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.

Following a decade of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), how do Chinese state companies and governments react to international resistance to the initiative? Pushbacks against the BRI have been well documented, yet there is limited study on how China has responded to such resistance. Based on fieldwork in Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia and China between 2014 and 2023, this paper presents two of the response mechanisms adopted by Chinese state actors in the face of institutional gaps and information deficits. The first is that Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) innovate public relations strategies and then promote these practices to Beijing for dissemination. The second mechanism allows information to be directly transmitted to Beijing, via the internal reporting system (neican), so that Beijing can respond promptly to overseas incidents. On a theoretical level, this paper contributes to the adaptive governance literature by analysing the overseas practices of Chinese state actors and underlining that host country social actors are key drivers of these changes. On an empirical level, this article focuses on the feedback mechanism of the Belt and Road Initiative in an attempt to fill the gap in related research in this field.

The reflection of multiple incident shock waves that converge to a single point on the reflecting surface is studied in this paper. The number of the incident shocks, denoted $K$, is arbitrary. The interaction between the reflected shock of one incident shock and the other incident shocks may produce various possible configurations, such as type-I, type-II and type-IV shock interferences. The number of possible reflection configurations is shown to be an exponential function of ($K-1$) with base 2. The possibility of pre-, middle- and post-Mach reflections, which means Mach reflection occurs for the first, middle and last incident shock, is revealed through numerical simulation for $K=3$. For the particular case where the incident shocks are produced by equal variation of wedge surface deflection, the conventional von Neumann condition and detachment condition for the $k\mathrm{th}$ incident shock to have Mach reflection are derived. It is shown that the von Neumann condition for regular reflection is lowered and the detachment condition for Mach reflection is elevated as $k$ increases. The shock reflection patterns for $ K=1,2,\ldots ,10$ are obtained by numerical simulations. We observe a shock interaction train structure, where we have pre-Mach reflection followed by ($K-1$) type-I or type-II shock interferences. We also observe that the Mach stem height decreases with $K$ well above the von Neumann condition and becomes non-monotonic near the von Neumann condition.

Obesity, a global health issue, is associated with numerous diseases and has been shown to affect male reproductive health by inducing endocrine hormonal changes, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress and epigenetic alterations in reproductive cells. This study investigates the impact of obesity on testicular gene expression across mice, monkeys and humans, identifying 730 conserved testis-specific genes. High-fat diet-induced obesity upregulates GNG5, INHA, MSH5, SLC30A8 and SLC7A4 in testes, suggesting their potential as regulatory targets in testicular damage associated with obesity. Single-cell analysis reveals species-conserved expression patterns of SLC7A4 in Sertoli cells and SLC30A8 in SPG cells. It also confirmed that SLC30A8 and SLC7A4 were significantly upregulated in the testes of spontaneously obese mice. The findings highlight the potential of these genes as regulatory targets in obesity-related testicular dysfunction, providing insights into male reproductive health impairments caused by obesity.

For a nondegenerate r-graph F, large n, and t in the regime $[0, c_{F} n]$, where $c_F>0$ is a constant depending only on F, we present a general approach for determining the maximum number of edges in an n-vertex r-graph that does not contain $t+1$ vertex-disjoint copies of F. In fact, our method results in a rainbow version of the above result and includes a characterization of the extremal constructions.

Our approach applies to many well-studied hypergraphs (including graphs) such as the edge-critical graphs, the Fano plane, the generalized triangles, hypergraph expansions, the expanded triangles, and hypergraph books. Our results extend old results of Erdős [13], Simonovits [76], and Moon [58] on complete graphs, and can be viewed as a step toward a general density version of the classical Corrádi–Hajnal [10] and Hajnal–Szemerédi [32] theorems.

Our method relies on a novel understanding of the general properties of nondegenerate Turán problems, which we refer to as smoothness and boundedness. These properties are satisfied by a broad class of nondegenerate hypergraphs and appear to be worthy of future exploration.

Sepiolite is considered a suitable substrate for Maya blue pigment. However, the interaction between sepiolite and indigo dye has not been fully understood. Previous studies have demonstrated that pre-treatment of sepiolite by heating or acid was useful in identifying the sepiolite–indigo interaction. The purpose of the present study was to prepare a series of hybrid sepiolite–indigo pigments after modifying the sepiolite using various alkali treatments (NaOH), then to evaluate their properties with respect to color, chemical resistance, and photostability. Samples were characterized using reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption-desorption. Under alkaline conditions, Si4+ and Mg2+ ions in sepiolite partially dissolved, disrupting the coordinated water associated with them. Mg2+ ions precipitated and blocked the structural channels of the sepiolite. The impact of the alkali treatment on the microporous structure and coordinated water of sepiolite significantly influenced the color properties and stability of the hybrid pigments. Proper alkaline treatment enhanced the greenish hue and chemical stability of the pigment, while severe treatments apparently compromised the structural integrity of the sepiolite, thus diminishing the quality of the hybrid pigment. Results from this study provide new insights into the color-causing and stabilizing mechanisms of sepiolite-based Maya blue pigment and also provide guidance for developing hybrid pigments based on clay minerals and organic dyes.

The interaction between planar incident shocks and cylindrical boundary layers is prevalent in missiles equipped with inverted inlets, which typically leads to substantial three-dimensional flow separation and the formation of vortical flow. This study utilizes wind-tunnel experiments and theoretical analysis to elucidate the shock structure, surface topology and pressure distributions induced by a planar shock with finite width impinging on a cylinder wall at Mach 2.0. In the central region, a refraction phenomenon occurs as the transmitted shock bends within the boundary layer, generating a series of compression waves that coalesce into a shock, forming a ‘shock triangle’ structure. As the incident shock propagates backward along both sides, it gradually evolves into a Mach stem, where the transmitted shock refracts the expansion wave. The incident shock interacts with the boundary layer, resulting in the formation of a highly swept separation region that yields a pair of counter-rotating horseshoe-like vortices above the separation lines. These vortices facilitate the accumulation of low-energy fluid on both sides. Although the interaction of the symmetry plane aligns with free-interaction-theory, the separation shock angle away from the centre significantly deviates from the predicted value owing to the accumulation of low-energy fluids. The primary separation line and pressure distribution jointly exhibit an elliptical similarity on the cylindrical surface. Furthermore, the potential unsteady behaviour is assessed, and the Strouhal number of the low-frequency oscillation is found to be 0.0094, which is insufficient to trigger significant alterations in the flow field structure.

The vitamin K (VK) levels vary greatly among different populations and in different regions. Currently, there is a lack of reference intervals for VK levels in healthy individuals, The aim of this study is to establish and validate the reference intervals of serum vitamin K1 (VK1) and vitamin K2 (VK2, specifically including menaquinone-4 (MK4) and menaquinone-7 (MK7)) levels in some healthy populations in Beijing. Serum VK1, MK4, and MK7 were firstly measured by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry in 434 subjects. The reference intervals for three indicators were established by calculating the data of 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles. Finally, preliminary clinical validation was conducted on 60 apparent healthy individuals undergoing physical examination. In the young, middle-aged, and elderly groups, the reference intervals of VK1 were 0.180 ng/mL ∼ 1.494 ng/mL, 0.247 ng/mL ∼ 1.446 ng/mL, and 0.167 ng/mL ∼ 1.445 ng/mL, respectively. The reference intervals of MK4 were 0.009 ng/mL ∼ 0.115 ng/mL, 0.002 ng/mL ∼ 0.103 ng/mL, and 0.003 ng/mL ∼ 0.106 ng/mL, respectively. The reference intervals of MK7 were 0.169 ng/mL ∼ 0.881 ng/mL, 0.238 ng/mL ∼ 0.936 ng/mL, and 0.213 ng/mL ∼ 1.012 ng/mL, respectively. The reference intervals had been validated by the samples of healthy individuals for physical examination. In conclusion, the reference intervals of VK established in this study with different age groups have certain clinical applicability, providing data support for further multicentre studies.

Aiming at the problems of many path inflection points, unsmooth paths, and poor local obstacle avoidance in path planning of inspection robots in static-dynamic scenes under complex geological conditions in coal mine roadways, a hybrid path planning method based on the improved A* algorithm and dynamic window approach (DWA) algorithm is proposed. First, the inspection robot platform and system model are constructed. An improved heuristic function that incorporates target weight information is proposed based on the A* global path planning algorithm. Additionally, redundant nodes are eliminated, and the path is smoothed using the Floyd algorithm and B-spline curves. Second, the global path planning A* algorithm and the local path planning DWA algorithm are fused. The dynamic path planning is carried out by setting the key node information of the global path extracted from the improved A* algorithm as the local target point of the DWA algorithm. On this basis, a grid map is established to simulate and analyze the proposed path planning algorithm. Finally, the autonomous path planning and walking experiment of inspection robot in simulated roadway environment are carried out. The results show that the hybrid path planning method based on improved A* algorithm and DWA algorithm proposed in this paper is more efficient and safer, which can meet the motion requirements of inspection robot in coal mine roadway.

Drawing upon research on the visual complexity effect and Dual Coding Theory, this research examined the influence of character properties and the role of individual learner differences in Chinese character acquisition. The participants included 248 Chinese-speaking children in grades 1 through 3 in Taiwan. The study extended the scope of previous research by concurrently examining two types of cognitive processing: activation of verbal codes with nonverbal codes (activation of word form) and activation of nonverbal codes with verbal codes (activation of meaning). Results revealed the asymmetry in the two types of cognitive processing. Regarding the influence of character properties, while characters with less visual complexity and with radical presence are generally more acquirable, the interaction between these two properties was only present in the activation of meaning but not the activation of word form. Individual differences contributing to character acquisition did not mirror each other in the two directions of cognitive processing either. The contribution of radical awareness and visual skills remained the same across grade levels in the activation of meaning but varied with grades and the properties of the characters in the activation of word form. The methodological and theoretical contributions of the study were discussed.

In this paper, we present and evaluate a novel Bayesian regime-switching zero-inflated multilevel Poisson (RS-ZIMLP) regression model for forecasting alcohol use dynamics. The model partitions individuals’ data into two phases, known as regimes, with: (1) a zero-inflation regime that is used to accommodate high instances of zeros (non-drinking) and (2) a multilevel Poisson regression regime in which variations in individuals’ log-transformed average rates of alcohol use are captured by means of an autoregressive process with exogenous predictors and a person-specific intercept. The times at which individuals are in each regime are unknown, but may be estimated from the data. We assume that the regime indicator follows a first-order Markov process as related to exogenous predictors of interest. The forecast performance of the proposed model was evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulation study and further demonstrated using substance use and spatial covariate data from the Colorado Online Twin Study (CoTwins). Results showed that the proposed model yielded better forecast performance compared to a baseline model which predicted all cases as non-drinking and a reduced ZIMLP model without the RS structure, as indicated by higher AUC (the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve) scores, and lower mean absolute errors (MAEs) and root-mean-square errors (RMSEs). The improvements in forecast performance were even more pronounced when we limited the comparisons to participants who showed at least one instance of transition to drinking.

An optical spectrometer system based on 60 channels of fibers has been designed and employed to diagnose light emissions from laser–plasma interactions. The 60 fiber collectors cover an integrated solid angle of $\pi$, enabling the measurement of global energy losses in a symmetrical configuration. A detecting spectral range from ultraviolet to near-infrared, with angular distribution, allows for the understanding of the physical mechanisms involving various plasma modes. Experimental measurements of scattered lights from a conical implosion driven by high-energy nanosecond laser beams at the Shenguang-II Upgrade facility have been demonstrated, serving as reliable diagnostics to characterize laser absorption and energy losses from laser–plasma instabilities. This compact diagnostic system can provide comprehensive insights into laser energy coupling in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion research, which are essential for studying the driving asymmetry and improving the implosion efficiencies.

A multifunctional optical diagnostic system, which includes an interferometer, a refractometer and a multi-frame shadowgraph, has been developed at the Shenguang-II upgrade laser facility to characterize underdense plasmas in experiments of the double-cone ignition scheme of inertial confinement fusion. The system employs a 266 nm laser as the probe to minimize the refraction effect and allows for flexible switching among three modes of the interferometer, refractometer and multi-frame shadowgraph. The multifunctional module comprises a pair of beam splitters that attenuate the laser, shield stray light and configure the multi-frame and interferometric modules. By adjusting the distance and angle between the beam splitters, the system can be easily adjusted and switched between the modes. Diagnostic results demonstrate that the interferometer can reconstruct electron density below 1019 cm–3, while the refractometer can diagnose density approximately up to 1020 cm–3. The multi-frame shadowgraph is used to qualitatively characterize the temporal evolution of plasmas in the cases in which the interferometer and refractometer become ineffective.

Time-domain characterization of ultrashort pulses is essential for studying interactions between light and matter. Here, we propose and demonstrate an all-optical pulse sampling technique based on reflected four-wave mixing with perturbation on a solid surface. In this method, a weak perturbation pulse perturbs the four-wave mixing signal generated by a strong fundamental pulse. The modulation signal of the four-wave mixing, which is detected in the reflection geometry to ensure a perfect phase-matching condition, directly reflects the temporal profile of the perturbation pulse. We successfully characterized multi-cycle and few-cycle pulses using this method. The reliability of our approach was verified by comparing it to the widely employed frequency-resolved optical gating method. This technique provides a simple and robust method for characterizing ultrashort laser pulses.

This paper studies the heterogeneity of households’ present bias in a heterogeneous-agent model. Our model jointly matches the average marginal propensities to consume and the wealth distribution in the USA, even when all wealth is liquid. A fiscal stimulus targeting households in the bottom half of the wealth distribution improves the consumption response. A financial literacy campaign removing present bias gets naive households out of the debt trap but harms sophisticated households’ wealth accumulation due to a lower equilibrium interest rate. Finally, we show that a borrowing cost penalty and illiquidity both discipline excessive borrowing and are therefore potential remedies for present bias and naivete.

This study examined the sour grapes/sweet lemons rationalization through 2 conditions: ‘attainable’ (sweet lemons) and ‘unattainable’ (sour grapes), reflecting China’s 2019-nCoV vaccination strategy. The aim was to find ways to change people’s beliefs and preferences regarding vaccines by easing their safety concerns and encouraging more willingness to get vaccinated. An online survey was conducted from January 22 to 27, 2021, with 3,123 residents across 30 provinces and municipalities in the Chinese mainland. The direction of belief and preference changed in line with the sour grapes/sweet lemons rationalization. Using hypothetical and real contrasts, we compared those for whom the vaccine was relatively unattainable (‘sour grapes’ condition) with those who could get the vaccine easily (‘sweet lemons’). Whether the vaccine was attainable was determined in the early stage of the vaccine roll-out by membership in a select group of workers that was supposed to be vaccinated to the greatest extent possible, or, by being in the second stage when the vaccine was available to all. The attainable conditions demonstrated higher evaluation in vaccine safety, higher willingness to be vaccinated, and lower willingness to wait and see. Hence, we propose that the manipulation of vaccine attainability, which formed the basis of the application of sour grapes/sweet lemons rationalization, can be utilized as a means to manipulate the choice architecture to nudge individuals to ease vaccine safety concerns, reducing wait-and-see tendencies, and enhancing vaccination willingness. This approach can expedite universal vaccination and its associated benefits in future scenarios resembling the 2019-nCoV vaccine rollout.

With the over-use of tetracycline (TC) and its ultimate accumulation in aquatic systems, the demand for TC removal from contaminated water is increasing due to its severe threat to public health. Clay minerals have attracted great attention as low-cost adsorbents for controlling water pollution. The objective of the present study was to measure the adsorption behavior and mechanisms of TC on allophane, a nanosized clay mineral with a hollow spherical structure; to highlight the advantage of the allophane nanostructure, a further objective was to compare allophane with halloysite and montmorillonite, which have nanostructures that differ from allophane. Structural features and surface physicochemical properties were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta potential, N2-physisorption, and acid–base titration. The adsorption data showed that TC adsorption followed the pseudo-second order and Langmuir models. The adsorption was pH dependent, as all three clay minerals performed better under neutral to weakly alkaline conditions and maintained high adsorption performance in the presence of co-existing Na+/K+/Ca2+/Mg2+ cations. Regeneration of the adsorbent was excellent, with efficiencies exceeding 75% after five recycles. By comparison, allophane always exhibited the greatest adsorption capacity, up to 796 mg g–1 at ~pH 9. The TC adsorption on allophane and halloysite was dominated by inner-sphere complexation, together with a small amount of electrostatic adsorption, while that on montmorillonite involved mainly interlayer cation exchange. The findings provide insights into the effects of nanostructures of clay minerals on their TC adsorption performance and highlight the huge potential of allophane as an efficient and inexpensive adsorbent for TC removal.