Abstract Wheat contributes ~20% of global dietary calories. Climate change threatens production, but adaptation is possible by expanding cultivation into abandoned croplands. Here we assess the potential of recultivating abandoned croplands for winter wheat, which accounts for over 75% of global wheat production. Using machine learning models trained on historical records (1982–2015), we relate climate and management factors to yields and project production across currently planted and abandoned croplands under 3 °C warming. Recultivating 30.8 million hectares of abandoned croplands across North America, Europe, and Asia could produce 110 million tonnes of winter wheat annually (20% of current production). Prioritizing high-yield regions such as northern China, Germany, and France could achieve 70% of this potential using only 50% of the land. Our findings highlight target areas where reclaiming abandoned croplands offers a possible climate adaptation strategy for sustaining wheat production in a warming world.

Currently, there are many studies on the relationship between the ADIPOQ gene polymorphisms and the onset of type 2 diabetes (T2D), and the research results vary among different regions and ethnic groups. However, there are relatively few studies on the relationship between ADIPOQ gene polymorphisms and the occurrence and severity of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). This study aims to investigate the association of DKD with the ADIPOQ gene polymorphisms rs2241766 and rs1063537 in patients with T2D in the Han population in southern China. A total of 347 patients with type 2 diabetic kidney disease (T2DKD) from the Jinhua area in central Zhejiang between 2021 and 2023 were enrolled as the case group, which was divided into the microalbuminuria phase (group I: urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio [UACR] 30-299 mg/g, 185 cases) and the macroalbuminuria phase (group II: UACR ≥ 300 mg/g, 162 cases) based on UACR. Meanwhile, 191 patients with T2D and without kidney disease were recruited as the control group during the same period. The KASP-PCR (competitive allele-specific polymerase chain reaction) technique was used for genotyping of the rs2241766 and rs1063537 loci in the ADIPOQ gene, aiming to explore their associations with the occurrence and severity of T2DKD. The frequency of the TT genotype at the rs1063537 locus was 8.6% in group I and 15.4% in group II, with a statistically significant difference in distribution between the 2 groups (P < .05). After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), diabetes duration, hypertension status, creatinine, and fasting plasma glucose, this genotype was significantly associated with the macroalbuminuria phase of T2DKD (P = .016), meaning that carriers of the TT genotype had a 2.47-fold higher risk of developing macroalbuminuria compared with those with the CC genotype. No statistically significant differences were observed in the genotype distributions of the rs2241766 and rs1063537 loci in the ADIPOQ gene between the case group and the control group (P > .05). In the Han population in southern China, the TT genotype at the rs1063537 locus of the ADIPOQ gene in patients with T2DKD is significantly associated with the presence of the macroalbuminuria stage.

Anoplophora horsfieldii (Hope, 1843) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a destructive wood-boring pest that causes extensive damage to forestry resources and threatens the health of forest ecosystems. With the accelerating effects of climate change, its spread and potential invasion could severely affect forest ecosystems and threaten the timber industry. In this study, we constructed ensemble models to predict suitable areas for A. horsfieldii in China under current and future climate change, and analyzed the effects of bioclimatic factors on its habitat distribution. The results indicate that the AUC and TSS values of the ensemble model were 0.982 and 0.865, respectively, and the bioclimatic factors affecting the distribution of A. horsfieldii were the mean diurnal range (Bio2), mean temperature of the wettest quarter (Bio8), and mean temperature of the driest quarter (Bio9). In the current period, the suitable habitat of A. horsfieldii is concentrated in central and southern China, and it is expected that climate change in the future will significantly change its distribution pattern, with an increase of 16.09% to 74.74% in suitable habitat and shifting towards higher latitudes. Additionally, the analysis of the multivariate environmental similarity surfaces and most dissimilar variables confirmed that the bioclimatic conditions of future expansion areas closely resemble those of the current distribution. These findings elucidate the response patterns of A. horsfieldii to climate change and provide a scientific basis for regional prevention and control strategies. The study provides crucial insights into mitigating the potential threats posed by this invasive pest to forest ecosystem stability and economic sustainability.

Improved Efficacy of 0.01% Atropine Combined with Diffusion Optics Technology Lenses for Myopia Control in a Real-World Setting in Northern China.

The understanding and investigation of invasive pulmonary fungal diseases in the Chinese respiratory medicine community began in the 1990s, during which a number of research studies were published and the Expert Consensus on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Fungal Diseases was formulated. The official release of the Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Invasive Pulmonary Fungal Diseases (2025) marks a new and solid step forward toward comprehensive, evidence-based standardization of the clinical diagnosis and treatment of invasive pulmonary fungal diseases in China. Nevertheless, substantial challenges, controversies, and new areas in the diagnosis and treatment of invasive pulmonary fungal diseases need to be studied. This article proposes recommendations on the appropriate understanding and application of stratified diagnosis, emphasizes the importance of recognizing co-infection and mixed fungal infection with lung fungi and other pathogens, advocates strengthening research and prevention efforts targeting endemic invasive pulmonary mycosis in southern China, and calls for the advancement of basic and applied research on fungal diseases grounded in the concept of lung ecology.

A nationwide assessment of heavy metal accumulation in rapeseed across China: Distribution patterns, driving factors, and safety thresholds.

Objective To identify high-risk factors for pediatric fractures in a hospital-based regional cohort. Methods We conducted a retrospective hospital-based cohort study including children ≤15 years treated for fractures at Yuncheng Central Hospital, Shanxi Province, between September 2021 and August 2024. Demographic (age, sex, BMI z-score, residence), injury-related (mechanism, time, season), and fracture characteristics were collected. Case identification and reporting were conducted in accordance with STROBE guidelines. Multivariable logistic regression models were prespecified to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), alongside descriptive statistics. Results Among 1,664 cases, males accounted for a significantly higher proportion than females (male:female ratio 1.70:1; 95% CI: 1.54–1.88), with disparity increasing in adolescence. Adolescents (11–15 years) were more frequently hospitalized (31.8% vs. 14.0%, P &amp;lt; 0.001). Summer showed the highest case burden, winter the lowest (outpatients 35.4% vs. 17.5%; inpatients 33.5% vs. 15.2%, P = 0.12). Daytime injuries predominated in inpatients (53.6% vs. 45.3%, P &amp;lt; 0.01). Falls were the leading cause (68.2%), followed by traffic accidents (15.4%), bicycle-related injuries (8.6%), and other mechanisms (7.8%). Radius/ulna and clavicle fractures were commonly managed outpatient, while femoral and distal humeral fractures required hospitalization. Elevated BMI showed no significant association with fracture risk (6.5%). Conclusion Pediatric fractures in this regional cohort showed clear differences across sex, age, season, and time of injury. Younger children were mainly affected by fall-related injuries, whereas adolescents experienced more traffic- and activity-related trauma. These patterns suggest that prevention efforts should be tailored to developmental stages, such as improving home safety for preschoolers and reinforcing traffic and sports safety education for older children.

A new Lulesia species, namely Lulesia hebeiensis, collected from northern China, is described and illustrated based on morphological characteristics and molecular evidence. It is characterized by pale cream, pale olivaceous buff to light vinaceous grey pileus, pale cream to clay-buff stipe, white to cream decurrent lamellae, a negative reaction to KOH, regular lamellae trama, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid angular basidiospores (4.7–5.4 × 3.9–4.5 μm), and the absence of clamp connections. Molecular phylogeny inferred from the combined 5-gene dataset (ITS + nLSU + RPB2 + TEF1 + ATP6) showed that samples of L. hebeiensis formed a distinctive lineage in L. subg. Lulesia, and it is nested as a sister group to L. densifolia.

Abstract Anthropogenic habitat fragmentation is a major driver of biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems. However, its effects on species interaction networks remain poorly understood, especially for soil microbial communities. Using 23 grassland fragments within an agricultural mosaic of the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China, we investigated the cascading effects of habitat fragmentation on soil microbial networks mediated by biodiversity. We found that habitat fragmentation negatively influenced soil microbial diversity and networks primarily by reducing patch area. Larger patches supported higher species richness and more complex and stable networks of soil bacteria and fungi. Habitat fragmentation induced reduced patch area had no direct effect on network complexity and stability, but indirectly decreased network complexity and stability by decreasing the species richness of soil bacteria and fungi. Our findings demonstrate that habitat fragmentation not only declines soil microbial biodiversity but also simplifies and destabilizes soil microbial networks in the agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. We suggest that examining soil microbial network patterns in remnant habitats can provide valuable insights into the ecological consequences of habitat fragmentation beyond biodiversity loss.

To investigate the associations of air pollutants and meteorological factors with outpatient visits for allergic rhinitis (AR) and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in Southern China. Retrospective time-series study. Two representative tertiary hospitals in Guangzhou, China, from 2014 to 2019. Daily outpatient visits for AR and CRS, along with air pollutant concentrations and meteorological data, were analyzed using quasi-Poisson generalized additive models and distributed lag nonlinear models with quasi-Poisson distribution. A total of 135,817 outpatient visits were included. Increases in NO₂, SO₂, PM2.5, PM₁₀, and O₃ concentrations were significantly associated with higher AR visits, while NO₂, SO₂, PM2.5, PM₁₀, and CO were linked to elevated CRS visits. AR patients were sensitive to cold, wet, and dry effects, with RRs of 1.52 (1.09-2.10), 1.20 (1.03-1.40), and 2.55 (1.71-3.79), respectively. CRS patients were more susceptible to air pollutants, whereas AR patients were more affected by meteorological conditions. Air pollutants and meteorological factors significantly influence the incidence of AR and CRS in Southern China, with distinct susceptibility patterns between the 2 diseases.

Balancing high yield, nitrogen use efficiency, and environmental sustainability is a central challenge around the world. A ¹⁵N tracing and a gradient nitrogen application experiment was taken at 12 runoff plots with four treatments, i.e. 0, 90, 120, and 150 kg ha⁻¹ on subtropical sloping red soils of southern China. Effects of N rate on peanut yield, N losses, and soil N balance were systematically evaluated in different growth stages. Results showed that an appropriate N rate (90 kg ha⁻¹) effectively synchronized N supply with crop demand across growth stages: it met early-stage N requirements for vigorous growth while preserving rhizobial N fixation capacity, thereby maintaining a stable N source during pod-filling and achieving a pod yield of 3,866 kg ha⁻¹. In contrast, excessive N application (150 kg ha⁻¹) disrupted this balance, leading to early-stage N surplus, excessive vegetative growth, suppressed nodulation, and a late-season N shortfall, which reduced the harvest index without increasing yield. Environmentally, deep leaching was the primary pathway of N loss, accounting for 67.5% of the total loss. The 90 kg ha⁻¹ treatment significantly reduced N loss while maintaining soil N balance, whereas the high N treatment increased loss by 93.8%. These findings demonstrate that effective N management in peanut systems on sloping red soils should tailor N supply to crop demand patterns rather than simply increasing input. The 90 kg ha⁻¹ rate is recommended to sustain productivity while minimizing environmental risk, providing a scientific basis for sustainable peanut production in the region.

Under the background of a supply gap expansion for high-quality forage grass in China and the high degree of dependence on foreign countries, it is necessary to clarify the best feeding and harvesting period for Cichorium intybus in the temperate continental monsoon climate zone of Northern China. To achieve this goal, this study systematically explored the agronomic traits and nutritional quality of Cichorium intybus during the nutritional period (June-July), flowering period (July-August), and fruiting period (August-September) in the Hohhot experimental base. We measured agronomic indexes, such as the plant height and basal stem, and nutrients, such as the dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP), and calculated the total digestible nutrients (TDN) and other feeding value indexes. The results showed that the plant height of Cichorium intybus increased from 54.60 cm in the vegetative stage to 204.10 cm in the fruiting stage, and the fresh grass yield increased from 8775.045 kg/hm2 in the vegetative stage to 19,035.09 kg/hm2 in the fruiting stage. The DM content of the stems and leaves was the lowest (stem: 8.73%; leaf: 14.04%), but the CP (leaf: 20.32%) and crude fat (EE, leaf: 5.02%) contents were the highest. The TDN was 66.78%, the relative feed value (RFV) was 255.61, the comprehensive membership function value was 0.54 for the stems and 0.60 for the leaves, and the feeding value was the best. WSC accumulation was significant during the flowering stage; the fiber content of the DM (stem: 20.52%; leaf: 20.31%) and the acid detergent fiber (ADF, stem: 42.43%) were the highest during this stage; and the CP decreased to 10.97%. A correlation analysis showed that the plant height and stem diameter were significantly positively correlated with the yield and fiber accumulation. This study confirmed that the nutritional period was the best harvest period for obtaining high-protein and high-digestibility forage, and the fruiting period was suitable for processing hay or silage. These results provide a scientific basis for the large-scale feed development of Cichorium intybus.

Biocrusts are critical yet threatened components of dryland ecosystems, and predicting their functional trait dynamics under future scenarios is essential for conservation planning. Using 129 occurrence localities and 84 trait sampling sites across three precipitation zones in China’s Mu Us Sandland, we combined MaxEnt habitat modeling with Random Forest regression to predict biocrust functional traits—including coverage, thickness, and total volume for both moss and cyanobacterial crusts—under current conditions and 12 future climate–land use scenarios (four SSPs × three time periods: 2050s–2090s). Soil nitrogen, annual precipitation, and soil potassium emerged as key environmental drivers of biocrust habitat distribution. Currently, moss crusts cover 7.63% of the study area (thickness: 10.56 mm) and cyanobacterial crusts cover 5.88% (thickness: 4.88 mm), with a total biocrust volume of 4629 × 104 m3. Across the emission and policy gradient, functional traits exhibited contrasting responses: coverage showed scenario-dependent declines, while thickness remained relatively stable. Under SSP126, moss coverage declined by 3.32% and cyanobacterial coverage by 2.80% by the 2070s, with total volume decreasing by 2064.76 × 104 m3; by the 2090s, moss coverage partially recovered (+0.26%). In contrast, SSP370 and SSP585 projected sustained losses without recovery. A striking divergence emerged: cyanobacterial thickness increased consistently (+0.02 to +0.23 mm) even as coverage declined, while moss thickness fluctuated within ±0.13 mm. Notably, high-precipitation transitional zones (362–434 mm) exhibited the greatest vulnerability, with moss coverage declining 3× more under SSP126 than SSP585 by the 2070s and volume losses persisting through the 2090s. These findings provide spatially explicit predictions of biocrust traits and quantitative baselines for prioritizing conservation in transitional zones facing accelerating environmental pressures.

Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is a crucial risk factor for cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. However, its early detection remains challenging due to the dynamic fluctuations in plasma triglyceride levels and their limited utility in predicting long-term dyslipidemia. This study aimed to elucidate the role of asymmetric dimethylguanidino valeric acid (ADGV) in HTG through integrated cohort analyses and mechanistic cellular experiments. Circulating ADGV levels were quantified in a cross-sectional cohort from southern China (n = 588) and assessed its prospective association with incident HTG in an independent prospective cohort from northern China (n = 348, median follow-up: 1.8 years). Hepatocyte experiments were performed to examine biological plausibility and explore potential mechanisms linking ADGV to hepatic triglyceride metabolism. Elevated ADGV levels were significantly associated with increased risk of HTG and remained independently associated after adjustment for age, gender, BMI, eGFR, lifestyle factors, and liver function. Complementary in vitro studies in hepatocytes revealed that ADGV promoted triglyceride accumulation by stimulating de novo fatty acid synthesis, mediated through regulating the expression of key metabolic genes (ACC, CPT1α, and PGC1α). Higher circulating ADGV was independently associated with prevalent and incident hypertriglyceridemia across a cross-sectional cohort and an independent prospective cohort, and hepatocyte experiments support a contributory role of ADGV in hepatic lipogenesis.

Background/Objectives: Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is prevalent in Southeast Asia, Southern China and North Africa. Up to 46% of NPC patients undergoing cisplatin chemoradiation treatment experience irreversible hearing loss. Prestin is a motor protein in the outer hair cells of the cochlea, and animal studies have shown that blood prestin levels are elevated following cisplatin induced hearing loss. We investigated whether rising serum prestin levels can predict sensorineural hearing loss (SHNL) in NPC patients undergoing induction cisplatin chemotherapy (icCRT). Methods: Serum prestin levels were measured at ten time points during cisplatin chemotherapy. Pure tone audiogram and tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) were measured at baseline and at one and nine months after cisplatin administration. These outcomes were obtained to investigate whether rising prestin levels predict SNHL or worsening THI. Results: Of the 11 patients accrued, there was no association between prestin level and SNHL. An increase in THI was associated with higher prestin levels. There was significant hearing loss at 8 kHz at one (right ear, p = 0.012, left ear, p = 0.043) and nine months (right ear, p = 0.011) after treatment. After completing cisplatin, patients also had increased THI. Conclusions: Prestin was not identified as a biomarker of cisplatin-induced hearing loss in our cohort of NPC patients undergoing icCRT. NPC patients experience worsening of tinnitus with cumulative cisplatin, and hearing loss can persist at nine months post treatment. Future studies should focus on improved novel methods for measuring prestin or other cochlear proteins to better identify potential markers before permanent cisplatin induced hearing loss.

Storage-release dynamics of microplastics during rainfall events in conduit-fissure coupled karst aquifers.

IL-17A rs2275913 polymorphism is associated with spinal tuberculosis but not with pulmonary tuberculosis: A study of the Han population in southern China.

Ixodes crenulatus and Ixodes acuminatus (subgenus Pholeoixodes) have a broad Palearctic distribution, ranging from Europe to Asia (northern China). This research aimed to explore the phylogenetic relationships and haplotype diversity of these two tick species from Europe, and the Xingjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR, northwestern China). For this, part of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) gene was amplified, sequenced and compared involving ten specimens of I. crenulatus (n = 8) and I. acuminatus (n = 2) collected in XUAR, as well as sequences of Ixodes canisuga (n = 15), I. acuminatus (n = 13) and Ixodes redikorzevi (n = 6) from Europe retrieved from GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using MEGA 7.0 program. Haplotype analysis was performed with the DNAsp v5.10.1 program. I. crenulatus and I. canisuga ticks share a common ancestor with a genetic distance of ≤ 0.01. The I. crenulatus ticks from XUAR showing 99.5% sequence similarity with those from Russia. A total of 13 haplotypes and 2 groups of I. canisuga and I. crenulatus were identified, with a genetic diversity of 0.9474 (h) and a nucleotide diversity of 0.0067 (π). I. acuminatus and I. redikorzevi form sister clades with a genetic distance of ≤ 0.02. A total of 12 haplotypes and 5 groups of I. acuminatus and I. redikorzevi were found, exhibiting a genetic diversity of 0.9474 (h) and the nucleotide diversity was 0.0093 (π). I. crenulatus from Russia and XUAR can be grouped into a single clade. The I. acuminatus H-1 haplotype from XUAR was grouped with H-5 haplotype from Spain and H-7 haplotype from Malta according to GenBank data available.

Genomic selection (GS) is a promising tool to accelerate genetic gain for complex traits. In this study, we evaluated the potential of GS for the improvement of seven lodging-related traits in double-cropping rice in Southern China using 438 rice accessions. The traits examined included the length and bending resistance of the third and fourth internodes (IL3, IL4, BR3, BR4), plant height (PH), and the ratio of internode length to plant height (IL3/PH, IL4/PH). Significant phenotypic differences were observed for all traits between the two seasons. In comparisons of cross-validation and independent prediction, GBLUP and BayesLASSO outperformed LightGBM across all traits in both seasons. Across all evaluated traits, prediction accuracies (Pearson's r) ranged from 0.33 to 0.78 in cross-validation and from 0.28 to 0.75 in independent prediction using the GBLUP model. Bending resistance exhibited lower prediction accuracy due to its lower genomic heritability. Correlation analysis revealed that plant height was not significantly correlated with culm bending resistance, suggesting that these traits are genetically independent. We utilized GBLUP models trained on our experimental data to predict the genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) of the 3000 Rice Genomes Project (3kRG) dataset. The results demonstrated that GS can efficiently enrich the proportion of highly lodging-resistant accessions, increasing it from 31.40% in the base 3kRG population to a maximum of 83.00% among the top 200 selected individuals. Furthermore, indirect selection for traits with higher heritability, such as IL and IL/PH, was more effective at screening highly lodging-resistant cultivars than direct selection for BR. Our research demonstrates the feasibility of applying genomic selection for the breeding of lodging-resistant varieties in double-cropping rice and provides a foundation for further applications.

Seasonal and diurnal variabilities of secondary organic aerosol in coastal and inland cities, north China: Impact of anthropogenic emission.