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Objective To measure sales of antibiotics without a prescription in pharmacies in China in 2017 and 2021, before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and determine the factors associated with such sales. Methods We conducted cross-sectional surveys using the simulated patient method in retail pharmacies in 13 provinces in eastern, central and western China in 2017 and 2021. At the pharmacies, the simulated patients (trained medical students) reported that they had mild respiratory tract symptoms and asked for treatment, using a three-stage process: (i) request some treatment; (ii) request antibiotics; (iii) request specific antibiotics. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine factors associated with sale of antibiotics without a prescription. Findings Of the pharmacies visited in 2017, 83.6% (925/1106) sold antibiotics without a prescription; this figure was 78.3% (853/1090) in 2021 (P-value: 0.002). After excluding pharmacies prohibited from selling antibiotics because of COVID-19, this difference was not significant (83.6% versus 80.9%; 853/1054; P-value: 0.11). Factors significantly associated with selling antibiotics without a prescription in both 2017 and 2019 were: location in central and western China compared with eastern China; being in a township or village compared with in a city; and presence of a counter where antibiotics were dispensed. Conclusion Although laws became stricter between 2017 and 2021, antibiotic sales without a prescription were still common in pharmacies across China. Existing regulations need to be more strictly enforced, and pharmacy staff and the public should be made more aware of the risks of antibiotic misuse and dangers of antimicrobial resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate model (GCM) outputs from Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) were widely used to investigate climate change impacts last 10 years. It is important to know whether Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) is more reliable than CMIP5. Number of studies compared GCMs from two CMIPs in simulating climate variables, but they are not in the field of hydrology for large quantities of watersheds. The objective of this study is to compare CMIP5 and CMIP6 climate model projections in projecting hydrological changes between future (2071-2100) and historical (1976-2005) periods and inter-model variability of hydrological impacts for the future period over 343 catchments in China's mainland. The results show that the GCMs in CMIP6 show more increase in daily mean temperature and mean annual precipitation. However, GCMs in CMIP6 and CMIP5 show similar increases in mean and peak streamflow. Moreover, GCMs in CMIP6 show less inter-model variability for streamflow in southern and northeastern China, but more in central China, which is consistent to that for precipitation after bias correction. Overall, this comparison provides the consistency of future change and uncertainty in predicted streamflow with climate simulations, which bring confidence for hydrological impact studies using CMIP6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild fires exerts strong influences on the environment, ecology, economy and public security. However, the existing hourly JMA-Himawari fire product presents large uncertainties and not suitable for reliable real-time fire monitoring in China. To fill this gap, we proposed an adaptive hourly NSMC-Himawari fire product for China based on the original Himawari source by employing a dynamical threshold for fire-extraction and a database of ground thermal sources. According to the visually-extracted reference and consistence check, we found NSMC-Himawari fire product effectively removed a majority of false fire alarms included in the JMA-Himawari fire product. Based on a rare field-collected ground reference dataset, we evaluated the reliability of JMA-Himawari and NSMC-Himawari fire product across China. The overall accuracy of JMA-Himawari fire product was 54 % and 59 % (not considering the omission errors) respectively. As a comparison, by identifying more real fire pixels and avoiding a majority of false fire alarms, the overall accuracy of NSMCHimawari fire product was 80 % and 84 % (not considering the omission errors) respectively, making it an ideal source for improved real-time fire monitoring across China. This research also provides useful reference for employing local dataset of underlying surfaces and thermal sources to enhance the accuracy of global fire products in specific regions. NSMCHimawari fire product can be downloaded at http://figshare.com (last access: 14 November 2022) with the identifier DOI: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.21550248 (Chen et al., 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of combined Gegen Qinlian decoction/metformin in the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM), and its influence on serum C peptide and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc). Methods: One hundred and eighty-six DM patients who received treatment in Tangshan Gongren Hospital, Tangshan City, China from July 2018 to November 2019 were randomly assigned to group X (n = 93) and group Y (n = 93). Group Y was given metformin, while X received a combination of Gegen Qinlian decoction and metformin. Total effectiveness, incidence of adverse reactions, blood glucose, TCM syndrome scores, as well as serum C peptide and HbAlc were determined and compared between the two groups. Results: Compared with group Y, group X had significantly higher treatment effectiveness (p < 0.05), lower incidence of adverse reactions (p < 0.05), significantly lower levels of blood glucose and TCM syndrome score after treatment (p < 0.001), but significantly higher serum C-peptide levels (p < 0.001) and lower levels of HbAlc. Conclusion: the combination of Gegen Qinlian decoction and metformin produces a good anti-diabetic efficacy, with a lower incidence of adverse reactions in patients. Therefore, the combined therapy has potentials for application in clinical practice, but further clinical trials are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precipitation oxygen isotopic composition is a useful environmental tracer for climatic and hydrological studies. However, the observed precipitation oxygen is limited at both temporal and spatial scales. Isotope-equipped general circulation models (iGCMs) can compensate for the temporal and spatial discontinuity of observation networks, but they suffer from coarse spatial resolutions and systematic biases. The objective of this study is to build a high-resolution precipitation oxygen isoscape in China for a period of 148 years by integrating observed and iGCMs-simulated precipitation oxygen isotope composition (δ18Op) using data fusion and bias correction methods. The temporal and spatial resolutions are month and 50-60 km for the isoscape, respectively. Prior to building the oxygen isoscape, the performance of two bias correction methods (BCMs) and three data fusion methods (DFMs) is compared after post-processing of eight iGCM simulations. Results show that the outputs of the Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) fusion method exhibit the strongest correlation with observations with correlation coefficient mostly larger than 0.8, and the smallest bias with root mean square error mostly smaller than 2 ‰. The other two DFMs also perform slightly better than the two BCMs, which show similar performance. Thus, precipitation oxygen isoscape is generated by using the CNN fusion method for the 1969-2007 period in which all iGCMs have output and by using the bias correction methods for the remaining years. Based on the precipitation oxygen isoscape, the spatiotemporal patterns of δ18Op across China are investigated. The generated isoscape shows similar spatial and temporal distribution characteristics to observations. In general, the distribution pattern of δ18Op is consistent with the temperature effect in northern China, and with the precipitation amount effect in southern China, and be more specific in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau of China. The δ18Op time series mirrors a fluctuating upward trend of the temperature or precipitation in most regions of China. The temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of the generated isoscape are consistent with the characteristics of atmospheric circulation and climate change, indicating successful assimilation and extension of the observed precipitation oxygen isotopes in time and space. Overall, the built isoscape is reliable and useful for providing strong support for tracking atmospheric and hydrological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five decades ago, Inglehart for the first time described and explained an unprecedented transformation of political cultures in advanced industrial societies, which he called the "silent revolution." It was characterized by the emergence in those countries of postmaterialist values as the result of a sustained period of economic growth, and the profound impact of those values on people's political attitudes and behavior. As China has experienced extraordinary economic growth in the past several decades, has such a "silent revolution" happened there? The answer to this question has been far from complete or clear. Using three longitudinal, cross-sectional national surveys, we find that while the current level of postmaterialist values in China remains relatively low, such values have flourished among younger people, and those values do shape political attitudes and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previously undocumented association between city-level degree of hukou-based labor market discrimination and migrant's individual entrepreneurship engagement is examined. Applying the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis on the micro data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) suggests that hukou-based labor market discrimination can on average explain a 6.3% differential in personal income for rural migrants relative to otherwise identical urban migrants. A one standard deviation increase in a city's average hukou-based labor market discrimination is associated with roughly 2.9 percentage point higher of entrepreneurship rate among rural migrants, holding other things equal. Furthermore, city-level hukou-based labor market discrimination is associated with much higher propensity for engagement in necessitybased entrepreneurship compared with opportunity-based entrepreneurship. Our empirical work also suggests that the association between city-level hukou discrimination and migrant entrepreneurship is more prominent for people with middle level of education, young people, married people, and renters. Policy implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensemble weather forecasting generally suffers from bias and under-dispersion, which limit its predictive power. Several post-processing methods have been developed to overcome these limitations, and an intercomparison is needed to understand their performance. Four state-of-the-art methods are compared in post-processing precipitation and air temperature of the Global Ensemble Forecasting System (GEFS) reforecasts using a simple bias correction (BC) method as a reference. These methods include extended logistic regression (ExLR), generator-based post-processing (GPP), Bayesian model averaging (BMA) and affine kernel dressing (AKD). All these methods are tested over 659 national standard meteorological stations in China. The research concerns are the influence of region and forecast date and the role of BC on ensemble weather forecasting. It was found that: (1) the deterministic methods (GPP and ExLR) are more skilful than the probabilistic methods (BMA and AKD) in obtaining the well-calibrated and skilful ensemble forecasts; (2) the forecast skill of the postprocessed ensemble weather forecasts is comparably high in the northern arid areas for precipitation, while the forecast skill for air temperature is only low in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau area; (3) the skill difference of the post-processed forecasts on different forecast date is only evident for air temperature, while not apparent for precipitation; and (4) only correcting bias for the ensemble weather forecasts can achieve about 0-70% (for precipitation) and 30-100% (for air temperature) forecast skill improvement for deterministic methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the characteristics of BRAFV600E mutation in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in Chinese coastal areas. We intended to identify noninvasive methods to determine BRAFV600E status in thyroid nodules prior to surgery. BRAFV600E mutation and the sonographic characteristics of thyroid nodules were investigated in 670 PTC patients in our hospital. We aimed to determine the relationship between BRAFV600E mutation and the clinicopathological and sonographic imaging characteristics of PTC. The mutation rate of the BRAFV600E was 78.2%. BRAFV600E mutation was significantly associated with central node (univariate analyses, P = .005; multivariate analyses, P < .001, odds ratio [OR] = 10.255) and lateral node metastases (univariate analyses, P = .001; multivariate analyses, P < .001, OR = 22). It was less frequent in PTC coexisting with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (univariate analyses, P = .016; multivariate analyses, P < .001, OR = .034). Nodules without blood flow had a significantly higher mutation rate of BRAFV600E in PTC patients (univariate analyses, P = .026). BRAFV600E mutation was significantly associated with high suspicion in the Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System 5 (univariate analyses, P = .004; multivariate analyses, P = .014, OR = 6.456). Our results strongly suggest that BRAFV600E mutation plays a potential role in lymph node metastasis (central node metastasis, OR = 10.225; lateral node metastasis, OR = 22). Some sonographic imaging features might be helpful in estimating the status of BRAFV600E preoperatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sediment geochemistry is affected by sediment granularity and chemical partition, which may greatly influence the accuracy of sediment source identification. In this study, we analyzed Ca, Co, Zr, V, Cr, Ti, Sc, Th, and Al in the sediments of major rivers and a Holocene core along the eastern coast of China to reveal the constraints on sediment geochemistry related to granularity and chemical partition and to try and identify the sources of the sediments present in the core. The results reveal that the element concentrations have a significant positive correlation with Al concentration in all these riverine sediments. There are significant differences in the element contents of the bulk sample and the residual sediment leached with acid, including in their ratios. The ratios of Cr/Th-Sc/Th, which is often used for provenance discrimination, reveal that uncertainty of provenance discrimination will increase if the impact of sediment granularity and chemical phase on the index system is not considered. We applied this geochemical approach for provenance on a Holocene core of the East China Sea using Cr/Th-Al, Sc/Th-Al, Ti/Zr-Al, and Cr/Th-Sc/Th with the same granularity as the residue sediments. Based on this approach, we identified the core sediments to have had a large component derived from the western Taiwanese rivers since the mid-Holocene. This study sheds light on the sediment geochemistry used to identify the provenance of marginal seas with multiple rivers entering them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prunus tongmuensis, a new species of cherry blossom, is described and illustrated from Wuyishan National Park, southeast China. This species is characterized by its tubular to nearly bottle-shaped receptacles and dark purple drupes. It can be distinguished from other wild cherry trees by its flowers and leaves, reddish brown young leaves, presence of 1-2 glands at the base of leaves, petioles densely covered with yellowish brown villi, longer pedicels (0.6-2.5 cm), villous pistil, and dark purple drupes. In the present study, we conducted a comprehensive morphological study based on specimens of the new species and its morphologically close species, field observations, and examination of pollen morphology. In addition, our phylogenetic analysis based on the complete plastid genome sequences further confirms the status of the new species and indicates that it is closely related to Prunus clarofolia, however, it notably differs in leaf shape, size, petiole villus color, gland location, timing of flower and leaf openings, and reflexed or spread sepals, as well as drupe color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the key techniques in the fully mechanized mining process, equipment selection and matching has a great effect on security, production and efficiency. The selection and matching of fully mechanized mining equipment in thin coal seam are restricted by many factors. In fully mechanized mining (FMM) faced in thin coal seams (TCS), to counter the problems existing in equipment selection, such as many the parameters concerned and low automation, an expert system (ES) of equipment selection for fully mechanized mining longwall face was established. A database for the equipment selection and matching expert system in thin coal seam, fully mechanized mining face has been established. Meanwhile, a decision-making software matching the eS was developed. Based on several real world examples, the reliability and technical risks of the results from the ES was discussed. Compared with the field applications, the shearer selection from the ES is reliable. However, some small deviations existed in the hydraulic support and scraper conveyor selection. Then, the eS was further improved. As a result, equipment selection in fully mechanized mining longwall face called 4301 in the Liangshuijing coal mine was carried out by the improved eS. equipment selection results of the interface in the improved eS is consistent with the design proposal of the 4301 FMM working face. The reliability of the improved eS can meet the requirements of the engineering. It promotes the intelligent and efficient mining of coal resources in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging as a comprehensive and aggressive governance scheme, China's "Social Credit System" (SCS) seeks to promote the norms of "trust" in Chinese society by rewarding behavior that is considered "trust-keeping" and punishing that considered "trust-breaking." This Article closely examines the evolving SCS regime and corrects myths and misunderstandings popularized in the international media. We identify four key mechanisms of the SCS (i.e., information gathering, information sharing, labeling and joint sanctions) and highlight their unique characteristics as well as normative implications. In our view, the new governance mode underlying the SCS--what we call the "rule of trust"--relies on an ambiguous concept of "trust" and wideranging, arbitrary and disproportionate punishments. It derogates from the notion of "governing the country in accordance with the law" enshrined in China's Constitution. This Article contributes to legal scholarship by offering a distinctive critique of the perils of China's SCS in terms of the party-state's tightened social control and human rights violations. Further, we critically assess how the Chinese government uses information and communication technologies to facilitate data-gathering and datasharing in the SCS with few meaningful legal constraints. The SCS's boundless and uncertain concept of "trust" and the unrestrained employment of technology are a dangerous combination in the context of governance. We caution that the Chinese government is preparing a much more sophisticated, sweeping version of the SCS that will likely be reinforced by artificial intelligence tools such as facial-recognition and predictive policing. Those developments will further empower the government to enhance surveillance and perpetuate authoritarianism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The incidence of severe hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is not low, especially in mainland China in almost every year recently. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to generate large-scale evidence on the risk factors of severe HFMD to provide suggestions on prevention and controlling. Methods. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang (Chinese) were searched to identify relevant articles. All analyses were performed using Stata 14.0. Results. We conducted a meta-analysis of 11 separate studies. Fever (odds ratio (OR) 7.396, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.565-15.342), fever for more than 3 days (OR 5.773, 95% CI 4.199-7.939), vomiting (OR 6.023, 95% CI 2.598-13.963), limb trembling (OR 42.348, 95% CI 11.765-152.437), dyspnea (OR 12.869, 95% CI 1.948-85.017), contact with HFMD children (OR 5.326, 95% CI 1.263-22.466), rashes on the hips (OR 1.650, 95% CI 1.303-2.090), pathologic reflexes (OR 3057.064, 95% CI 494.409-19000), Lethargy (OR 31.791, 95% CI 3.369-300.020), convulsions (OR 23.652, 95% CI 1.973-283.592), and EV71 infection (OR 9.056, 95% CI 4.102-19.996) were significantly related to the risk of severe HFMD. We did not find an association between female sex (OR 0.918, 95% CI 0.738-1.142), scatter-lived children (OR 1.347, 95% CI 0.245-7.397), floating population (OR 0.847, 95% CI 0.202-3.549), rash on the hands (OR 0.740, 95% CI 0.292-1.874), rash on the foot (OR 0.905, 95% CI 0.645-1.272), the level of the clinic visited first (below the country level) (OR 5.276, 95% CI 0.781-35.630), breast feeding (OR 0.523, 95% CI 0.167-1.643), and the risk of severe HFMD. Conclusions. Fever, fever for more than 3 days, vomiting, limb trembling, dyspnea, contact with HFMD children, rashes on the hips, pathologic reflexes, lethargy, convulsions, and EV71 infection are risk factors for severe HFMD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a method to estimate the timing of human-induced climate change (HICC) emergence from internal climate variability (ICV) for hydrological impact studies based on climate model ensembles. Specifically, ICV is defined as the inter-member difference in a multi-member ensemble of a climate model in which human-induced climate trends have been removed through a detrending method. HICC is defined as the mean of multiple climate models. The intersection between HICC and ICV curves is defined as the time of emergence (ToE) of HICC from ICV. A case study of the Hanjiang River watershed in China shows that the temperature change has already emerged from ICV during the last century. However, the precipitation change will be masked by ICV up to the middle of this century. With the joint contributions of temperature and precipitation, the ToE of streamflow occurs about one decade later than that of precipitation. This implies that consideration for water resource vulnerability to climate should be more concerned with adaptation to ICV in the near-term climate (present through mid-century), and with HICC in the long-term future, thus allowing for more robust adaptation strategies to water transfer projects in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Agreement proposes a 1.5 °C target to limit the increase in global mean temperature (GMT). Studying the population exposure to droughts under this 1.5 °C target will be helpful in guiding new policies that mitigate and adapt to disaster risks under climate change. Based on simulations from the inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP), the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) was used to calculate drought frequencies in the reference period and 1.5 °C global warming scenario. Then population exposure was evaluated by combining drought frequency with simulated population data from shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). In addition, the relative importance of climate and demographic change and the cumulative probability of exposure change were analyzed. Results revealed that population exposure to droughts on the east side of the Hu line is much more than on the west side; exposure in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River region is the highest and lowest in the Qinghai-Tibet region. An additional 6.97 million people will be exposed to droughts under the 1.5 °C global warming scenario relative to the reference period. Demographic change is the primary contributor to exposure (79.95 %) in the 1.5 °C global warming scenario, more than climate change (29.93 %) or the interaction effect (-9.88 %). Of the three drought intensities, mild, moderate, and extreme, moderate droughts contribute the most to exposure (63.59 %). The frequency of extreme droughts is likely to decrease (71.83 % probability), while mild and moderate droughts may increase slightly (55.17 % and 51.71 % probability, respectively) in the 1.5 °C global warming scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present studies examined the role of linguistic experience in directing English and Mandarin learners' attention to aspects of a visual scene. Specifically, they asked whether young language learners in these 2 cultures attend to differential aspects of a word-learning situation. Two groups of English and Mandarin learners, 6-8-month-olds (n = 65) and 17-19-month-olds (n = 91), participated in 2 studies, based on a habituation paradigm, designed to test infants' discrimination between actions and objects in dynamic events. In Study I, these stimuli were presented in silence, whereas in Study 2, a verbal label accompanied videos. Results showed that 6-8-month-olds could discriminate action changes but not object changes, whereas 17-19-month-olds could discriminate both types of changes. However, there were only very subtle cross-linguistic differences in these patterns when the scenes were presented together with a verbal label. These findings show strong evidence for universal developmental trends in attention, with somewhat weaker evidence that the differences in the types of words Mandarin- versus English-learning children produce or are exposed to affect attention to different aspects of a scene in the first 2 years of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effect of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) on the association of aromatase activity assessed by estradiol-to-testosterone ratio (E2/T) with body mass index (BMI) in women. Methods: This was a cohort study in five centers for reproductive medicine in China. Data were collected from July 2012 to December 2013. PCOS patients (n = 785) and non PCOS, healthy, age-matched controls (n = 297) were included. Plasma sex hormones including estradiol (E2), testosterone (T), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured by ELISA, together with BMI and E2/T being calculated, on the third day of the menstrual cycle. Aromatase activity in PCOS patients with different BMI, T and E2 levels were compared. Results: E2/T was significantly lower (P < 0.05) while BMI was significantly increased (P < 0.05) in PCOS than non-PCOS. No significant difference was observed in E2/T among different BMI subgroups of either PCOS or control. Ovarian aromatase activity was decreased in PCOS patients which was independent of BMI. Hyperestrogen promoted ovarian aromatase activity, while hyperandrogen inhibited such activity, both in a dose-dependent, biphasic manner. Conclusions: Ovarian aromatase activity was lower in PCOS, which was independent of BMI. New therapeutic strategies can be developed by targeting aromatase activity for treating PCOS women, especially those with obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of temperature on the surface thermal damage of rock salt, gypsum and mudstone from the Yingcheng salt mine, China were investigated by the surface crack growth and propagation tests at different temperatures. We found that: (a) high temperature could strengthen the rock salt molecular thermal motion and weaken the cohesion among the rock salt grains, so that the grain boundaries were more prone to slip and thus develop into cracks; (b) high temperature could make the water molecules evaporate from rock specimens, which should change the physical properties of gypsum and mudstone; and (c) high temperature had a significant effect on the interface between rock salt and gypsum and mudstone, therefore it should be easy to produce cracks with white or light yellow cumulate powder here. The surface crack growth and propagation of the rock salt, gypsum and mudstone have a positive correlation with the temperature by stereo microscope and the method of binary images, which could observe the surface thermal damage properties. Finally, the fractal dimension of the rock salt surface cracks was calculated based on fractal theory, and the evolution of the surface thermal damage was found from 50 to 260 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overseas Chinese democracy movement, sustained by exiled Chinese dissidents in the West, has just reached its 30th anniversary. Despite a widely held view that it has declined and failed irrevocably from its moral and political height during the first half of the 1990s, new trends have emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many studies have suggested that visfatin expression is closely related to the occurrence of insulin resistance (IR), while the precise role of visfatin in the regulation of IR in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is not clear. Methods: We investigated fasting glucose, fasting insulin (FINS), C peptide, visfatin, visfatin mRNA, interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, C-reactive protein (CRP) and other parameters of 315 patients with CHC and 150 control cases in China. Meanwhile we collected clinical and other laboratory data for further analysis. Results: Compared with the control group, the CHC group had a significant increase in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate amino- transferase (AST), the AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), ratio of AST to ALT (AAR), gammaglutamyl trans-peptidase, IL-6, TNF-a, visfatin, visfatin mRNA, FINS, fasting C peptide, and IR index. The visfatin, visfatin mRNA, insulin, IR index, Homaß cell function index (HBCI), and fasting &bate;-cell function index (FBCI) of the subjects with high body mass index (BMI) from the CHC sub-group were significantly higher than the normal BMI sub-group of CHC patients. We found a positive correlation between visfatin, visfatin mRNA and BMI, IL-6, TNF-α, and IR index. Conclusion: Our data suggest that visfatin may be related to IR in Chinese CHC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prunus pananensis Z. L. Chen, W. J. Chen & X. F. Jin, a new species of Rosaceae from central Zhejiang, China is described and illustrated. Micromorphological characters of the indumentum on young shoots, leaves, petioles and peduncles, including scanning electron microscope [SEM] images, are provided. This new species is morphologically similar to P. schneiderianae Koehne in having its young shoots, petioles and pedicels all densely villose, but differs in having bracts persistent, styles glabrous, stipules 8-9 mm long, stamens 28-30 of per flower, and drupes glabrous. The new species is also similar to P. discoidea (Yü & C. L. Li) Yü & C. L. Li ex Z. Wei & Y. B. Chang in having 2 or 3 flowers in an umbellate inflorescence, and bracts persistent and marginally glandular, but it differs in having young shoots and petioles densely covered with yellowish- brown villose trichomes; leaves rounded or slightly cordate at base, the mid-ribs and lateral veins abaxially densely covered with yellowish-brown villose trichomes; and hypanthium ca. 3 mm long, shorter than sepals. The atpB-rbcL and trnL-F intergenic chloroplast spacers are selected for identification of the new and its similar species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the "sandwich group" refers to those people who can neither afford private housing nor are covered by the public housing system. This group plays an important role in economic development and social stability, so the society as a whole will suffer if their housing demand is not met. This paper examines the real housing demand of the sandwich group based on a survey of 600 young white-collar employees in Shanghai conducted in July 2008. The hedonic price method is employed to measure the impact of the key characteristics of housing on housing prices. The distribution of the real housing demand of the Shanghai young sandwich group is then evaluated. This study analyses the gap between their housing demand and affordability. It also discusses policies for solving the housing problem of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development and progress of Internet technology, the network has increasingly become a key part of daily life and challenged some traditional customs, and reading is one of the very significant areas. And the birth of the net literature is almost obvious, and some literary phenomena related to this are not a coincidence. At the same time, the wave of commercialization in the network has been leading the operating model of original literary websites to be mature, which has a great impact on the traditional publishing. Original literary website provides a platform for the development of net literature, along with this, the authors and readers of net literature has generally expanded and there are the new trends of resource integration and industrialization. However, a series of problem still exists, including copyright protection and content quality control. For the traditional publishing industry, original net literary websites are both partners and competitors, because they have different resources, meanwhile, the combination of them is no longer new. The operating mode of original net literary websites can also provide experience to the traditional publishing industry about how to develop digital publishing. This article will focus on the status and operating model of original literary websites, and make a comprehensive analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study was to develop and optimize a questionnaire-based zygosity determination method in Chinese adolescent twins. Participants were 471 pairs of same-sex twins (345 monozygotic, 126 dizygotic) with a mean age of 14.56 years (SD=2.62). A second sample was recruited for cross-validation, including 382 pairs of same-sex twins (261 monozygotic, 121 dizygotic) with a mean age of 12.53 years (SD=2.22). The questionnaire consisted of 12 questions dealing with co-twin similarity or frequency of confusion. Two means were put forward to improve the predictive accuracy of the questionnaire--adding parent-reports to the analysis, and using a 2-point rather than 3-point response format. DNA genotyping was performed on nine short tandem repeat loci, with an estimated zygosity classification accuracy very close to 100%. The validity of all questionnaires was assessed by being compared to the results of DNA analysis. Results of stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that the predictive accuracy of the 3-point self-reported questionnaire is 83.8%. Using parent-reports and 2-point scale led to 3.9% and 4.6% increase in predictive accuracy, respectively. When using the parent-reports and children's self-reports jointly, the predictive accuracy was enhanced to 90.6%. For the cross-validation, the equations and cut-offs derived from the first sample led to an acceptable accuracy (91.3%) in the second sample. In conclusion, the method we developed can be used in future studies among Chinese adolescent twins. Multiple-rater and 2-point response format were suggested for all twin studies for enhancing the predictive accuracy of questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate generator (CLIGEN) is widely used in the United States to generate long-term climate scenarios for use with agricultural systems models. Its applicability needs to be evaluated for use in a new region or climate. The objectives were to: (1) evaluate the reproducibility of the latest version of CLIGEN v5.22564 in generating daily, monthly, and yearly precipitation depths at 12 stations, as well as storm patterns including storm duration ( D), relative peak intensity ( ip), and peak intensity ( rp) at 10 stations dispersed across the Loess Plateau and (2) test whether an exponential distribution for generating D and a distribution-free approach for inducing desired rank correlation between precipitation depth and D can improve storm pattern generations. Mean absolute relative errors (MAREs) for simulating daily, monthly, annual, and annual maximum daily precipitation depth across all 12 stations were 3.5, 1.7, 1.7, and 5.0% for the mean and 5.0, 4.5, 13.0, and 13.6% for the standard deviations (SD), respectively. The model reproduced the distributions of monthly and annual precipitation depths well ( p > 0.3), but the distribution of daily precipitation depth was less well produced. The first-order, two-state Markov chain algorithm was adequate for generating precipitation occurrence for the Loess Plateau of China; however, it underpredicted the longest dry periods. The CLIGEN-generated storm patterns poorly. It underpredicted mean and SD of D for storms ≥10 mm by −60.4 and −72.6%, respectively. Compared with D, ip, and rp were slightly better reproduced. The MAREs of mean and SD were 21.0 and 52.1% for ip, and 31.2 and 55.2% for rp, respectively. When an exponential distribution was used to generate D, MAREs were reduced to 2.6% for the mean and 7.8% for the SD. However, ip estimation became much worse with MAREs being 128.9% for the mean and 241.1% for the SD. Overall, storm pattern generation needs improvement. For better storm pattern generation for the region, precipitation depth, D, and rp may be generated correlatively using Copula methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the intensity and sources of Chinese private entrepreneurs' support for the current political system. The study presented here is based on data from a representative sample of private entrepreneurs collected from five coastal provinces in late 2006 and early 2007. In general, China's private entrepreneurs tend to support the current party-state and to be in favour of the status quo. Subjective values are far more important than CCP membership and relationship to the state in determining which capitalists are regime supporters. Among all the factors analysed in this study, democratic values, life satisfaction, evaluation of government policy performance and perception of official corruption play the most decisive roles in shaping private entrepreneurs' support for the incumbent regime. Only red capitalists who are former cadres are likely to be reliable supporters of the regime when subjective values are also considered; other ties to the state do not create support for the regime. The degree of regime support also exhibits considerable regional variation. These findings have important implications for the survival of the regime and for the role of private entrepreneurs in a potential political change towards democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conflict between China's urban expansion mad agricultural land loss, in terms of food security versus achievements in economic development, are currently widely discussed. Based on GIS/RS techniques and multivariate linear regression models from a multitemporal perspective, rapid urbanisation in the study area could mitigate the shrinking availability of arable land, whereas land protection policies have had no obvious effect. GDP and urbanisation are the main drivers of the expansion of the non-agricultural land. The original role of agriculture in urban development cannot be neglected, although it contributes very little to a city's economic growth, and could prove to be a potential obstacle to sustainability of urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One-dimensional electrophoresis (1-DE) of proteins, two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) of proteins and cloning of cDNA sequence were used to study the virulence differentiation of Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boed. isolated from maize ( Zea maydis L.) in China. From 1-DE gel profiles of proteins, 110 reproducible bands were separated from six isolates of C. lunata CX-3, SD-6, C-152, C107-1, DD-60 and W-18. Sixty-eight bands (61.82%) were polymorphic, suggesting huge biodiversities among the isolates. All isolates for the experiment were clustered into three groups consisting of different virulent types by coefficient value of 0.605. Group 1, consisting of CX-3, SD-6 and C-152 with high virulence displayed more protein bands than Groups 2 and 3, consisting of C107-1 and DD-60 with low virulence. Proteomics approaches based on 2-DE techniques were applied to identify specific proteins associated with the virulence differentiation in CX-3 and DD-60. A total of 423 protein spots were separated. Out of them 75 specific protein spots were displayed in 2-DE gels. Among them 28 protein spots were unique in CX-3 and eight in DD-60, and 39 protein spots were shown on both 2-DE gels but expressed differently in intensity. Twenty protein spots including three unique protein spots and 17 differentially expressed protein spots (more than two-fold DD-60) in CX-3 were further identified with MALDI-TOF MS/MS. Results indicated that most of the identified proteins were found to be associated with virulence differentiation, metabolisms, stress response and signal transduction. One of them was identified as Brn1 protein, which had been reported to be related to melanin biosynthesis and the virulence differentiation in fungi. Combined with our previous findings, we assumed that Brn1 protein and its regulating products might be involved in the virulence differentiation of C. lunata. Consequently, we cloned a Brn1 cDNA fragment and aligned it with the fragments in other fungi. Results indicated that the 633-bp sequence of Brn1 cloned in C. lunata was highly homological with the compared fungi. Further work for the exact gene roles of Brn1 in our case is underway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the West, the middle class has been considered a potent agent of the sociopolitical transition toward democracy and the cornerstone of democratic rule. Does a middle class in China think and act democratically and hence serve as the harbinger of democratic change in that country? This study attempts to answer this critical question by examining the attitudinal and behavioral orientations of middle-class individuals toward grassroots self-government in urban China. It is based on data collected from a representative-sample survey conducted in Beijing. The findings indicate that China's middle class expects grassroots self-government to be formed in a democratic way; yet the middle class is critical of the currently-implemented self-government system because it is not organized as democratically as they expect, and therefore the middle class is less likely to participate in the system. These findings have significant implications for the role of the Chinese middle class in the democratization of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using pure waterjets for cleaning street surfaces is very important for road maintenance and vehicle protection. It is also relevant to environmental protection. Commonly, street surfaces are cleaned by fan-shaped waterjets and many parameters can influence the effectiveness of the cleaning. To date, there has been a dearth of research into this subject. The study of the relationship between the parameters and the results is the basis for optimising these parameters to obtain the best cleaning effectiveness, productivity and energy consumption. This paper reports on a series of experiments conducted to study the correlation between cleaning rate and cleaning parameters of pressure p, traverse rate v, standoff distance and nozzle installation angle. It is found that the cleaning rate is proportional to p³ and v-0·5. At the same time, there was a critical standoff distance where the cleaning rate and average clean width could reach the maximum value; the cleaning rate could reach the maximum value when the installation angle was near 40°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on survey data collected in Jiangsu Province, this research finds that rural residents' evaluations of self-government institutions were more positive than those of the elected leaders. Villagers' subjective orientations — such as assessment of the village leaders' policy performance, beliefs in democratic institutions, and external efficacy — shaped their attitudes toward both self-government institutions and elected leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We report the first case of EBV-PTLD and pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) after an unrelated cord blood transplant in China, who was successfully treated with Rituximab. Methods: Case report and literature review. Results: A 5-year-old girl with CML underwent a major ABO-incompatible HLA-identical unrelated cord blood transplantation (U-CBT) in January 2003. The post transplant course was complicated by PRCA. She presented on day +75 with fever, followed by rapid enlargement of tonsils, and a cluster of lymph nodes in the cervical and submandibular regions. A cervical lymph node biopsy revealed the histopathologic findings consistent with PTLD. The immunoblasts were shown to contain EBV viral genomic DNA by PCR, and immunocytochemistry study for the latent membrane protein 1 (LMP-1) and in situ hybridization for Epstein–Barr encoded RNAs1 (EBER1) were both positive. She responded rapidly to Rituximab and achieved complete resolution of clinical findings and symptoms of both EBV-PTLD and PRCA. Conclusion: EBV-PTLD may occur with increasing frequency due to the increasing numbers of transplant recipients, transplant physician should be aware of this life-threatening complication. Rituximab alone may be an effective therapeutic strategy for patients who develop EBV-PTLD and PRCA after U-CBT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a statistical investigation on Chinese power grid. A new statistical parameter, averaged ratio of cycles, is suggested for describing the stratum structure of the grid. A dynamical model, which may reproduce the developing process of Chinese power grid, is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the effect of individual attitudes toward low- and high-politics on mass political participation in Beijing, China. There is a consensus among the motivation analysts themselves that individual subjective orientations significantly influence political participation, especially during the reform period, the question of which kinds of subjective orientations influence what types of political acts has by no means been settled. Some analyses (e.g., DiFranceisco and Gitelman, 1984; Friedgut, I 979) including some more recent studies of China's mass participation (e.g., Shi, 1997; Jennings, 1997) within the motivation model, tend to downgrade or neglect the impact of individual attitudes toward high-politics issues (e.g., political ideas/principles, the political system, and the current political leadership) on most of the legitimate and conventional forms of participation. Instead, these studies focus mainly on the role of basic sociopsychological attributes and orientations to low politics issues (e.g., daily lives, communal matters, and workplace conditions).

Comparisons of mass and elite sociopolitical preferences and levels of their attitudinal consistency are critical for under- standing mass-elite interaction and hence political development in such a rapidly changing society as China. Yet such studies are very scarce for urban China. Based on the responses to identical questions asked of both mass and elite interviewees in Beijing, this article submits four important findings. First, while the masses and elites shared similar views on government policy performance and the role of the individual in politics, they held quite different positions on issues of regime legitimacy, reform assessment, and democratic principles. Second, these two sets of political actors organized their subjective orientations to some issues similarly but to others differently. Third, in general, the elites in this study had low attitudinal consistency relative to their counterparts in many other studies. And, finally, such relatively low attitudinal consistency among the elites seemed to be caused at least in part by the ongoing decay of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) grassroots organizations. These findings have strong implications for the weakness and strength of the CCP's rule and hence China's sociopolitical stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asserts the need for a more systematic and focused examination of mass political interest in China. Level and sources of political interest in China; Use of data collected from a public opinion survey conducted in Beijing, China; Level of political interest exhibited by the Chinese; Variables that have an effect on the levels of political interest in China.

Focuses on China's perceptions of the dispute over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Nature of the dispute; Policies in addressing the dispute since 1987.

Analyzes China's efforts during Deng Xiaoping's era to improve relations with the ASEAN countries by readjusting its relations with the local insurgents. Theory justifying China's support for the regional communist movement; China's approach to its remaining ties with the movement; Regional reactions to China's policy.

Examines the prospects of democratization in China after the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. Competitive elections of government officials with multiple candidates; Sociopolitical factors influencing democratic values; Support for equal protection and rights; Sociodemographic variables. INSET: The survey and the sample..

Wheat is one of the most common and productive crops in the world, and the growth and production of wheat are sensitive to climate change. Climate change affects wheat phenology by influencing sowing/maturity dates and the duration of growing stages, and ultimately affects the grain yield. Reliable prediction of changes in wheat yield is significant for maintaining global food security. However, studies addressing the potential impact of crop phenology changes on grain yield are rarely reported, which is a big challenge. Using the CERES-Wheat model and first-order differential equation models, we quantified the impact of future climate change on wheat phenology and grain yield for two periods (P1: 2011-2040; P2: 2041-2070) under three representative concentration pathways (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP8.5) in China's twomain wheat-growing areas (Northwest SpringWheat-Growing Area(NWSWA) and Huang-Huai-Hai Winter Wheat-Growing Area (HHWWA)); the baseline period was 1981-2010. Accumulated thermal time during thewhole growing period (WGP) tends to significantly increase in NWSWA and HHWWA under all RCPs and periods. This rising accumulated thermal time will reduce the time to anthesis and maturity and shorten the vegetative growing period (VGP), reproductive growing period (RGP), and theWGP. In P2, spring wheat grain yield is projected to diminish by a regional average of 2.67% for RCP2.6, 4.07% for RCP4.5, and 5.66% for RCP8.5, which is dominated by the lower accumulated solar radiation during the VGP in NWSWA. Additionally, for the winter wheat grain yield in HHWWA in P2, its grain yield reduction is projected to decline by 4.8% (RCP2.6), 7.9% (RCP4.5), and 9.8% (RCP8.5), which is caused by increasing accumulated thermal time in the VGP. These results suggest that breeding high-temperature-tolerant varieties with high calorie requirements is an adaptive strategy to mitigate the negative impact of climate change on wheat yield in the study areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus was associated with more than 1 million deaths in 2019. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has lasted three years. In China, measures to control COVID-19 cases were adjusted in December 2022. In this study, we investigated the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the drug resistance of S. aureus infection. Aim: Understanding the impact of the adjustment of COVID-19 control measures on the drug sensitivity of S. aureus will provide a reference for empirical drug use and the prevention of clinical S. aureus infection. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed, focusing on the clinical distribution and drug resistance of distributions of S. aureus isolated from the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University during the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2020 to March 2023. The effects of COVID-19 control measures on the drug resistance of S. aureus infection were further investigated. Results: A total of 1,437 strains of S. aureus were isolated, with a methicillin-resistant S. aureus detection rate of 19.2%. The department with the highest detection rate was the oncology department (17.0%, 244/1,437), followed by the intensive care unit (11.1%, 159/1,437), the dermatology department (10.7%, 154/1,437), and the wound repair and burn department (9.7%, 139/1,437). The most frequent specimens were secretions (42.0%, 603/1,437), followed by sputum (23.3%, 335/1,437), blood (10.7%, 154/1,437), and pus (5.4%, 78/1,437). The population distribution was primarily male (62.3%, 895/1,437). S. aureus infections were most common among those aged 50-65 (32.8%, 472/1,437), followed by those aged 18-49 (30.7%, 441/1,437). Staphylococcus aureus was most resistant to penicillin G (86.3%), followed by erythromycin (37.9%) and clindamycin (37.3%). The antibiotics with no resistance were linezolid, teicoplanin, tigecycline, and vancomycin. There was no significant difference in the drug-resistance rate between COVID-19-positive and COVID-19-negative patients. Conclusion: The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 and the adjustment of control measures had no significant impact on the drug resistance of S. aureus infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate and land-use changes are two major factors that significantly affect the watershed hydrology cycle. It is essential for regional water resource management to quantitatively assess the respective hydrological impact of these two factors. In this study, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was constructed to quantify the contributions of climate and land-use changes to runoff at the annual and seasonal time scales in the Qinhuai River basin (QRB), where significant urbanization occurred from 1986 to 2015. Moreover, based on the partial least squares regression, the specific impact of individual land-use change on major hydrological components was evaluated at the subbasin scale. The results showed that: (1) the predominant patterns of land-use change in the QRB included the transformations from paddy fields to urban areas and dry lands, forest to dry lands and dry lands to urban areas; (2) the flood seasonal precipitation series and all air temperature series had significant increasing trends over 1986-2015, and annual and seasonal runoff series had significant increasing trends and had an abrupt change point in 2001; (3) the average annual, flood seasonal, and non-flood seasonal runoff increased 238.5, 130.2 and 108.3 mm, of which land-use change was responsible for 77.6, 55.1, and 104.8% of the increases, respectively, while climate change was responsible for 22.4, 44.9, and 4.8%, respectively and (4) the hydrological response to land-use change showed an obvious decrease in actual evapotranspiration (ET) and significant increases in surface runoff and baseflow. The decrease of ET and increase of baseflow could be attributed to the conversion patterns from paddy fields and forest to dry lands, while the conversions from paddy fields and dry lands to urban areas caused a remarkable increase in surface runoff in the QRB. The study demonstrated that these practicable approaches were beneficial for the more unbiased views of the hydrological responses to climate change and land-use changes in the highly urbanized basin, which were also critical for the sustainable development of regional water resource and future landuse planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with post-stroke memory disorder (PSMD) have poor quality of life and it is necessary to identify more beneficial stimulation protocols for treatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the efficacy and safety of rTMS for improving memory performance, global cognition, and activities of daily living (ADL) among patients with PSMD. Methods: The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and Wanfang databases were screened to identify relevant randomized controlled trials. The primary outcome was memory performance; secondary outcomes included global cognition, ADL, and adverse events. STATA software was used to perform data synthesis. Results: Five articles with a total of 192 participants were included. The results indicated that rTMS was superior to control treatments for improving memory performance (mean difference [MD] = 1.73, 95% CI [Confidence Interval] [0.85, 2.60], p < 0.001), global cognition (MD = 2.44, 95% CI [0.96, 3.93], p < 0.001), and ADL (MD = 10.29, 95% CI [5.10, 15.48], p < 0.001). No significant differences were found between the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) rTMS subgroups (p = 0.47, I² = 0.00%) or between the sham rTMS and non-rTMS subgroups (p = 0.94, I2 = 0.00%). Four studies did not reported adverse events. Conclusions: rTMS may improve memory function, global cognition, and the ability to perform ADL in patients with PSMD. LF-rTMS and HF-rTMS may have equal efficacy for treatment of PSMD. Future studies should consider extending the follow-up period to explore the safety and long-term efficacy of rTMS for treatment of PSMD and the appropriate choice of placebo for clinical trials of this treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]