Higher fiber intake reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among healthy population, but such data in dialysis patients are limited. We aimed to examine these associations in patients on peritoneal dialysis. This single-center prospective cohort study enrolled 881 incident PD patients between October 2002 and August 2014. All patients were followed until death, transfer to hemodialysis, renal transplantation or until being censored in June 2018. Demographic data were collected at baseline. Biochemical, dietary, and nutrition data were examined at baseline and thereafter at regular intervals to calculate the average values throughout the study. The outcomes were defined as all-cause and cardiovascular death. Cox proportional regression models were applied to explore the relationship between fiber intake and outcomes. Participants with higher fiber intake were more likely to be younger, male, and having better residual renal function and serum lipids at baseline. They were prone to maintain better nutrient status, higher blood pressure and lower inflammatory status at baseline and afterward. Neither baseline nor time-averaged fiber intake did show protective effects on all-cause mortality after multivariate adjustment in the whole cohort. Among non-diabetic PD patients, an independent association between fiber intake and all-cause mortality was found, in which each 1g/day of increase in time-averaged fiber intake correlated to 13% of reduction in all-cause mortality. We did not observe any benefits of fiber intake in the CVD mortality for both whole cohort and subgroups. This study revealed that higher dietary fiber intake appeared to have a protective effect on all-cause mortality in non-diabetic PD patients, which suggest that PD patients should be encouraged to eat a diet rich in fibers.

Existing data on folate status and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis are scarce. We prospectively examined whether serum folate concentrations at diagnosis were associated with liver cancer-specific survival (LCSS) and overall survival (OS) among 982 patients with newly diagnosed, previously untreated HCC, who were enrolled in the Guangdong Liver Cancer Cohort (GLCC) study between September 2013 and February 2017. Serum folate concentrations were measured using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Cox proportional hazards models were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI by sex-specific quartile of serum folate. Compared with patients in the third quartile of serum folate, patients in the lowest quartile had significantly inferior LCSS (HR = 1·48; 95 % CI 1·05, 2·09) and OS (HR = 1·43; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·99) after adjustment for non-clinical and clinical prognostic factors. The associations were not significantly modified by sex, age at diagnosis, alcohol drinking status and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage. However, there were statistically significant interactions on both multiplicative and additive scale between serum folate and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels or smoking status and the associations of lower serum folate with worse LCSS and OS were only evident among patients with CRP > 3·0 mg/l or current smokers. An inverse association with LCSS were also observed among patients with liver damage score ≥3. These results suggest that lower serum folate concentrations at diagnosis are independently associated with worse HCC survival, most prominently among patients with systemic inflammation and current smokers. A future trial of folate supplementation seems to be promising in HCC patients with lower folate status.

Concerns over food safety in China not only direct public attention to negative incidents, but also trigger the government's scrutiny of implicated firms, particularly MNCs. The question of how to repair legitimacy after media coverage of negative incidents has become a critical issue for MNCs. Although the factors for MNCs’ public crises have been identified, how local contexts and mechanisms shape repair approaches remain unclear. To address this research gap, we conducted a study of Walmart China's approaches associated with two negative incidents across two regions. We found that the negative incidents can be framed differently depending on the local environment's unfavorability for MNCs. Specifically, the negative framing gave rise to varying degrees of legitimacy loss and offered different leeway for MNCs to repair their legitimacy. We also identified the varied outcomes of different repair approaches. By revealing the linkages among local context, framing, legitimacy repair, and its outcomes, our study contributes to research on MNCs’ legitimacy management under institutional complexity and underscores the China context for legitimacy maintenance. We also offer insights that advance the institutional approach to legitimacy repair in this context. Last, we reflect on the techniques for conducting qualitative research in China.

The antibacterial hydrogels can be widely used in the biomedical area owing to their excellent properties. The main limitation of antibacterial hydrogels is their poor mechanical strength. In this study, the novel hydrogels were fabricated with a mixture of silk fibroin (SF), chitosan (CH), agarose (AG), and silver nanoparticles (SNPs) via facile reaction condition without inorganic substances. The mechanical property of these fabricated hydrogels can be modulated by the concentration of SF or AG. The rheological studies demonstrated enhanced elasticity of CH-doped hydrogels. Because of the presence of CH and Ag in hydrogels, the antimicrobial property against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was exhibited. Cytocompatibility test proved the very low toxic nature of the hydrogels. In addition, these composite hydrogels have a smaller porosity, higher swelling ratio, and good compatibility, indicating their great potential for biomedical application.

Mastery of strengthening strategies to achieve high-capacity anodes for lithium-ion batteries can shed light on understanding the nature of diffusion-induced stress and offer an approach to use submicro-sized materials with an ultrahigh capacity for large-scale batteries. Here, we report solute strengthening in a series of silicon (Si)–germanium (Ge) alloys. When the larger solute atom (Ge) is added to the solvent atoms (Si), a compressive stress is generated in the vicinity of Ge atoms. This local stress field interacts with resident dislocations and subsequently impedes their motion to increase the yield stress in the alloys. The addition of Ge into Si substantially improves the capacity retention, particularly in Si0.50Ge0.50, aligning with literature reports that the Si/Ge alloy showed a maximum yield stress in Si0.50Ge0.50. In situ X-ray diffraction studies on the Si0.50Ge0.50 electrode show that the phase change undergoes three subsequent steps during the lithiation process: removal of surface oxide layer, formation of cluster-size Lix(Si,Ge), and formation of crystalline Li15(Si,Ge)4. Furthermore, the lithiation process starts from higher index facets, i.e., (220) and (311), then through the low index facet (111), suggesting the orientation-dependence of the lithiation process in the Si0.50Ge0.50 electrode.

Universal salt iodisation (USI) has been successfully implemented in China for more than 15 years. Recent evidence suggests that the definition of ‘adequate iodine’ (100–199 µg/l) be revised to ‘sufficient iodine’ (100–299 µg/l) based on the median urinary iodine concentration (MUI) in school-age children. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in populations after long-term salt iodisation and examine whether the definition of adequate iodine can be broadened to sufficient iodine based on the thyroid function in four population groups. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in six provinces in the northern, central and southern regions of China. Four population groups consisting of 657 children, 755 adults, 347 pregnant women and 348 lactating women were recruited. Three spot urinary samples were collected over a 10-d period and blood samples were collected on the 1st day. In the study, among the adults, pregnant women and lactating women, the prevalence rates of elevated thyroglobulin antibody and thyroid microsomal antibody levels were 12·4, 8·5 and 7·8 %, and 12·1, 9·1 and 9·1 %, respectively. Abnormally high thyroid dysfunction prevalence was not observed after more than 15 years of USI in China because the thyroid dysfunction rates were all <5 %. The recommended range should be cautiously broadened from adequate iodine to sufficient iodine according to the MUI of school-age children considering the high levels of hormones and antibodies in the other populations. Adults, particularly pregnant women positive for thyroid antibodies, should be closely monitored.

This study was conducted to evaluate whether medium-chain TAG (MCT) could alleviate Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal injury by regulating intestinal epithelial inflammatory response, as well as necroptosis. A total of twenty-four weanling piglets were randomly allotted to one of four treatments in a 2×2 factorial arrangement including diet type (5 % maize oil v. 4 % MCT+1 % maize oil) and immune stress (saline v. E. coli LPS). The piglets were fed diets containing maize oil or MCT for 21 d. On 21 d, piglets were injected intraperitoneally with saline or LPS. The blood and intestinal samples were collected at 4 h post injection. Supplementation with MCT improved intestinal morphology, digestive and barrier function, indicated by increased jejunal villus height, increased jejunal and ileal disaccharidases (sucrase and maltase) activities, as well as enhanced protein expression of claudin-1. Furthermore, the protein expression of heat-shock protein 70 in jejunum and the concentration of TNF-α in plasma were reduced in the piglets fed diets supplemented with MCT. In addition, MCT down-regulated the mRNA expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain proteins (NOD) signalling-related genes in jejunum and ileum. Finally, MCT inhibited jejunal and ileal enterocyte necroptosis indicated by suppressed mRNA expression of the receptor-interacting protein 3 and mixed-lineage kinase domain-like protein. These results indicate that MCT supplementation may be closely related to inhibition of TLR4, NOD and necroptosis signalling pathways and concomitant improvement of intestinal integrity under an inflammatory condition.

A non-precious metal catalytic system of Fe-doped Ta2O5 is developed by pulsed laser deposition toward efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The optimal Fe concentration is determined to be 5 at.% for optimized OER activity via a series of electrochemical characterizations. The 5 at.% Fe-doped Ta2O5 nanolayer possesses a low onset overpotential of 0.22 V, an overpotential of 0.38 V at 10 mA/cm2 and a Tafel slope of 54 mV/dec. Comprehensive first-principles calculations attribute the enhanced OER activity to the substitutional FeTa dopants, which generate a new active OER site on surface and simultaneously accelerate electron transfer over oxygens.

Blue-ice areas (BIAs) and their geographical distribution in Antarctica were mapped using Landsat-7 ETM+ images with 15 m spatial resolution obtained during the 1999–2003 austral summers and covering the area north of 82.5° S, and a snow grain-size image of the MODIS-based Mosaic of Antarctica (MOA) dataset with 125 m grid spacing acquired during the 2003/04 austral summer from 82.5°S to the South Pole. A map of BIAs was created with algorithms of thresholds based on band ratio and reflectance for ETM+ data and thresholds based on snow grain size for the MOA dataset. The underlying principle is that blue ice can be separated from snow or rock by their spectral discrepancies and by different grain sizes of snow and ice. We estimate the total area of BIAs in Antarctica during the data acquisition period is 234 549 km2, or 1.67% of the area of the continent. Blue ice is scattered widely over the continent but is generally located in coastal or mountainous regions. The BIA dataset presented in this study is the first map covering the entire Antarctic continent sourced solely from ETM+ and MODIS data. This dataset can potentially benefit other studies in glaciology, meteorology, climatology and paleoclimate, meteorite collection and airstrip site selection.

The Datong pluton, the largest early Palaeozoic granitoid in the Western Kunlun Orogenic Belt (WKOB) in NW China, is a typical appinite-granite complex. It consists of diorites, quartz diorites, monzodiorites, quartz monzodiorites, monzonites, quartz monzonites, syenites, granodiorites and monzogranites. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) zircon U–Pb dating yielded crystallization ages of 459 ± 3 Ma for the quartz monzonites and 452 ± 5 Ma for the monzogranites (Late Ordovician). The rocks possess a wide range of SiO2 (56.0–73.4 wt %), MgO (0.17–4.55 wt %) and Mg no. (25–60), with high K2O (2.83–5.29 wt %) contents, exhibiting high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic traits. They are characterized by enrichments in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare Earth elements (LREEs), as well as depletions in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs). The rocks have initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7086–0.7185, negative εNd(t) values of –3.72 to –1.79 and εHf(t) values vary from –1.6 to +4.7. These features are modelled to show that they were most likely derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle source and that fractional crystallization with minor crustal contamination was involved in their petrogenetic process. Considering the distribution and chronology of the Palaeozoic intrusions – such as Kegang, Bulong, Qiukesu, Yierba, North Kudi, Dongbake, Buya, Ayilixi and Warengzilafu granitoid plutons with ages of c. 420–530 Ma – in conjunction with the Palaeozoic metamorphic overprinting in the WKOB, we propose a divergent double-subduction model to explain the destruction of the Proto-Tethys Ocean and suggest that the Datong pluton was likely emplaced in a post-collisional setting following the termination of subduction in response to slab break-off.

Two novel porphyrins (5,10,15,20-tetra(3-(carboethoxymethyleneoxy)phenyl)porphyrin, H2TEPp and 5,10,15,20-tetra(3-(carboxymethyleneoxy)phenyl)porphyrin, H2TCPp) and their copper(II) porphyrins (CuTEPp, CuTCPp) were synthesized. With these porphyrins, four new porphyrin-sensitized TiO2 nanorod composites (H2TEPp/TiO2, H2TCPp/TiO2, CuTEPp/TiO2, and CuTCPp/TiO2) were prepared and characterized by methods of XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, UV-vis DRS, nitrogen adsorption–desorption and fluorescence spectra. Besides, the photocatalytic activity and stability of the composites were assessed in the degradation of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The results indicate that the morphologies and structures of these composites are less influenced by the loaded porphyrins or copper porphyrins compared with the nanorods TiO2 (anatase). The porphyrin or copper porphyrin molecules are confirmed to bond on the surface of TiO2 through carboxyl group, which is beneficial to the electron transfer between porphyrin and TiO2. All composites exhibit enhanced photoactivities compared with the bare TiO2 nanorods. The possible reason is that the recombination of photoproduced electron–hole has been controlled effectively in these composites, which can be seen from their decreased fluorescence emission. The stability results of composites show that they still hold considerable photocatalytic activities after six cycling experiments.

Gamma-ray observations for Supernova remnant (SNR)-molecular cloud (MC) association systems play an important role in the research on the acceleration and propagation of cosmic-ray protons. Through the analysis of 5.6 years of Fermi-Large Area Telescope observation data, here we report on the detection of a gamma-ray emission source near the SNR Kesteven 41 with a significance of 24σ in 0.2–300 GeV. The best-fit location of the gamma-ray source is consistent with the MC with which the SNR interacts. Several hypotheses including both leptonic and hadronic scenarios are considered to investigate the origin of these gamma-rays. The gamma-ray emission can be naturally explained by the decay of neutral pions produced via the collision between high energy protons accelerated by the shock of Kesteven 41 and the adjacent MC. The electron energy budget would be too high for the SNR if the gamma-rays were produced via inverse Compton (IC) scattering off the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) photons.

Astronomy cloud computing environment is a cyber-Infrastructure for Astronomy Research initiated by Chinese Virtual Observatory (China-VO) under funding support from NDRC (National Development and Reform commission) and CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences). Based on virtualization technology, astronomy cloud computing environment was designed and implemented by China-VO team. It consists of five distributed nodes across the mainland of China. Astronomer can get compuitng and storage resource in this cloud computing environment. Through this environments, astronomer can easily search and analyze astronomical data collected by different telescopes and data centers , and avoid the large scale dataset transportation.

Generally, the obvious work hardening, dynamic recrystallization (DRX), and dynamic recovery behaviors can be found during hot deformation of Ni-based superalloys. In the present study, the classical dislocation density theory is improved by introducing a new dislocation annihilation item to represent the influences of DRX on dislocation density evolution for a Ni-based superalloy. Based on the improved dislocation density theory, the peak strain corresponding to peak stress and the critical strain for initiating DRX can be determined, and the improved DRX kinetics equations and grain size evolution models are developed. The physical framework and algorithmic idea of the improved dislocation density theory are clarified. Moreover, the deformed microstructures are characterized and quantitatively correlated to validate the improved dislocation density theory. It is found that the improved dislocation density-based models can precisely characterize hot deformation and DRX behaviors for the studied superalloy under the tested conditions.

Bullying is a common problem in school. Engagement in bullying has been known to have many adverse effects, even including suicide. Examining which factor will moderate or mediate the pathway from victimisation to suicidal ideation is needed to develop effective intervention initiatives. This study aimed to examine the mediator and moderator roles of perceived social support in the relationship between victimisation and suicidal ideation. The participants in the study were 946 Chinese adolescents (402 girls, 544 boys) who ranged in age from 11 to 16 years old. The results showed that 48.1% of these adolescents reported being bullied in school. Victimisation was positively correlated with suicidal ideation. There was evidence that perceived social support buffered, as well as partially mediated, the relationship between victimisation and suicidal ideation. Results suggest that helping students to seek more support from their parents and peers may be an effective bullying intervention program.

Many studies have suggested that folate-related one-carbon metabolism-related nutrients may play a role in certain cancer risks, but few studies have assessed their associations with the risk for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In this study, we investigated the association between four folate-related one-carbon metabolism-related nutrients (folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and methionine) and NPC risk in Chinese adults. A total of 600 patients newly diagnosed (within 3 months) with NPC were individually matched with 600 hospital-based controls by age, sex and household type (urban v. rural). Folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and methionine intakes were measured using a validated seventy-eight-item FFQ. A higher dietary folate or vitamin B6 intake was associated with a lower NPC risk after adjusting for potential confounders. The adjusted OR of NPC for quartiles 2–4 (v. 1) were 0·66 (95 % CI 0·48, 0·91), 0·52 (95 % CI 0·37, 0·74) and 0·34 (95 % CI 0·23, 0·50) (P trend<0·001) for folate and 0·72 (95 % CI 0·52, 1·00), 0·55 (95 % CI 0·39, 0·78) and 0·44 (95 % CI 0·30, 0·63) (P trend<0·001) for vitamin B6. No significant association with NPC risk was observed for dietary vitamin B12 or methionine intake. The risk for NPC with dietary folate intake was more evident in the participants who were not exposed to toxic substances than in those who were exposed (P interaction=0·014). This study suggests that dietary folate and vitamin B6 may be protective for NPC in a high-risk population.