The ubiquitous marine radiocarbon reservoir effect (MRE) constrains the construction of reliable chronologies for marine sediments and the further comparison of paleoclimate records. Different reference values were suggested from various archives. However, it remains unclear how climate and MREs interact. Here we studied two pre-bomb corals from the Hainan Island and Xisha Island in the northern South China Sea (SCS), to examine the relationship between MRE and regional climate change. We find that the MRE from east of Hainan Island is mainly modulated by the Southern Asian Summer Monsoon-induced precipitation (with 11.4% contributed to seawater), rather than wind induced upwelling. In contrast, in the relatively open seawater of Xisha Island, the MRE is dominated by the East Asian Winter Monsoon, with relatively more negative (lower) ΔR values associated with high wind speeds, implying horizontal transport of seawater. The average SCS ΔR value relative to the Marine20 curve is –161±39 14C years. Our finding highlights the essential role of monsoon in regulating the MRE in the northern SCS, in particularly the tight bond between east Asian winter monsoon and regional MRE.

Trauma is a significant health issue that not only leads to immediate death in many cases but also causes severe complications, such as sepsis, thrombosis, haemorrhage, acute respiratory distress syndrome and traumatic brain injury, among trauma patients. Target protein identification technology is a vital technique in the field of biomedical research, enabling the study of biomolecular interactions, drug discovery and disease treatment. It plays a crucial role in identifying key protein targets associated with specific diseases or biological processes, facilitating further research, drug design and the development of treatment strategies. The application of target protein technology in biomarker detection enables the timely identification of newly emerging infections and complications in trauma patients, facilitating expeditious medical interventions and leading to reduced post-trauma mortality rates and improved patient prognoses. This review provides an overview of the current applications of target protein identification technology in trauma-related complications and provides a brief overview of the current target protein identification technology, with the aim of reducing post-trauma mortality, improving diagnostic efficiency and prognostic outcomes for patients.

Energy loss of protons with 90 and 100 keV energies penetrating through a hydrogen plasma target has been measured, where the electron density of the plasma is about 1016 cm−3 and the electron temperature is about 1-2 eV. It is found that the energy loss of protons in the plasma is obviously larger than that in cold gas and the experimental results based on the Bethe model calculations can be demonstrated by the variation of effective charge of protons in the hydrogen plasma. The effective charge remains 1 for 100 keV protons, while the value for 90 keV protons decreases to be about 0.92. Moreover, two empirical formulae are employed to extract the effective charge.

Semiconductor photocatalysis has been regarded as one of the most promising methods for treatment of Cr(VI)-containing wastewater, but the high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers and photocorrosion have limited severely its practical application. The objective of the current study was to employ a layered double hydroxide (LDH) to mitigate these problems by designing and constructing a multiple heterojunction system of g-C3N4/LDH/Ag3PO4 (CNLDHAP) through a two-step hydrothermal route. The structures, morphologies, chemical states, and optical properties of the products were investigated systematically. The CNLDHAP composite showed superior photocatalytic activity for Cr(VI) reduction than that of the individual components under visible-light irradiation. The composite exhibited high photocatalytic reduction stability after five recycles. The enhanced photocatalytic performance may originate from the very efficient separation of photogenerated carriers of the multiple heterojunction system. Possible photocatalytic mechanisms for the reduction of Cr(VI) over the CNLDHAP composite photocatalyst are proposed.

The comparisons among 126 14C dates of Carex samples including separated leaf and root parts with acid (A)-treatment and acid-base-acid (ABA)-treatment, and 48 published 14C dates of bulk peat plants on a 92-cm core from Jinchuan Mire in NE China, indicate old carbon influence (OCI) on the 14C dates. The OCI varies with plant species, pretreatment and peat depth. In vascular peat plants such as Carex, humin fractions (remains after ABA treatment) and humic acids are representative of the original plant precursor, while fulvic acids are regarded as the secondary mobile product which should be removed for 14C dating. ABA- treatment removes both fulvic acids and humic acids, whereas A-treatment gets rid of only fulvic acids. Carex roots uptake more dissolved CO2 in peat water. Carex leaves may use more CO2 (involving degassing CO2) above the peat surface. By removing humic acids throughout ABA treatment, the OCI may vary differently over depth (time). ABA treatment cannot eliminate the fixed OCI in humin fractions of vascular peat plants, instead, this treatment may enhance OCI by removing humic acid which may represent the true age of the plants. In addition, Bacon model results on this core could not show rapid changes in accumulation rate.

The presence of obstacles in the propagation path is a critical factor in air-to-ground (AG) communication. The behavior of wireless signal propagation depends on several variables, such as frequency, building height, elevation angle, and street design. This paper aims to compare the three established line of sight (LOS) probability model based on actual site data, including the building geometry in suburban environment. The comparison between these three models using the site data provide a guideline for selecting the LOS probability model based on the optimistic and pessimistic predictions. The shadowing loss was evaluated at frequencies 2 and 3.5 GHz with an elevation angle of 20° in two suburban locations at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. Three prediction models, ITU-R P.1410-5, Holis and Pechac, and Pang et al., available in the literature were used to identify and compare the line-of-sight probability. By focusing on the shadowing model in suburban area, the guideline for optimizing LOS communications or navigation in these challenging environments can be developed. The finding highlights the importance of considering building height in AG communication for network performance evaluation and design.

Species of Baylisascaris (Nematoda: Ascarididae) are of great veterinary and zoonotic significance, owing to cause Baylisascariosis or Baylisascariasis in wildlife, captive animals and humans. However, the phylogenetic relationships of the current 10 Baylisascaris species remain unclear. Moreover, our current knowledge of the detailed morphology and morphometrics of the important zoonotic species B. procyonis is still insufficient. The taxonomical status of B. procyonis and B. columnaris remains under debate. In the present study, the detailed morphology of B. procyonis was studied using light and scanning electron microscopy based on newly collected specimens from the raccoon Procyon lotor (Linnaeus) in China. The results of the ASAP analysis and Bayesian inference (BI) using the 28S, ITS, cox1 and cox2 genetic markers did not support that B. procyonis and B. columnaris represent two distinct species. Integrative morphological and molecular assessment challenged the validity of B. procyonis, and suggested that B. procyonis seems to represent a synonym of B. columnaris. Molecular phylogenetic results indicated that the species of Baylisascaris were grouped into 4 clades according to their host specificity. The present study provided new insights into the taxonomic status of B. procyonis and preliminarily clarified the phylogenetic relationships of Baylisascaris species.

Everyone faces uncertainty on a daily basis. Two kinds of probability expressions, verbal and numerical, have been used to characterize the uncertainty that we face. Because our cognitive concept of living things differs from that of non-living things, and distinguishing cognitive concepts might have linguistic markers, we designed four studies to test whether people use different probability expressions when faced with animate or inanimate uncertainty. We found that verbal probability is the preferred way to express animate uncertainty, whereas numerical probability is the preferred way to express inanimate uncertainty. The “verbal-animate” and “numerical-inanimate” associations were robust enough to persist when tested with forced-choice response patterns regardless of the information (e.g., equally likely outcomes, frequencies, or personal beliefs) used to construct probabilities of events. When the response pattern was changed to free-responses, the associations were evident unless the subjects were asked to write their own probability predictions for vague uncertainty. Given that the world around us consists of both animate (i.e., living) and inanimate (i.e., non-living) things, “verbal-animate” and “numerical-inanimate” associations may play a major role in risk communication and may otherwise be useful for practitioners and consultants.

The study investigated the strategies used by Chinese students in inferring meanings of unfamiliar words and the influential factors of successful use of different lexical inferencing strategies. A total of 104 fourth graders inferred 36 unfamiliar semitransparent compound words in three conditions: word in isolation, contextual information only, and both word and context. Results revealed that students were more likely to obtain the correct meaning of words when both morphological information and contextual information were available. The likelihood of using a morpheme-based or context-based lexical inferencing strategy was strongly influenced by the presentation condition of target words and precursors. Students with higher vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability were more sensitive to morphological and contextual information and were able to synthesize multiple sources of information, whereas children with lower vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability showed difficulties in integration and tended to overly rely on morphological information. The findings reveal the interactions between available source information and individual differences in vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension in predicting lexical inferencing and have implications for vocabulary and reading instruction.

Since the first Trademark Law was enacted in China in 1982, the Chinese intellectual property rights (IPR) system has undergone significant changes in both the design of the legislation and its enforcement. In this article, we analyze the evolution of IPR legislation and enforcement in China. To this end, we illustrate the evolutionary changes of the Chinese IPR system and analyze the changes introduced in four revisions (1992–1993, 2000–2001, 2008–2013, and 2019–2020). Our analysis shows that Patent Law, Trademark Law, and Copyright Law have been substantially enhanced, especially since 2000, when China improved its IPR system to comply with the TRIPS Agreement and join the WTO, and especially the most recent amendments of these three IP Laws. We discuss the number of IPR infringement cases handled by both relevant administrative authorities and courts to analyze IPR enforcement in China. Results indicate that the development of IPR protection enforcement followed the improvement of relevant IPR laws. The two revisions introduced after 2008, changes in the Chinese IPR system, and an increasing number of IPR infringement cases handled by relevant authorities also suggest the willingness of the Chinese government to further enhance its IPR protection.

The household registration (hukou) system has been widely recognized as a key contributory factor to social inequality and tensions in China yet it remains intact despite a series of institutional reforms. What explains the resilience of the system? In this study, we address this puzzle by drawing on policy documents, statistical data and interviews. We argue that the hukou system remains because it is used to protect the beneficiaries of welfare provision and to ensure pivotal groups continue to offer political support. We find that owing to the reforms, a formidable barrier has been erected between the guarded cities and other regions to protect healthcare and education resources from inbound migrant workers. Consequently, the institutional reforms of the hukou system serve as a political contrivance for the survival of the Chinese party-state regime. The findings contribute to emerging literature on China's political control by elaborating political elites’ subtle tactics through various institutions at central and local levels. We expect the new “Great Wall” established under Xi's administration to be an even stronger barrier than before for migrants during the current pandemic and in the future.

This study investigates the mechanism by which maternal protein restriction induces hepatic autophagy-related gene expression in the offspring of rats. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a control diet (C, 18 % energy from protein) or a low-protein diet (LP, 8·5 % energy from protein) during gestation, followed by the control diet during lactation and post-weaning. Liver tissue was collected from the offspring at postnatal day 38 and divided into four groups according to sex and maternal diet (F-C, F-LP, M-C and M-LP) for further analysis. Autophagy-related mRNA and protein levels were determined by real-time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was performed to investigate the interactions between transcription factors and autophagy-related genes. Protein levels of p- eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2a and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) were increased only in the female offspring born to dams fed the LP diet. Correlatively, the mRNA expression of hepatic autophagy-related genes including Map1lc3b, P62/Sqstm1, Becn1, Atg3, Atg7 and Atg10 was significantly greater in the F-LP group than in the F-C group. Furthermore, ChIP results showed greater ATF4 and C/EBP homology protein (CHOP) binding at the regions of a set of autophagy-related genes in the F-LP group than in the F-C group. Our data demonstrated that a maternal LP diet transcriptionally programmed hepatic autophagy-related gene expression only in female rat offspring. This transcriptional programme involved the activation of the eIF2α/ATF4 pathway and intricate regulation by transcription factors ATF4 and CHOP.

Sarcopenic obesity is regarded as a risk factor for the progression and development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Since male sex is a risk factor for NAFLD and skeletal muscle mass markedly varies between the sexes, we examined whether sex influences the association between appendicular skeletal muscle mass to visceral fat area ratio (SVR), that is, an index of skeletal muscle mass combined with abdominal obesity, and the histological severity of NAFLD. The SVR was measured by bioelectrical impedance in a cohort of 613 (M/F = 443/170) Chinese middle-aged individuals with biopsy-proven NAFLD. Multivariable logistic regression and subgroup analyses were used to test the association between SVR and the severity of NAFLD (i.e. non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) or NASH with the presence of any stage of liver fibrosis). NASH was identified by a NAFLD activity score ≥5, with a minimum score of 1 for each of its categories. The presence of fibrosis was classified as having a histological stage ≥1. The SVR was inversely associated with NASH in men (adjusted OR 0·62; 95 % CI 0·42, 0·92, P = 0·017 for NASH, adjusted OR 0·65; 95 % CI 0·43, 0·99, P = 0·043 for NASH with the presence of fibrosis), but not in women (1·47 (95 % CI 0·76, 2·83), P = 0·25 for NASH, and 1·45 (95 % CI 0·74, 2·83), P = 0·28 for NASH with the presence of fibrosis). There was a significant interaction for sex and SVR (Pinteraction = 0·017 for NASH and Pinteraction = 0·033 for NASH with the presence of fibrosis). Our findings show that lower skeletal muscle mass combined with abdominal obesity is strongly associated with the presence of NASH only in men.

The present study investigated the effects of exposure to Chinese orthography on learning phonological forms of new words in learners of Chinese as a second language. A total of 30 adult learners of Chinese studied spoken label and picture associations presented either with phonologically accurate characters, characters with partial phonological information, or no orthography. Half the phonologically accurate or partially accurate characters were semantically transparent or opaque. Spoken labels were recalled without orthography presence. Results showed that exposure to phonologically accurate and semantically transparent characters during learning did not enhance the recall of the spoken labels compared to no orthography. But exposure to characters with partial phonological information and semantically opaque characters significantly hindered vocabulary learning. The implications for Chinese as a second language vocabulary acquisition and instruction are discussed.

Advanced telecommunication systems are moving toward a high data transfer rate and wider bandwidth. The 5G communication network has recently been implemented for such aims. However, 5G networks operating with high operating frequency (typically above 20 GHz) could lead to impairments because of the atmospheric phenomena mainly precipitation and especially heavy rain. To address this, an optimum rain fade margin for the 5G network in Peninsular Malaysia is proposed using 77 sites of the rain-gauge network, which convert 1-h rain data to 1-min rain data by means of the international telecommunication union recommendation (ITU-R) P.837-7 model. Long-term rain attenuation statistics are obtained from ITU-R P.530-17 and the synthetic storm technique. The predicted rain attenuation is also presented in monthly statistics and in rain attenuation contour maps. The analysis showed that at 99.99% of link availability, the optimum rain fade margin operating at 26 GHz link should be in the range of 6.50 to 10 dB and 7 to 11 dB at 28 GHz link for a 5G network. Such information is useful for network operators and system engineers for the operation of 5G terrestrial microwave links in heavy rain regions.

The FNDC5 gene encodes the fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 that is a membrane protein mainly expressed in skeletal muscle, and the FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism may be associated with liver disease severity in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We investigated the influence of the FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism on the relationship between sarcopenia and the histological severity of NAFLD. A total of 370 adult individuals with biopsy-proven NAFLD were studied. The association between the key exposure sarcopenia and the outcome liver histological severity was investigated by binary logistic regression. Stratified analyses were undertaken to examine the impact of FNDC5 rs3480 polymorphism on the association between sarcopenia and the severity of NAFLD histology. Patients with sarcopenia had more severe histological grades of steatosis and a higher prevalence of significant fibrosis and definite non-alcoholic steatohepatitis than those without sarcopenia. There was a significant association between sarcopenia and significant fibrosis (adjusted OR 2·79, 95 % CI 1·31, 5·95, P = 0·008), independent of established risk factors and potential confounders. Among patients with sarcopenia, significant fibrosis occurred more frequently in the rs3480 AA genotype carriers than in those carrying the FNDC5 rs3480 G genotype (43·8 v. 17·2 %, P = 0·031). In the association between sarcopenia and liver fibrosis, there was a significant interaction between the FNDC5 genotype and sarcopenia status (P value for interaction = 0·006). Sarcopenia is independently associated with significant liver fibrosis, and the FNDC5 rs3480 G variant influences the association between sarcopenia and liver fibrosis in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

Sugarcane brown rust, caused by Puccinia melanocephala, is one of the main diseases of sugarcane in China. The identification and discovery of new resistance genes have important theoretical and practical significance for preventing outbreaks of brown rust and ensuring the sustainable production of sugarcane. To screen for polymorphic simple-sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers for localization of brown rust resistance genes, we used two populations that are suitable for genetic linkage map construction and mapping of new resistance genes to construct resistant and susceptible genetic pools. We then screened 449 pairs of primers to identify polymorphic SSR markers in the parental lines and the resistant/susceptible genetic pools. The results showed that 25 pairs of primers directed amplification of polymorphic DNA fragments between the parents of the cross combination ‘Yuetang 03-393’ × ‘ROC 24’, and 16 pairs of primers amplified polymorphic fragments between the parents of the cross combination ‘Liucheng 03-1137’ × ‘Dezhe 93-88’. Four pairs of primers (SMC236CG, SCESSR0928, SCESSR0636 and SCESSR2551) amplified polymorphic DNA fragments between the parental lines and the resistant/susceptible genetic pools in ‘Yuetang 03-393’ × ‘ROC 24’. The results of this study will establish a solid foundation for the mapping of new brown rust resistance genes, genetic linkage map construction and the development of closely-associated molecular markers in sugarcane.