Despite global efforts to end tuberculosis (TB), the goal of preventing catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) due to TB remains unmet. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Data were collected from the Hospital Information System and a survey of TB patients who had completed standardized antituberculosis treatment between January and March 2021. Among the 2 283 participants, the average total expenditure and out-of-pocket expenditure were $1 506.6 (median = $760.5) and $683.6 (median = $437.8), respectively. Health insurance reimbursement reduced CHE by 16.8%, with a contribution rate of 24.9%, and the concentration index changed from -0.070 prereimbursement to -0.099 postreimbursement. However, the contribution of health insurance varied significantly across different economic strata, with contribution rates of 6.4% for the lowest economic group and 53.1% for the highest group. For patients from lower socioeconomic strata, health insurance contributed 10.7% to CHE in the prediagnostic phase and 23.5% during treatment. While social health insurance alleviated the financial burden for TB patients, it did not provide sufficient protection for those in lower economic strata or during the prediagnostic stage. This study underscores the need for more effective and equitable subsidy policies for TB patients .

This paper reports a replication of part of Tavakoli and Foster’s (2008) investigation into the influence of narrative task design on second language (L2) oral performance. The initial study found in part that narratives with both foreground and background information elicited significantly greater syntactic complexity than those with only foreground information. This close replication adds the variable of literacy, conducting the study with adult refugees to New Zealand with low first language (L1) literacy. Participants narrated two of the four cartoon strips in Tavakoli and Foster (2008). In contrast to the initial study, background information in the narrative tasks had no impact on the syntactic complexity, lexical diversity, or fluency of performances. However, given the tendency of participants to omit background events, this outcome is discussed in terms of visual literacy, and aptness to describe rather than connect the cartoon frames. The implications for the use of narrative tasks with such learners are explored.

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.

Paranosema locustae is an environmentally friendly parasitic predator with promising applications in locust control. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was conducted on gonadal tissues of Locusta migratoria males and females infected and uninfected with P. locustae at different developmental stages. A total of 18,635 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in female ovary tissue transcriptomes, with the highest number of DEGs observed at 1 day post-eclosion (7141). In male testis tissue transcriptomes, a total of 32,954 DEGs were identified, with the highest number observed at 9 days post-eclosion (11,245). Venn analysis revealed 25 common DEGs among female groups and 205 common DEGs among male groups. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genome analyses indicated that DEGs were mainly enriched in basic metabolism such as amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, and immune response processes. Protein–protein interaction analysis results indicated that L. migratoria regulates the expression of immune- and reproductive-related genes to meet the body's demands in different developmental stages after P. locustae infection. Immune- and reproductive-related genes in L. migratoria gonadal tissue were screened based on database annotation information and relevant literature. Genes such as Tsf, Hex1, Apolp-III, Serpin, Defense, Hsp70, Hsp90, JHBP, JHE, JHEH1, JHAMT, and VgR play important roles in the balance between immune response and reproduction in gonadal tissues. For transcriptome validation, Tsf, Hex1, and ApoLp-III were selected and verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Correlation analysis revealed that the qRT-PCR expression patterns were consistent with the RNA-Seq results. These findings contribute to further understanding the interaction mechanisms between locusts and P. locustae.

Using both online and offline measures, this study investigates how maternal education and work status (stay-at-home, part-time, full-time) are jointly associated with infants’ word learning ability and vocabulary size. One hundred 24-month-old infants completed a lab-based mutual exclusivity task, which assesses infants’ novel word learning ability. Caregivers reported infants’ productive vocabulary size using the MCDIs. There was no evidence for an association between infants’ productive vocabulary size and maternal education, maternal work status, or their interaction. However, infants’ novel word learning ability was significantly related to both maternal factors and their interaction. The positive association between maternal education and word learning performance was attenuated for infants of part-time and full-time working mothers compared to infants with at home mothers. These findings suggest that using real-time measures with high task demand may better capture developmental differences in infants and expand our understanding of maternal factors contributing to early language development.

Aphis spiraecola Patch is one of the most economically important tree fruit pests worldwide. The pyrethroid insecticide lambda-cyhalothrin is commonly used to control A. spiraecola. In this 2-year study, we quantified the resistance level of A. spiraecola to lambda-cyhalothrin in different regions of the Shaanxi province, China. The results showed that A. spiraecola had reached extremely high resistance levels with a 174-fold resistance ratio (RR) found in the Xunyi region. In addition, we compared the enzymatic activity and expression level of P450 genes among eight A. spiraecola populations. The P450 activity of A. spiraecola was significantly increased in five regions (Xunyi, Liquan, Fengxiang, Luochuan, and Xinping) compared to susceptible strain (SS). The expression levels of CYP6CY7, CYP6CY14, CYP6CY22, P4504C1-like, P4506a13, CYP4CZ1, CYP380C47, and CYP4CJ2 genes were significantly increased under lambda-cyhalothrin treatment and in the resistant field populations. A L1014F mutation in the sodium channel gene was found and the mutation rate was positively correlated with the LC50 of lambda-cyhalothrin. In conclusion, the levels of lambda-cyhalothrin resistance of A. spiraecola field populations were associated with P450s and L1014F mutations. Our combined findings provide evidence on the resistance mechanism of A. spiraecola to lambda-cyhalothrin and give a theoretical basis for rational and effective control of this pest species.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have allowed millions of infertile couples to achieve pregnancy. As an essential part of IVF/ICSI enabling the retrieval of a high number of oocytes in one cycle, controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) treatment mainly composes of the standard long gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) protocol and the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist (GnRH-ant) protocol. However, the effectiveness of GnRH-ant protocol is still debated because of inconsistent conclusions and insufficient subgroup analyses. This systematic review and meta-analysis included a total of 52 studies, encompassing 5193 participants in the GnRH-ant group and 4757 in the GnRH-a group. The findings of this study revealed that the GnRH-ant protocol is comparable with the long GnRH-a protocol when considering live birth as the primary outcome, and it is a favourable protocol with evidence reducing the incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in women undergoing IVF/ICSI, especially in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Further research is needed to compare the subsequent cumulative live birth rate between the two protocols among the general and poor ovarian response patients since those patients have a lower clinical pregnancy rate, fewer oocytes retrieved or fewer high-grade embryos in the GnRH-ant protocol.

Dietary antioxidant indices (DAI) may be potentially associated with relative telomere length (RTL) of leucocytes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between DAI and RTL. A cross-sectional study involving 1656 participants was conducted. A generalised linear regression model and a restricted cubic spline model were used to assess the correlation of DAI and its components with RTL. Generalised linear regression analysis revealed that DAI (β = 0·005, P = 0·002) and the intake of its constituents vitamin C (β = 0·043, P = 0·027), vitamin E (β = 0·088, P < 0·001), Se (β = 0·075, P = 0·003), and Zn (β = 0·075, P = 0·023) were significantly and positively correlated with RTL. Sex-stratified analysis showed that DAI (β = 0·006, P = 0·005) and its constituents vitamin E (β = 0·083, P = 0·012), Se (β = 0·093, P = 0·006), and Zn (β = 0·092, P = 0·034) were significantly and positively correlated with RTL among females. Meanwhile, among males, only vitamin E intake (β = 0·089, P = 0·013) was significantly and positively associated with RTL. Restricted cubic spline analysis revealed linear positive associations between DAI and its constituents’ (vitamin E, Se and Zn) intake and RTL in the total population. Sex-stratified analysis revealed a linear positive correlation between DAI and its constituents’ (vitamin E, Se and Zn) intake and RTL in females. Our study found a significant positive correlation between DAI and RTL, with sex differences.

Rodents and shrews are major reservoirs of various pathogens that are related to zoonotic infectious diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate co-infections of zoonotic pathogens in rodents and shrews trapped in four provinces of China. We sampled different rodent and shrew communities within and around human settlements in four provinces of China and characterised several important zoonotic viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens by PCR methods and phylogenetic analysis. A total of 864 rodents and shrews belonging to 24 and 13 species from RODENTIA and EULIPOTYPHLA orders were captured, respectively. For viral pathogens, two species of hantavirus (Hantaan orthohantavirus and Caobang orthohantavirus) were identified in 3.47% of rodents and shrews. The overall prevalence of Bartonella spp., Anaplasmataceae, Babesia spp., Leptospira spp., Spotted fever group Rickettsiae, Borrelia spp., and Coxiella burnetii were 31.25%, 8.91%, 4.17%, 3.94%, 3.59%, 3.47%, and 0.58%, respectively. Furthermore, the highest co-infection status of three pathogens was observed among Bartonella spp., Leptospira spp., and Anaplasmataceae with a co-infection rate of 0.46%. Our results suggested that species distribution and co-infections of zoonotic pathogens were prevalent in rodents and shrews, highlighting the necessity of active surveillance for zoonotic pathogens in wild mammals in wider regions.

Infant-directed speech (IDS) produced in laboratory settings contains acoustic cues, such as pauses, pitch changes, and vowel-lengthening that could facilitate breaking speech into smaller units, such as syntactically well-formed utterances, and the noun- and verb-phrases within them. It is unclear whether these cues are present in speech produced in more natural contexts outside the lab. We captured LENA recordings of caregiver speech to 12-month-old infants in daylong interactions (N = 49) to address this question. We found that the final positions of syntactically well-formed utterances contained greater vowel lengthening and pitch changes, and were followed by longer pauses, relative to non-final positions. However, we found no evidence that these cues were present at utterance-internal phrase boundaries. Results suggest that acoustic cues marking the boundaries of well-formed utterances are salient in everyday speech to infants and highlight the importance of characterizing IDS in a large sample of naturally-produced speech to infants.

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between dietary patterns and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among Taiwanese individuals. Data were collected using a nationwide cohort study (2001–15) from the Triple-High Database. Dietary intake was assessed using the twenty-group food frequency questionnaire and used to calculate alternate Mediterranean diet (aMED) and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) scores. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares (PLS) regression were used to derive dietary patterns, with incident T2DM as the outcome. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios and 95 % confidence intervals were calculated using time-dependent Cox proportional hazards (Cox PH) regression analysis, and subgroup analyses were performed. A total of 4705 participants were enrolled in the study, and 995 had newly developed T2DM during the median 5⋅28-year follow-up period (30⋅7 per 1000 person-years). Six dietary patterns were extracted (PCA: Western, prudent, dairy and plant-based; PLS: health-conscious, fish-vegetable and fruit-seafood). The highest aMED score quartile had a 25 % (hazard ratio 0⋅75; 95 % CI 0⋅61, 0⋅92; P = 0⋅039) lower risk of T2DM than the lowest quartile. This association remained significant after adjustment (adjusted hazard ratio 0⋅74; 95 % CI 0⋅60, 0⋅91; P = 0⋅010), and no effect modifier was found for aMED. The DASH scores, PCA and PLS dietary patterns were not significant after adjustment. In conclusion, high adherence to a MED-type dietary pattern by Taiwanese foods was associated with a lower risk of T2DM in the Taiwanese population, regardless of unhealthy lifestyle habits.

Oracle bone inscriptions of the late Shang Dynasty (1250–1046 BC) record the burning of jade as a ceremonial sacrifice, a practice now corroborated archaeologically. The origins of ceremonial jade burning, however, are unclear. Using archaeometric methods and experimental archaeology, the authors examine an assemblage of jade objects from the late Liangzhu-period (2600–2300 BC) cemetery of Sidun. The cause of the jades’ variable surface colours has been long debated. The results presented here demonstrate that the colour changes relate to alterations in chemical composition due to exposure to fire. The evidence from Sidun confirms that the burning of jade in China commenced more than a millennium earlier than previously documented.