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Background: COVID‐19 has caused severe morbidity and mortality worldwide. After the end of the dynamic zero‐COVID policy in China in December, 2022, concerns regarding reinfection were raised while little was known due to the lack of surveillance data in this country. Aims: This study reviews the probability, risk factors, and severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Omicron variant reinfection, as well as the interval between infections, risk of onward transmission by reinfected cases, and the role of booster vaccination against reinfection. Sources: References for this review were identified through searches of PubMed and Web of Science up to September 24, 2023. Results: The rate of reinfection ranges from 3.1% to 13.0%. Factors associated with a higher risk of reinfection include being female, having comorbidities, and being unvaccinated. Reinfection with the BA.4 or BA.5 variant occurs approximately 180 days after the initial infection. Reinfections are less clinically severe than primary infections, and there is evidence of lower transmissibility. The debate surrounding the effectiveness and feasibility of booster vaccinations in preventing reinfection continues. Conclusions: The reinfection rate during the Omicron epidemic is significantly higher than in previous epidemic periods. However, the symptoms and infectivity of reinfection were weaker than those of the prior infection. Medical staff and individuals at high risk of reinfection should be vigilant. The efficacy of booster vaccinations in reducing reinfection is currently under debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kitchen waste (KW) has high water content and organic matter, which has great potential for energy application, but how to treat it effectively has always been a difficult problem. In this study, the feasibility of transforming kitchen waste into hydrochar as a solid fuel to replace the primary energy by hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is put forward. An experimental study of proportioned KW under HTC conditions (reaction temperature, residence time, liquid–solid ratio) is carried out by elemental analysis, industrial analysis, energy density calculation, and calorific value measurement. The results show that a proper extension of the residence time to 3.5 h at a liquid–solid ratio of 10 and a reaction temperature of 265 °C for the kitchen waste after HTC would result in a maximum calorific value of 30.933 MJ/Kg for the prepared hydrochar. The maximum ash content of hydrochar at a 265 °C reaction temperature is 3.94% < 10%, which is much lower than the standard of extra-low-ash coal, and the study shows that the hydrochar prepared from kitchen waste by HTC for combustion will greatly improve the combustion efficiency. The three types of kitchen waste under HTC conditions are compared with the three typical types of coal in China by the van Krevelen diagram. The results show that the combustion properties of hydrochar from kitchen waste prepared by the HTC method are better than those of lignite close to bituminous coal and can provide a theoretical basis for replacing primary energy in the future. Finally, by combining thermogravimetric analysis with mathematical modeling, it is calculated that the hydrochar of kitchen waste has a lower activation energy than those of other biomass, which can better facilitate the reaction. The experimental results further determine the feasibility of hydrochar as an alternative primary energy source and provide a theoretical basis for the future conversion of kitchen waste into hydrochar as a solid fuel through HTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of traditional borehole ground heat exchangers (GHEs) is extremely limited in tropical zones because of the performance degradation induced by thermal imbalances over the years. Unlike traditional borehole GHEs, tunnel-lining GHEs have absorber pipes between the primary and secondary linings, allowing tunnel ventilation to aid in ground temperature recovery during off periods. To date, the application potential of tunnel-lining GHEs in tropical zones has rarely been reported. In this study, a coupled heat transfer model for heat pumps and tunnel-lining GHEs was built to investigate the effects of tunnel ventilation on thermal imbalance and analyze the feasibility of tunnel-lining GHEs in tropical zones under different thermal conductivities of the surrounding rocks, annual average temperatures, and wind velocities. The results showed that tunnel-lining GHEs effectively reduce the influence of thermal imbalance. The maximum outlet temperature increase for absorber pipes induced by thermal imbalance was 0.54 °C for ten years under building cooling, implying that no obvious annual performance degradation of tunnel-lining GHEs occurs in the tropics of China. However, not all tropical zones of China are suitable for tunnel-lining GHEs because of their excessively high outlet temperatures ranging from 31.2 °C to 41.4 °C. Hence, parametric design charts were proposed to determine the outlet temperature for a preliminary evaluation of feasibility. Finally, parametric design charts were employed in an actual tunnel-lining GHEs project in a tropical zone. Energy, environmental, and economic performance were analyzed for this project. The electricity usage and CO 2 emission of tunnel-lining GHEs decreased by 24.6% compared to the cooling towers, and the payback period was 5.9 years. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Tracking carbon emissions historical trend in China's eight industrial sectors. • Regression analysis and Monte Carlo simulation to predict emissions trajectories. • Agriculture , Building , Others and Transportation are likely to peak before 2025. • Electricity and Mining may peak after 2030, while Business remains unclear. • Focusing on the emissions of various sectors facilitates meeting the Paris Agreement by 2030. To maintain global warming below 2 °C, as per the Paris Agreement, China should stop its energy-related carbon emissions from increasing by 2030. Given the dominating role of industrial-specific emissions in the national emissions inventory, exploring the potential peaking pathways of emissions in China's diverse industrial sectors is necessary. By accounting for the emissions from China's eight sectors over the past 23 years, this study examines the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis for the eight sectors using both regression analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. We found that seven out of the eight sectors are expected to reach their peak emissions before 2040, despite continued economic growth. Specifically, emissions from the Agriculture , Building , Manufacturing , Others , and Transportation sectors are highly likely to peak before 2030, while those from the Electricity and Mining sectors may peak after 2030. Our findings, which provide a deeper understanding of China's potential peaking pathways at the sectoral level, can serve as a reference for other countries that are facing similar difficulties in identifying the appropriate ways of peaking sectoral emissions; this is currently a neglected field of analysis in many Nationally Determined Contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of corporation operation efficiency (especially innovation efficiency) has been always a hot topic. The currently popular evaluation methods are data envelopment analysis (DEA) and its improved methods. However, these methods have the following problems: the production process is regarded as a black box, and the actual production relationship between input and output is not analyzed. To solve these problems: (1) the black box theory and production function theory are introduced to uncover the black box of input and output; (2) regression models are used to alleviate the multicollinearity problem of inputs, and the most appropriate model of production relationship is selected; and (3) the results of the production function are compared with the results of the efficiency evaluation from multiple perspectives. Taking rural commercial banks in China as examples to evaluate their innovation efficiency, this article shows the following: (1) with the black box theory and production function theory, the staff, equipment, and intermediate business cost are suitable as innovation input variables, and intermediate business income is suitable as an innovation output variable; (2) the main challenges faced by rural commercial banks are reducing the reliance on human capital investment, strengthening technological innovation, and improving the efficiency of intermediate business cost management, which is hard to reveal with traditional DEA. The method proposed in this article provides an applicable reference for improving DEA method analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There have been no reports regarding the molecular characteristics, virulence features, and antibiotic resistance profiles of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) from Hainan, the southernmost province of China.Methods: Two hundred twenty-seven S. aureus isolates, consisting of 76 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 151 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), were collected in 2013-2014 and 2018-2019 in Hainan, and investigated for their molecular characteristics, virulence genes, antibiotic resistance profiles and main antibiotic resistance genes.Results: Forty sequence types (STs) including three new STs (ST5489, ST5492 and ST5493), and 79 Staphylococcal protein A (spa) types were identified based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and spa typing, respectively. ST398 (14.1%, 32/227) was found to be the most prevalent, and the prevalence of ST398-MSSA increased significantly from 2013 to 2014 (5.5%, 5/91) to 2018-2019 (18.4%, 25/136). Seventy-six MRSA isolates were subject to staphylococcus chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) typing. SCCmec-IVa was the predominant SCCmec type, and specifically, ST45-SCCmec IVa, an infrequent type in mainland China, was predominant in S. aureus from Hainan. The antibiotic resistance profiles and antibiotic resistance genes of S. aureus show distinctive features in Hainan. The resistant rates of the MRSA isolates to a variety of antibiotics were significantly higher than those of the MSSA isolates. The predominant erythromycin and tetracycline resistance genes were ermC (90.1%, 100/111) and tetK (91.8%, 78/85), respectively. Eleven virulence genes, including the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (pvl) and eta, were determined, and the frequency of eta and pvl were found to be 57.3 and 47.6%. Such high prevalence has never been seen in mainland China before.Conclusion: S. aureus isolates in Hainan have unique molecular characteristics, virulence gene and antibiotic resistance profiles, and main antibiotic resistance genes which may be associated with the special geographical location of Hainan and local trends in antibiotic use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurement provides lithology-independent porosity and pore structure for sedimentary reservoirs. Recently, oil and gas were discovered in igneous rock formations, however, NMR logging porosity is substantially lower than the true porosity, and the T 2 distributions does not characterize the pore-size distributions. These observations limit the use of NMR logging in igneous rock formations and new research is needed to be developed. To address this gap in the literature, using numerical simulation of NMR behavior, we conduct a theoretical study to examine the impact of magnetic susceptibility, echo spacing, and fluid type on the T 2 distributions in igneous rock. The simulation results and laboratory experiment show that, the paramagnetic minerals affect the magnetization of fluids in pores and rate of the echo decay, and NMR porosity is thus significantly reduced. To effectively correct the NMR measurement, a new approach is proposed to improve the underestimation of NMR porosity and T 2 distribution shifting to shorter times. For a pore model, the corrected porosity and T 2 distribution are both in good agreement with the model. In a case study from Chepaizi area of Junggar Basin, China, the corrected NMR porosity matches well with core measurement, and the corrected T 2 distribution shifts to longer times more than before. Moreover, bound fluid volume and movable fluid volume are both corrected, and the NMR permeability also agrees well with core laboratory measurement, which proves that the correction method effective. Therefore, this technology enables NMR log for evaluating the igneous rock reservoir quality. • For igneous rocks, influential factor leading to NMR measurement underestimation are studied from theory and experiment. • NMR porosity correction charts are conducted by using numerical simulation. • A new NMR inversion theory and T2 distribution correction method are derived and developed successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CDA 435C>T is reported as a functional SNP but there is no relevant research on the efficacy/hematological toxicity of gemcitabine-platinum treatment in Chinese non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. In this study, 63 patients who received radical resection (stage IB or IIIA) and 100 advanced NSCLC (stage IIIB or IV) patients have been collected, and all were treated with gemcitabine-platinum regimens from February of 2017 to February 2019. CDA 435C>T polymorphisms have been detected by PCR and direct sequencing. CT scan results and blood routine examinations have been collected to evaluate the efficacy and hematological toxicity. Then the relationships have been analyzed about CDA 435C>T. We found that T allele carriers have better therapy response (p<0.05). Patients carrying CDA 435C/T or T/T genotypes are statistically associated with a better efficacy (p<0.05) but are more prone to leukopenia (p<0.05). Although there is no difference in grade III-IV hematologic toxicity of 163 patients (p>0.05), in the case of 100 stage IIIB-IV patients, the CDA 435C/T and T/T have an increased risk (p<0.05). Regarding the CDA 435C>T polymorphism in the Chinese population, in patients with the mutant T allele, gemcitabine is more effective, but they are more prone to suffering from hematological toxicity, especially the late-stage patients.

Neural selectivity of N170 responses is important for understanding face, word, and object processing in the brain. However, the recovery times of neural selective responses remain unclear. In the present study, we used an adaptation paradigm to test the recovery speed of N170 responses to faces and Chinese characters. The findings revealed that recovery of N170 responses elicited by faces occurred between 1400 and 1800 ms after stimulus onset, whereas those elicited by Chinese characters occurred between 600 and 800 ms. These results demonstrate that N170 responses involved in the processing of faces and Chinese characters exhibit category sensitive recovery speeds., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Epidemiological studies have suggested that variants on adiponectin (ADIPOQ) and its receptor ADIPOR1 (adiponectin receptor 1) are associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk; however, the results were inconclusive. The aim of the study was to evaluate the associations between the variants on ADIPOQ and ADIPOR1 and the CRC risk with a hospital-based case-control study in the Chinese population along with meta-analysis of available epidemiological studies., Methods: With a hospital-based case-control study of 341 cases and 727 controls, the associations between the common variants on ADIPOQ (rs266729, rs822395, rs2241766 and rs1501299) and ADIPOR1 (rs1342387 and rs12733285) and CRC susceptibility were evaluated. Meta-analysis of the published epidemiological studies was performed to investigate the associations between the variants and CRC risk., Results: For the population study, we found that variant rs1342387 of ADIPOR1 was associated with a reduced risk for CRC [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.74, 95% confidential intervals (95% CI) = 0.57-0.97; CT/TT vs. CC]. The meta-analysis also suggested a significant association for rs1342387 and CRC risk; the pooled OR was 0.79 (95% CI = 0.66-0.95) for the CT/TT carriers compared to CC homozygotes under the random-effects model (Q = 8.06, df = 4, P = 0.089; I(2) = 50.4%). The case-control study found no significant association for variants rs266729, rs822395, rs2241766, and rs1501299 on ADIPOQ or variant rs12733285 on ADIPOR1 and CRC susceptibility, which were consistent with results from the meta-analysis studies., Conclusions: These data suggested that variant rs1342387 on ADIPOR1 may be a novel CRC susceptibility factor.