Exploring developmental trajectories of analogical reasoning in preschool children: A cognitive diagnostic approach enhanced by IoT technology.

Significance of carbonyl compounds to photochemical ozone formation in a coastal city (Shantou) in eastern China

Recent studies have revealed that not only fish but also rice consumption may significantly contribute to human exposure to mercury (Hg) in Asian countries. It is therefore essential to assess dietary exposure to Hg in rice and its associated health risk. However, risk assessments of Hg in rice in non-contaminated areas are generally lacking in Asian countries. In the present study, Hg concentrations were measured in rice samples collected from markets and supermarkets in Suzhou, a typical city in Eastern China. In addition, the rice ingestion rates (IR) were assessed via a questionnaire-based survey of Suzhou residents. The data were then used to assess the risk of Hg exposure associated with rice consumption, by calculating the hazard quotient (HQ). Hg contents in rice samples were well below the national standard (20 μg/kg), ranging from 1.46 to 8.48 ng/g. They were also significantly (p > 0.05) independent of the area of production and place of purchase (markets vs. supermarkets in the different districts). Our results indicate a low risk of Hg exposure from rice in Suzhou (HQ: 0.005–0.05), despite the generally high personal IR (0.05–0.4 kg/day). The risk of Hg associated with rice consumption for Suzhou residents was not significantly affected by the age or sex of the consumer (p > 0.05). Overall, our results provide a study of human exposure to Hg in rice in Chinese cities not known to be contaminated with Hg. Future studies should examine Hg exposure in different areas in China and in potentially vulnerable major food types.

Two of the most well-studied types of reasoning are analogical reasoning (AR) and deductive reasoning (DR). Yet, our understanding of the relationship between reasoning abilities and their neuroanatomical basis remains surprisingly limited. We aimed to conduct fine-grained anatomical mapping of performance on tests of AR, DR and fluid intelligence (Gf), in a large sample of patients with unilateral focal frontal or posterior lesions and healthy controls. We assessed 247 prospectively recruited patients using two new tests: the Analogical Reasoning Test (ART) and the Deductive Reasoning Test (DRT); and the best-established measure of Gf: Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM). Non-parametric Bayesian stochastic block modelling was used to reveal the community structure of lesion deficit networks, disentangling functional from confounding pathological distributed effects. ART and DRT performance was significantly impaired in patients with frontal lesions [ART: F(2,238) = 18.93; P < 0.001; Frontal group worse than Posterior group and healthy controls, both P < 0.001; DRT: F(2,387) = 18.491; P < 0.001; Frontal group worse than healthy controls, P < 0.01]. Right frontal effects were evident on both tests. Thus, on the ART, right frontal patients were more impaired than left (P < 0.05). On the DRT, right frontal patients were more impaired than left frontal patients on questions with indeterminate solutions (P < 0.05) but not on questions with determinate ones. Non-parametric Bayesian stochastic block modelling implicated a right frontal network in ART and DRT performance. Strikingly, we found that this network was also implicated in performance on RAPM. Our study represents the most robust investigation of AR and DR in the focally injured brain. Our findings imply that a right frontal network is critical. The ART and DRT appear to be promising new clinical tests, capable of evaluating reasoning abilities and identifying right frontal lobe dysfunction.

Exposure to air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks for human health. Air pollution level is significantly driven by anthropogenic emissions and meteorological conditions. To protect people from air pollutants, China has implemented clean air actions to reduce anthropogenic emissions, which has led to rapid improvement in air quality over China. Here, we evaluated the impact of anthropogenic emissions and meteorological conditions on trends in air pollutants in a coastal city (Lianyungang) in eastern China from 2015 to 2022 based on a random forest model. The annual mean concentration of observed air pollutants, including fine particles, inhalable particles, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide, presented significant decreasing trends during 2015–2022, with dominant contributions (55–75%) by anthropogenic emission reduction. An increasing trend in ozone was observed with an important contribution (28%) by anthropogenic emissions. The impact of meteorological conditions on air pollution showed significant seasonality. For instance, the negative impact on aerosol pollution occurred during cold months, while the positive impact was in warm months. Health-risk-based air quality decreased by approximately 40% in 8 years, for which anthropogenic emission made a major contribution (93%).

The Chinese government has officially announced that China's carbon dioxide emissions will reach to peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Based on the carbon neutrality development of 12 provinces and cities in eastern China from 2010 to 2019, this paper constructs an evaluation index system, and it uses the entropy weight method and coefficient of variation method to measure the carbon neutrality development level in the eastern China. The results show that from 2010 to 2019, the changes of carbon source level in 12 provinces and cities in the eastern China are lower than the changes in carbon sink level, and the changes of carbon source and sink level in most provinces and cities show the increasing trend. Spatially, the carbon neutral development level shows the differentiation characteristics of "low in the middle, high in the north and south." The main factors affecting the carbon neutrality level of eastern provinces and cities include policy, economic development and industrial structure, energy intensity and structure, urban development, and population size ecological environment. High-value areas are mainly distributed in Heilongjiang Province, Jilin Province and Fujian Province. Low-value areas are mainly distributed in Jiangsu Province and Shandong Province. Eastern China still needs to strengthen its emphasis on low-carbon policies. For Shandong Province, Jiangsu Province, and Hebei Province, policies should be introduced to reduce carbon sources, accelerate their industrial upgrading, and optimize their energy use structure. For Beijing City, Shanghai City, Heilongjiang Province, and Jilin Province, policies should be introduced to develop carbon sinks while maintaining their low carbon source levels. For Beijing City and Shanghai City, policies related to green and low-carbon technologies should be introduced to promote the development of carbon sink capacity through low-carbon technologies in limited urban areas.

Based on the impact of undesired output and the recycling characteristics of circular economy, this paper reconstructed the evaluation index of circular economy efficiency of Chinese provinces and cities, took the data of 10 provinces and cities in eastern China from 2011 to 2017 as the research object, and analyzed the efficiency of circular economy in eastern China by using the data envelopment analysis model. Research results show that: (1) From 2011 to 2017, the average efficiency of circular economy in 10 provinces and cities in eastern China was low, with serious two-level differentiation. From 2011 to 2015, the average efficiency of circular economy in all provinces and cities showed a slow downward trend, slightly recovered in 2016, and slightly declined in 2017.(2)In 2017, the pure technical efficiency of eastern China is high, but the scale efficiency is low. Therefore, Eastern China should first improve the scale efficiency, and then improve the pure technical efficiency. (3) In 2017, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Hainan focused on improving their scale efficiency, while Hebei, Zhejiang, Fujian and Shandong need to improve their pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency at the same time.

Studying the structure of polycentric cities can promote a better understanding of urban development and contribute to urban planning. In this study, we identified polycentric cities in China and evaluated the urban centre development level of polycentric cities from new data and method. We used Luojia-1A night-time light (NTL) data, combined with the concept of natural cities (NCs), to identify urban centres and thus identify polycentric cities in China. In addition, we used the urban centre development index (UCDI) to quantify the urban centre development level (UCDL) that represents the overall urban centre development level within a polycentric city. The polycentric cities in China are characterized by the spatial distribution pattern of a larger number in the east and fewer in the west. There are a large number of polycentric cities in eastern China, and the closer to the coastal areas, the more polycentric cities there are. The distribution of UCDL in China’s polycentric cities is characterized by significant spatial heterogeneity. UCDLs are generally smaller in polycentric cities in western China. In addition, polycentric cities in northeastern China have smaller UCDL. Polycentric cities with high UCDL are concentrated in the central and coastal regions of China.

Cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) is an effective data mining approach in education. It aims to discover diagnostic information about students' cognitive strengths and weaknesses. A large number of CDA statistical models are developed and based on different assumptions about how attributes or combinations of attributes influence item response. However, the relationship between attributes and item response is unknown in reality. This challenges the researcher to make a conscious thought on the mechanism of item response and model selection before data analysis. This article introduced the reversible jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo (RJMCMC) method for the determination of three conjunctive diagnostic models that based on different assumptions in order to achieve better model-data fit and higher correct classification rate. Firstly, three conjunctive cognitive diagnostic models were described briefly. Secondly, the algorithm of RJMCMC for automatic model selection was established. Finally, a simulation study and an analysis of real data were presented to verify the algorithm. The simulation and the real data analysis results demonstrated that the model selection algorithm of RJMCMC can work well among three models.

China’s nationwide monitoring network initiated in 2013 has witnessed continuous increases of urban summertime surface ozone to 2019 by about 5% year−1, among the fastest ozone trends in the recent decade reported in the Tropospheric ozone assessment report. Here we report that surface ozone levels averaged over cities in eastern China cities decrease by 5.5 ppbv in May–August 2020 compared to the 2019 levels, representing an unprecedented ozone reduction since 2013. We combine the high-resolution GEOS-Chem chemical model and the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning model to quantify the drivers of this reduction. We estimate that changes in anthropogenic emissions alone decrease ozone by 3.2 (2.9–3.6) ppbv (57% of the total 5.5 ppbv reduction) averaged over cities in eastern China and by 2.5 ∼ 3.2 ppbv in the three key city clusters for ozone mitigation. These reductions appear to be driven by decreases in anthropogenic emissions of both nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and volatile organic compounds, likely reflecting the stringent emission control measures implemented by The Chinese Ministry of Environmental and Ecology in summer 2020, as supported by observed decline in tropospheric formaldehyde (HCHO) and nitrogen dioxides (NO2) from satellite and by bottom-up emission estimates. Comparable to the emission-driven ozone reduction, the wetter and cooler weather conditions in 2020 decrease ozone by 2.3 (1.9–2.6) ppbv (43%). Our analyses indicate that the current emission control strategies can be effective for ozone mitigation in China yet tracking future ozone changes is essential for further evaluation. Our study also reveals important potential to combine the mechanism-based, state-of-art atmospheric chemical models with machine learning model to improve the attribution of ozone drivers.

Abstract. Photocatalytic reactions during the daytime, alongside aqueous-phase reactions occurring during both daytime and nighttime, are identified as the two primary processes facilitating the conversion of aerosol iron (Fe) from the insoluble state to the soluble state within the atmospheric environment. This study investigated the levels of total Fe (FeT) and soluble Fe (FeS) in PM2.5 samples collected during daytime and nighttime in Qingdao, a coastal city in eastern China, evaluating the distinctive roles of these two pathways in enhancing aerosol Fe solubility (%FeS, defined as the ratio of FeS to FeT). Under clean and humid conditions, characterized by prevailing sea breezes and a relative humidity (RH) typically above 80 %, an average daytime %FeS of 8.7 % was observed, which systematically exceeded the nighttime %FeS (6.3 %). Photochemical conversions involving oxalate contributed to the higher %FeS observed during daytime. Conversely, in scenarios where air masses originated from inland areas and exhibited slightly polluted, daytime %FeS (3.7 %) was noted to be lower than the nighttime %FeS (5.8 %). This discrepancy was attributable to the variations in RH, with nighttime RH averaging around 77 %, conducive to the more efficient generation of acidic compounds, thereby accelerating FeS production compared to the daytime, when RH was only about 62 %. Furthermore, the oxidation rates of sulfur (SOR) displayed a strong correlation with RH, particularly when RH fell below 75 %. A 10 % increase in RH corresponded to a 7.6 % rise in SOR, which served as the primary driver of the higher aerosol acidity and %FeS at night. These findings highlight the RH-dependent activation of aqueous-phase reactions and the augmentation of daytime photocatalysis in the formation of FeS in the coastal moist atmosphere.

Epidemiology of norovirus gastroenteritis outbreaks in two primary schools in a city in eastern China

When a compact city is pursued as the strategy for urban sustainability the understanding of compactness is varied from the developed countries to the developing countries. In China the historical cities are characterized with high density and mixed land use. After a short time of motorization they still show compact forms in the central city. A large amount of newly developed areas are distributed in clusters near or far from the center. The crop land and natural habitat are encroached to different degrees. This paper developed an approach to measure the structural compactness of urban landscape patches within a city territory. It included six spatial metrics to measure the shape and density of the central agglomeration, the area configuration and distant relationship between the central agglomeration and the other clusters, and the distribution of all urban patches. By this approach the 50 cities in eastern China were categorized into five classes of forms: one center, multi-centers, centralized groups, cluster groups and scatter. Then the vegetation biomass loss with urban expansion was calculated based on remote sensing data, and used to assess the environmental capability of the five types of urban form. The suggestions of urban form optimization could be put forward for the five categories of cities.

Unnoticed antimicrobial resistance risk in Tibetan cities unveiled by sewage metagenomic surveillance: Compared to the eastern Chinese cities

Distribution and fate of antibiotics in water-sediment-biofilm phases and their potential risks in urban lakes within a large-scale city in eastern China.

Characteristics and sources of VOCs in a coastal city in eastern China and the implications in secondary organic aerosol and O3 formation