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Risk communication is critical to emergency management. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the effective process and attention points of risk communication reflecting on the COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) outbreak in Wuhan, China. We provide the timeline of risk communication progress in Wuhan and use a message-centered approach to identify problems that it entailed. It was found that the delayed decision making of the local government officials and the limited information disclosure should be mainly responsible for the ineffective risk communication. The principles for effective risk communication concerning Wuhan’s outbreak management were also discussed. The whole communication process is suggested to integrate the accessibility and openness of risk information, the timing and frequency of communication, and the strategies dealing with uncertainties. Based on these principles and lessons from Wuhan’s case, this paper employed a simplified Government–Expert–Public risk communication model to illustrate a collaborative network for effective risk communication.

This study investigates regional ground-motion characteristics in Yunnan Province using 1,065 recordings from 60 small-to-moderate earthquakes (3.0 ≤  M w ≤ 6.0) at 65 stations. A generalized inversion technique (GIT) using empirical reference site was applied to four tectonically distinct subregions (A–D). The inversion results reveal stress drops (Δ σ ) ranging from 0.3 to 7.34 MPa, with the highest averages in Regions C and D (2.21 MPa), followed by Region A (2.07 MPa) and Region B (1.16 MPa). Δ σ shows no clear dependence on moment magnitude ( M w ) or focal depth but correlates with surface heat flow. Reverse-faulting events exhibit a higher average Δ σ than strike-slip and normal-faulting events. Quality factor models for the four study areas (A–D) are 118.41 f 0.691 , 120.26 f 0.638 , 77.20 f 0.598 and 72.19 f 0.861 , respectively. The eastern regions (C and D) exhibit lower Q 0 and stronger S-wave attenuation, along with higher tectonic activity and lower surface heat flow. The predominant frequencies of average site amplification for GMX-A, GMX-B, GMX-C and GMX-D are 20.00 Hz, 10.83 Hz, 3.97 Hz, and 1.92 Hz, with corresponding amplification factors of 2.84, 4.31, 5.45, and 7.69. Finally, the inversion parameters were validated through stochastic finite-fault simulations of the 2009 M S 6.3 Yao’an mainshock.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an intestinal disease caused by multiple factors that severely affects the health of humans and animals. In this study, a DSS-induced mouse colitis model was utilized to investigate the ability of daucosterol (DAU) to alleviate colitis and its underlying mechanism of action. The experimental results showed that DAU could alleviate the clinical symptoms of colitis in mice, reduce the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α) in mouse serum, and modulate the gut microbiota to alleviate DSS-induced colitis in mice. In conclusion, DAU has great potential in the prevention of colitis.

Houttuynia cordata is a medicinal and edible plant with a wide biological interest. Many parts were discarded due to various modes of consumption, resulting in resource waste. In this study, a comprehensive study was conducted on various edible indicators and medicinal components of Houttuynia cordata to understand its edible and medicinal value. The edible indexes of each root, stem, and leaf were determined, and the metabolites of different parts were investigated using the headspace solid-phase micro-extraction technique (HS-SPME-GC-MS). The differential metabolites were screened by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) and clustering analysis. The results of the study showed that the parts of Houttuynia cordata with high edibility values as a vegetable were mainly the roots and leaves, with the highest vitamin C content in the roots and the highest total flavonoids, soluble sugars, and total protein in the leaves. The nutrient content of all the stems of Houttuynia cordata was lower and significantly different from the roots and leaves (p < 0.05). In addition, 209 metabolites were isolated from Houttuynia cordata, 135 in the roots, 146 in the stems, 158 in the leaves, and 91 shared metabolites. The clustering analysis and OPLS-DA found that the parts of Houttuynia cordata can be mainly divided into above-ground parts (leaves and stems) and underground parts (roots). When comparing the differential metabolites between the above-ground parts and underground parts, it was found that the most important medicinal component of Houttuynia cordata, 2-undecanone, was mainly concentrated in the underground parts. The cluster analysis resulted in 28 metabolites with up-regulation and 17 metabolites with down-regulation in the underground parts. Most of the main components of the underground part have pharmacological effects such as anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and antiviral, which are more suitable for drug development. Furthermore, the above-ground part has more spice components and good antioxidant capacity, which is suitable for the extraction of edible flavors. Therefore, by comparing and analyzing the differences between the edible and medicinal uses of different parts of Houttuynia cordata as a medicinal and food plant, good insights can be obtained into food development, pharmaceutical applications, agricultural development, and the hygiene and cosmetic industries. This paper provides a scientific basis for quality control and clinical use.

During a public health emergency, social media is a major conduit or vector for spreading health misinformation. Understanding the characteristics of health misinformation can be a premise for rebuking and purposefully correcting such misinformation on social media. Using samples of China's misinformation on social media related to the COVID-19 outbreak (N=547), the objective of this article was to illustrate the characteristics of said misinformation on social media in China by descriptive analysis, including the typology, the most-mentioned information, and a developmental timeline. The results reveal that misinformation related to preventive and therapeutic methods is the most-mentioned type. Other types of misinformation associated with people's daily lives are also widespread. Moreover, cultural and social beliefs have an impact on the perception and propaganda of misinformation, and changes in the crisis situation are relevant to the type variance of misinformation. Following research results, strategies of health communication for managing misinformation on social media are given, such as credible sources and expert sources. Also, traditional beliefs or perceptions play the vital role in health communication. To sum up, combating misinformation on social media is likely not a single effort to correct misinformation or to prevent its spread. Instead, scholars, journalists, educators, and citizens must collaboratively identify and correct any misinformation.

This paper examines the relationship between income inequality and consumption, utilizing panel data from rural China over a span of four years to validate the application of relative income theory in the domain of food consumption. Food consumption represents a significant portion of expenditures for the low-income demographic and is of vital importance to China’s food security and agricultural development. To ascertain the impact of income inequality on food consumption, this paper employs a bi-directional fixed-effects model, a mediation effect model, and machine learning causal analysis methods. Utilizing four years of rural resident survey data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey database, the study empirically tests the effect of income inequality on various types of food consumption, the channels through which it operates, and the heterogeneity among different income groups and educational backgrounds. The findings indicate that (1) income inequality within rural communities positively influences food consumption, and this conclusion remains robust under endogeneity treatment and robustness checks, positively affecting the transformation of food consumption and healthy intake; (2) income inequality among rural residents promotes food consumption through two mediating channels: the “demonstration effect” and the “ratchet effect;” (3) the impact of income inequality on food consumption exhibits heterogeneity among rural residents of different income levels and educational backgrounds.

The clinical manifestations of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) overlap with those of other central nervous system (CNS) disorders, making differential diagnosis based on symptoms alone difficult. This study aimed to identify distinguishing indicators of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) IgG-negative NMOSD and assess their diagnostic value. We analyzed four groups: 85 patients with AQP4-IgG-negative NMOSD, 192 with AQP4-IgG-positive NMOSD, 547 with other nervous system autoimmune disorders (e.g., multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and viral and autoimmune encephalitis), and 269 healthy controls matched for sex, age, and BMI.A diagnostic model was established using clinical, biochemical, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) variables. The dataset was divided into training and internal validation cohorts, and model performance was further assessed through external validation using an independently collected dataset obtained during the same study period. We enrolled 1,093 participants. The AQP4-IgG-negative NMOSD group showed: higher diplopia incidence (35.29% vs. 17.19% in positive NMOSD, 17.18% in controls; P<0.001); lower limb sensory abnormalities (76.47% vs. 89.58%, P = 0.0056) and urinary dysfunction (36.47% vs. 57.29%, P = 0.0017) than positive cases; predominant brainstem involvement (50.59% vs. 31.77% in positive, 28.70% in controls; P<0.001); moderate spinal cord involvement (70.59% vs. 88.02% in positive, 38.57% in controls; P<0.001); and altered thyroxine, apolipoprotein A1, eosinophils, and basophils. After false discovery rate correction (q<0.1), diplopia, brainstem involvement, spinal cord involvement, serum albumin, and CSF albumin remained significant. A combined model incorporating twelve predictors (Ocular symptoms, Gastrointestinal symptoms, Water swallowing and choking difficulties, Cerebral lobes, Centrum semiovale, Brainstem, Cerebral ganglia, Spinal cord, APOA1, Ca, Toxoplasma gondii IgM Antibody, CSF IgG) achieved an AUC of 0.936in the training cohort and 0.929 in external validation. AQP4-IgG-negative NMOSD shows distinct clinical, imaging, and laboratory profiles compared to other nervous system autoimmune disorders. A multi-indicator diagnostic approach offers higher accuracy than single-marker diagnostics.

Flange wrinkling is often seen in deep-drawing process when the applied blankholding force is too small. This paper investigates the plastic wrinkling of flange under a constant blankholding force. A series of deep-drawing experiments of AA1100-O blanks are conducted with different blankholding forces. The critical cup height and wrinkling wave numbers for each case is established. A reduced-order model of flange wrinkling is developed using the energy method, which is implemented to predict the flange wrinkling of AA1100-O sheet by incrementally updating the flange geometry and material hardening parameters during the drawing process. A deep-drawing finite element model is developed in ABAQUS/standard to simulate the flange wrinkling of AA1100-O blanks under constant blankholding force. The predicted cup height and wave numbers from the finite element model and reduced-order model are compared with the experimental results, which demonstrates the accuracy of the reduced-order model, and its potential application in fast prediction of wrinkling in deep-drawing process.

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated inflammatory peripheral neuropathy. This study aimed to conduct a systematic analysis of the serum lipids profile in GBS. We measured the serum lipids profile in 85 GBS patients and compared it with that of 85 healthy controls matched for age and sex. Additionally, we analyzed the correlation between lipids and the severity, subtypes, precursor infections, clinical outcomes, clinical symptoms, immunotherapy, and other laboratory markers of GBS. Compared to the healthy controls, GBS exhibited significantly elevated levels of Apolipoprotein B (APOB), Apolipoprotein C2 (APOC2), Apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3), Apolipoprotein E (APOE), triglycerides (TG), and residual cholesterol (RC). Conversely, Apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1), Apolipoprotein A2 (APOA2), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were substantially lower in GBS. Severe GBS displayed noticeably higher levels of APOC3 and total cholesterol (TC) compared to those with mild disease. Regarding different clinical outcomes, readmitted GBS demonstrated higher RC expression than those who were not readmitted. Moreover, GBS who tested positive for neuro-virus antibody IGG in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) exhibited heightened expression of APOC3 in comparison to those who tested negative. GBS with cranial nerve damage showed significantly reduced expression of HDL and APOA1 than those without such damage. Additionally, GBS experiencing limb pain demonstrated markedly decreased HDL expression. Patients showed a significant reduction in TC after intravenous immunoglobulin therapy. We observed a significant positive correlation between lipids and inflammatory markers, including TNF-α, IL-1β, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), white blood cells, monocytes, and neutrophils in GBS. Notably, APOA1 exhibited a negative correlation with ESR. Furthermore, our findings suggest a potential association between lipids and the immune status of GBS. The research demonstrated a strong connection between lipids and the severity, subtypes, clinical outcomes, precursor infections, clinical symptoms, immunotherapy, inflammation, and immune status of GBS. This implies that a low-fat diet or the use of lipid-lowering medications may potentially serve as an approach for managing GBS, offering a fresh viewpoint for clinical treatment of this condition.

This study explores the influence of the water–cement ratio and fiber content in engineered cementitious composite (ECC) on the mechanical characteristics of foamed lightweight soil (FLS) through experimental analysis. Two types of cementitious materials—ECC and ordinary Portland cement (OPC)—were utilized to create FLS specimens under identical parameters to examine their mechanical performance. Results indicate that ECC-FLS exhibits superior toughness, plasticity, and ductility compared to OPC-FLS, validating the potential of ECC as a high-performance material for FLS. To assess the influence of the ECC water–cement ratio, specimens were constructed with varying ratios at 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3, while maintaining other parameters as constant. The experimental results indicate that as the water–cement ratio of ECC increases, the flexural strength, compressive strength, flexural toughness, and compressive elastic modulus of the lightweight ECC-FLS gradually increase, exhibiting a better mechanical performance. Moreover, this study investigates the effect of basalt fiber content in ECC on the mechanical properties of FLS. While keeping other parameters constant, the volume content of basalt fibers varied at 0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5%, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate that within the range of 0 to 0.5%, the mechanical properties of FLS improved with increasing fiber content. The fibers in ECC effectively enhanced the strength of FLS. In conclusion, the adoption of ECC and appropriate fiber content can significantly optimize the mechanical performance of FLS, endowing it with broader application prospects in engineering practices. ECC-FLS, characterized by excellent ductility and crack resistance, demonstrates versatile engineering applications. It is particularly suitable for soft soil foundations or regions prone to frequent geological activities, where it enhances the seismic resilience of subgrade structures. This material also serves as an ideal construction solution for underground utility tunnels, as well as for the repair and reconstruction of pavement and bridge decks. Notably, ECC-FLS enables the resource utilization of industrial solid wastes such as fly ash and slag, thereby contributing to carbon emission reduction and the realization of a circular economy. These attributes collectively position HDFLS as a sustainable and high-performance construction material with significant potential for promoting environmentally friendly infrastructure development.