abstinence at 6 weeks was determined for 10 of 40 (25%) intervention participants and 2 of 40 (5%) control participants (RR=5, 95% CI 1.2-21.4, P=.03). In the intervention group, the calculator function, motivational messages, and health tests were underused (less than once per week per users). Participants rated their satisfaction with the intervention program as 4.56 out of 5.00., Conclusions: Our program is a novel, accessible, and acceptable smoking cessation intervention for Chinese male smokers. A future trial with a greater sample size and longer follow-up will identify if it is as effective as these preliminary data suggest., Trial Registration: ANZCTR registry, ACTRN12618001089224; https://tinyurl.com/y536n7sx., International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): RR2-18071., (©Jinsong Chen, Elsie Ho, Yannan Jiang, Robyn Whittaker, Tingzhong Yang, Christopher Bullen. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 23.10.2020.)

Background: Transplant glomerulopathy (TG) represents a major cause of long-term allograft failure and is the leading cause of overall post-transplant proteinuria. The extent to which histopathologic features predicts prognostication is uncertain., Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort with biopsy-proven TG was investigated. Renal biopsies were scored according to Banff 2017. The primary outcome was death-censored graft failure defined as return to dialysis or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decreased to <15 mL/min/1.73 m2. The prognostic significance of clinical and histopathologic parameters was determined using Cox proportional hazards models., Results: Data from 180 cases were available for analysis with a median follow-up of 5.0 (2.6-8.2) years. In multivariable models, ci + ct score (HR 3.1; 95% CI 2.0-4.9), cg score (HR 1.7; 95% CI 1.1-2.8), eGFR (HR 2.1; 95% CI 1.4-3.2) and proteinuria (HR 2.4; 95% CI 1.6-3.7) were independent predictors of the primary outcome. Mesangial Immunoglobulin A deposition did not significantly affect allograft survival. The only significant pathologic factors for the severity of proteinuria were cg and g + ptc (adjusted R2 = 0.46) as determined by multivariable stepwise linear regression analysis., Conclusions: Severe ci + ct and cg at biopsy were predictors of unfavorable allograft prognosis in TG patients even after taking into consideration clinical characteristics. Histologic severity of cg and g + ptc was significantly associated with clinical proteinuria., (© 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

The uprise of the superpower nations is always accompanied by the breakthrough and advances of technologies and innovations in the history. Natural products play very important role in human health, such as anticancer molecular taxol, anti-infection drug artemisinin that save a lot of lives, metabolic disease treatment, nutrition and health care. However, more has never been explored. With the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to William C. Campbell, Satoshi Omura, and Youyou Tu for the discovery of avermectins and artemisinin respectively, the second "Golden age" in the development of natural product is dawning. China is a "world factory" and natural drugs-rich country, but how to upgrade and advance the industry and realize the China dream? Avermectins, produced by Streptomyces avermitilis, are pesticide with high efficiency and low levels of side effects. However, the low producer and expensive development pattern of high consumption, high contamination is not sustainable. Solving the problem, increasing the production and utilization of raw material, reducing the energy consumption and cost of production, decreasing environmental pollution are key to transform China into a power house. In this paper, we case-study avermectins to review the industry development driven by fundamental research. Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy.of Sciences increased the production of avermectin 1000 folds to 9 g/L, which out licensed to new Veyong biochemical Ltd and avermectin Coalitions. As a result, Merck Sharp and Dohme ceased the manufacture of avermectins. The success also shed lights on the improvement of other natural product drugs in China.

The previously study found, using a mouse model, that acute myocardial infarction accelerated atherosclerosis. This study assessed whether ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) accelerates the progression of non-culprit coronary lesion (NCCL) in patients who underwent percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Four hundred and forty-nine patients who underwent successful PCI with stents and follow-up coronary angiography in a single center were enrolled. The NCCL progression was assessed using three-dimensional quantitative coronary angiography and was defined as ≥10 % diameter reduction of a preexisting stenosis ≥50, ≥30 % diameter reduction of a stenosis <50 %, development of a new stenosis ≥30 % in a previously normal segment, or progression to total occlusion. The patients were classified into two groups according to whether the progression existed or not. The median age of patients was 58.4 years. The mean angiographic follow-up period was 12.3 months, 134 (29.8 %) patients had NCCL progression. Multivariate Cox regression analysis (step-wise) showed that STEMI was the only independent determinant of NCCL progression. Compared to the other coronary artery disease group, the crude hazard ratio (HR) of NCCL progression for the STEMI group was 3.20 (95 % CI 2.27-4.50; p < 0.001), and the association remained significantly after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, SBP, DBP, serum lipids, fasting blood glucose, peak monocyte count, smoking, drinking, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and lesion characteristics of NCCL (adjusted HR 3.56, 95 % CI 2.41-5.27; p < 0.001). The ST elevation acute myocardial infarction accelerates non-culprit coronary lesion atherosclerosis.

Post-transplant proteinuria is a common complication after renal transplantation; it is associated with reduced graft and recipient survival. However, the prevalence of histological causes has been reported with considerable variation. A clinico-pathological re-evaluation of post-transplant proteinuria is necessary, especially after dismissal of the term "chronic allograft nephropathy," which had been considered to be an important cause of proteinuria. Moreover, urinary protein can promote interstitial inflammation in native kidney, whether this occurs in renal allograft remains unknown. Factors that affect the graft outcome in patients with proteinuria also remain unclear. Here we collected 98 cases of renal allograft recipients who developed proteinuria after transplant, histological features were characterized using Banff scoring system. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used for graft survival predictors. We found that transplant glomerulopathy was the leading (40.8%) cause of post-transplant proteinuria. Immunological causes, including transplant glomerulopathy, acute rejection, and chronic rejection accounted for the majority of all pathological causes of proteinuria. Nevertheless, almost all patients that developed proteinuria had immunological lesions in the graft, especially for interstitial inflammation. Intraglomerular C3 deposition was unexpectedly correlated with the severity of proteinuria. Moreover, the severity of interstitial inflammation was an independent risk factor for graft loss, while high level of hemoglobin was a protective factor for graft survival. This study revealed a predominance of immunological parameters in renal allografts with post-transplant proteinuria. These parameters not only correlate with the severity of proteinuria, but also with the outcome of the graft.

Anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECAs) are thought to be involved in the development of renal allograft rejection. To explore this further, we determine whether AECAs play a role both in predicting the incidence of allograft rejection and long-term outcomes by analysis of serum samples from 226 renal allograft recipients for AECAs pre- and post-transplant. Surprisingly, the presence of pre-existing AECAs was not associated with either an increased risk of rejection or a detrimental impact on recipient/graft survival. Subsequent de novo AECAs, however, were associated with a significantly increased risk of early acute rejection. Moreover, these rejections tended to be more severe with a significantly increased incidence of both steroid-resistant and multiple episodes of acute rejection. The acute rejections associated with de novo AECAs did not correlate with C4d deposition at the time of renal biopsy, but did demonstrate an association with the presence of glomerulitis and peritubular capillary inflammation. Significantly more patients with de novo AECAs developed graft dysfunction. Thus, our prospective study suggests the emergence of de novo AECAs is associated with transplant rejection that may lead to allograft dysfunction.

Malignancy is one of the main complications after renal transplantation but the situation in Chinese renal allograft recipients remains an enigma. We therefore reviewed 1,000 (8,531 person-years follow-up) renal allograft recipients from Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University, revealing an incidence rate of 2.4% of post-transplant malignancies, with a standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of 17.8 (95% C.I.: 16.7-18.8); the standardized rate is 1.67%, compared with 0.29% in the general population. However, our group demonstrated an extremely low incidence of skin cancer, which dominates in western countries. To confirm the findings, we reviewed the literature on post-transplant malignancies in Chinese renal allograft recipients, covering 296 malignancies in 18,548 renal transplant recipients in 21 reports. The top three most common sites of malignancies were the digestive tract, bladder and liver. The incidence of skin cancer was very low in most centers. These data show that Chinese renal allograft recipients have a unique spectrum of post-transplant malignancies, with an extremely very low incidence of skin cancer as compared to populations from western countries.

The role of genotype mixture and subgenotypes remains controversial in determining the clinical outcome of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. We aimed to determine their role on the development and the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HBV genotypes, serum viral load and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion were determined in 462 HCC patients, 234 chronic hepatitis patients and 425 asymptomatic carriers born in Eastern China. In the 462 HCC patients, 62 (13.4%), 337 (72.9%) and 49 (10.6%) had HBV subgenotype B2, C2 and genotype mixture, respectively. Genotype mixture in HCC patients and hepatitis patients was associated with higher viral load than HBV C2 (P = 0.012, P = 0.000) and more frequent than asymptomatic carriers (P = 0.005, P = 0.000). HBV C2 was more prevalent in HCC patients compared with controls. Proportion of HBV B2 in HCC patients decreased consecutively from <30 to 50-59 years group (P = 0.024). Age-related changes of HBeAg seroconversion were not consistent with serum viral load in HCC patients with HBV B2 and genotype mixture, quite in contrast to hepatitis patients. By multivariate regression analysis, age >or=40 years and serum viral load (>or=10 000 copies/ml) were independently associated with hepatocarcinogenesis, whereas age

The response of clonal architecture and ramet population characteristics to resource heterogeneity is of great ecological significance. This paper studied the variations of clonal architecture and ramet population characteristics of stoloniferous herb Lysimachia congestiflora growing at the open land of forest edge, forest edge, and forest understory of evergreen broad-leaved forest in Mt. Lingyan of Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, and compared the stolon internode length, frequency distribution of stolon internode length, braching intensity, branching angle, frequency distribution of branching angle, ramet population density, ramet population height, ramet population biomass, and root/shoot of ramet population among the three habitats. The results showed that the stolon internode length, branching intensity, ramet population density and ramet population biomass were different among three habitats. Kruskal Wallis test indicated that the distributions of stolon internode length and branching angle were significantly different among three habitats. The skewness in distribution of stolon internode length was in the order of open land of forest edge>forest edge>forest understory; and the branching angle, ramet population height, and root/shoot of ramet population were significant greater in open land of forest edge than in forest edge and forest understory. The skewness in distribution of branching angle in open land of forest edge was smaller than that in forest edge and forest understory. The branching angle, ramet population height, and root/shoot of ramet population were not significantly different between forest edge and forest understory. These results were discussed in the context of resource acquisition strategy by clonal plants.