In rural China, male offspring are traditionally regarded as the primary heirs of household assets, particularly land. This study examines the impact of offspring gender composition on long-term agricultural investment behavior, using commercial organic fertilizer application as an example of a strategic long-term investment in farmland. Based on cross-sectional data from 4090 rice farming households across 10 cities (counties) in Hubei province, collected between 2021 and 2023, this analysis identifies three key findings. First, the absence of male offspring significantly reduces long-term agricultural investments, a result that remains robust even when addressing potential endogeneity biases using instrumental variable techniques. Second, households without male heirs exhibit stronger present-oriented preferences and diminished social capital, which further hinder long-term agricultural investments. Third, the negative impact of not having male offspring is more pronounced when the current agricultural decision-maker is male and when land marketization is underdeveloped. These findings underscore the complex interplay between gender norms and agricultural behavior, revealing significant socioeconomic implications of inheritance practices. The study provides insights into addressing these challenges by emphasizing the importance of promoting gender equality and advancing land marketization to enhance equitable land use and support long-term agricultural investment.

The dynamic behaviour of helicopter during water impact, considering variations in initial downward velocity and pitching angle, have been investigated numerically and theoretically in the present study. The air-water two-phase flows are simulated by solving unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations enclosed by standard $k - \omega $ turbulence model. A treatment for computational domain in combination with a global dynamic mesh technique is applied to deal with the relative motion between the helicopter and water. Results indicate that the initial downward velocity of helicopter exhibits behaviour similar to that of a V-shaped body impacting on water, as does the initial pitching angle. To extend the theoretical approach for predicting the kinematic parameters during helicopter ditching, a shape factor capturing the combined effect of various attributes and an average deadrise angle for asymmetric wedges are also introduced.

Prehistoric humans seem to have preferred inhabiting small river basins, which were closer in distance to most settlements compared to larger rivers. The Holocene landscape evolution is considered to have played a pivotal role in shaping the spatiotemporal patterns of these settlements. In this study, we conducted comprehensive research on the relationship between landscape evolution and settlement distribution within the Huangshui River basin, which is a representative small river in Central China with numerous early settlements, including a prehistoric city known as the Wangjinglou site (WJL). Using geoarchaeological investigations, optically stimulated luminescence dating, pollen analysis, and grain-size analysis, we analyzed the characteristics of the Holocene environment. The results indicate the presence of two distinct geomorphic systems, namely the red clay hills and the river valley. The red clay hills, formed in the Neogene, represent remnants of the Songshan piedmont alluvial fan that was eroded by rivers. There are three grades of terraces within the river valley. T3 is a strath terrace and formed around 8.0 ka. Both T2 and T1 are fill terraces, which were developed around 4.0 ka and during the historical period, respectively. The sedimentary features and pollen analysis indicate the existence of an ancient lake-swamp on the platform during 11.0–9.0 ka. This waterbody gradually shrank during 9.0–8.0 ka, and ultimately disappeared after 8.0 ka. Since then, the development of large-scale areas of water ceased on the higher geomorphic units. River floods also cannot reach the top of these high geomorphic units, where numerous prehistoric settlements are located, including the Xia–Shang cities of the WJL site. Our research demonstrates that landscape stability supported the long-term and sustainable development of ancient cultures and facilitated the establishment of the WJL ancient cities in the region.

For the pulse shaping system of the SG-II-up facility, we propose a U-shaped convolutional neural network that integrates multi-scale feature extraction capabilities, an attention mechanism and long short-term memory units, which effectively facilitates real-time denoising of diverse shaping pulses. We train the model using simulated datasets and evaluate it on both the simulated and experimental temporal waveforms. During the evaluation of simulated waveforms, we achieve high-precision denoising, resulting in great performance for temporal waveforms with frequency modulation-to-amplitude modulation conversion (FM-to-AM) exceeding 50%, exceedingly high contrast of over 300:1 and multi-step structures. The errors are less than 1% for both root mean square error and contrast, and there is a remarkable improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio by over 50%. During the evaluation of experimental waveforms, the model can obtain different denoised waveforms with contrast greater than 200:1. The stability of the model is verified using temporal waveforms with identical pulse widths and contrast, ensuring that while achieving smooth temporal profiles, the intricate details of the signals are preserved. The results demonstrate that the denoising model, trained utilizing the simulation dataset, is capable of efficiently processing complex temporal waveforms in real-time for experiments and mitigating the influence of electronic noise and FM-to-AM on the time–power curve.

Stimulated Raman scattering is a third-order nonlinear optical effect that is not only effective for wavelength converting laser output, but also for single longitudinal-mode output due to the absence of spatial hole burning. Diamond is a prominent Raman-active medium that has significant potential for linewidth narrowing and wavelength converting lasers at high power levels due to its high thermal conductivity, long Raman frequency shift and wide spectral transmission range. In this work we utilize diamond in a resonantly mode-matched external cavity to achieve cascaded Raman conversion of a 1064 nm laser. By fine-tuning the length of this external cavity, we can obtain narrow linewidth emission at 1240 and 1485 nm. When operating at maximum power, the measured linewidths were more than twofold narrower than the linewidth of the fundamental field. In addition, the noise levels of the Stokes fields are lower than that of the fundamental field throughout the entire noise frequency range, and the intrinsic linewidth of the second Stokes field, which is expressed at the hertz level (~3.6 Hz), is decreased by approximately three orders of magnitude compared to that of the pump. This work represents the first measurement and analysis of the linewidth and noise characteristics of cascaded diamond Raman lasers and, significantly, offers a new means by which high-power, narrow linewidth laser output can be produced from wavelength-converted laser systems.

Our study aimed to develop and validate a nomogram to assess talaromycosis risk in hospitalized HIV-positive patients. Prediction models were built using data from a multicentre retrospective cohort study in China. On the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we collected data from 1564 hospitalized HIV-positive patients in four hospitals from 2010 to 2019. Inpatients were randomly assigned to the training or validation group at a 7:3 ratio. To identify the potential risk factors for talaromycosis in HIV-infected patients, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. Through multivariate logistic regression, we determined ten variables that were independent risk factors for talaromycosis in HIV-infected individuals. A nomogram was developed following the findings of the multivariate logistic regression analysis. For user convenience, a web-based nomogram calculator was also created. The nomogram demonstrated excellent discrimination in both the training and validation groups [area under the ROC curve (AUC) = 0.883 vs. 0.889] and good calibration. The results of the clinical impact curve (CIC) analysis and decision curve analysis (DCA) confirmed the clinical utility of the model. Clinicians will benefit from this simple, practical, and quantitative strategy to predict talaromycosis risk in HIV-infected patients and can implement appropriate interventions accordingly.

Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation is effective in improving cardiovascular disease risk factor management, cardiopulmonary function, and quality of life. However, the precise mechanisms underlying exercise-induced cardioprotection remain elusive. Recent studies have shed light on the beneficial functions of noncoding RNAs in either exercise or illness models, but only a limited number of noncoding RNAs have been studied in both contexts. Hence, the present study aimed to elucidate the pathophysiological implications and molecular mechanisms underlying the association among exercise, noncoding RNAs, and cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, the present study analysed the most effective and personalized exercise prescription, serving as a valuable reference for guiding the clinical implementation of cardiac rehabilitation in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Skeletal muscle is of great importance for human activity and quality of life, as its loss contributes greatly to immobilisation, especially for aged individuals. An increased dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins may be beneficial for muscle loss because of ageing. However, the quantitative relationship between total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of antioxidant vitamins and muscle mass is undetermined. Totally, 4009 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were included. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed with demographic, lifestyle and dietary intake adjustment factors. The dose saturation effect was also determined by a saturation effect analysis. Subgroup analysis was performed for age and sex. In the fully adjusted model, per unit increase of dietary TAC was associated with an increase of 0·018 g/kg appendicular lean mass (95 % CI 0·007, 0·029), 0·014 g/kg trunk lean mass (95 % CI 0·004, 0·024) and 0·035 g/kg total lean mass (95 % CI 0·014, 0·055). TAC was associated with a decrease of 0·004 kg/kg total percent fat (95 % CI −0·006, −0·002), 0·005 kg/kg trunk percent fat (95 % CI −0·007, −0·002) and 0·003 kg/m2 BMI (95 % CI −0·006, −0·001) at the same time. Subgroup analysis indicated that women and adults < 50 years may experience the most significant association between TAC and skeletal muscle mass. We revealed a positive correlation between TAC and lean body mass and a negative association between TAC and body fat and BMI. Saturation values were found among people aged 40–59 years. Age and sex mediate these associations.

Choline and betaine are important in the body, from cell membrane components to methyl donors. We aimed to investigate trends in dietary intake and food sources of total choline, individual choline forms and betaine in Chinese adults using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) 1991–2011, a prospective cohort with a multistage, random cluster design. Dietary intake was estimated using three consecutive 24-h dietary recalls in combination with a household food inventory. Linear mixed-effect models were constructed using R software. A total of 11 188 men and 12 279 women aged 18 years or older were included. Between 1991 and 2011, total choline intake increased from 219·3 (95 % CI 215·1, 223·4) mg/d to 269·0 (95 % CI 265·6, 272·5) mg/d in men and from 195·6 (95 % CI 191·8, 199·4) mg/d to 240·4 (95 % CI 237·4, 243·5) mg/d in women (both P-trends < 0·001). Phosphatidylcholine was the major form of dietary choline, and its contribution to total choline increased from 46·9 % in 1991 to 58·8 % in 2011. Cereals were the primary food source of total choline before 2000, while eggs had ranked at the top since 2004. Dietary betaine intake was relatively steady over time with a range of 134·0–151·5 mg/d in men (P-trend < 0·001) and 111·7–125·3 mg/d in women (P-trend > 0·05). Chinese adults experienced a significant increase in dietary intake of choline, particularly phosphatidylcholine during 1991–2011 and animal-derived foods have replaced plant-based foods as the main food sources of choline. Betaine intake remained relatively stable over time. Future efforts should address the health effects of these changes.

We report on an improved ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet thin-disk multi-pass amplifier for kilowatt-level ultrafast lasers, showcasing excellent beam quality. At a repetition rate of 800 kHz, the 6.8 ps, 276 W seed laser is amplified up to an average power of 1075 W, corresponding to a pulse energy of 1.34 mJ. The 36-pass amplifier is designed as a compact mirror array in which the beam alternately propagates between the mirrors and the disk by a quasi-collimated state. We adopted a quasi-collimated propagation to confine stray and diffracted light by the slight curvature of the disk, which enables us to achieve an outstanding extraction efficiency of up to 57% with excellent beam quality in stable laser operation at high power. The beam quality at 1075 W was measured to be M2 < 1.51. Furthermore, stability testing was demonstrated with a root-mean-square power fluctuation of less than 1.67% for 10 min.

One species-general life history (LH) principle posits that challenging childhood environments are coupled with a fast or faster LH strategy and associated behaviors, while secure and stable childhood environments foster behaviors conducive to a slow or slower LH strategy. This coupling between environments and LH strategies is based on the assumption that individuals’ internal traits and states are independent of their external surroundings. In reality, individuals respond to external environmental conditions in alignment with their intrinsic vitality, encompassing both physical and mental states. The present study investigated attachment as an internal mental state, examining its role in mediating and moderating the association between external environmental adversity and fast LH strategies. A sample of 1169 adolescents (51% girls) from 9 countries was tracked over 10 years, starting from age 8. The results confirm both mediation and moderation and, for moderation, secure attachment nullified and insecure attachment maintained the environment-LH coupling. These findings suggest that attachment could act as an internal regulator, disrupting the contingent coupling between environmental adversity and a faster pace of life, consequently decelerating human LH.

High-elevation environments present harsh challenges for the pursuit of agropastoral subsistence strategies and relatively little is known about the mechanisms early communities employed to adapt to such locations successfully. This article presents the sequential carbon and oxygen analysis of archaeological caprine teeth from Bangga (c. 3000–2200 BP), which is approximately 3750masl on the Tibetan Plateau. Made visible through this method, intra-tooth variation in isotopic composition allows insights into herding strategies that possibly included the provisioning of livestock with groundwater and agricultural fodder and summer grazing in saline or marsh environments. Such intensive provisioning differs markedly from lower-elevation agropastoralism.

The complexity of the settlement pattern of hunter-gatherers is an underexplored issue in Tibetan archaeology; the multi-year survey and excavations at the Xiada Co site aim to address this situation. The project has provided evidence of long-term human occupation since the Early Holocene and has revealed the earliest human residential structures in Tibet.

In order to improve the positioning accuracy of industrial robots, this paper proposes a global calibration method for planar parallel robot considering joint errors, which solves the problem that the existing calibration methods only consider part of the error sources and the calibration accuracy is poor, and improves the calibration efficiency and robot positioning accuracy. Consequently, it improves calibration efficiency and the overall precision of robot positioning. Firstly, the error model of overdetermined equations combined with structural parameters is established, and the global sensitivity of each error source is analyzed. Based on the measurement data of laser tracker, the local error source is identified by the least square method, which improves the local error accuracy by 88.6%. Then, a global error spatial interpolation method based on inverse distance weighting method is proposed, and the global accuracy is improved by 59.16%. Finally, the radial basis function neural network error prediction model with strong nonlinear approximation function is designed for global calibration, and the accuracy is improved by 63.05%. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. This study not only provides technical support for the engineering application of this experimental platform but also provides theoretical guidance for the improvement of the accuracy of related robot platforms.

A cycle C of a graph G is dominating if $V(C)$ is a dominating set and $V(G)\backslash V(C)$ is an independent set. Wu et al. [‘Degree sums and dominating cycles’, Discrete Mathematics 344 (2021), Article no. 112224] proved that every longest cycle of a k-connected graph G on $n\geq 3$ vertices with $k\geq 2$ is dominating if the degree sum is more than $(k+1)(n+1)/3$ for any $k+1$ pairwise nonadjacent vertices. They also showed that this bound is sharp. In this paper, we show that the extremal graphs G for this condition satisfy $(n-2)/3K_1\vee (n+1)/3K_2 \subseteq G \subseteq K_{(n-2)/3}\vee (n+1)/3K_2$ or $2K_1\vee 3K_{(n-2)/3}\subseteq G \subseteq K_2\vee 3K_{(n-2)/3}.$

Tree-ring cellulose is a commonly used material for radiocarbon analysis. Extracting cellulose is labor-consuming and several devices that enable batchwise extraction have been developed. However, these devices bear the risk of sample contamination. The present study describes a new device which improves upon two aspects of currently available devices. First, to prevent cross-sample-contamination, we redesigned the drainage module to enable independent removal of chemical waste from each individual sample funnel. Second, we added covers to the sample funnels to reduce the risk of external contamination. Cellulose purity (i.e., holocellulose) was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. Furthermore, accuracy of the radiocarbon analysis was confirmed by results of 14C-blank samples and samples of known age. In conclusion, while maintaining labor-saving, our modified device significantly reduces the risk of sample contamination during extraction of tree-ring cellulose.