Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) shows spatiotemporal heterogeneity in China. A spatiotemporal filtering model was constructed and applied to HFMD data to explore the underlying spatiotemporal structure of the disease and determine the impact of different spatiotemporal weight matrices on the results. HFMD cases and covariate data in East China were collected between 2009 and 2015. The different spatiotemporal weight matrices formed by Rook, K-nearest neighbour (KNN; K = 1), distance, and second-order spatial weight matrices (SO-SWM) with first-order temporal weight matrices in contemporaneous and lagged forms were decomposed, and spatiotemporal filtering model was constructed by selecting eigenvectors according to MC and the AIC. We used MI, standard deviation of the regression coefficients, and five indices (AIC, BIC, DIC, R2, and MSE) to compare the spatiotemporal filtering model with a Bayesian spatiotemporal model. The eigenvectors effectively removed spatial correlation in the model residuals (Moran’s I < 0.2, p > 0.05). The Bayesian spatiotemporal model’s Rook weight matrix outperformed others. The spatiotemporal filtering model with SO-SWM was superior, as shown by lower AIC (92,029.60), BIC (92,681.20), and MSE (418,022.7) values, and higher R2 (0.56) value. All spatiotemporal contemporaneous structures outperformed the lagged structures. Additionally, eigenvector maps from the Rook and SO-SWM closely resembled incidence patterns of HFMD.

This paper examines the impact of financially constrained intermediate inputs on within-industry total factor productivity loss. Utilizing exogenous tax reforms in China as a natural experiment, our difference-in-difference analysis reveals that reduced tax burdens lead to increased firm-level intermediate inputs, particularly among financially constrained firms. We incorporate financially constrained intermediate inputs into a partial equilibrium model of firm dynamics. Our calibration suggests that financially constrained intermediate inputs play a quantitatively more important role in accounting for misallocation than financially constrained capital. The presence of financially constrained intermediate inputs introduces a downward bias in the measurement of value-added productivity, especially for firms in the top decile of gross-output productivity. As a result, the average “efficient” levels of capital and labor for the top decile firms in the standard Hsieh and Klenow (2009) exercise are lower than what is truly efficient.

Does the public apply a “double standard” for human rights abuses based on the perpetrator’s alliance status? Research shows that individuals are more supportive of military action against states that violate human rights. However, other studies claim that condemnations of violations are often contingent upon the strategic relationship with the perpetrators. In this paper, we bridge these different strands of literature by examining whether the effect of foreign states’ human rights practices on public support for war depends on the alliance status of the violator. To investigate this interaction, we conducted two preregistered experiments that independently randomized the state’s human rights practices and U.S. alliance status. Both experiments reveal that the alliance status of the human rights violator has a negligible effect on support for war. Consequently, our findings challenge the prevailing notion that the public applies a double standard for human rights violations.

Knowledge of the critical periods of crop–weed competition is crucial for designing weed management strategies in cropping systems. In the Lower Yangtze Valley, China, field experiments were conducted in 2011 and 2012 to study the effect of interference from mixed natural weed populations on cotton growth and yield and to determine the critical period for weed control (CPWC) in direct-seeded cotton. Two treatments were applied: allowing weeds to infest the crop or keeping plots weed-free for increasing periods (0, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 20 wk) after crop emergence. The results show that mixed natural weed infestations led to 35- to 55-cm shorter cotton plants with stem diameters 10 to 13 mm smaller throughout the season, fitting well with modified Gompertz and logistic models, respectively. Season-long competition with weeds reduced the number of fruit branches per plant by 65% to 82%, decreasing boll number per plant by 86% to 96% and single boll weight by approximately 24%. Weed-free seed cotton yields ranged from 2,900 to 3,130 kg ha−1, while yield loss increased with the duration of weed infestation, reaching up to 83% to 96% compared with permanent weed-free plots. Modified Gompertz and logistic models were used to analyze the impact of increasing weed control duration and weed interference on relative seed cotton yield (percentage of season-long weed-free cotton), respectively. Based on a 5% yield loss threshold, the CPWC was found to be from 145 to 994 growing degree days (GDD), corresponding to 14 to 85 d after emergence (DAE). These findings emphasize the importance of implementing effective weed control measures from 14 to 85 DAE in the Lower Yangtze Valley to prevent crop losses exceeding a 5% yield loss threshold.

In order to evaluate the seasonal responses of periphytic protozoan fauna to the antibiotic nitrofurazone at sensitive concentration, a 1-year baseline survey was carried out in Chinese coastal waters of the Yellow Sea. To assess the nitrofurazone (NFZ)-induced toxicokinetics in different season, the test protozoan samples were collected using microscope slides and exposed to the sensitive NFZ concentration of 8 mg ml−1. Differences in species composition and typical species were observed in the test organism fauna in the control and treatment among four seasons. However, the community patterns were significantly shifted under the sensitive concentration, with a part of stressed test samples significantly departed from a respected taxonomic pattern. Therefore, it is suggested that periphytic protozoan fauna may be significantly changed at the same sensitive concentration in both the species composition and community pattern, although there were significant differences in tolerant species among four seasons in marine environments.

The virtual model control (VMC) method establishes a direct correlation model between the end-effector and the main body by selecting appropriate virtual mechanical components. This approach facilitates direct force control while circumventing the necessity for complex dynamic modeling. However, the simplification inherent in this modeling can result in inaccuracies in the calculation of joint driving torques, ultimately diminishing control precision. Moreover, VMC typically depends on predefined models for control, which constrains its adaptability in dynamically complex environments and under varying movement conditions. To address these limitations, this paper proposes the BP-VMC method, which is based on a backpropagation neural network (BPNN). Initially, a quadruped robot model was established through kinematic analysis. Subsequently, a decomposed VMC model was developed, and BPNN was introduced to facilitate the adaptive tuning of virtual parameters. This approach resulted in the creation of a virtual mechanical component model with adaptive capabilities, compensating for errors arising from simplified modeling. Finally, a simulation control system was constructed based on the BP-VMC control framework to validate the optimization of control performance. Simulation experiments demonstrated that, in comparison to traditional VMC methods, the BP-VMC method exhibits enhanced control accuracy and stability, achieving a 30% reduction in trajectory tracking error, a 40% reduction in velocity tracking error, and a 20–30% improvement in instability indices across various working conditions. This evidence underscores the BP-VMC method’s robust adaptability in dynamic environments.

The recent expansion of cross-cultural research in the social sciences has led to increased discourse on methodological issues involved when studying culturally diverse populations. However, discussions have largely overlooked the challenges of construct validity- ensuring instruments are measuring what they are intended to- in diverse cultural contexts, particularly in developmental research. We contend that cross-cultural developmental research poses distinct problems for ensuring high construct validity, owing to the nuances of working with children and that the standard approach of transporting protocols designed and validated in one population to another risks low construct validity. Drawing upon our own and others’ work, we highlight several challenges to construct validity in the field of cross-cultural developmental research, including 1) lack of cultural and contextual knowledge, 2) dissociating developmental and cultural theory and methods, 3) lack of causal frameworks, 4) superficial and short- term partnerships and collaborations, and 5) culturally inappropriate tools and tests. We provide guidelines to address these challenges, including 1) using ethnographic and observational approaches, 2) developing evidence-based causal frameworks, 3) conducting community-engaged and collaborative research, and 4) culture-specific refinements and training. We discuss the need to balance methodological consistency with culture-specific refinements to improve construct validity in cross-cultural developmental research.

The Early-Middle Jurassic impression/compression macroflora and the palynoflora from the Qaidam Basin in the northeastern Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) Plateau have been well studied; however, fossil wood from this region has not been previously documented systematically. Here, we describe an anatomically well-preserved fossil wood specimen from the Lower Jurassic Huoshaoshan Formation at the Dameigou section in northern Qinghai Province, northwestern China. This fossil exhibits typical Metapodocarpoxylon Dupéron-Laudoueneix et Pons anatomy with usually araucarian radial tracheid pits and variable cross-field pits, representing a new record for Metapodocarpoxylon in the Qaidam Basin. This discovery indicates that trees with this type of wood anatomy were not confined to northern Gondwana but also grew in more northerly regions in Laurasia. The wood displays distinct growth rings, with abundant, well-formed earlywood and narrow latewood. This observation, along with previous interpretations based on macroflora, palynoflora and sedimentological data, suggests that a warm and humid climate with mild seasonality prevailed in the region during the Early Jurassic.

In this paper, a novel polarization conversion metasurface (PCM) is proposed. Compared with the conventional receiver-transmitter metasurface units, two metallized via holes are set up to correct the current. It can achieve better polarization conversion from linear to circular and maintain a high reflectivity performance. A patch antenna with an L-probe feed is used as a feeder. The circularly polarized Fabry–Perot resonator antenna (CP-FPRA) consists of the PCM with a 5 × 5 array and a feeder. The measurements indicate a 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 8.6% (22.3–24.3 GHz). And it achieves a maximum gain of 14.2 dBic at 24 GHz, compared to the feed antenna has a gain enhancement of 5.5 dBi (from 8.7 dBi to 14.2 dBic). The proposed CP-FPRA has high gain, a wide AR, and a relatively low profile, providing ideas for subsequent antenna designs.

Psychogenic pseudosyncope is one of the primary causes of transient loss of consciousness in children and adolescents, essentially classified as a conversion disorder that significantly impacts patients’ quality of life. Clinically, psychogenic pseudosyncope shares certain similarities with vasovagal syncope in terms of pre-syncope symptoms and triggers, making it sometimes difficult to differentiate and easily misdiagnosed. Therefore, placing emphasis upon the characteristics of psychogenic pseudosyncope is crucial for early identification and treatment, which holds significant importance for the mental and psychological health of children and adolescents. In the present review, we aimed to address psychogenic pseudosyncope with clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment.

The stability and dynamics of solitary waves propagating along the surface of an inviscid ferrofluid jet in the absence of gravity are investigated analytically and numerically. For the axisymmetric geometry, the problem is shown to be a conservative system with total energy as the Hamiltonian; however, one of the canonical variables differs from those in the classic water-wave problem in the Cartesian coordinate system. The Dirichlet–Neumann operator appearing in the kinetic energy is then expanded as a Taylor series, described in homogeneous powers of the surface displacement. Based on the further analysis of the Dirichlet–Neumann operator, a systematic procedure is proposed to derive reduced model equations of multiple scales in various asymptotic limits from the full Euler equations in the Hamiltonian/Lagrangian framework. Particularly, a fully dispersive model arising from retaining terms valid up to the quartic order in the series expansion of the kinetic energy, which results in quadratic and cubic algebraic nonlinearities in Hamilton's equations and henceforth is abbreviated as the cubic full-dispersion model, is proposed. By comparing bifurcation curves and wave profiles of various types of axisymmetric solitary waves among different model equations, the cubic full-dispersion model is found to agree well with the full Euler equations, even for waves of considerably large amplitudes. The stability properties of axisymmetric solitary waves subjected to longitudinal disturbances are verified with the newly proposed model. Our analytical results, consistent with Saffman's theory, indicate that in the axisymmetric cylindrical system, the stability exchange subjected to superharmonic perturbations also occurs at the stationary point of the speed-energy bifurcation curve. A series of numerical experiments for the stability and dynamics of solitary waves are performed via the numerical time integration of the model equation, and collision interactions between stable solitary waves show non-elastic features.

Data harmonization is an emerging approach to strategically combining data from multiple independent studies, enabling addressing new research questions that are not answerable by a single contributing study. A fundamental psychometric challenge for data harmonization is to create commensurate measures for the constructs of interest across studies. In this study, we focus on a regularized explanatory multidimensional item response theory model (re-MIRT) for establishing measurement equivalence across instruments and studies, where regularization enables the detection of items that violate measurement invariance, also known as differential item functioning (DIF). Because the MIRT model is computationally demanding, we leverage the recently developed Gaussian Variational Expectation–Maximization (GVEM) algorithm to speed up the computation. In particular, the GVEM algorithm is extended to a more complicated and improved multi-group version with categorical covariates and Lasso penalty for re-MIRT, namely, the importance weighted GVEM with one additional maximization step (IW-GVEMM). This study aims to provide empirical evidence to support feasible uses of IW-GVEMM for re-MIRT DIF detection, providing a useful tool for integrative data analysis. Our results show that IW-GVEMM accurately estimates the model, detects DIF items, and finds a more reasonable number of DIF items in a real world dataset. The proposed method has been integrated into R package VEMIRT (https://map-lab-uw.github.io/VEMIRT).

The Northwest Tibet region is defined by several terranes, magmatic belts, basins and sutures, which were primarily shaped by the tectonic activities associated with Proto-, Palaeo- and Neo-Tethys Oceans. However, the basement nature and Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Northwest Tibet region, particularly within the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane, remain largely unknown. The Hongliutan area, located in the northeastern part of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane, contains a critical sequence of Precambrian metamorphic rock strata. Detailed petrological, geochronological, and geochemical analyses of these metamorphic rocks – including plagioclase schist, quartz schist, amphibolite and nearby leucogranite – reveal the intricate processes of tectonic evolution within the Tianshuihai unit. Combining these findings with previous geochronological results is crucial for re-evaluating the nature of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai basement and its Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai basement. Our results reveal the following: (1) the leucogranite and amphibolite, identified as Cambrian igneous rocks, display distinct geochemical signatures indicative of a continental arc origin. These include calc-alkaline characteristics, enrichment in Th, U, Pb, Zr and Hf and depletion in Ba, Nb, Sr and Ti. Their εNd(t) values, close to zero, further support this tectonic setting, with the leucogranite and amphibolite formed at 506 and 522 Ma, respectively. (2) The plagioclase schist and quartz schist are interpreted to be Neoproterozoic volcaniclastic rocks that formed in a rifted (passive) continental margin setting. The quartz schist is particularly rich in detrital zircons, displaying a broad spectrum of 207Pb/206Pb ages, ranging from 901 to 3364 Ma. (3) A significant subset of detrital zircons within the quartz schist exhibits oscillatory zoning, high Th/U ratios and sharp-edged, anhedral-to-subhedral crystal forms, suggesting a derivation from proximal or deep-seated terranes. The concordant U–Pb zircon ages of 2468 and 974 Ma from the quartz schist, along with the 978 Ma age from the inherited zircons in the amphibolite, and the 1.2–2.1 Ga T2DM(Nd) from leucogranite and metamorphic rocks, collectively suggest that the Tianshuihai unit is likely underpinned by a Palaeoproterozoic basement that indicates Neoproterozoic reworking.

Therefore, our findings suggest the presence of a continuous, northwest-southeast trending Palaeoproterozoic basement underlying the entire Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane. An alternative scenario posits that the ancient basement, currently beneath the Tashikuergan terrane, could extend into the Tianshuihai region, potentially indicating a Cambrian continental margin arc interspersed with remnants of older terranes.

When latent variables are used as outcomes in regression analysis, a common approach that is used to solve the ignored measurement error issue is to take a multilevel perspective on item response modeling (IRT). Although recent computational advancement allows efficient and accurate estimation of multilevel IRT models, we argue that a two-stage divide-and-conquer strategy still has its unique advantages. Within the two-stage framework, three methods that take into account heteroscedastic measurement errors of the dependent variable in stage II analysis are introduced; they are the closed-form marginal MLE, the expectation maximization algorithm, and the moment estimation method. They are compared to the naïve two-stage estimation and the one-stage MCMC estimation. A simulation study is conducted to compare the five methods in terms of model parameter recovery and their standard error estimation. The pros and cons of each method are also discussed to provide guidelines for practitioners. Finally, a real data example is given to illustrate the applications of various methods using the National Educational Longitudinal Survey data (NELS 88).