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Background: Little is known about the associations of changes in drinking levels with the newly defined metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). We therefore sought to estimate the associations between changes in drinking levels and MASLD in less developed regions of China. Methods: This longitudinal study included 8727 participants from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (CMEC) in less developed regions, all participating in baseline and a follow-up survey. MASLD was defined as hepatic steatosis, along with the presence of at least one of five cardiometabolic risks, in addition to limiting excessive alcohol consumption. We applied the parametric g-formula to evaluate the association between changes in drinking levels and MASLD. We further estimated the association between changes in drinking levels and fibrosis scores (AST-to-platelet ratio and fibrosis-4 index) in patients with MASLD. Results: Compared with sustained non-drinking, sustained modest drinking was associated with a higher risk of MASLD (Mean Ratio (MR): 1.127 [95% CI: 1.040–1.242]). Compared to sustained non-drinking, the MR for those transitioning from non-drinking to modest drinking was 1.065 [95% CI: 0.983–1.169], while the MR for those changing from modest drinking to non-drinking was 1.059 [95% CI: 0.965, 1.173]. Non-invasive fibrosis scores tended to increase with modest drinking compared to sustained non-drinking. Conclusion: In the less developed regions of China, sustained moderate drinking was associated with the risk of MASLD compared with sustained non-drinking. Increased drinking showed a trend towards a higher risk of MASLD. This study can inform drinking policies related to MASLD and liver fibrosis in less developed regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the associations between dietary patterns and biological ageing, identify the most recommended dietary pattern for ageing and explore the potential mediating role of gut microbiota in less-developed ethnic minority regions (LEMRs). This prospective cohort study included 8288 participants aged 30–79 years from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort study. Anthropometric measurements and clinical biomarkers were utilised to construct biological age based on Klemera and Doubal's method (KDM-BA) and KDM-BA acceleration (KDM-AA). Dietary information was obtained through the baseline FFQ. Six dietary patterns were constructed: plant-based diet index, healthful plant-based diet index, unhealthful plant-based diet index, healthy diet score, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and alternative Mediterranean diets. Follow-up adjusted for baseline analysis assessed the associations between dietary patterns and KDM-AA. Additionally, quantile G-computation identified significant beneficial and harmful food groups. In the subsample of 764 participants, we used causal mediation model to explore the mediating role of gut microbiota in these associations. The results showed that all dietary patterns were associated with KDM-AA, with DASH exhibiting the strongest negative association (β = −0·91, 95 % CI (–1·19, −0·63)). The component analyses revealed that beneficial food groups primarily included tea and soy products, whereas harmful groups mainly comprised salt and processed vegetables. In mediation analysis, the Synergistetes and Pyramidobacter possibly mediated the negative associations between plant-based diets and KDM-AA (5·61–9·19 %). Overall, healthy dietary patterns, especially DASH, are negatively associated with biological ageing in LEMRs, indicating that Synergistetes and Pyramidobacter may be potential mediators. Developing appropriate strategies may promote healthy ageing in LEMRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We-maps, augmenting traditional maps, confront cold-start problems with prevailing recommendation techniques. The Contrastive Collaborative Filtering (CCF) model tackles We-map's cold-start issues by harnessing co-occurrence signals from warm data in a contrastive framework, thereby refining embeddings through the integration of content and co-occurrence insights. This methodology engenders unique embeddings for We-map entities, utilizing contrastive learning to bridge semantic gaps and enable indirect knowledge transfer, effectively mitigating cold-start challenges. Experimental validation on We-map and various public datasets confirms the method's practicality in addressing cold-start recommendations for We-maps. The study offers a new path for efficient geospatial data dissemination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To summarize the surveillance results of antibiotic resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to 7 antibiotics (penicillin G, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, spectinomycin, cefixime, ceftriaxone and Azithromycin) in Panyu District, Guangzhou, from 2018 to 2022. Methods Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains were isolated from urogenital secretions such as urethra or cervical vagina at the sexually transmitted disease outpatient clinic of Panyu District from 2018 to 2022. The agar dilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the seven antibiotics. Penicilinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae (PPNG) was analyzed by the paper acidometric method. The sensitivity and prevalence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains to antibiotics were compared among those years. Results A total of 438 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were collected. Among them, the rates of PPNG and TRNG were 48. 86% (214/438) and 38.13% (167/438), respectively. The overall resistance rates to tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and azithromycin were 90. 18%, 96. 12%, and 13.47%, respectively. The resistance rate to penicillin was increased significantly from 50.60% in 2018 to 84.00% in 2022 (χ² = 23.59, P < 0.01) . We found no strains resistant to spectinomycin, ceftriaxone, and cefixime. However, the intermediate sensitivity to ceftriaxone and cefixime was increased from 2.41% (2/83) and 3.61% (3/83) in 2018 to 13.00% (13/100) and 25. 00% (25/100) respectively, in 2022 (χ² = 6.76, P < 0.01 and χ² = 14.39, P < 0. 01). Conclusions All Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains collected from 2018 to 2022 are sensitive to erythromycin, ceftriaxone, and cefixime. However, there is a trend of yearly increase in the rates of low-sensitivity to ceftriaxone and cefixime, and PPNG and TRNG are also highly prevalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shape pattern recognition of building footprints stands as a pivotal concern within GIS spatial cognition. In this study, we introduce a novel approach for the shape recognition of building footprints, leveraging t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) dimensionality reduction visualization. First, the Canonical Time Warping (CTW) algorithm is employed to gauge the shape similarity distance of building footprints. Subsequently, the t-SNE model is utilized to map the building footprints, featuring varying numbers of coordinate vertices, onto points within the Cartesian coordinate system. The shape similarity distance serves as the input to the t-SNE model for parameter optimization. Lastly, building footprint shapes are identified through the inherent clustering patterns of points using a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Experimental results demonstrate the method's robustness to the translation, rotation, scaling, and mirroring of geometric objects, while effectively measuring shape similarity between building footprints. Furthermore, diverse types of building footprints are discernible through natural clustering in low-dimensional spaces, aligning closely with human visual perception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantitative analysis of spatio-temporal variations of vegetation cover and its correlation with climate are of great significance for understanding of ecological environment, ecological civilization construction, and sustainable development in semi-arid areas. We investigated the spatio-temporal variations of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and its response to climate change during 2000-2020 in Xilin Gol, Inner Mongolia, by using trend analysis, regression analysis and partial correlation analysis based on the data of MODIS-NDVI, temperature, precipitation, digital elevation model. The results showed that vegetation cover in Xilin Gol had been increased from 2000 to 2020, which generally included three phases, i.e., stable fluctuation, rapid growth, and steady growth. The mean NDVI showed a zonal increasing distribution from southwest to northeast, and had a strong correlation with elevation and population density in Xilin Gol region. The high values of NDVI were mainly in the east, with a significant increasing trend, and the low values were in the southwest, with a local degradation. The sensitivity of vegetation cover to climate change showed spatial and temporal variations. The spatial variation of vegetation was more sensitive to temperature and the interannual variation was sensitive to annual precipitation. In summary, vegetation cover improved overall in Xilin Gol, but there was degradation in some areas. We should formulate differentiated and precise vegetation restoration and ecological environmental protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching quality evaluation of teacher is an important link in education and teaching activities, and an important index to measure the teaching level of teachers. It affects the level of a school and restricts the learning effect of students. The reform of college entrance examination system has brought new challenges to teachers' teaching quality evaluation. The traditional evaluation method based on absolute average score and standard deviation has been unable to meet the needs of the new teaching model. In this paper, by using "CEACV method", it will based on students’ achievement and theory of value-added evaluation, calculate the average score and the coefficient of variation of several examination results in each class and comprehensively consider the mean of average score and coefficient of variation increments from students' class. Then teaching quality evaluation of teachers will be realized, with the mean of increments are weighted and sorted respectively, and get the final ranking with value-added method which based on the mean ranking of average score and coefficient of variation increments. The results show that " CEACV method" is scientific and effective, and can evaluate the teaching quality fairly and justly.