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Background: Assessment of immune function is of key importance in recognition of disease or healthy status, which still faces challenge in clinical practice. We conducted a 10-center study to investigate lymphocyte parameters including the number, phenotype and IFN-γ-producing ability, and routine laboratory indicators by using the standard method. Results: Although the heterogeneity of lymphocyte parameters was widely found, we have established the normal ranges of these parameters by using pooled data which showed no significant difference among centers. Cluster analysis of 35 parameters found 3 interesting clusters which represented different immunological status. Cluster 1 (parameters: IFN-γ+CD4+ T cell percentage and IFN-γ+CD8+ T cell percentage) represented current lymphocyte function, which was associated with indicators such as body mass index and red blood cell; Cluster 2 (parameters: NK cell number and CD45RA+CD4+ T cell percentage) represented potential of lymphocytes, which was associated with indicators such as albumin and high-density lipoprotein. Cluster 3 (parameters: HLA-DR+CD8+ T cell percentage) represented inflammatory status, which was associated with indicators such as low-density lipoprotein, globulin and age. Correlation analysis found that nutritional indicator albumin is significantly positively correlated with lymphocyte potential. Triglyceride and body mass index were positively correlated with current lymphocyte function rather than lymphocyte potential. The loss of CD8+ T cells was extremely pronounced with increasing age and was one of the most important factors to cause immunosenescence, which may be associated with increased glucose. Conclusions: We have established the normal ranges of lymphocyte parameters in different areas. This study elucidates the key indicators used to reflect the current function or potential of lymphocytes, which may provide a valuable clue for how to keep immunity healthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regret and guilt are self-conscious emotions. They stem from negative events for which people feel responsible. Both emotions reflect discrepancies between how people are (their "actual" self) and how they would like to be (their "ideal" or "ought" self). We examined whether regret and guilt were related to different self-discrepancies (i.e., "ideal" and "ought" self-discrepancies). Two studies (total N = 1998) with Chinese and US participants found that people feel more regret over ideal self-discrepancies than over ought self-discrepancies, whereas for guilt this is more complex. We also found a main effect for culture such that ideal self-discrepancies were associated more with both emotions in the USA compared to China. Implications for the differences between regret and guilt are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry is the largest sector for energy consumption and pollution emissions in China. Thus, improving industrial eco-efficiency is necessary for China to achieve sustainable development. Based on panel data from 31 industrial sectors from 2001 to 2015, a three-stage data envelopment analysis model was used to empirically explore industrial eco-efficiency and its influencing factors from the perspective of industrial heterogeneity. The results show that the overall level of industrial eco-efficiency in China is not high, first declining and then rising during the study period. Low eco-efficiency was mainly due to low scale efficiency. After removing the influences of external environmental factors and noise, industry profit rates, ownership structures, and foreign direct investments were all significantly and positively correlated with eco-efficiency. Environmental regulations were significantly and negatively correlated, while the intensity of research and development exhibited no linear relationship. Industrial heterogeneity significantly affects eco-efficiency. Capital-intensive industries had the highest eco-efficiencies, followed by resource-intensive industries and labor-intensive industries, respectively. Comparison of technical efficiency (TE) before and after adjustment on a panel of 31 industries in China from 2001 to 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to investigate the impact of income inequality and economic growth on carbon dioxide (CO2) emission through the moderating role of innovation in China at national and regional levels. To test the hypothesised relationships, this study took the data from 1995 to 2015 and employed panel estimation. Findings of the whole analysis show that income inequality and economic growth influence CO2 emission in China. Moreover, technological innovation moderates the proposed link. However, the findings at the regional level are mixed, thus confirming the existence of regional differences. Policy implications are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aimed to explore the relationship between the different factors, especially health insurance, and the availability of long-term care (LTC) services, among the disabled elderly. Methods: Based on the data of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), the logistic regression model was utilized to evaluate the influence of the different factors, especially health insurance, on the availability of long-term care services. Results: Our findings show some interesting results. Firstly, the findings suggest that informal long-term care (LTC) services for elderly persons with disabilities heavily depend on a family member from different health insurance groups. About 80.733% of the disabled elderly depend on a family member as their primary caregivers. Secondly, other influence factors such as income and area of residence were also significantly related to the availability of long-term rental services. Thirdly, Health insurance is a very important factor influencing the availability of Long-term care services both in urban and rural areas (p< 0.001) but Income is the most interesting variable. Conclusion: Based on our results, the growth and integration of formal long-term care (LTC) services should be facilitated. Firstly, policymakers can encourage formal long-term care (LTC) services from a variety of sources to work together to increase overall supply capability. Secondly, the long-term living security needs of people who do not have health insurance should be regulated through subsidies according to the economic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of sport events is closely related to volunteer dedication. Sport event organisations must recognise volunteers’ needs and motivate and retain loyal volunteers. However, the approach to motivate sport event volunteers and the role of consistent values, beliefs, and affiliation needs in guiding volunteers’ performance in event duties remain unexplored. This study explored the role of organisational environmental factors in influencing volunteers’ engagement, sense of pride, and intent to continue volunteering. A theoretical model was constructed to verify their inner relations by incorporating person – environment fit, social exchange, and social identity theories. Data were collected from 452 volunteers who participated in two marathon races in China and analysed using structural equation modelling with SmartPLS 4.0. The findings show that perceived organisational support has a positive impact on individual – organisation value congruence and volunteer engagement, thus jointly boosting volunteers’ sense of pride and intent. These findings expand theoretical understanding on the psychological mechanisms of volunteer sport events and optimising volunteer management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IN THE FAST DEVELOPING MAINLAND CHINA, AMONG THE HUGE NUMBER OF NEW CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, GREEN BUILDING CONSTITUTE ONLY A VERY SMALL PORTION.. This paper tries to figure out the factors that restrain the development of green building in Mainland China by carrying out surveys among construction professionals and university researchers. Fifteen barriers that may affect the development of green building negatively are identified from literature review, and factor analysis of the survey result extracts five independent principle factors behind these barriers: Techniques and Finance, Green Environment, Stakeholder Involvement, Motivation, and Management. The importance of management is especially emphasized by the survey result. Furthermore, a second survey is carried out two years later to monitor the change of importance of the five factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic diseases among the elderly and their huge economic burden on family have caught much attention from economists and sociologists over the past decade in China. This study measured the economic burden of elderly chronic disease (ECD) in families using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) data set from Peking University (China). We studied some aspects of this burden, including health-service utilization, out-of-pocket expenditure on inpatient and outpatient, total family expenditures on items, and labor force participation rates of family members, etc. Some interesting things were found, for example, the additional annual expenditure on inpatient care (per member) in ECD-families was 37 to 45 percent of the annual expenditure in the control group; the labor-force participation rate in ECD-families was 2.4 to 3.3 percent of points lower than in the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China Health-Related Outcomes Measures (CHROME) was an initiative aimed at developing a system of preference-based health-related quality of life instruments for China. CHROME-cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a CVD-specific instrument with 14 items developed under this initiative. This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of CHROME-CVD. This validation study was conducted using cross-sectional questionnaire survey in China. Eligible patients with CVD were recruited and asked to complete the CHROME-CVD, the EQ-5D-5L, and a CVD-specific nonpreference-based health-related quality of life instrument selected according to the confirmed diagnosis of the patients. Item evaluation, internal consistency, measurement invariance, test-retest reliability, structural validity, and construct validity were tested using classic test theory. Item response theory was used to evaluate item-level performance. A total of 444 patients with CVD (coronary artery disease, n = 276, heart failure, n = 104, angina, n = 33, and atrial fibrillation, n = 16) from 6 provinces in China were enrolled for the validation. Exploratory factor analysis identified 4 factors: chest pain, other symptoms, physical health, and mental and social health. Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient were >0.8. A total of 20 of 26 (76.9%), and 90 of 95 (94.7%) predefined hypotheses were met for convergent and discriminant validities, respectively. No important difference was identified between subgroups of gender and residency. Response options of 10 items were found overlapped based on categorical response curves, which led to modification to 4-level response options. Wording of 3 items were modified by referring wordings of reference instruments. The validation of the CHROME-CVD demonstrated generally good psychometric properties. Further validation on the modified CHROME-CVD is needed. • A validation study on China Health-Related Outcomes Measures-Cardiovascular Disease (CHROME-CVD), a cardiovascular-disease-specific instrument developed under the initiative of CHROME, was conducted using both classic test theory and item response theory. • The descriptive system of CHROME-CVD has demonstrated good psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency, measurement invariance, test-retest reliability, structural validity, and construct validity. • Based on the item response theory test, 4-level response options are adopted for CHROME-CVD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While evidence supports glycemic control benefits for individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) using hybrid closed-loop (HCL) systems, HCL automated insulin delivery therapy in China has not been assessed. This study evaluated safety events and effectiveness during HCL system use by Chinese adolescents and adults with T1DM. Methods: Sixty-two participants (n = 12 adolescents with a mean ± standard deviation [SD] of 15.5 ± 1.1 years and n = 50 adults [mean ± SD of 37.6 ± 11.1 years]) with T1DM and baseline A1C of 7.1% ± 1.0% underwent a run-in period (∼2 weeks) using open-loop Manual Mode (sensor-augmented pump) insulin delivery with the MiniMed™ 770G system with the Guardian™ Sensor (3) glucose sensor, followed by a study period (4 weeks) with HCL Auto Mode enabled. Analyses compared continuous glucose monitoring data and insulin delivered during the run-in versus study period (Wilcoxon signed-rank test or t-test). Safety events included rates of severe hypoglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Results: Compared to baseline run-in, overall Auto Mode use increased time in range (TIR, 70–180 mg/dL) from 75.3% to 80.9% (P < 0.001) and reduced time below range (TBR, <70 mg/dL) from 4.7% to 2.2% (P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that participants (n = 29) with baseline A1C <7.0% had TBR that reduced from 5.6% to 2.0%, while participants (n = 21) with baseline A1C ≥7.5% had time above range (TAR, >180 mg/dL) that reduced from 31.6% to 20.8%. Auto Mode use also increased the percentage achieving combined recommendations for time at sensor glucose ranges (i.e., TIR of >70%, TBR of <4% and TAR of <25%) from 24.2% at baseline to 77.4% at study end. Total daily insulin dose reduced from 42.8 ± 19.8 to 40.7 ± 18.9 U (P = 0.013). There were no severe hypoglycemic, DKA, or serious adverse events. Conclusions: Chinese adolescents and adults, some of whom met target A1C at baseline, safely achieved significantly improved glycemia with 1 month of MiniMed 770G system use when compared to open-loop insulin delivery. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04663295. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the transformation and upgrading of industries, the environmental problems caused by industrial residual contaminated sites are becoming increasingly prominent. Based on actual investigation cases, this study analyzed the soil pollution status of a remaining sites of the copper and zinc rolling industry, and found that the pollutants exceeding the screening values included Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb, total petroleum hydrocarbons and 6 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon monomers. Based on traditional analysis methods such as the correlation coefficient and spatial distribution, combined with machine learning methods such as SOM + K-means, it is inferred that the heavy metal Zn/Pb may be mainly related to the production history of zinc rolling. Cu/Ni may be mainly originated from the production history of copper rolling. PAHs are mainly due to the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels in the melting equipment. TPH pollution is speculated to be related to oil leakage during the industrial use period and later period of vehicle parking. The results showed that traditional analysis methods can quickly identify the correlation between site pollutants, while SOM + K-means machine learning methods can further effectively extract complex hidden relationships in data and achieve in-depth mining of site monitoring data., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Objective: To correlate serum level of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) with postoperative recurrence of spinal tuberculosis in the Chinese Han population., Methods: Patients of Han nationality with newly diagnosed spinal tuberculosis were consecutively included in this study. At different time points postoperatively, serum level of MCP-1 was determined using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Recurrence of spinal tuberculosis after surgery and during the follow-up period was recorded. The correlation between serum MCP-1 level and recurrence of spinal tuberculosis was analyzed., Results: A total of 169 patients with spinal tuberculosis were included in the study and followed up for an average of 2.2 ± 1.3 years (range, 1-5 years). Of these patients, 11 had postoperative recurrence of spinal tuberculosis. The patients' serum level of MCP-1 increased significantly after postoperative recurrence of spinal tuberculosis. Once the symptoms of recurrence were cured, the serum level of MCP-1 decreased significantly and it did not differ from patients without disease recurrence., Conclusion: Postoperative recurrence of spinal tuberculosis is likely to increase the serum level of MCP-1.

The dwarf bamboo (Fargesia rufa Yi), growing understory in subalpine dark coniferous forest, is one of the main foods for giant panda, and it influences the regeneration of subalpine coniferous forests in southwestern China. To investigate the effects of elevated CO₂, temperature and their combination, the dwarf bamboo plantlets were exposed to two CO₂ regimes (ambient and double ambient CO₂ concentration) and two temperatures (ambient and +2.2°C) in growth chambers. Gas exchange, leaf traits and carbohydrates concentration were measured after the 150-day experiment. Elevated CO₂ significantly increased the net photosynthetic rate (Anet ), intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi ) and carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C) and decreased stomatal conductance (g(s)) and total chlorophyll concentration based on mass (Chl(m)) and area (Chl(a)). On the other hand, elevated CO₂ decreased specific leaf area (SLA), which was increased by elevated temperature. Elevated CO₂ also increased foliar carbon concentration based on mass (C(m)) and area (C(a)), nitrogen concentration based on area (N(a)), carbohydrates concentration (i.e. sucrose, sugar, starch and non-structural carbohydrates) and the slope of the A(net)-N(a) relationship. However, elevated temperature decreased C(m), C(a) and N(a). The combination of elevated CO₂ and temperature hardly affected SLA, C(m), C(a), N(m), N(a), Chl(m) and Chl(a). Variables Anet and Na had positive linear relationships in all treatments. Our results showed that photosynthetic acclimation did not occur in dwarf bamboo at elevated CO₂ and it could adjust physiology and morphology to enable the capture of more light, to increase WUE and improve nutritional conditions., (Copyright © Physiologia Plantarum 2012.)

Cuttings of Populus kangdingensis and Populus cathayana originating from altitudes of 3500 and 1500 m in southwestern China, respectively, were grown for one growing season in the field under ambient or ambient plus supplemental ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation with two levels of nutrients. In both species, enhanced UV-B radiation significantly increased UV-B absorbing compounds and guaiacol peroxidase (GPX) activity, while no significant effects were observed in photosynthetic pigments and proline content. On the other hand, cuttings grown with high-nutrient availability had larger leaf area, higher total biomass and GPX activity as well as higher water use efficiency (WUE) (as measured by stable carbon isotope composition, delta(13)C) when compared with low-nutrient conditions, while UV-B absorbing compounds and ascorbic acid (AsA) content significantly decreased. Differences in responses to enhanced UV-B radiation and nutrient availability were observed between the two species. Nutrient-induced increases in chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll as well as in carotenoids were greater in P. kangdingensis than in P. cathayana. In P. cathayana, enhanced UV-B radiation significantly decreased leaf area and total biomass, while it significantly increased WUE and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). In contrast, such changes were not observed in P. kangdingensis. In addition, the effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on leaf area, total biomass and UV-B absorbing compounds were closely related to the nutrient status. Our results indicated that P. kangdingensis, which originates from the altitude of 3500 m and is apparently adapted to low-nutrient and high-UV-B habitats, exhibits better tolerance to enhanced UV-B radiation and greater growth under low-nutrient availability than does P. cathayana originating from the altitude of 1500 m.