Although fertility is typically regarded as a unitary family decision, a meaningful degree of disagreement in fertility willingness exists within households, especially for having two or more children. As China transitioned from a one-child to multiple-child policy, understanding how such disagreement affects fertility decisions is crucial. Using household data from the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamic Survey, we analyze fertility willingness in married couples. We find that over 10% of families disagree on having two or more children. Disagreement negatively impacts plans to have more children: only the husband wanting two children significantly reduces fertility plans compared to mutual agreement, while only the wife wanting two children does not suppress the plan. This is consistent with the wife's veto power in fertility decisions. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that more equal gender role and higher bargaining power contribute to the wife's veto power, offering insights into the mechanism of intra-household fertility decisions.

This paper provides an overview of the current status of ultrafast and ultra-intense lasers with peak powers exceeding 100 TW and examines the research activities in high-energy-density physics within China. Currently, 10 high-intensity lasers with powers over 100 TW are operational, and about 10 additional lasers are being constructed at various institutes and universities. These facilities operate either independently or are combined with one another, thereby offering substantial support for both Chinese and international research and development efforts in high-energy-density physics.

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.

Recent studies of viscous dissipation mechanisms in impacting droplets have revealed distinct behaviours between the macroscale and nanoscale. However, the transition of these mechanisms from the macroscale to the nanoscale remains unexplored due to limited research at the microscale. This work addresses the gap using the many-body dissipative particle dynamics (MDPD) method. While the MDPD method omits specific atomic details, it retains crucial mesoscopic effects, making it suitable for investigating the impact dynamics at the microscale. Through the analysis of velocity contours within impacting droplets, the research identifies three primary contributors to viscous dissipation during spreading: boundary-layer viscous dissipation from shear flow; rim geometric head loss; and bulk viscous dissipation caused by droplet deformation. This prompts a re-evaluation of viscous dissipation mechanisms at both the macroscale and nanoscale. It reveals that the same three kinds of dissipation are present across all scales, differing only in their relative intensities at each scale. A model of the maximum spreading factor (βmax) incorporating all forms of viscous dissipation without adjustable parameters is developed to substantiate this insight. This model is validated against three distinct datasets representing the macroscale, microscale and nanoscale, encompassing a broad spectrum of Weber numbers, Ohnesorge numbers and contact angles. The satisfactory agreement between the model predictions and the data signifies a breakthrough in establishing a universal βmax model applicable across all scales. This model demonstrates the consistent nature of viscous dissipation mechanisms across different scales and underscores the importance of integrating microscale behaviours to understand macroscale and nanoscale phenomena.

In 2017, Brosseau & Vlahovska (Phys. Rev. Lett, vol. 119, no. 3, 2017, p. 034501) found that, in a strong electric field, a weakly conductive, low-viscosity droplet immersed in a highly conductive, high-viscosity medium formed a lens shape, and liquid rings continuously detached from its equatorial plane and subsequently broke up into satellite droplets. This fascinating multiphase electrohydrodynamic (EHD) phenomenon is known as droplet equatorial streaming. In this paper, based on the unified lattice Boltzmann method framework proposed by Luo et al. (Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A Math. Phys. Engng Sci, vol. 379, no. 2208, 2021, p. 20200397), a novel lattice Boltzmann (LB) model is constructed for multiphase EHD by coupling the Allen–Cahn type of multiphase LB model and two new LB equations to solve the Poisson equation of the electric field and the conservation equation of the surface charge. Using the proposed LB model, we successfully reproduced, for the first time, the complete process of droplet equatorial streaming, including the continuous ejection and breakup of liquid rings on the equatorial plane. In addition, it is found that, under conditions of high electric field strength or significant electrical conductivity contrast, droplets exhibit fingering equatorial streaming that was unknown before. A power-law relationship is discovered for droplet total charge evolution and a theoretical model is then proposed to describe the droplet radius and height over time. The breakup of liquid rings is found to be dominated by capillary instability, while the breakup of liquid fingers is governed by the end-pinching mechanism. Finally, a phase diagram is constructed for fingering equatorial streaming and ring equatorial streaming, and a criterion equation is established for the phase boundary.

Infection mechanism plays a significant role in epidemic models. To investigate the influence of saturation effect, a nonlocal (convolution) dispersal susceptible-infected-susceptible epidemic model with saturated incidence is considered. We first study the impact of dispersal rates and total population size on the basic reproduction number. Yang, Li and Ruan (J. Differ. Equ. 267 (2019) 2011–2051) obtained the limit of basic reproduction number as the dispersal rate tends to zero or infinity under the condition that a corresponding weighted eigenvalue problem has a unique positive principal eigenvalue. We remove this additional condition by a different method, which enables us to reduce the problem on the limiting profile of the basic reproduction number into that of the spectral bound of the corresponding operator. Then we establish the existence and uniqueness of endemic steady states by a equivalent equation and finally investigate the asymptotic profiles of the endemic steady states for small and large diffusion rates to provide reference for disease prevention and control, in which the lack of regularity of the endemic steady state and Harnack inequality makes the limit function of the sequence of the endemic steady state hard to get. Finally, we find whether lowing the movements of susceptible individuals can eradicate the disease or not depends on not only the sign of the difference between the transmission rate and the recovery rate but also the total population size, which is different from that of the model with standard or bilinear incidence.

We investigate the Faraday instabilities of a three-layer fluid system in a cylindrical container containing low-viscosity liquid metal, sodium hydroxide solution and air by establishing the Mathieu equations with considering the viscous model derived by Labrador et al. (J. Phys.: Conf. Ser., vol. 2090, 2021, 012088). The Floquet analysis, asymptotic analysis, direct numerical simulation and experimental method are adopted in the present study. We obtain the dispersion relations and critical oscillation amplitudes of zigzag and varicose modes from the analysis of the Mathieu equations, which agree well with the experimental result. Furthermore, considering the coupling strength of two interfaces, besides zigzag and varicose modes, we find a beating instability mode that contains two primary frequencies, with its average frequency equalling half of the external excitation frequency in the strongly coupled system. In the weakly coupled system, the $A$-interface instability, $B$-interface instability and $A$&$B$-interface instability are defined. Finally, we obtain a critical wavenumber $k_c$ that can determine the transition from zigzag or varicose modes to the corresponding $A$-interface or $B$-interface instability.

Binary nanodroplet collisions have received increasing attention, whilst the identification of collision outcomes and the viscous dissipation mechanism have remained poorly understood. Using molecular dynamics simulations, this study investigates binary nanodroplet collisions over wide ranges of Weber number (We), Ohnesorge number (Oh) and off-centre distances. Coalescence, stretching separation and shattering are identified; however, bouncing, reflexive separation and rotational separation reported for millimetre-sized collisions are not observed, which is attributed to the enhanced viscous effect caused by the ‘natural’ high-viscosity characteristics of nanodroplets. Intriguingly, as an intermediate outcome, holes form in retracting films at relatively high We, arising from the vibration and thermal fluctuation of the films. Due to the combined effects of inertial, capillary and viscous forces, binary nanodroplet collisions fall into the cross-over regime, so estimating viscous dissipation becomes extremely important for distinguishing outcome boundaries. Based on the criterion that stretching separation is triggered only when the residual off-centre kinetic energy exceeds the surface energy required for separation, the boundary equation between coalescence and stretching separation is established. Here, viscous dissipation is calculated by the extracted flow feature from simulations, showing that the ratio of viscous dissipation to the initial kinetic energy depends only on Oh, not on We. Because of complex viscous dissipation mechanisms, the same boundary equation in the cross-over regime has also not been satisfactorily revealed for macroscale collisions. Therefore, the proposed equation is tested for wide data sources from both macroscale and nanoscale collisions, and satisfying agreement is achieved, demonstrating the universality of the equation.

The reading the mind in the eyes test (RMET) – which assesses the theory of mind component of social cognition – is often used to compare social cognition between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. There is, however, no systematic review integrating the results of these studies. We identified 198 studies published before July 2020 that administered RMET to patients with schizophrenia or healthy controls from three English-language and two Chinese-language databases. These studies included 41 separate samples of patients with schizophrenia (total n = 1836) and 197 separate samples of healthy controls (total n = 23 675). The pooled RMET score was 19.76 (95% CI 18.91–20.60) in patients and 25.53 (95% CI 25.19–25.87) in controls (z = 12.41, p < 0.001). After excluding small-sample outlier studies, this difference in RMET performance was greater in studies using non-English v. English versions of RMET (Chi [Q] = 8.54, p < 0.001). Meta-regression analyses found a negative association of age with RMET score and a positive association of years of schooling with RMET score in both patients and controls. A secondary meta-analysis using a spline construction of 180 healthy control samples identified a non-monotonic relationship between age and RMET score – RMET scores increased with age before 31 and decreased with age after 31. These results indicate that patients with schizophrenia have substantial deficits in theory of mind compared with healthy controls, supporting the construct validity of RMET as a measure of social cognition. The different results for English versus non-English versions of RMET and the non-monotonic relationship between age and RMET score highlight the importance of the language of administration of RMET and the possibility that the relationship of aging with theory of mind is different from the relationship of aging with other types of cognitive functioning.

Recently, studies on the use of polymer nanomaterial composites as pour-point depressants (PPD) have drawn much attention, but the crystallization properties and improved rheological performance of waxy crude oils using nanoclay-based composite PPDs have rarely been reported. In this paper, montmorillonite (Mnt) was first organically modified using octadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (C21H46NCl, or stearyltrimethylammonium chloride) in aqueous solution. Then, the organically modified Mnt (OMnt) material was dispersed into a polyoctadecylacrylate (POA) matrix to prepare a POA/OMnt composite PPD by melt blending. The composition, structure, and morphology of Mnt, OMnt, and the POA/OMnt composite PPDs were investigated. The results showed that the OMnt and POA were compatible and that the OMnt was exfoliated into several sheets in the POA matrix. Subsequently, the isothermal crystallization kinetics of the POA/OMnt composite PPDs showed that small amounts of OMnt had a dramatic impact on POA chain motion during crystallization and facilitated POA crystallization. After it was added to a waxy crude oil, the POA/OMnt composite PPDs produced better rheological properties and performance than identical concentrations of the neat POA. The POA/OMnt composite PPDs can act as wax nucleation sites for wax molecule precipitation and result in larger and more compact wax crystal flocs, which adversely affect the formation of a wax crystal network and, thus, favor the improvement of waxy crude oil rheology.

The mass balance of glaciers requires more detailed and continuous observations to understand their seasonal change in relation to climate. Here, we designed and installed an automated real-time monitoring platform at 4645 m a.s.l. on the Baishui River Glacier No.1 to collect continuous high-resolution observational data, and analyzed the seasonal dynamic from glacier movement and surface mass balance from glacier melting and snow accumulation. The results showed that the platform moved northeastward ~12.9 m at a rate of 0.06 ± 0.02 m d−1 between September 2021 and April 2022. The surface mass balance showed a varied temporal period. July and August were the main ablation periods, while ablation decreased and ceased in September. The glacier neither melted nor accumulated much between October and December, but began to have rapid snow accumulation in January. The glacier surface temperature varied with the air temperature and showed significant inter-seasonal differences among monsoon, post-monsoon and winter seasons. The surface mass balance also exhibited a strong response to the air temperature changes, with an average decrease of 1°C the point mass balance increased by 0.11 m w.e. from monsoon to post-monsoon and 0.22 m w.e. from post-monsoon to winter. Moreover, we found snowfall caused a decrease in the glacier surface temperature by increasing the surface albedo.

The association between time-restricted eating (TRE) and the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is less studied. Moreover, whether the association is independent of physical exercise or diet quality or quantity is uncertain. In this nationwide cross-sectional study of 3813 participants, the timing of food intakes was recorded by 24-h recalls; NAFLD was defined through vibration-controlled transient elastography in the absence of other causes of chronic liver disease. OR and 95 % CI were estimated using logistic regression. Participants with daily eating window of ≤ 8 h had lower odds of NAFLD (OR = 0·70, 95 % CI: 0·52, 0·93), compared with those with ≥ 10 h window. Early (05.00–15.00) and late TRE (11.00–21.00) showed inverse associations with NAFLD prevalence without statistical heterogeneity (Pheterogeneity = 0·649) with OR of 0·73 (95 % CI: 0·36, 1·47) and 0·61 (95 % CI: 0·44, 0·84), respectively. Such inverse association seemed stronger in participants with lower energy intake (OR = 0·58, 95 % CI: 0·38, 0·89, Pinteraction = 0·020). There are no statistical differences in the TRE-NAFLD associations according to physical activity (Pinteraction = 0·390) or diet quality (Pinteraction = 0·110). TRE might be associated with lower likelihood of NAFLD. Such inverse association is independent of physical activity and diet quality and appears stronger in individuals consuming lower energy. Given the potential misclassification of TRE based on one- or two-day recall in the analysis, epidemiological studies with validated methods for measuring the habitual timing of dietary intake are warranted.

The oscillatory Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) instability of a planar liquid sheet was experimentally investigated in the presence of an axial oscillating gas flow. An experimental system was initiated to study the oscillatory K–H instability. The surface wave growth rates were measured and compared with theoretical results obtained using the authors’ early linear method. Furthermore, in a larger parameter range experimentally studied, it is interesting that there are four different unstable modes: first disordered mode (FDM), second disordered mode (SDM), K–H harmonic unstable mode (KHH) and K–H subharmonic unstable mode (KHS). These unstable modes are determined by the oscillating amplitude, oscillating frequency and liquid inertia force. The frequencies of KHH are equal to the oscillating frequency; the frequency of KHS equals half the oscillating frequency, while the frequencies of FDM and SDM are irregular. By considering the mechanism of instability, the instability regime maps on the relative Weber number versus liquid Weber number (Werel–Wel) and the Weber number ratio versus the oscillating frequency (Werel/Wel–$\varOmega$s2) were plotted. Among these four modes, KHS is the most unexpected: the frequency of this mode is not equal to the oscillating frequency, but the surface wave can also couple with the oscillating gas flow. Linear instability theory was applied to divide the parameter range between the different unstable modes. According to linear instability theory, K–H and parametric unstable regions both exist. However, note that all four modes (KHH, KHS, FDM and SDM) corresponded primarily to the K–H unstable region obtained from the theoretical analysis. Nevertheless, the parametric unstable mode was also observed when the oscillating frequency and amplitude were relatively low, and the liquid inertia force was relatively high. The surface wave amplitude was small but regular, and the evolution of this wave was similar to that of Faraday waves. The wave oscillating frequency was half that of the surface wave.

Coastal eutrophication and hypoxia remain a persistent environmental crisis despite the great efforts to reduce nutrient loading and mitigate associated environmental damages. Symptoms of this crisis have appeared to spread rapidly, reaching developing countries in Asia with emergences in Southern America and Africa. The pace of changes and the underlying drivers remain not so clear. To address the gap, we review the up-to-date status and mechanisms of eutrophication and hypoxia in global coastal oceans, upon which we examine the trajectories of changes over the 40 years or longer in six model coastal systems with varying socio-economic development statuses and different levels and histories of eutrophication. Although these coastal systems share common features of eutrophication, site-specific characteristics are also substantial, depending on the regional environmental setting and level of social-economic development along with policy implementation and management. Nevertheless, ecosystem recovery generally needs greater reduction in pressures compared to that initiated degradation and becomes less feasible to achieve past norms with a longer time anthropogenic pressures on the ecosystems. While the qualitative causality between drivers and consequences is well established, quantitative attribution of these drivers to eutrophication and hypoxia remains difficult especially when we consider the social economic drivers because the changes in coastal ecosystems are subject to multiple influences and the cause–effect relationship is often non-linear. Such relationships are further complicated by climate changes that have been accelerating over the past few decades. The knowledge gaps that limit our quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the human-coastal ocean nexus are identified, which is essential for science-based policy making. Recognizing lessons from past management practices, we advocate for a better, more efficient indexing system of coastal eutrophication and an advanced regional earth system modeling framework with optimal modules of human dimensions to facilitate the development and evaluation of effective policy and restoration actions.

Environmental violation by enterprises is a common problem in environmental management worldwide. To restrict enterprises' environmental pollution behaviors, China has implemented a public supervision system based on environmental information publicity, which guides the public to participate in environmental governance and supervises enterprises' environmental pollution behaviors. This study exploits a quasi-natural experiment based on the disclosure policy of the Pollution Information Transparency Index in China from 2008 and the difference-in-differences method to evaluate the disclosure effect of public supervision on enterprises' environmental violations, and to examine its environmental benefits and their realization path. We find that the public supervision system is conducive to the disclosure of enterprises' environmental violations. At the same time, public supervision has achieved the expected environmental benefits, mainly realized by reducing enterprises' output to reduce polluting emissions, and this mechanism is more obvious for high-polluting enterprises.

Previously reported wearable systems for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have been focused on the detection of abnormal gait. They suffered from limited accuracy, large latency, poor durability, comfort, and convenience for daily use. Herewith we report an intelligent wearable system (IWS) that can accurately detect abnormal gait in real-time and provide timely cueing for PD patients. The system features novel sensitive, comfortable and durable plantar pressure sensing insoles with a highly compressed data set, an accurate and fast gait algorithm, and wirelessly controlled timely sensory cueing devices. A total of 29 PD patients participated in the first phase without cueing for developing processes of the algorithm, which achieved an accuracy of over 97% for off-line detection of freezing of gait (FoG). In the second phase with cueing, the evaluation of the whole system was conducted with 16 PD subjects via trial and a questionnaire survey. This system demonstrated an accuracy of 94% for real-time detection of FoG and a mean latency of 0.37 s between the onset of FoG and cueing activation. In questionnaire survey, 88% of the PD participants confirmed that this wearable system could effectively enhance walking, 81% thought that the system was comfortable and convenient, and 70% overcame the FoG. Therefore, the IWS makes it an effective, powerful, and convenient tool for enhancing the mobility of people with PD.