The clay mineralogy of the Zhada sediments was investigated, using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, to obtain a better understanding of climatic change and uplift of the Himalayas in the Zhada region of Tibet. The sediments of Zhada basin in the late Miocene to Pliocene consist of lacustrine and fluvial deposits >800 m thick and can be subdivided into five clay assemblage zones based on their clay-mineral composition. The upward zonation is as follows: (1) smectite-kaolinite; (2) illite-chlorite; (3) chlorite-illite-kaolinite; (4) illite-chlorite; and (5) smectite, illite, and kaolinite. The ratio of chlorite + illite to kaolinite + smectite (Ch+I/K+S) and the Kübler index indicate a warm and humid climate from 9.5 to 8.4 Ma, a cold and dry climate from 8.4 to 7.2 Ma, a warm and seasonal arid climate from 7.2 to 4.5 Ma, a cool and humid climate from 4.5 to 3.6 Ma, and a warm and seasonally humid climate from 3.6 to 3.0 Ma. Intense fluctuations in the Kübler index and in the quantities of evaporite minerals dolomite, aragonite, and gypsum, during the period 7.2–4.5 Ma suggest strong climatic fluctuations between humid and seasonally humid conditions in the Zhada basin. Rapid uplift around the Zhada basin occurred at 8.4 and 3.6 Ma, with sharp subsidence at 7.2 and 4.5 Ma. Evolution of the climate at Zhada showed a different model from that of global climate change, and tectonics-led climate change was the major contributor to climate evolution in the area.

The clay mineral content of the Oligocene sediments in the Linxia Basin has been investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The clay mineral assemblages are mainly mixed-layer illite-smectite (I-S), illite, kaolinite and minor palygorskite in the early-Middle Oligocene deposits, mixed-layer I-S, illite and kaolinite in the Middle Oligocene deposits, mainly illite and chlorite (usually >50–70 vol.%), mixed-layer I-S, and trace to minor palygorskite in the late Oligocene sediments, respectively. The mineral assemblage indicates a warm and seasonally humid climate in the Middle Oligocene, with an episode of warm and dry conditions in the early stage of the Middle Oligocene, and a trend of temperature decrease and more arid conditions in the late Oligocene. Climate evolution in the Oligocene corresponds with the significant elevation change in central Tibet since late Oligocene, and therefore, suggests that tectonic-forced cooling of climate took place in Linxia in the northeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The ubiquitous mixed-layer I-S and carbonates throughout the Oligocene sediments reflect relatively small fluctuations in climate conditions during the epoch. The changes in clay mineral components and feldspars in the late Oligocene suggest a variation in the source of clastic materials, which probably reflects an increase in erosion of soils and poorly weathered parent rock in more elevated or high-relief source areas during this period of tectonic uplift.

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal female reproductive system tumour. Despite the great advances in surgery and systemic chemotherapy over the past two decades, almost all patients in stages III and IV relapse and develop resistance to chemotherapy after first-line treatment. Ovarian cancer has an extraordinarily complex immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment in which immune checkpoints negatively regulate T cells activation and weaken antitumour immune responses by delivering immunosuppressive signals. Therefore, inhibition of immune checkpoints can break down the state of immunosuppression. Indeed, Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionised the therapeutic landscape of many solid tumours. However, ICIs have yielded modest benefits in ovarian cancer. Therefore, a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanistic basis of the immune checkpoints is needed to improve the efficacy of ICIs in ovarian cancer. In this review, we systematically introduce the mechanisms and expression of immune checkpoints in ovarian cancer. Moreover, this review summarises recent updates regarding ICI monotherapy or combined with other small-molecule-targeted agents in ovarian cancer.

In the past 10–15 years, the government of China has made various efforts in tackling excessive antibiotics use. Yet, little is known about their effects at rural primary care settings. This study aimed to determine the impact of government policies and the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic prescribing practices at such settings utilizing data from separate studies carried out pre- and during the pandemic, in 2016 and 2021 in Anhui province, China, using identical sampling and survey approaches. Data on antibiotics prescribed, diagnosis, socio-demographic, etc., were obtained through non-participative observation and a structured exit survey. Data analysis comprised mainly descriptive comparisons of 1153 and 762 patients with respiratory infections recruited in 2016 and 2021, respectively. The overall antibiotics prescription rate decreased from 89.6% in 2016 to 69.1% in 2021, and the proportion of prescriptions for two or more classes of antibiotics was estimated as 35.9% in 2016 and 11.0% in 2021. There was a statistically significant decrease in the number of days from symptom onset to clinic visits between the year groups. In conclusion, measures to constrain excessive prescription of antibiotics have led to some improvements at the rural primary care level, and the COVID-19 pandemic has had varying effects on antibiotic use.

Dietary indices are widely used in diet quality measurement, and the index-based dietary patterns are related to gastric cancer risk. To evaluate the relationship between different kinds of index-based dietary patterns and gastric cancer risk, we systematically searched four English-language databases and four Chinese-language databases. The quality of studies was assessed by the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Meta-analyses were performed to estimate the association between gastric cancer incidence and different types of index-based dietary patterns. The OR and hazard ratios (HR) of gastric cancer incidence were calculated by regression models in case–control studies and prospective cohort studies, respectively. The studies were pooled in the random effects model to calculate the summarised risk estimate of the highest quantile interval of dietary indices, taking the lowest as the referent. The dietary indices included different versions of Mediterranean diet score (MDS) and dietary inflammatory index (DII), healthy eating index, Chinese Food Pagoda score and food index score. The meta-analysis was carried out for studies on MDS and DII. The combined OR of gastric cancer for the highest MDS v. the referent was 0·42 (95 % CI 0·2, 0·86), and the combined HR was 0·89 (95 % CI 0·68, 1·17). The combined OR for DII was 2·11 (95 % CI 1·41, 3·15). Higher Mediterranean dietary pattern consumption might reduce gastric cancer risk, while higher inflammatory diet pattern consumption might increase gastric cancer risk.

We present detailed petrography, geochemistry and zircon U–Pb–Hf isotopes of the Mante Aobao granite porphyry in East Ujimqin Banner, Inner Mongolia, with the aim of determining its age and petrogenesis, important for understanding the early Palaeozoic tectonic evolution of the Xing’an–Mongolian Orogenic Belt. The Mante Aobao granite porphyry consists of plagioclase, quartz and minor biotite, but without amphibole. Zircon U–Pb analyses yield ages of 450 ± 1 Ma and 445 ± 2 Ma for the granite porphyry, indicating that it formed during Late Ordovician time. The granite porphyry is metaluminous to slightly peraluminous (aluminous saturation index A/CNK = 0.98–1.11) with high SiO2, K2O and Na2O concentrations and differentiation index (DI = 85–90). Chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns display enrichment of light REEs (LREEs) with high ratios of (La/Yb)N and negative Eu anomalies. In the mantle-normalized multi-element variation diagrams, all samples are characterized by depletions of high-field-strength elements (HFSEs; Nb, Ta and Ti) and enrichments of large-ion lithophiles (LILEs; Rb, Th, U and K). These geochemical features indicate that the granite porphyry is a highly fractionated I-type granite and formed in a subduction-related setting. Zircon grains have positive εHf(t) values of +9.2 to +11.2, and TDM2(Hf) ages of 691–821 Ma, suggesting that the granite porphyry was generated by partial melting of Neoproterozoic juvenile crust with involvement of fractional crystallization during magmatic evolution. It is likely that underplating of mantle-derived magmas during Late Ordovician time provided the necessary heat to partially melt this juvenile crust. Combined with the regional geological data, we infer that the Mante Aobao granite porphyry was emplaced in an active continental margin setting that was probably related to the northwards subduction of the Paleo-Asian Plate beneath the South Mongolian Terrane along the Sonid Zuoqi–Xilinhot axis.

Detailed knowledge of dissociation behavior and dissociation products is necessary to understand the stability, sensitivity, and the reactive mechanism of explosives under laser initiation. A time-of-flight mass spectrometer was utilized to detect the transient products of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) produced under 532 nm pulse laser ablation, the possible attribution of intermediate ion fragments were confirmed. The laser fluence threshold for detectable fragments is about 3.6 J/cm2. The peak intensities of main ions (CN, CNO/C2H4N, NO2, C2N2O, HCN, C2NH2, etc.) increase with the increasing of laser fluence, and reach the maximum at 11.5 J/cm2. Moreover, time-depend changes of ion intensity indicate that the type and degree of reactions are different in different periods. According to the molecular structure of FOX-7 and the intermediate ions, the laser-induced dissociation mechanisms were proposed to illustrate the cause of the fragments which might throw some light on the laser initiation of FOX-7.

This paper describes a new genus Liaous, with L. shaiwensis He and Chen n. gen. n. sp. as the type species, from the Xinyuan Formation of Anisian age in Ziyun, southern Guizhou, China. The phylogenetic tree revealed by the parsimony analysis shows that Liaous is closely allied to both Mentzelia Quenstedt, 1871 and Paramentzelia Xu, 1978 of the subfamily Mentzeliinae. A new classification scheme for the Spiriferinoidea is also proposed based on a phylogenetic tree of the superfamily indicated by parsimony analysis. The Spiriferinoidea includes three families and nine subfamilies. Three new subfamilies—Madoinae He and Chen, new subfam., Qinghaispiriferininae He and Chen, new subfam., and Triadispirinae He and Chen, new subfam. are proposed. Liaous shaiwensis He and Chen n. gen. n. sp. is found in the Posidonia wengensis-Liaous shaiwensis (P-L) paleocommunity, which is dominated by r-strategists (i.e., organisms defined by a fauna with a high dominance and small body sizes) and has a low diversity and high dominance. The P-L paleocommunity therefore has little similarity to its coeval communities from the Anisian Stage of South China and instead it appears more similar to the Lower Triassic shelly faunas in community structures. This paleocommunity is interpreted to have inhabited a relatively deep, low-energy, dysaerobic offshore basin/slope setting with the influence of episodic storms.